Why so much emphasis on super fast prone shots?

[Marble]

I've had it happen a couple of times over the years. Most of the time the terrain prevents me from a prone shot so I end up using a tree or something else elevated.

But most of the time I've had a lot of time to get situated.

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[UKwildcatfan]

I file it with away the .223 and never clean the rifle posts.

 

[Shortschaf]

Mule deer

They stand and stare at you long enough to shoot any damn one of them if you don't lolligag

 

[huntnful]

Fast shots and timers are an invaluable training tool. For starters, anyone who has not ever timed themselves takes far longer than they think to set up and shoot (at least 2-4x as long).

Time is also the best tool to use during practice to replicate the pressure and stress during hunting in a realistic way (unless you have balls as big as @KyleR1985), as well as to highlight any shortcomings in your equipment or aspects of your performance.


While not always necessary in the real world, some opportunities are missed due to slow setup and shooting, and you often don't realize just how many until you practice to be quick/efficient and are hunting with someone who is slow and/or unpracticed, especially in positional shooting.

Great views. My hunting partner missed an opportunity on a great buck last year due to lack practice in field scenarios.

The opportunity really only seemed rushed, as he had a good 1-2 minutes on the buck. But took extremely long to get setup, which created a greater sense of urgency, which then lead to shanking the shot all together. It was 150 yards seated.

 

[taskswap]

It's here. Lots of talk about how seconds matter with prone shots. This method is too slow and you just don't know it yet. It's been the emphasis by a certain subset of the members here for quite a while that you have to be crazy fast at prone shots for some reason. And if you aren't super fast, you can't possibly be effective.

I guess I must have missed it. I never go prone unless I feel like I have plenty of time, LOL.

 

[HuntHarder]

I know I'm not an amazing long shot from different positions. If I am shooting over 400ish yards, I will make sure I'm prone for 90% of my shot opportunities. The country i rifle hunt, generally lends itself to plenty of prone shots. I don't emphasize speed but calmness. Whether I'm shooting or I am spotting for someone else, I make it a point to remain calm and try not to put time pressure on.

 

[MallardSX2]

Meh. To each their own.

I use 48” wood cross sticks and I always will.

I prefer cross sticks and a right elbow support (backpack) from a seated position. If I got something (tree,rock,leg) to lean back on I can hold just as still as prone and I don’t have to worry about clearing grass and other obstructions and follow up shots are way faster for me (if required).

I don’t shoot at animals over 500 yards. My choice.

 

[Bluumoon]

I just don't get it. I'm wracking my brain about the times when I needed to get off a prone shot fast and seconds mattered and I can't think of any. Not one. Any shot that might have needed urgency was while stalking and was offhand or supported from a tree or something nearby.

Are people not working on finding and getting within shot range of animals that are totally unaware of their presence? Are people just seeing moving animals at a range where a prone shot is necessary and hoping they have enough time to get a rushed shot off? At a moving animal? Because if that animal is not moving and unaware of your presence, you have time to not rush.

What am I missing here? I honestly don't see it.

Building positions quickly from starting how you hunt has been an emphasis. Not sure I’ve seen just prone pushed, I don’t think I’ve taken a prone shot in the field yet. Prairie dogs of the porch lead to some fast prone practice.


The practice vs equipment/gear thread is invaluable at assessing yourself from common positions, mix in improvised positions at your leisure.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I just don't get it. I'm wracking my brain about the times when I needed to get off a prone shot fast and seconds mattered and I can't think of any. Not one. Any shot that might have needed urgency was while stalking and was offhand or supported from a tree or something nearby.

Are people not working on finding and getting within shot range of animals that are totally unaware of their presence? Are people just seeing moving animals at a range where a prone shot is necessary and hoping they have enough time to get a rushed shot off? At a moving animal? Because if that animal is not moving and unaware of your presence, you have time to not rush.

What am I missing here? I honestly don't see it.

I agree, my prone or very stable (I built a rest with pack/tripod, ect ) are typically when I get to really go slow and wait for the right shot animal is completely unaware of my existence.
If I’m off hand, maybe a bipod or trigger sticks ect the shooting is usually much faster.

 

[idahodave]

Hard to sell your product if you don’t create a demand for it first.

 

[rclouse79]

After thinking about it, I would have one more bear and one more elk to my name if I had been able to get prone faster. Now I try to set my rifle up if I plan to glass from a spot where a shot seems like a possibility.

 

[Marshfly]

Hard to sell your product if you don’t create a demand for it first.

Starting to feel similarly. Easy to sell to a “tribe” due to confirmation bias.

 

[DangerRanger]

I scurried and crawled up a Oak brush covered oak brush and then tossed my shit down a took a quick shot on a bull a few years back.

The positioning before the prone ness was so much walking, but I feel it applies.

 

[ianpadron]

Last muley I killed required some scrambling prone.

He was creepin' up and away after I snapped a branch trying to clear a shooting lane from my glassing point.

First spotted him at 350, by the time he stopped broadside he was at 525. I was cold AF and shivering, trying to use my rangefinder, and remember my come-ups all at once. I definitely understood why guys practice with pressure after that. Can't imagine how it would have gone if it was a 200" buck versus a 150"

Killed a 180" in ID a few years back in a similar scenario where time mattered. I was spotting for a buddy who was shooting cross canyon at a bedded buck. As soon as he shot, my buck stood up at 160 yards directly beneath us. I slapped my rifle down onto my pack in a hurry and dumped him before he could figure out what was going on.

I see the merit in shooting fast. Just like sports, practice should occur in a fashion that makes the real thing seem easy.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Starting to feel similarly. Easy to sell to a “tribe” due to confirmation bias.

It seems like you came here specifically to pick this fight. I engaged with your original post even though I wasn’t sure it was in good faith.

If you don’t like the message here, it’s a free country. No one is making you stay here. But a few people telling you that the speed training is to simulate real world stress and test confidence and proficiency doesn’t make it a cult or tribe.

And a post that says, “I don’t think you need a rear bag, but I sometimes use one, and this is the one I use,” is hardly trying to force products on people.

Arguing that it isn’t a good thing to be able to do things under stress or without every last bit of gear seems a strange hill to want to die on.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[BigNate]

It's interesting when people use the "out west" description. Where out west? There are places where bipods and tripods make sense. There are also just as many places where they make very little sense.

If you only practice from a bench, you better hunt from a shoot house. If you only shoot prone in practice, your first instinct will be to go prone. Prone doesn't do any good in knee deep brush or snow. It's unnecessary in thick woods, and many times impossible. Learning to improvise, use random features, shoot off of a backpack, etc. is way more important to being prepared for whatever happens.

Learning to deal with pressure is good. Knowing your limits is essential. Practice with a PRS setup, from prone, at long range, doesn't mean you're going to duplicate your performance with a lightweight hunting rig you barely shoot. Practice shooting with your hunting rifle, in similar terrain will be far more productive.

 

[Marshfly]

It seems like you came here specifically to pick this fight. I engaged with your original post even though I wasn’t sure it was in good faith.

If you don’t like the message here, it’s a free country. No one is making you stay here. But a few people telling you that the speed training is to simulate real world stress and test confidence and proficiency doesn’t make it a cult or tribe.

And a post that says, “I don’t think you need a rear bag, but I sometimes use one, and this is the one I use,” is hardly trying to force products on people.

Arguing that it isn’t a good thing to be able to do things under stress or without every last bit of gear seems a strange hill to want to die on.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

Nobody is picking a fight. It was an honest question. Don’t project your stuff onto me. Feel free to ignore me and this thread. I’ve been here since way before anything was being sold. Now it seems that’s most of the emphasis unfortunately.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

It seems like you came here specifically to pick this fight. I engaged with your original post even though I wasn’t sure it was in good faith.

If you don’t like the message here, it’s a free country. No one is making you stay here. But a few people telling you that the speed training is to simulate real world stress and test confidence and proficiency doesn’t make it a cult or tribe.

And a post that says, “I don’t think you need a rear bag, but I sometimes use one, and this is the one I use,” is hardly trying to force products on people.

Arguing that it isn’t a good thing to be able to do things under stress or without every last bit of gear seems a strange hill to want to die on.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

It’s the general “gun folks” way unfortunately. Rather than trying something new, or use a known schooling method to become more effective, they’d rather dismiss it and call it a “cult”. That’s sort of the “mantra” of so many folks who can’t wrap their head around certain “controversial” topics that get posted here.

Wanna know how I know? Look at my posts on Rokslide from 4-6 years ago. You’ll see a lot of similarities in what I wrote, specifically regarding dropping scopes. Once my slow brain realized it wasn’t about “dropping scopes” all along, and tried things for myself, the immense helpings of humble pie started to actually taste decent, and then starting tasting really good. Because I got better. And I was somebody who got paid to shoot guns. I was somebody who “knew shit” and shot 10s of thousands of rounds a year. And taught other shooters how to shoot and hunt. I was a competition winner and “already had all the answers.”

It’s easy to be like the old me and take cheap shots on the internet and already be “good”, and dismiss ideas because they are different from what “I know works.”

I think @Marshfly came into this with general curiosity with maybe a splash of “you guys are idiots” haha. It’s a good topic to discuss.

 

[Marshfly]

After thinking about it, I would have one more bear and one more elk to my name if I had been able to get prone faster. Now I try to set my rifle up if I plan to glass from a spot where a shot seems like a possibility.

I totally agree with that. If I stop to glass, my rifle is ready. No reason for it not to be.

It’s the general “gun folks” way unfortunately. Rather than trying something new, or use a known schooling method to become more effective, they’d rather dismiss it and call it a “cult”. That’s sort of the “mantra” of so many folks who can’t wrap their head around certain “controversial” topics that get posted here.

Wanna know how I know? Look at my posts on Rokslide from 4-6 years ago. You’ll see a lot of similarities in what I wrote, specifically regarding dropping scopes. Once my slow brain realized it wasn’t about “dropping scopes” all along, and tried things for myself, the immense helpings of humble pie started to actually taste decent, and then starting tasting really good. Because I got better. And I was somebody who got paid to shoot guns. I was somebody who “knew shit” and shot 10s of thousands of rounds a year. And taught other shooters how to shoot and hunt. I was a competition winner and “already had all the answers.”

It’s easy to be like the old me and take cheap shots on the internet and already be “good”, and dismiss ideas because they are different from what “I know works.”

I think @Marshfly came into this with general curiosity with maybe a splash of “you guys are idiots” haha. It’s a good topic to discuss.

Definitely genuine curiosity. But I don’t think anyone is an idiot. Whatever makes people more effective is fine by me. We see enough screwups on the mountain.

 

[idahodave]

Being able to get your shot off in an expedited manner doesn’t have a down side. It’s enabled me to take some animals I wouldn’t have otherwise killed.

Anything that makes you shoot your hunting rifle(s) a lot in field conditions is also a good thing.

Whether or not you need to spend a few thousand dollars to make that happen is up to each person I suppose.