The hunting season certainly presents a great opportunity for hunters to go out in the field and enjoy doing what they like doing the most. However, a period of fun and excitement is not all that it presents. Every hunter should look to improve his game with each passing season. Elevating ones’ skills for the forthcoming hunting season is not always easy. However, several of the best shooting coaches have prescribed methods that can help a hunter take his or her rifle skills to the next level. Most of these sound easy, but require quite a lot of practice. Here are some of those expert tips.
Focusing on practice
The process of effective shooting begins in the hunter’s mind, whether you want to master short range or long range shooting. When it comes to increasing the focus on practicing, dry firing can be as good as live fire practice. However, just pulling the trigger is not an effective drill. Making each shot count is what matters. Hunters should create drills that challenge them. Long before the hunting season starts, the seeds of practice must be sown. Honing such extreme levels of focus can be exhausting for hunters. This is why limited yet consistent amounts of practice time are essential to become a better shooter. Hunters should keep in mind that a bad shot in practice, is a bad shot in the live field. Such high standards should be maintained in practice session.
Practicing with modern equipment
There’s no point in practicing with guns that our grandfathers used to use. Practicing with them, only to find out in a few seasons that they are obsolete makes no sense whatsoever. The hunter should research for the up to date guns and equipment suitable for his or her type of hunting expeditions. The Nikon P 223 Riflescope 3X 32mm for instance, is a great piece of modern rifle. It completely removes parallax and its light transmission friendly nature makes it perfect for new hunters.
Positioning
Positioning, for a hunter, is crucial. Without the correct posture, everything can go wrong. Every hunter must master these sitting positions – crossed leg, crossed ankle and with the knees shaped like a tent, a comfortable spread with the heels grounded.
Mastering the sling
Unlike carrying straps, slings come with an adjustable loop. They are great for providing support to the shoulder while carrying guns. A hunter who has mastered the sling is a hunter who can move as fast as his/her prey. Also, a sleek leather sling can make anyone look better.
Firing only when prepared
Most hunters usually have more time on their hand than they choose to use. Noticing a field full of prey, they tend to rush and forget to settle their rifle. Again, some engage in unnecessary delays causing the prey to run away. A hunter should only fire when he is prepared and a hunter must always be prepared.
Experience and practice are two key components of becoming the next level hunter. Aspiring hunters must follow these tips in order to set themselves on a path of constant improvement.
Jun 05, 2018 @ 11:58:09
Prior practice with the chosen firearm is critical as is sighting in with the ammo one is going to use.
Practice, patience, planning, and keen observational skills in the field. One of the things we would do would be to scout the hunting area before hunting season to see where to set up a stand, to observe game trails, and to identify ways to work together to have game do what we wanted it to do in a given topography. A final thought is clothing. When I first started deer hunting, I did not have enough warm clothing (a pair of traditional, felt lined Sorels helped solve that problem) and found it impossible to sit quietly and concentrate.
In one area near Elmira, NY (Pine City, for those with a map) we hunted in an area where there was a large hardwood forest on a hill, a large triangular stand of hemlocks on a steep descent, and a large triangular apple orchard in a bottom field with a road running along the hypotenuse of the orchard. It was quite effective to have two or three people on a line in the hemlocks and one or two driving the orchard. That resulted in good shots as deer would leave the orchard and hide in the hemlocks or use the hemlocks as cover to get to the top hardwood forest. We more often than not had successful hunts using that strategy. One year, we are about to leave as it was getting late. My brother in law Jack drove two deer towards me. I had my Ithaca Mod 37 with Williams peep sight with the recticle removed as light was getting dim but with careful shooting, filled my tag and our party permit. I think it was about 70 yards to both deer. Best shots I ever took.
Jun 06, 2018 @ 07:25:09
One thing I’ve seen plenty of (especially with AR shooters) is the habit of “pimping out” their rifles with these expensive optics (red dots, backup sights, 600 lumen lights, etc) before learning to shoot accurately. Learn to shoot with iron sights first. Spend time at the range zeroing at 25 yards.