How well does the average big game hunter shoot?

[Paladin300]

Same experience here. I'm drilling bullseyes with his rifle after mounting a scope for him. His group was darn near 3" right!

Everyone shoulders and lines up behind a rifle differently. Where you place your eye in the eye box and vision all play a role in where a rifle impacts a target. Do you shoot both eyes open or one eye closed. It is all about consistency and form and how the rifle is set up to an individual. As long as you do something consistently you can cover up a lot of bad form.

I shoot off hand with a slight cant to my rifle. I am anal about my set ups. Use levels, a tape measure and more to make sure all of my set ups are consistent from one rifle to the next. I take the time to adjust the diopter to my eye. I shoot both eyes open. My dominant eye is 20/10, my bad eye is 20/35 on a good day. I have a friend who shots both eyes closed I think and sets his junk up with tinker toys. He kills everything he aims at. I can't shoot his rifles for beans. And he can't shot mine.

One day at the range he wanted me to shoot his gun at a grand. Mainly because he wanted to shoot mine. I set up behind the rifle and let it bark. Missed down the right side of a silhouette. He laughed! You missed! I missed two more times. I check my wind and settled in, let the bubble on the scope tap the right side of the level and squeezed one off. Center punched it! I put three in about a 3 and a half inch group.

Everybody sets their rifles to them. You really see the difference when using a bow. Some people put the pin on the target and cover it up. Some like the pin to point to the target. Others let the pin rest just under the target. Add in different anchor points and you can have two identical shooters with perfect form and they won't be able to shot each others set up.

There is a proper way to do things and proper form but this ain't rocket science and just the differences in body type, alignment and set up can make a huge difference! Three inches right and high at a hundred is a miss at a grand. It is important to make sure the rifle is set up to the hunter hunting with it and not someone else.

 

[Lee7588]

We can forgive the miss, the manbun,,,,,, May take a while.

This mentality is not limited to you Coonasses. We have our fair share redneck bubbas that think a milk jug at 100 is great.

I sold it

 

[quandary]

Last year a buddy and I went down to New Mexico Pronghorn hunting. We both took our animals by 11:00a.m. the first morning of hunting. Both at 250 to 260 yards, both 1 shot, both DRT. After getting the animals cleaned, quartered and on ice we meet up with our guides at a local establishment for a beverage. Both guides started a conversation of this thread. Both commented on how rare it was to guide hunters who cleanly killed the animals (Pronghorn, Elk, Muley) with one shot. They figured the average was at least 3 or 4 and told stories of hunters shooting 12 or mores times before finally killing something or running out of ammunition. They also both commented that generally the worst shots were the hunters who showed up bragging about how good of shots they are or the hunters who showed up with custom rifles.

This conversation really surprised as I have always hunted with people who don't miss. Although growing up in Wisconsin were we started "hunting" with pellet guns at 8 or 9 years old probably makes a difference. I also believe a lot of this is hunters unable to manage their emotions when they have game in their sights.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

I Love to shoot my hunting rifles every week. A Hunt is huge big deal to me at my age, and I want my shooting skills to be as accurate and precise as I can make them. For me that means Shoot and Shoot and Shoot some more!!! 120 Rounds prior to the deer hunt each season with my .270 Win, Weatherby Ultralight. Ready for a shot from 100 to 300 yards. in N. Carolina or West Virg . 100 rounds at least, fired from the Short 20 inch barreled 30m-06 ready for a shot from 30 yards to 150 yards in Penn woods. Shooting friends are Happy to hit a 6inch Pie plate at 100 yard's ,4 out of 5 shots is perfect for them. "Thats a dead Deer" . Some times showing ammo from 8 or 9 years ago when K mart was in business. 30-06 Core Lockt $15.99 a box green and yellow box. They love to hunt, they "hate to target shoot and waist ammo" It was true when I worked in the Gun Store, and ammo was cheap and available. Its even worse today that ammo is $60;00 or more, and hard to find. I get tired of preaching the benefits of practice to Guys who shoot a deer every year within 25 yards of the Elevated Box Blind. Sometimes I have to remind myself to just shut up.

 

[BrentM]

I have hunted quite a bit and guided in the US West. My experience has been that the average hunter does not shoot very well. Even worse, most think they are very good or better. When guiding, we always had the hunters "check their rifle" at 100 yards (longer in a few places). The results made me realize that I better get the hunter close to the game. While that is always the goal, before I guided, I thought that getting within 200 yards should be good if not forced to shoot offhand. After guiding I believe that 200 yards is the limit for most people to take an ethical shot.

With training and lots of practice most could stretch that yardage, but it seems many are not willing to put in the time and money. At least we are more easily able to get ammo and components now.

I hunted with a guide who was already a great shot and then worked to become better. If Allen takes a shot, I know it is ethical and expect the animal to be brought to bag.

Maybe this is the wrong forum (as I expect this group to be dedicated to put in the work), but what has been your experience?

I've guided on off for 32 plus years. I have seen some absolute sheet shows. At one of the back country ranches we had a 55 gallon drum with a paper plate on it. I only witnessed that plate hit 1x. Having said that I had a hunter take a nice bull at 400. First shot was solid, follow up was a little high but good to go. IMO the average hunter will shoot their rifle 2x a year. Check sight in and on the hunt. Their ability to shoot pie plates at 100-200 is fine off a bench or the hood of their truck. None practice field positions nor shoot during the off season unless it is a light recoiling varmint rifle.

Me.... I shoot all year and love it. I have a private range in the mountains with steel to 1550. I am usually out every weekend and I will shoot in wind and practice positional shots on rocks etc from 500-1400. I hunt predators all winter so I am out a lot. During the summer I switch to a 223 trainer running 88 eld's and shoot at the mountain property once a week. It's soul food.

 

[memtb]

I have experienced the same also.
Makes one realize just how important consistent rifle mount/cheek weld, etc are.

I guess that my wife and I are pretty fortunate! I do all of her load development, and do her rifle zeroing. She hates to shoot from the bench, as her rifle kicks a bit! Year in and year out, she will verify the zero at 300 yards…..and is pretty darn close to my groups. memtb

 

[Tommo64]

I consistently shoot sub MOA off a bench. But shooting off a bench at a range is a whole lot different to shooting in the field. To be proficient you need to practice shooting from a range of different field positions: standing supported (monopod, shooting sticks, trees, etc) and off-hand, kneeling, sitting, prone, etc.

 

[scpaul]

In the early part of this string there was talk of ear protection and tendinitis. I used some fairly loud rifles with brakes and also archery hunted. You already know where this is going. The rifle ear plugs clip sound about 80db the archery ear plugs are amplifiers. I speak from experience. DO NOT GET THEM MIXED UP, atleast if you want to hear in the next couple of days. Talk about a dumm ***!!! Paul

 

[littlebighorn]

The guys I hunt with are much better shooters than the ones I hung out with in my younger years.
My point is equipment is much better and most guys who still hunt are way better marksmen than in the past. So maybe I don't know the "average hunter" but most I know shoot way better than they used to.

 

[Hudge76]

Just ask the average Hunter how many times a year they go to the range with their hunting rifle(s), and the look on their face will tell you, hardly any it at all.

 

[LRNut]

Take a look at the "cold bore challenge" that is currently going on over on rokslide. Very eye opening results from guys that are "serious hunters". It's reality is what it is. Claim your maximum effective range, has to be at least 400 yards. Shoot 2 cold bore shots on seperate days with no practice before each shot or in between shots. Target is a 10" circle.

If you claim your MER to be greater than 600 yds you have to shoot 2 cold bore qualifier shots at 600 and they both have to be hits into a 10" circle, before you can shoot your actual MER shots.

At one point 32 shooters had claimed a MER of >600 yds. Only 19 of 32 were able to successfully hit the 10" circle on their first shot. 7 out of the original 32 hit their 10" circle on both shots. Interesting and eye opening results.

What was the wind doing?

I shoot several cold bore shots every day. The range I decide to shoot depends on the wind - zero to less than 5, I will shoot at 910 or 1057. 5-10 I shoot at 760. Gusting hard I shoot at 620 or 500. I have said it before, but I will keep saying it: once past 650 or so yards, the wind is going to kill you. To hit that 10" target at 910 90% of the time, you have to be absolutely perfect on your wind call and it cannot change during the TOF. Your group size is getting bigger and your tolerance for wind estimation error quickly requires you to estimate the wind within 1 mph. 1300 yards? Pure luck, as your TOF is long enough that a perfect wind call can change. I have hit a 10" target at 1400 yards but I can't do it 90% of the time and I don't believe anyone can. Just my opinion after shooting every day. But if anyone can, I would be happy to pay you to teach me - but we have to do it at my CO place or the Arizona desert.

 

[asd9055]

Since COVID and many other life events that followed, I have not been shooting much. If you invited me today to an Elk hunt and the expectation would be over 450 yards, I'd say pass, I have not practiced for a while. If you tell me the hunt is in 3-6 months, I''l be ready for shots up to 1000 yards. I am just not in a position to be burning supplies right now. I harvest one deer a year, for that I need three sighting confirmation bullets and one hunting bullet. I say harvest, because that is what it is, 150 yards, shoot, dress, process.

 

[parshal]

As a competitive shooter, I'd say even experienced folks need to take a look at some of the shots presented. I can't say how many times I've watch the best shooters mis-judge wind. Shooting on flat ground is different than shooting over a draw. You just don't always know what the wind is doing until you send the first shot.

The more I've shot in competitive environments, in different terrain and areas of the country, the more I've restricted my own distance. Competition has increased my short range (300-400 is a chip shot) and decreased my longer range (>500) on animals.

 

[lordofbarbeque]

Boy this brings back memories. I have a buddy who will go to range with me once before each elk season, and when he hits anywhere on a 12" plate at 100 yards he claims "bullseye"
AND
his rifle is now sighted in and is he is done for day. Unfortunately he has taught his son the same logic.

The same guy was with me when I was breaking in a 300wm barrel and for kicks I took a final shot at a 4'x 4' steel plate at 600 yards and hit it. ( don't remember where, just heard it ) He exclaimed how accurate the rifle is and wanted it. Lol

And he always is using a different box of ammunition. Whatever is stocked at Cabelas near us.

He is a good guy, but It's not fun hunting with him. Lol