How well does the average big game hunter shoot?

but it seems many are not willing to put in the time and money.
Lots of time.
Joined a few days ago and this is the first post?

Welcome to LRH.
It's a shame we must look at everything with a furrowed brow. But it's the world we live in. Alas, my mind goes the same place as yours
 
We've been missing the rain the last couple of days.
I'll need some pictures of that load room/shooting house when you get done!
Yep, the catfish are gettin tics on them up here also.
I'm somewhat reluctant to say. But it seems that the new house project will take priority over my shop and my "lab". 😒.
However, we do need the extra room, so I'll go along and push forward.



Sorry for the high jacked thread huntslow, It happens that way sometimes with a bunch of friends around a camp fire.
 
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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 tend to agree with you. Similar and over the decades, I have seen some rather poor rifle shooters under hunting conditions and other. Many of those thought they were much better than they were. Even at our shooting club, we had several people who came to compete, and learning very quickly, they needed a lot more training, trigger time and some needed an attitude change. Some never came back after their first match.

I have seen game missed or poorly hit at some rather very short ranges, and then I have seen well trained and practiced shooters make some great SR/LR/ELR shots. A few years back, we had a gentleman from the eastern US come out for a CO elk hunt, and he was placed in a near perfect spot for a near 300yd shot on a standing 5x5. A chip shot for many of us locals, but after 2 missed shots, the elk ran to about 160 yds and stopped at an old fence line. Finally, the hunter placed a shot into the elk, but it was not well placed. After a short run, we had to finish it off.

Like most sports, many people can and do participate for fun, but most will never dedicate the time, effort and resources to rise to those next levels. Then there are those who do, like many here.
 
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I've wounded deer at close range, I'm not proud to say. I've also shot groundhogs close to 800 yards.

For me personally, I've found in deer season that hearing protection makes ALL the difference. Many times with our hunting style we don't get time to slip in ear pro, or so I thought. Once I started making it a priority, my shots got MUCH better. Hoping that now with the suppressor I can continue the trend, AND protect my boy's hearing while they are young.
 
I've wounded deer at close range, I'm not proud to say. I've also shot groundhogs close to 800 yards.

For me personally, I've found in deer season that hearing protection makes ALL the difference. Many times with our hunting style we don't get time to slip in ear pro, or so I thought. Once I started making it a priority, my shots got MUCH better. Hoping that now with the suppressor I can continue the trend, AND protect my boy's hearing while they are young.
Agreed. Hearing pro makes better shooters of everyone.
 
I've wounded deer at close range, I'm not proud to say. I've also shot groundhogs close to 800 yards.

For me personally, I've found in deer season that hearing protection makes ALL the difference. Many times with our hunting style we don't get time to slip in ear pro, or so I thought. Once I started making it a priority, my shots got MUCH better. Hoping that now with the suppressor I can continue the trend, AND protect my boy's hearing while they are young.

It's been suggested for many years that firearms noise hinders most peoples accuracy to a greater degree than recoil! I'll not argue that theory….as it's pretty well proven! memtb
 
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