instinckt or maths?

i would have to say instinct due to the fact that the best shots aren't going to happen without practice and and a extensive knowledge of the firearm you are shooting.computers can give you an idea of what a bullet can do along the flight path but it can never account for the human element that is important to making the shotgun)
 
i think it goes without saying that one needs to be familiar and comfortable with the firearm he is using.
certainly good accurate shooting would include that as well as trigger time to become proficient with shooting skills.
assuming all that, shots at long distance do require information to be factored in.
first the distance need be known and that information considered.
the uphill/downhill angle needs to be considered as that affects distance.
and of coarse wind needs to be considered.
so a certain ammount of math is involved for a successfull shot at distance.
that can be as simple or involved as the shooter desires.
for some it can get very involved and technical.
others do well with just basic information.
nothing however eliminates the need for basic rifle skills.
 
In a hunting situation, you don't always have time to fumble around with gadgets. So, your shooting solution needs to be almost second nature.

If it's pure guess work and you call that instinct, then hitting the target may be blind luck or slop which by some standards might be considered unethical.

However if it's supported by practice and experience and if it's repeatable, and if you call that instinct, then that would be better than someone who has to rely entirely on a ballistics program that may or may not have been tested/correlated with the shooters rifle/ammo.

I would suggest using ballistics programs to practice and develop the instinct for reading conditions and for making accurate shots.

-- richard
 
Of course a computer with a accurate ballistic program loaded and with proven info loaded, will tell you exactly where the POI will be at a given distance but..............

In hunting situations I think shooting instincts are developed and learned from lots of practice and time spent actually shooting at game in all kinds of scenarios. For instances there's a buck bouncing down a steep hill side quartering away from you to your left. He's that 36 inch buck you have been watching all summer. Your "instinct" tells you he's around 250 yards and the look in the scope says hold low on his brisket, with a little air for lead....bang flop. A ballistic program won't give you that info.

I would call that instinctive shooting but the whole process was learned with a lot of time spent. That's the way I have hunted for many years and it has worked well out to about 300 yards.

Now that I have stretched things out a bit I find there is not much room for instincts to help other then witch drainage to hunt on a particular morning, figuring the wind across the canyon or where the moving animal might stop which helps me plan the shot.

Whether it be instinct or experience or a ballistic program I do know when shooting beyond 400 yards at game everything helps and it has to be right and practiced to be successful.
 
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