Bench rest accuracy versus field accuracy.

[TStone]

I'd like to respond to this without any further hijacking of the original thread.

We hear all this crap about people that print 0.5MOA on the bench but cannot hit an Impala at 100m ..... frankly I do not believe half of it. You can shoot or you cannot, the fundamentals stay the same, control over the rifle. Certainly groups will open up in the field but by 12" (to miss an Impala) kak stories I say.

I have to disagree with this. I see exactly this happening every year.

As an example, two years ago we had a hunter who arrived with a pair of quality rifles (.243 win and .30-06), wearing very good scopes. He shot both rifles very well from the bench, getting sub moa groups at 100 meters and consistently hitting 6" gongs at 300 meters.

We then went hunting and things went south very fast. Over a two day hunt he completely missed half a dozen animals and wounded an eland cow, which we never found. The eland was shot at around 200 meters and I think he hit her in the brisket. Among the animals missed were several springbok and blesbok at distances between 150 and 200 meters, shots taken from a sitting position over shooting sticks, and a warthog at less than 30 meters, standing over shooting sticks.

We went back to the range several times and every time he shot good groups at the right point of impact.

This is an extreme case but certainly not unusual.

On the other hand I often take first time hunters hunting without them ever sitting at a bench. I teach them to shoot over shooting sticks, standing and sitting, and have had excellent results in the field.

The problem is that when you shoot over a bench you do not control your rifle, it is lying perfectly still and all you need to do is gently squeeze the trigger, your sight picture perfectly focused and motionless. This is indeed the perfect way to test loads, it is certainly not the perfect way to train for hunting.

The only field position in which I've ever been able to keep a rifle perfectly motionless is prone using a bi-pod and a bag under the stock. This is also the way most long range hunters practice and hunt. For the average hunter, shooting out to 200 or 250 meters this is not practical. The area I hunt in does not lend itself to prone shooting, unless you set up on a hill and take 400 m+ shots.

So, your average hunter have to shoot sitting for longer, 100 m+, shots and often standing at ranges shorter than 100 m. The trick here is not to keep your scope motionless on the target but to move the crosshairs onto the target and firing as soon as the sight picture is right.

A lot of hunters especially novice hunters get nervous when they can't hold the sight picture as steady as they were taught on the range, from a bench, this is where their self confidence takes a nosedive and missing and wounding starts.

[Pirate]

So, your average hunter have to shoot sitting for longer, 100 m+, shots and often standing at ranges shorter than 100 m. The trick here is not to keep your scope motionless on the target but to move the crosshairs onto the target and firing as soon as the sight picture is right.

A lot of hunters especially novice hunters get nervous when they can't hold the sight picture as steady as they were taught on the range, this is where their self confidence takes a nosedive and missing and wounding starts.

Wow... there's some truth, so simply put in a few words. The trick being to know when the sight picture is good enough to make the required shot count. This is where I see practicing from field positions, onto either life-size target or "vital-sized" reactive targets as ideal. Once you've got a load that works, you need to practice to put the first shot from a cold barrel into a target the size of the vitals of your planned target animal. Simple theory, hey ;-)

:- P

[Capt. Oblivious]

Just to clarify we talking about BR shooters or people that just practice off a bench?
I know a couple Protea BR shooters and they will shoot the shit out off any one in the field and at much further distances than 100m. If you know how to shoot you know how to shoot.
Any top shooter will be able to pick up a FA from a different discipline and be good with it BUT if your talking about some one that spends all his time just shooting off a bench and than get into the bush and struggle with exhaustion and all that than I agree with you.Being able to shoot small groups is one thing but you need to know how to use that knowledge in the field.

The best way to practice is to take part in comps like SA hunting rifle (probably the F1 version) http://www.sahuntingrifle.co.za/ or SA Jagters "tabel shoots" where you have pressure from competing against other shooter.Standing on the range weekend after weekend shooting at a impala target at 100 and shooting off hand at a warthag target at 50m is also not really going to teach you allot other than holding your rifle on a range

[TStone]

I'm talking about hunters who do all their practice for hunting off a bench rest.

These days a lot of hunting is done from the back of a vehicle with a padded bench on the back, if you hunt like this practicing from a bench will work.

I'm specifically talking about walk and stalk hunting, not long range hunting or hunting from the back of a bakkie.

[Messor]

Wow... there's some truth, so simply put in a few words. The trick being to know when the sight picture is good enough to make the required shot count.

Or is it?

Interesting concept this. The best shooter from a field position(pure hunting) I know I often outshoot on the range. And it's not because he cant shoot, he's a damn good shot, no I beat him because on the range I make him think.

Now noobs will have no clue what I'm talking about but many people that grew up hunting or people who's job it is to shoot often don't recall the moment they pull the trigger, or think about the shot for that matter. No they just do it, years of training/experience lets them shoot as naturally as breathing. Now take such a person and when you give him time to try and work out wind and distance with all the time in the world he looses that subconscious edge and shoot just like a normal person would.

Funny subject this, many here will relate to what I'm stating now.
You cant beat a caliber called experience.

[Meteor]

Start practising with pellets in the yard. It is the best way to practise shouldering and shooting upright.

[ramius35]

Thought provoking stuff...

[shooty]

I think most people get bok koors in the field. And get so excited they shake and jerk the triggers.
Then completely shoot crap in the field. Some times they shoot from a bakkie. Everyone on it moves around as well making everything more wobbly.
And then off course the rifle is also not shouldered well. And the sight picture isn't correct. And all of this makes the shot go wrong.
99% of the time I went hunting. Its the big talkers that mess up in the field. Before hand its all brag about shooting head shots at ridiculous distances.
And when we return. The bucks are hanging with blown of rear legs. Stomach shots. And sometimes a couple of shots. And then its the wind or the air pressure.
Or a butterfly in the amazon that flapped its wings and caused it.

Practice , Practice and Concentrate. Breath and forget about nerves in the field.
Aim Small miss Small. Aim Big and expect to miss. Forget about shooting a Kudu through your scope. C
Concentrate and aim at a mark on the Kudu. And shoot the mark. Like aiming at a mark on your target on the range. If you concentrate on the whole Kudu. Your going to shoot crap.

On the bench there is absolutely no pressure or nerves impacting on the shot.

[TStone]

Concentrate and aim at a mark on the Kudu. And shoot the mark. Like aiming at a mark on your target on the range. If you concentrate on the whole Kudu. Your going to shoot crap.

Never aim at a mark on an animal, aim at the vital organs inside the animal. Picture the position of the organs inside the animal, shoot to destroy those organs.

[FCLoretz]

Never aim at a mark on an animal, aim at the vital organs inside the animal. Picture the position of the organs inside the animal, shoot to destroy those organs.

+1000

What I do especially when I take new friends/hunters to hunt with me is to sit for hours with a hunting magazine or look through old photos of game in the KNP and ask them where they will shoot this animal. After 5 seconds i move to the next picture if the haven't answered me or pointed to a spot.

As in the original(hijacked) thread, I still say that not nearly enough hunters practise field positions in the preparation period leading up their hunt. They spend more time firing of an xbag over a bench.