Hunters, how important is it to pratice shooting before you hunt?

[outdoor338]

I am asked this question by some of our viewers, and would like to hear what the bow and rifle hunters of this website have to say, your information will help shape and form a segment on rifle and bow hunting! Should you go out and shoot your rifle or bow a week before the season begins or several months?, thanks for your help..

Dr. Mike

[ArcticBowMan]

First of all, if you don' t know your equipment, you shouldn' t be out there.

You can never practice enough, but only good practice helps. If you are shooting off, or just having a bad day at the range, it is more detrimental to keep shooting poorly than it is to just give up for the day and hit it again tomorrow.

[MinnFinn]

Practice as much as you can, year in and year out. It' s not a something to be taken lightly. You have to know your equipment, especially your firearms, scopes, etc. are ready to perform as expected and you' ve worked out any problems long before you get into the field or woods.

You need to make sure you' ve done everything possible to know your round will hit and kill what you aim for and you know how to adjust for likely situations (e.g. elevation differences of shooter to game, wind, etc.) You don' t get all that accomplished in 1 or 2 practice sessions the week before you go out hunting.

MinnFinn

[Power]

I look at it this way. I believe it is our deepest responsibility to the animals to be as efficient as reasonable for a quick and humane kill. Therefore we, as hunters, must be as professional about our pursuit of game and the taking of game as football players in the NFL. Do you see anyone in the NFL that doesn' t start working out and practicing weeks and months before the season? No, not any that last any way. With practice comes muscle memory and familiarity with one' s gear. The guy/gal that shows up at deer camp, boxes of shells several years old, and fires 1 shot the day before at a paper plate isn' t an ethical hunter in my book. S/he may be a fine shot and have a great gun that stays at the same piont of impact year after year. I just have no respect for someone that takes such a lazy approach to the well-being of the game to be so callus and careless about being an efficient killer.

However, people are lazy, that is a fact, and all the preaching in the world won' t change it. So, if you want to heed my advice, get out there and shoot, and shoot a lot. Because when you do things work out better for both sides of the coin.

[handloader1]

I believe one needs to pratice year round. Good luck.

[Have 2 Hunt]

I know I dont practice enough anymore and it does catch up with you. I do plan to do alot of shooting in the next month though. I used to practice all the time and a 2 inch group at 200 yards was no big deal but I can' t get better than 3 or 4 inch lately and I have only myself to blame. Time to hit the range I guess last years 6 shots really dont count as practice, a one shot at 50 yard deer and 5 running shots at a 300 yard+ elk, at least 3 hit though

[glob3006]

I shoot all the time.Practice is the only way to get to know your rifle and how it shoots from different positions and different ranges.
Don' t forget that opportunities to get a shot at an animal can be tough to come by.Don' t mess it up by not knowing where and how your rifle shoots!!!!!!!


Happy Trails!!

[ELKampMaster]

In direct answer to the original question:

A week is too short, but a half a year [several months] in advance is not mandatory (preferrable maybe but not mandatory).

And, the follow up:
In general and to no one in particular (especially previous posters on this thread):

I could " parrot" a safe answer on this one, but I don' t think it reflects the reality for most hunters, good or bad. It seems like there is a pretty strong " Lake Wobegone" factor when you get hunters on the internet -- they all tend to be " above average" : (1) always wait (and wait and wait) for the perfect shot placement shot, (2) always hit the boiler room, (3) never wound an animal, (4) and never have one get away, and (5) practice endlessly at the range and could qualify as back up members of the US PALMA team. With the chastising that goes on with those that are a little too honest, I can see why things get written up the way they do. So,....

Interesting that the original question was asked of BOTH rifle hunters and bowhunters. So far all the responses are from rifle hunters and NOT bowhunters. Most of the rifle hunters are using scoped flat shooting high power rifles that most bowhunters would consider the ultimate in " brainless/cheating/no-skill hunting" weaponry [couldn' t think of a word that covered both guns and bows]. Archery hunting skills tend to atrophy quickly and must be constantly honed to be effective -- much less so with scoped high power rifles. Yet, from the things I read it sounds like perhaps thousands of rounds per year need to be spent in practice. I' d say that kind of bench time is NOT A MANDATORY requirement for effective " hit the pie plate kill zone - now and quick" performance. It is great if you choose to do it and my hats off to you if you do, but in and of itself it is no guarantee of victory in the elk woods.

Practice? I' d say the first (and last) obvious trip to the range is for sight in and then for sight in confirmation before you leave for the hunt (leave the bore fowled). After that I' d say the important number is NOT how many total rounds are shot but rather how many rounds are shot AWAY from the bench. I' ll take a hunter who shoots 100 rounds AWAY from the bench (preferrably at targets that don' t have bulleyes) in the month before the season over one who shoots a 1000 - 2000 rounds off of the bench but zippo offhand or in hunting poses.

I' ve had a few in camp that I wish had diverted some of that over abundant range time into time spent elsewhere, like:

(1) Hiking with their weighted pack and hunting boots on before the season; so we don' t have to stop and put moleskin on their blistered feet at 330am opening morning.

(2) Doing some sort of cardio challenge in preparation for needing to breathe at altitude.

(3) Arriving in camp the day they were supposed to instead of at 10:00pm the night before the season opener when faced with a 1:00 wake up time the following day (and falling asleep on stand).

(4) Spending time to get closer to the game so that PALMA level accuracy is not so necessary.


ONE CAVEAT, IF YOU ARE A NEW HUNTER then abundant target time (don' t forget offhand/hunting poses) can do much to bolster your confidence and " honable" skill set and offset your lack of stored visual images of just what to do when " show time" comes (experience).

Sacriledge I know, but my $.02.

Never Go Undergunned,
and Make Sure The Damn Thing Is Sighted In,

EKM

[bigbulls]

For rifles I think a lot of it has to do with how famaliar you are with your rifle and the load that you will be using. Some hunters have used the same gun and load combination for countless years and know more about that particular set up than most hunters will ever know about their latest super magnum they just bought. These people have an " intimate relationship" with their rifles and know exactly where that bullet is going when the trigger is pulled.

On the other end of the spectrum are the people that have to have or try something new every year and these people, IMO, need to practice months in advance of hunting season.

Most hunters fall somewhere in the middle. They practice off and on (which is what I tend to do) during the off season to keep their skills up with their rifle that a " crunch" practice session is certainly not needed.


Bow hunting is another story IMO. I like to practice all year long and to keep my bow in tune through out the year. While I don' t shoot in leagues or anything like that I do shoot in the back yard and at the local pro shop. There is a lot of muscle developement and a lot of muscle memory that comes into play with the bow and arrow and if that fades away because you didn' t practice enough then your accuracy will suffer. There is a lot of confidence in yourself and your equipment with a bow and arrow and IMO one can never practice enough. I always feel like I didn' t practice enough even when I shoot every day for two months before the season starts and once or twice a week the rest of the year.

[PaJack]

I shoot year round. I guess that' s practice...