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