bad day at the range

[Marcos Rodriguez]

This kind of things are more common than we suspect!...
Most shooters have the practice of targetting and seting the scope in a "bench rest" procedure, having great groups in the target.... but, ina steady position in the table...
This is IMPOSSIBLE in a hunting situacion! because this, my friend, the constant practice of shooting in a plenty of positions, are the difference between fail or success in a hunt!
Don,t feel terrible! Use the aknowledge of your own lack of accuracy as a reason to make you a better shooter! practice make masters!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Never ever ever shoot 6 power off sticks - too much exaggerated movement. Switch to 3x and I'll bet you a bottle of Talisker 15 that you halve your groups.

Interesting thought. Never considered that.

 

[tarbe]

How much caffeine did you have in you? I think that tends to be part of my problem. LOL

Caffeine was my first thought....

 

[sestoppelman]

I don't think I would cancel a planned hunt over it. Keep shooting, practice. As to scope power? I too have always felt that a lower power is helpful in particular shooting offhand standing or even sitting. On sticks I think it also applies but not to the same extent. My boy who did really well in RSA last month, shot everything off sticks at 4-6 power. Ranges were 40 yds to 200 yds., (impala).

 

[matt85]

thanks for the advice all!

i will try reducing the power on the scope some and see if that doesnt help. im not completely new to shooting off sticks but this is the first time ive used a scope off sticks. my previous experience was using a muzzle loader.

can you post a picture or a link to a picute of these outdoor rugs your talking about so i have an idea of what im looking for?

what concerns me about the hunt is that i will not have another chance to shoot before i hunt. i will be hunting saturday and do no have another chance to go to the range. i thought i would have one more chance but no luck. i will go, but i will not take any shots past 75 yards as i just dont trust myself till i can show improvement at the range.

thanks
-matt

 

[Johnny7604]

No problem, the ones I use are like the roll in the link below. Mine are only about 5 feet long though and I got them from the seasonal department of the local Canadian Tire hardware store.

http://www.floormatshop.com/36-Inch...-Outdoor-Floor-Runner-Survivor-Dark-Grey.aspx

Cheers,

John

 

[Tanks]

I assume you are NOT resting the barrel on sticks? That would drive accuracy to hell.

 

[Red Leg]

thanks for the advice all!

i will try reducing the power on the scope some and see if that doesnt help. im not completely new to shooting off sticks but this is the first time ive used a scope off sticks. my previous experience was using a muzzle loader.

can you post a picture or a link to a picute of these outdoor rugs your talking about so i have an idea of what im looking for?

what concerns me about the hunt is that i will not have another chance to shoot before i hunt. i will be hunting saturday and do no have another chance to go to the range. i thought i would have one more chance but no luck. i will go, but i will not take any shots past 75 yards as i just dont trust myself till i can show improvement at the range.

thanks
-matt

In addition to lowering scope power, dry fire. I am an old - literally :-( - product of the Army competitive marksmanship program, and I strongly believe dry firing is almost as effective as actual range time. I assume you are using a bolt action rifle, so you will do no harm to it snapping it on an empty chamber (unlike a double). Get in your basement, on your deck, somewhere that you can see an aiming point (and not get arrested) and practice just as if a real round is going down range. Breath, squeeze on the slight pause on exhale and call the shot. Do that twenty times and then quit for an hour or so - then do it again. You will be surprised how much real concentration and effort it takes to seriously dry fire those 20 shots. If you fire just 200 called shots before you board that plane, I promise you it will make a difference.

 

[matt85]

thanks for the advice Red Leg, ill give that a try.

the problem I seemed to be having the most is getting the gun to steady at all. seemed like no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the crosshair to hold still on target. ive been practicing off my sticks with a Savage chambered in 22LR and ive had the best luck by wrapping a finger around the barrel/stock and pulling it down onto the tripod. however with the 375 its hard to do that due to the size of the gun.

-matt

 

[Johnny7604]

If you can, try to avoid touching the barrel with anything (fingers, sticks etc...) during the shot process. This usually has a negative affect on accuracy due to inconsistently changing the normal harmonics of the barrel.

I have seen the extreme effects of this first hand with a buddy of mine. His groups went from about 1 inch at 100 to 5 inches just by resting the barrel on a sandbag while shooting. I don't believe it usually makes that big a difference but in his case it sure did.

John

 

[Tanks]

Matt,
I wonder if there is something wrong with the tripod set up, and/or posture. The purpose of the sticks is to support your off hand in your natural shooting stance, you should not really have to modify it. Also, on a big bore rifle (though 375 is really a mid bore ) you still need to maintain control, so you need to hold on to the rifle with your off-hand. I use the sling and sticks to support my off-hand. It becomes very steady.

 

[colorado]

As far as sticks go, I've never hunted in Africa, hope to some day, so I've never shot off of sticks. My hunting has been limited to elk / deer /bear hunting in the Rockies, brown bear hunting in Alaska and before that hunting deer and bear in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. I either still hunt (which is my favorite thing to do) so all shots are quick, close and off hand, or am either shooting sitting or kneeling with a sling. I can do pretty well sitting or kneeling, offhand I limit myself to 150 yards and can hit a desert plate (6") consistently offhand at my advanced age. When I was younger we used to shoot grouse's heads off off hand at 100 yards, but that was then ... sigh

 

[Marcos Rodriguez]

thanks for the advice Red Leg, ill give that a try.

the problem I seemed to be having the most is getting the gun to steady at all. seemed like no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the crosshair to hold still on target. ive been practicing off my sticks with a Savage chambered in 22LR and ive had the best luck by wrapping a finger around the barrel/stock and pulling it down onto the tripod. however with the 375 its hard to do that due to the size of the gun.

-matt

You problem sonds like a scope with too much magnification!... Try to shoot in 4x... then upper the level of magnification... Te reticle ALLWAYS dance over the target, but, in lower magnifications, the eye don´t see the movement, and theshooter takes confidence in the factibility of the hit...