Does silhouette make you a better hunter?

[pistolero45]

I've always thought that rifle competion makes one a much better shot when it comes to hunting.

So here is this year's deer. Notice the bullet hit him right behind the shoulder. The distance was 220 yards. That is roughly chicken distance, but under field conditions with a 4x scope it makes one concentrate!

[Jim Beckley]

Me thinks that any competitive shooting will make you a better game shot, for that matter any kind of practice (burning powder) before hunting season couldn't hurt. That is a very nice Whitetail by the way!

[deadeyeky]

well shooting HP silhouette gave me the confidence to shoot an elk at 493 yards this past month, i dont think i would have been able to do it if it wasnt for silhouette shooting.

by the way, i didnt take the shot off-hand, ;)

[tbone49]

You answered your own question! Great shot, great rack!

[BlauBear]

by the way, i didnt take the shot off-hand, ;)

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should! Congrats on a good hunt!

[#57]

I used to shoot cowboy action, big targets, not very far away, but timed. Time is everything. does not help in the field at all! well maybe not at all. It does train you to ID your targets quickly #57

[pistolero45]

I used to work with a fellow who tried to make up for his poor marksmanship by using a .300 Win. mag. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that caliber, but this guy's idea of sighting the gun in was to shoot at a milk jug about 25 yards away. He absolutely would not believe that anyone could accurately fire past 100 yards. At the time I was playing the HP silhouette game and he would practically call me a liar. Needless to say, this fool wounded deer every year. And I'll bet we all know people like this, too.

I have no idea why I am telling this story, other than it has been festering in my brain for the past ten years or so!

[BlauBear]

During primary marksmanship training, they very pointedly taught us to shoot accurately at 500 yards and a surprising number of the boots grumbled about the impossibility of such a thing. A couple of days later they were doing it, and very pleased with themselves and their rifles - the standard issue M14's with iron sights and thousands of rounds through them. Can't get a kill shot on a deer with a modern scoped rifle off a rest? Get a coach, read a book and go practice.

[Jim Beckley]

A couple of gun scribes wrote these lines that I remembered. There are plenty of all purpose rifles, where are the all purpose riflemen? There are plenty of 300 yard rifles sitting in the racks of 100 yard riflemen! I think that the 100 yards has shrunk over the past few years and I think that the mag craze has added to that greatly.

[dwl]

Get a coach, read a book and practice is the finest advice I've heard and unfortunately beyond the comprehension of most hunters and shooters I've met, present company excepted.

I don't know how many times I've sighted in peoples guns and recommended they practice once a month and never seen them again. Since I'm preaching to the choir I might recommend that in addition to silhouette try some three or four position shooting with a .22. Then in the field you'll be ready for prone, sitting and kneeling as well as off hand.

dwl

[cslcAl]

I think the greatest benefit from silhouette or any competitive shooting is simply target aquisition. I often see the once a year shooters at the local club and am baffeled over how much trouble they have finding a target at 100 yds while sitting at a bench. I must admit I was not the best at pulling up to dead aim on a deer pre silhouette. To quote Gommez Adams " I'm much better now" It all equates to trigger or line time; the more you do it the better you will become. And this does also cross over to hunting.
Al Foust

[pistolero45]

I agree target aquisition is a hugely important skill. And it takes a lot of practice to get good at it. Small game hunting is an excellent way to achieve this. Learning to shoot with both eyes open is a huge plus, especially on moving game. Cottontails and jackrabbits will make one an exceptionally good shot and taste good, too (at least the cottontails).

Has anyone else noticed the trend on game rifles to mount large objective scopes with lots of magnification? I prefer an old Weaver K-4W just for the wide field of view. When things happen, they tend to happen fast. There is nothing wrong with a variable, but more than once I have been caught with the scope power cranked up too high.

[BlauBear]

try some three or four position shooting with a .22. Then in the field you'll be ready for prone, sitting and kneeling as well as off hand.

dwl

Oh Lord! Assuming I could get in position, I'd need a tow truck and a chiropractor to get out!

[dwl]

BB

That one made me laugh so hard I almost cried. Yes, weren't those the days when I was in shape and had to borrow a buck to get a drink. But remember, once you do get in postion and make that shot you've got all afternoon to get up.

[Dee]

Sure seemed to be an aid this past week. I shot my first deer with my black powder rifle while sitting in a collapsable lawn chair inside a pop up blind.

I thought my shot would come from the front as the wind was in my face that way and 2 others had shot deer in that opening the past few days. So I setup where I could get into position easy for a rested shot out the front. Every once in a while I would peer out the left side opening to check things out to make sure nothing snuck in on me from that side and sure enough there he was.

Now I had to slowly try to reposition my body in the chair quietly to get the rifle around to take a shot. After a bit of slow and go moving around I finally was able to get a shot off. Basically it was an offhanded shot while seated in the chair. Right @ 50 yards using my open sights I watched as he dropped right where he stood under the cloud of smoke.

So yes I think it does greatly improve your shooting at live game. After you spend lots of time shooting little metallic animals in SB and Air Rifle silhouette even using open sights on a deer sized animal gives you a greater sense of confidence in your aim and the practice of following through correctly really helps with the smokepoles as they can take a moment to fire at times forcing you to maintain the sight picture to make a good shot.

Thankfully I added a red fiber optic front sight to my rifle the week before. It sure paid off in the dimming evening light that was left. Had I left the black front sight on I am not sure I would have been able to see it well enough to take a shot at all.

Dee