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When I hit the club to shoot I generally take one of the rifles [either the .45 Kodiak or the .50 Accura] and the Optima pistol. All three guns are well sighted-in, both rifles at 100 yards and the pistol at 50, and my shooting is nothing more than form maintenance. I take a few shots at the bench then I stand and use one of the 6X6 uprights as a vertical rest much like I would if I were using the side of a tree to take a couple shots with both whatever rifle and the pistol. The pistol I also take shots at 25 both sitting and standing using the upright. About every other trip to the range, I'll stretch the rifles out to 150 yards both sitting and standing so I know can do it if needed but on deer I seldom have shots over 30 yards. To end each range session with the rifles I shoot a couple shots off-hand at the 100 yards, just to stay in touch with it if I need it.
I'm a real die hard stand hunter and once I'm in there I seldom leave it except for about 10 minutes every three hours or so to take a leak and basically just stand to let blood run normally in the legs. I let the gun down and go to the ground and walk around the immediate stand area for circulation's sake then got back to the stand. Twice on my little exercise expeditions I have shot deer that happened along, off-hand. But still, off-hand is my least preferable shot, paper or hair.
A couple years ago the nephew wanted to hunt my stand as I had already filled my tags, so I said have at it and I went back along the ridge and took a ground stand on a large boulder that allowed me to see a wide sweeping hillside with a sharp drop of about 60 degrees from top to bottom. The woods are super clean along the hillside with a short "bench" that parallels a gravel road that follows the bottom. That bench is a superhighway for deer migrating from across the road or going form out land to the neighbors across the road. I set up on my rock and wasn't situated for more than 20 minutes when a bunch of does and fawns came along on our land on that bench, head for the road. They all stopped and watched the road and seemed not to be in a hurry, so I shouldered the Accura and took stock of what was there. One was a large doe and the kid had two open tags, so I took a deep breath, let some air out and settled the crosshairs on her. Now remember, I'm shooting downhill at around 60 degrees, so the point of aim was a little foreign to me, totally un-practiced. When in my mind's eye the crosshairs were where I thought they should be I squeezed the shot off. That doe staggered and dropped, then got up and wobbled and followed the other deer as they continued around the base of the hill on the bench. I waited 15 minutes and then reloaded and slid down the hill, there's simply no such thing as walking down the hill. I got to the log that was my landmark and found where she hit the snow and blood was everywhere. I only had to go about 35 yards and there she was piled up against a tree where the other deer had dropped down and crossed the road. When I opened her up I found that the Barnes 250 grain XPB had trashed her heart and both lungs. After dressing her out I scaled that slippery such of a hill and went back to the kid, who in my absence had popped a small doe and was finishing up. I told him what I had down so now he was one happy dude. Neither one of use heard the other shoot, I guess it was just the lay of the land. He slid his deer down the hill to the road and fetched his truck while I took his rangefinder and walked back along the top of the ridge to mu big rock. I'd left my gun and pack where the deer I shot had originally dropped and based on my tracks around the rock to where the pack could be seen the range was 167 yards,
I honestly think that the stars aligned for me on that shot. In after-thought I'd never take a shot like that again. I never, ever, have had anywhere to practice with a drop of that severity and distance, let along totally off-hand. I've shot the distance off a bench on flat ground but never under those circumstances. I guess I just felt confident.
How many of you shoot at distance off-hand as practice. How many of you practice shooting downhill? The ridge I hunt has radical slopes on both sides of it but for the life of me I have never had an opportunity to practice downhill shots especially the kind of downhill I hunt next to.
I'm a real die hard stand hunter and once I'm in there I seldom leave it except for about 10 minutes every three hours or so to take a leak and basically just stand to let blood run normally in the legs. I let the gun down and go to the ground and walk around the immediate stand area for circulation's sake then got back to the stand. Twice on my little exercise expeditions I have shot deer that happened along, off-hand. But still, off-hand is my least preferable shot, paper or hair.
A couple years ago the nephew wanted to hunt my stand as I had already filled my tags, so I said have at it and I went back along the ridge and took a ground stand on a large boulder that allowed me to see a wide sweeping hillside with a sharp drop of about 60 degrees from top to bottom. The woods are super clean along the hillside with a short "bench" that parallels a gravel road that follows the bottom. That bench is a superhighway for deer migrating from across the road or going form out land to the neighbors across the road. I set up on my rock and wasn't situated for more than 20 minutes when a bunch of does and fawns came along on our land on that bench, head for the road. They all stopped and watched the road and seemed not to be in a hurry, so I shouldered the Accura and took stock of what was there. One was a large doe and the kid had two open tags, so I took a deep breath, let some air out and settled the crosshairs on her. Now remember, I'm shooting downhill at around 60 degrees, so the point of aim was a little foreign to me, totally un-practiced. When in my mind's eye the crosshairs were where I thought they should be I squeezed the shot off. That doe staggered and dropped, then got up and wobbled and followed the other deer as they continued around the base of the hill on the bench. I waited 15 minutes and then reloaded and slid down the hill, there's simply no such thing as walking down the hill. I got to the log that was my landmark and found where she hit the snow and blood was everywhere. I only had to go about 35 yards and there she was piled up against a tree where the other deer had dropped down and crossed the road. When I opened her up I found that the Barnes 250 grain XPB had trashed her heart and both lungs. After dressing her out I scaled that slippery such of a hill and went back to the kid, who in my absence had popped a small doe and was finishing up. I told him what I had down so now he was one happy dude. Neither one of use heard the other shoot, I guess it was just the lay of the land. He slid his deer down the hill to the road and fetched his truck while I took his rangefinder and walked back along the top of the ridge to mu big rock. I'd left my gun and pack where the deer I shot had originally dropped and based on my tracks around the rock to where the pack could be seen the range was 167 yards,
I honestly think that the stars aligned for me on that shot. In after-thought I'd never take a shot like that again. I never, ever, have had anywhere to practice with a drop of that severity and distance, let along totally off-hand. I've shot the distance off a bench on flat ground but never under those circumstances. I guess I just felt confident.
How many of you shoot at distance off-hand as practice. How many of you practice shooting downhill? The ridge I hunt has radical slopes on both sides of it but for the life of me I have never had an opportunity to practice downhill shots especially the kind of downhill I hunt next to.
