Make sure the first bullet count .....

[alfoldivandor]

Hunters have to realize that the first bullet may be the only one they will have a chance to fire at the big game before it disappear .....

[skeeter1]

You're not a waterfowl then

[MikePal]

AND..no matter how well you shoot on a bench rest ..it has no bearing on how well you can shot free hand in the field.

[skeeter1]

Ya, if I get a nice buck in front of me in the controlled hunt and I can't find a tree to rest on he's got a 50 - 50 chance

[Pat32rf]

I can't get a clear shot FOR the darn trees!

[impact]

One of the reasons why I love ML hunting.

[Guelph1981]

I think most hunters on this site strive for quick, clean, humane one shot kills.

[topher]

I prefer lots of holes.. Find it twnderizes the meat. More.

[oaknut]

I prefer lots of holes.. Find it twnderizes the meat. More.

Who needs a grinder when a dozen pieces of lead randomly placed makes hamburger anyway.

[blasted_saber]

AND..no matter how well you shoot on a bench rest ..it has no bearing on how well you can shot free hand in the field.

This is something that cannot be emphasized enough.

Often I see two camps. The "Theres no bench in the field so why should I sight in my gun from a bench" crowd. And the "I only ever shoot from a bench" crowd.

The proper way to shoot is to sight in your gun from as steady a rest as you have. In an ideal scenario it would be a vice that the shooter doesnt even touch. In this manner we know exactly what the gun is capable of. This is unlikely though, so a good set of sand bags is suitable.

Once the gun is sighted in, then the hunter should shoot free hand, and from a variety of positions. In the field I will shoot from a sitting position if I can do it.

As I target shoot on private property what I do is load my magazine and as im walking to the target stop and take shots from various positions and distances, chosen at random. 100m, 70, 50, 35, 10, sitting, kneeling, standing, prone etc.

I do have slight disagreement that is has no bearing though. In my mind the average hunter doesnt get the amount of trigger time that he/she should. ANY shooting is helping the hunter learn his/her gun better. Things like trigger control and breathing etc. For this same reason I think that bore sighters shouldnt be used by the average hunter. They are better off using a box of shells to sight in as opposed to firing a handful and putting the gun away until the hunt.