Nov. tip by Beau. -- KNOW YOUR WEAPON

[Beau]

 And how to use it!  After the season I've been having I cant stress this enough to anyone.  It is so very important to know what your weapon is capable of, what its not capable of,  and how to use it.

 I see guys come in here with some REAL nice weapons, and they have got this and that with a custom built this and that added on necked down to be a this and that .   I feel I need to start asking ... "BUT CAN YOU SHOOT IT "

 If you are buying a guided hunt, be sure and shoot your gun alot and get familier with it.  shoot close, shoot far, shoot prone, shootstanding, sitting etc.  Its the guys that come out with a brand new rifle that they bought just for the hunt and have only shot it a handfull of times that seem to miss.
 This season I had a guy in on a herd bull at 60 yards...MISSED.  because he didnt know how to use his scope properly (had it zoomed way up to 10 power for a close range shot) and hadnt shot his gun enough to be familiar with it.

 Last night there was a wolf we saw out the lodge window, ended up following him and intercepted him in the south pasture for a 30 yard shot.....MISSED  Yep, even at 30 yards you still need to aim.

 Hope this little bit of simple advice helps make someone's hunt successful, and not heart achin' after a missed opportunity because after all the hunting it comes right down to that one shot!  Granted hunting is hunting and you dont get them all but, the gimmy's shouldnt get away!  So if you dont already, go to the range and LEARN HOW TO USE YOUR WEAPON!  It'll pay in the end

[flcracker]

This couldn't be more true. One time i had to borow a rifle for an unexpected hunt at my buddy's ranch . I had a nice buck walk out on me and had a great shot. Went to take the shot and nothing happend. I thought the safty was off but guess what -- nope. The buck got spooked and took off. I cussed myself out for an hour afterward.   

Thats what happens when you don't know the weapon you are using.

[royaltine]

I have moved this over to the tip section, as I think it is that important.  

Hunters can GREATLY increase their odds by being a good shot.  If you can shoot a bow to 30 yards, and a rifle to 300, great but that is absolute minimum in my opinion.  If you can shoot a bow to 50 and a rifle to 500, I think you are going too have a MUCH better chance of harvesting.  Todays weapons will shoot these distances WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS.  Range finders have taken all the guess work out of guessing distance, practice should take care of the shot placement and the buck fever, and a person can read about bullet ballistics off the internet all day long.  That leaves only the shooter left.  Like Beau said, shoot, shoot, shoot!  Not just off a bench, but in any position you can think of.  Shoot with hunting clothes on and back pack and gloves.  Always keep scopes turned down, always tape your barrel to keep debris and moisture out, have reliable scope covers for the rainy days, use shooting sticks or find a good rest whenever you can, remember to shoot about 1/3 up and right in the crease of the elbow, puffy clothing can make a big difference with bow shooting if it catches the string, the list goes on and on...  Pick a weekend a yer and go out and shoot, just a few rounds a month will help kep you tuned up.  For archery, shoot the interactive video systems found at most archery shops - alos, 3-D archery shoots are GREAT practice.

Bigger is not always better!  Time and time again, I've seen guys get new big caliber guns to come out west and hunt elk, most are not familiar with these new guns and alot are bigger than necessary.  IT"S ALL ABOUT SHOT PLACEMENT!  I would much rather have a hunter come out west with his trusty ol' 270 he's been shooting for years than his new 30-378 that he is uncomfortable with.  Same with bows, in order to draw on elk undetected, the bow should be pulled slowly and smoothy.  If you have to aim your bow at the stars and jerk it down as you pull the string, you're pulling too much weight!

 

[Trapper06]

I had a young hunter show up at a hunt in Texas with the rifle still in the box.....he was trying to but the bolt in when we walked up.....he did not hunt that day.

I worked a small hunting plantation where we required hunters to demonstrate proficiency on a 100 yard range. We also had flags at intervals out to 300 yards scattered around to test their ability to estimate distance. It worked well.

I carry a small laser bore sight to check scopes for alignment if I see mis-handleing or if a rifle is dropped. It's also a quick check if a scope was ever mounted correctly to begin with.

40 more days remaining in Iraq....yee haa.

[Steve]

Shooting practice can't be over emphasized.  I used to shoot all the time, and it really paid off come hunting season.  All my rifles and handloads were fine tuned.  Now days I don't take the time for that....but I need to, if I'm going to hunt.

The past several years I haven't shot much.  I'd usually go out and fire a few rounds to make sure my pet rifle was on and call it good.  As a result I've started messing up on some easy shots where there was no excuse.

One thing that can happen is to start blinking and jerking the trigger.  This can make a huge difference.  It's very very important to pick a small spot in the vitals and concentrate on that spot until your rifle fires.  Bowhunting is the same thing.  You need to pick a spot.  The worse thing you can do is just shoot at the whole animal.

I'm a big believer in taking a rest when you shoot.  Sometimes you don't have time for that, but usually there is.  I've made a lot of tough shots just by taking a rest on the side of a tree. 

Now days you can buy shooting sticks.  Some of these may be junk, but others are probably good.  For years I've packed a couple of cedar arrows held together at the top with a heavy rubber band.  I shove this in my belt and pull it out when I need to take a rest with my rifle.  This can make a huge difference on a tough shot.  This is not a new idea.  Buffalo hunters used two sticks for a rest all the time. 

When I'm still hunting for whitetail I sometimes take a walking stick that I modified for shooting.  It's a piece of lodge-pole that's ripped down the middle.  I put a bolt and nut toward the top so that it will hinge open.  I also tie a string below that, so it won't open too far.  Sometimes you might only have a small hole to shoot through.  You can unfold this walking stick quickly and be dead steady.  This is kind of a pain to carry around but if you use it for a walking stick, you get used to packing it.

For antelope I have a shorter Harris Bi-pod on my rifle.  What a difference that can make.  I don't have these kinds of bipods for all types of hunting, but they can sure  help make those tough shots....

[Deadeye and Doeswell]

I couldn't agree with you guys more.  I'm afraid I had the same kind of season Beau was talking about.  Why is it a lot of hunter love the 300 Ultra Mag?  80-90% of them can't shoot it accurately, I almost cringe when I hear that's what they shoot.  Anyway, I just thought I would add one more thing to this post besides know your weapon, and I never thought it would be something to worry about to much.  Make sure your hunters know what the game looks like, as sad as that sounds.  Last year I had a die hard deer hunter that was about to shoot the wrong species.  I couldn't believe it, that's what I get for assuming.  Sorry don't mean to get away from the main topic.

[Steve]

I'll bet that is about right on the heavy magnum rifles.  There probably is a huge percentage of people who can't shoot them very well. 

I bought a 300 Winchester a while back.  I don't shoot it near as well as I would like, so I don't use it much.

Identifying the right species is important.  You'd be surprised how many people get excited and shoot when they shouldn't.  A friend of mine had a friend from far away come to hunt with him.  This guy would get so excited when he saw game that he would about wet his pants.  One day they were driving up a road, and this guy starts screaming, "stop the truck, stop the truck!"  This ding dong was shouting, "There's an elk, there's an elk."

 My friend stopped the truck and looked all over, but he couldn't see anything.  Finally he said, if you are sure it's an elk, go ahead and shoot.  So this fool fires, and bark flew off of a stump up on the side of the hill.  There was no elk.  Just a stump being shot at by a crazy hunter.

[Steve]

Identifying the proper sex is important too.  More than once I've taken a long shot on a doe only to find out it was a buck.

On another hunt I was rushing my wife to hurry up and shoot at an elk.  They were about to run off.  My wife had a cow tag.  Finally she fired and a spike bull went rolling down the hill....Not good!

I like a good scope.  It helps when you are checking game out for antlers.  A lot of times I don't get my binoculars out, when I'm in a hurry to shoot.  I have a 3x9 Leupold II on most of my hunting rifles.  On nine power you can see really well.  Even on very close shots you can see well enough for a shot (even on nine power).  It is a good idea to turn it down to three power if you are in heavy timber.  A lot of times I forget.

This last Fall I spotted a Whitetail doe pointing her head out of the brush on an island.  I had a super accurate 270 with a six power Leupold.  I had a B tag for does.  I almost touched one off, but decided I had enough time to look things over better.  I grabbed my wife's 270 with the 3x9 scope on it.  On nine power I could clearly see the antlers on that buck.  Nine power shows a lot more than six power does....