Ultralight backpacking rifles and offhand shots

[fatbacks]

Having spent 11 years in the infantry, I am pretty good at reflexive fire/off hand with an M4, however, last fall I was blacktail deer hunting and had an offhand shot at a buck at about 125 yds with my 300 WSM. Needless to say I emptied my rifle shooting at him and only managed to scare the hell out of the deer. Made up for it later that afternoon when I shot a doe at about 45 yds off hand.

All that said, if you plan on shooting offhand... practice, practice and then practice. I get in the bad habit of shooting off the bench at the range and not putting myself in realistic shooting positions that you'd find yourself in the field.

 

[howl]

M4 handles a lot different than a bolt action, and for sure recoils much differently. I've experienced the same thing with having shot an AR a lot messing up my bolt action shooting.

 

[JohnnyR]

I think dry firing in multiple field positions is key. It worked for us in the Marine Corps infantry and I’m sure it’s relevant in general marksmanship/hunting.
On another aspect of lessening our carried load in the hills, how many of us couldn’t stand to lose 5-10 lbs? Seems like that is as worthy a goal as shaving ounces in our rifles!

 

[fightthenoise]

Best thing I did was buy a Tikka Compact in .223, a case of ammo, and guiltlessly blast it up in various positions. My hunting rifle is a Model 70 Extreme Weather, which has a Bell and Carlson stock so I put a B&C on the Tikka and a matching scope so for all intense and purposes it’s the same rifle ergonomically to my hunting rig. It’s been awesome. The Tikka’s are 1:8 twisted so they can shoot the heavies too.


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[Newtosavage]

Unless it's a feral pig, I'm not taking a shot over 100 yards offhand, period. Lots of guys are great offhand shooter. I figure I'm okay but I know my limits and I respect the game enough to honor them.

 

[ChrisAU]

Grew up toting around a 22LR shooting squirrels, rabbits, and tweety birds off hand while walking through the woods. I think it made me better at shooting off hand with a light rifle than a heavy one. It doesn't take me long to start shaking with a heavy rifle. Hit the gym every morning but a 10 lb rifle will make me quiver after 30 seconds lol.

 

[RumLover]

Longest off hand shot was with a Remington 783, 7mm Rem, 139gr Barnes TTSX handloads. It was a 4x4 mulie at 574 meters offhand, double lung shot. I spooked him at 240 yards on the opposite mountain and took a pop shot that missed. He ran further up the other mountain but calmed down once he cleared the trees. I had to force myself to calm down, take several deep breaths, dial my dope, wrap the sling and get steady with good bone structure. Dropped him with the second shot.

For practice, I'm an NRA High Master in the service rifle category, been competing for 22 years. In those comps, we shoot 200y standing, no sling with peep sights. Of the 4 positions we shoot, standing at 200 is the hardest, but it forces you to focus on form, bone structure and breathing control.

For hunting, I typically will only shoot off hand if I have no other options. I practice standing, seated, and prone during the summer, typically burning 300-400 rounds. I always try to get as close to the target as possible, sometimes that's within 50 yards, sometimes further. On that mulie, I didn't have an option due to the terrain, it had been a long 8 days of seeing only spikes and does and I wasn't going to pass on the only opportunity I had. It's all about practice, knowing your rifle and knowing your dope.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Made a one shot kill on a caribou at 90 yards, tracking it as it ran through small trees in the snow, then fired when he stopped. Kimber Adirondack that weighed 6lbs scoped.. while on my splitboard


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[SoDaky]

Practice is key.Back in ‘my’ day one looked forward to Sunday’s at the range and assorted offhand contests including the ‘running’ deer on a 100 yd cable.Of course that was back when anyone could practice with 22s in City Hall basement,leave loaded guns in your vehicles at high school and so on.

 

[TwoTikkas]

This may not fall precisely within the OP's parameters,but is relative. I built points and planned for a long time to hunt mule deer in the Gunnison basin. I ended up settling on a T3 chambered for 270 Winchester. I mounted a 4.5-14X Leupold complete with the Boone and Cricket reticle. I confirmed drops to 400 yards. Adjusting zero to put 130 grain Hornady bullets on the hash marks. Ready! Well,when the moment of truth came,it was an off hand shot at 8X. 343 lasered yards with the buck moving nearly straight away giving me his back as he moved up a small rise. No time to set the magnification to 14X. No choosing the proper hash Mark. No Outdoor Channel esque footage. Such is hunting.

The Tikka weighs a tad more than the mountain weight rifles in question. But I had gobs of confidence in it. Spent a bunch of time on the trigger pre hunt. She weighs in at just over 8# I believe. Fully loaded. Honestly,a heavier rifle may have been enough slower to get into action. May not have gotten the shot off. Who knows? It's not like we were jump shooting deer. My Brother in law missed this buck the previous evening. When we came over the rise he had zero tolerance for humans with guns and binoculars,and exited stage right. Or should I say "sage" right.

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Practice is key.Back in ‘my’ day one looked forward to Sunday’s at the range and assorted offhand contests including the ‘running’ deer on a 100 yd cable.Of course that was back when anyone could practice with 22s in City Hall basement,leave loaded guns in your vehicles at high school and so on.

I remember those days. In 6 th grade another student brought his 30/40 Krag in for an oral report. Complete with a cartridge to pass around the room. Now,this was a rural farming community school. Not a concern in the world. Everyone knew that killing other folks was wrong. Seems now a days some aren't getting the memo.