I’m 66, and a life long hunter. I try to listen to all your videos. Sometimes I learn a little, sometimes I learn a lot. But I alway learn. Thanks, much appreciated.
I'm realizing this is a bit of a regional thing but growing up hunting on prairie farms I'd say 75% of my kills (deer) were off hand - mostly running shots. Never much thought about it, but pretty much shoot the same way you describe it. Like your channel btw, I think you really know what you're talking about compared to most of the hunting/rifle channels out there. Good job!
Man, this is a great video. Went through it once before. And that round really helped me. Going through this again for another, and it’s helping over again…. 👍 thanks
Lots of good info. I specifically bought my 455 varmint because it weights about the same as a hunting rifle. 1,000 offhand shots later,😊 I can easily consistently hit a basketball size target at 200 with my hunting rifle
Off hand where we hunt is the majority unless your in a blind in an already sitting position. 2-2.5x scope settings are my favorite for great field of view and still accurate enough for 100 yards free hand for where we hunt. 100 yards being the max of ever in our woods. Most shots are 75 and under. Great video
After not shooting for many years, I noticed I didn't feel comfortable behind my scopes. My neck was tilting forward and I noticed I was unsteady. However after the video, I scrunched up, squared up and lowered my chicken arm, and boom I'm comfortable behind a rifle again!! Thanks so much! p.s. You are doing an amazing job, thanks for the no nonsense lessons on all things shooting related!
Participating in trap/skeet and dove hunting as well as shooting off hand metallic silhouette definetly refined my off hand shooting skills. I also make sher to practice with my primary hunting rifle every so often.
Thank you very much! Very useful video! It's especially nice that you share your vast experience without any pathos! Worthy of imitation for many others! Health and hunting fart with complete pleasure!
I read an article decades ago either field and stream or outdoor life. The article was about being a rifleman. The only qualification I truly recall : should be able to break clay targets ( stationary of course ) consistently say 5 for 5 off hand at 100 yards. I shoot rimfire rifles a LOT ! 22 lr 22 WMRF and 17 HMR. Affordable and lower noise level for my relationship with my neighbors. I work on this drill frequently. I do cheat and use a hasty sling sometimes. I also experiment with a trick a completion shooter gave me. “ Mount the gun in a normal stance but twist to your left ( for a right handed shooter ) 20-25 degrees . This just builds tension / engages more muscles.” I LOVE to shoot. Rifles , handguns and recurve bows and compound bows. I truly feel all of these separate things help and build on the other. Love your channel. Thank You for your efforts.
Great video, Dog. I'm an avid off-hand shooter and have been wrestling with many of the points you cover. You have helped me immensely. I'll put what you teach into practice at the range.
I also agree with Jeff Cooper, always shoot supported. Except for the one time you cannot. Since I hunt on public land, there is the real possibility that I will see a deer when I walk over a rise or around a tree. And I may not have time to set up my tripod and get all pretty, though I do carry them in one hand while carrying the rifle across my forearms. So, I dry fire practice off-hand at home. And yeah, my rifle that is shooting .57 inches (.54 MOA for three shot group) at 100 yards is now wavering around and I am lucky if the combination of me and the rifle are as low as 2 MOA. And yes, there is wavering and so it is a matter of timing without slamming the trigger. Another trick I have learned is start with the muzzle a little high and let gravity settle you down and squeeze the trigger the moment you are in the target zone. For me, off hand range is going to be 50 to 70 yards max. You stated it perfectly. The game target is maybe 100 yards or farther, then you have time to set up sticks or get on a tree branch. I have also used a door jamb to act like a tree trunk and brace my off hand and rifle foregrip against that, which is slightly better than completely off hand.
This is another great video. Thank you for posting. I once competed with the Prez of my gun club in an offhand shoot with .375 H&H rifles at bowling pins at 200 yards. What a blast!
@@desertdogoutdoors1113 All true my friend. I appreciate all your videos and look forward to them all even if I have to catch them later. Thanks DD, awesome stuff.
I'm glad you mentioned cheek-weld and cant together. Like you said, don't cant your head too much as it throws your balance off center. The Horatio character, from CSI Miami, was the poster-child for flopping the head over to near 70-80 degrees. They could, and should, have gotten a better instructor for that actor. Great video, as always. Take care and be well!
I had a buddy who was a paid consultant "firearm and hunting expert" for Hollywood productions. Directors had actors shoot from the hip, aim AR15's with no sights, and put European deer in American forests because they thought it looked better. Most movies have paid experts, but they are never listened to. Liberal directors and producers are just as out of touch with reality as liberal politicians.
Here, in Northern California, I mostly still hunt. I normally encounter game, inside 50 yards. All of my shots to date are off hand. This year, I'm taking my newly acquired heirloom Winchester 94 into the timber. I gotta say, it's a fast rifle and super lightweight. Last year, I almost missed my shot on a black bear because I had my scope at 7 power. Lesson learned but I did harvest that old bear.
Good video.Most of this just comes automatically to me from hunting European hare while their running fast across the snow or plowed frozen fields hunted them for 40years.
A bit of trap shooting helps a lot as to shooting stand. Agreed, shot plenty upland birds and ducks before high power rifle hunting and air gun hunting at a about 10 years on. I´m 6´1 and always had to add about 1 to 1 1!2 inch to my gun stocks for the sight to fall naturaly into place, I started hunting with 3x9 scopes that were the standard for 1970 ´s , by 1985 I realized that when spooking game at under 40 yds I could not keep it in sight at 3X. There were no scopes a under 1.5 X and bought a very expensive 1.5 x 6 leupold scope at cabelas for $450, Could not afford a $1000 Zeiss or Swarowsky, Today my 1.5 x 6 is on a .22 LR and $1000 1X8 on my 30'06
DD thanks for the video, it’s greatly appreciated. I shoot traditional black powder off hand a lot and can shoot more easily at 100 yds off hand with my BP rifle than with my scoped ‘06. Great tips I do practice off hand with my ‘06 because for exactly the reasons you give in addition to prone, off sticks and off my pack. You can’t take a bench into the hills! Again, great stuff, thanks for the “scrunch”, I’ll use it.
Surprised you didn't talk about length of pull and scope eye relief. I like a lgeneral ength of pull of 13" Or ever 12 5/8" when I have heavy coats or a back pack on while hunting in thick areas Helpful video
You made some excellent points but I think the main thing is training and as far as training goes Ruger in the M77 22 that mimics the size and weight of the full-size rifles is the best way I found a train for running shots.
Thanks as always, I think you have reminded me of techniques that I have let slip from my shooting. I only use off hand shooting when following up a wounded animal, which I might add is a rare event.
The hardest thing to master when off hand shooting, is trigger squeeze. Most times an off hand shooter will jerk the trigger. That's going to pull the shot off target as much as it does in any other shooting position. It is still important to squeeze the trigger when off hand shooting.
We must have learned during the same time period and methods because everything you are teaching is what I was taught as a kid shooting NRA in FL in the 70s. My father never let me bench rest he was very strict on traditional positions and sling support but using a hasty sling. We did a lot of squirrel and rabbit hunting and it was 100% offhand. I did shoot a hog offhand one time . We also used to shoot skeet a lot. Offhand has always come naturally to me but I would never use it at a distance or if I had time to take a better position. My most accurate position is sitting with knees up with hasty sling. I hate scopes though I can shoot very accurate with a quality diopter sight. I had a 30-06 with a redfield aperture sight that I could consistently shoot 3 to 5 inch groups at 300 yards from sitting with sling support. Thanks 👍 great discussion
I've used a slow pull through the target to combat shake, so raising the rifle to just below point of aim then continuing up slowly breaking as the sight reaches the target. Kind of a micro version of a passing shot on overhead birds. As you correctly point out trying to hold still on the target center off-hand is utterly impossible. The longer you hold the worse the shakes get.
I practice offhand all the time and I do the chicken wing and kind of comes naturally. But I always tuck my right elbow into my upper body and bring close to the magazine or trigger guard with a moderate grip and not a grasp . I never breathe till the shot has been fire. I thing this was a great video. One more thought, I do turn my body with my left with my foot East and West ,right foot North and South and my legs slightly spread . It just feels natural.
The last rifle you are holding in the video is obviously a maple model 70 supergrade, but the rifle you are holding before that, useing to demonstrate stances and holds, that is a very nice looking rifle. It looks like a 98 mauser receiver with a blondish colored monte carlo type stock. Could you give us a detailed description of that rifle? Action, trigger, barrel length, chambering, type of wood for the stock, type of wood for the foreend tip, any information would be greatly appreciated. It looks like a very nice, attractive rifle. Thank you.
Thought I was gonna learn how to shit, shoot and shave all in one video.... Disappointed now, but it was an alright video anyway. Just kidding, its was a great video, well done!
I am a better than average off hand shooter because of years of shooting bb guns , plinking with 22s . Best shots I ever made on game was offhand. Instincts from a lifetime of shooting takes over. Game animals are not stationary targets like at the gun range. Field condition do not always allow a perfect shooting stance. Shooting out of position and shooting quickly has to be practice.
To prevent "scrunching," I do wish that rifle manufacturers designed stocks with a bit more drop at the heel so that the eyes line up lower with the iron sights rather than higher for a scope. I don't use scopes, never have, and yet I can't get a stock that is designed properly for iron sights even if the gun comes with them mounted; I usually have to wind up canting my face over so far that I see my target sideways. Actually, that's not entirely correct, my Browning BLR has more drop at the heel, but I would love to see this in big bolt actions.
The problem with a lot of heel-drop, is it increases muzzle rise and cheek slap. Muzzle rise causes the tip of the butt to dig into the shoulder. This is one of the main reasons old-school Weatherby stocks were so punishing and left some epic bruises. I'd rather just scrunch.
Magnified optics require the user to only use the dominant eye. Some low-power tactical and dangerous game scopes can be used on their 1x setting with both eyes open - this allows the user to focus on the threat rather than the optic.
@@desertdogoutdoors1113 Thank you for your reply to my query. I’m right handed and at the same time right eye dominant so it makes it easy for me to shoot with both eyes open with open sight or red dot on my shotgun but I don’t have much experience using a magnified scope.
i learned when i was 3 the first time when weaver and one hand was king now the world is different ive got freakshow arms so i chicken wing a bit but i tuck it in
Wish every time game walks into sight that my arms will be steady as on a bench rest as when sighting in or trying out handloads and ammo. BUT !!!!!!! you dont choose. If you know you can´t make the shot, well Next Time
99% of my shots are off hand . shotgun shooting rabbits, ducks & geese off hand makes your rifle shooting a lot better.. running deer & pigs out to 300 yards .30.06 I will give them one shot 99% DEAD .deer or pigs under 200 yards running are easy .7 to 8 pigs one shot each + RELOUD all dead , three deer 200 yards three shots three dead deer .It becomes second nature .
@@rgalletta58 Yep. If you can reliably knock down little birds that fly 60MPH and can change direction at will, you already have what it takes for an off hand shot.
@@desertdogoutdoors1113 Hey with a .410 shotgun, the butt stock cut to fit. I still have it! My grandfather was my hero as a boy. He introduced me to the outdoors. Life long memories!
The best off hand shoot I ever seen was my dad who back in WWll shot a whole lot of birds and learned how to hold and shoot and the most important part trigger control while swinging the gun! Great video! Thanks for helping train these young hunters they are the future of hunting!
