Shooting in the field - rifle addition

There is a thread in Archery about different approaches to practice that will improve your shooting in the field when it counts. I am interested to hear what folks are doing in the rifle shooting area to prepare for this fall beyond zeroing from the bench. For example, in a recent thread a HTalker mentioned that he shoots his 20gn bullets out of a .17 because it maximizes wind effect - a pseudo-simulation of WY winds. What shooting positions are folks practicing? What equipment are you practicing with (bipods, sticks, tripod rests, etc)? What distances are you getting ready for? Has anybody worked up a cheap bullet ballistically matched load to practice on a budget vs. burning premium bullets? How many rounds will you shoot in preparation before now and hunting season?

I do most of my shooting with my .17WSM for the same reason. It will easily reach out to 500yds and the wind really effects that little 20gr bullet.

My lady and I take .22's mtn biking. While we're out riding we look for places to practice field position shooting. We look for spots that provide awkward shots and/or awkward shooting positions. We usually have bipods. I generally carry a pair of trekking poles and a length of bicycle inner tube I sling between them for a rest. We practice a lot of improvised rest positions. We call it "sniper golf".

I agree with you, once the scope is sighted in and load development is over, get off the bench. I know places to practice can be hard to find, but start shooting from prone, kneeling and seated positions, spots that aren't nice and flat. If you use bipods in the field, use those; if you prefer your pack use that for prone and seated practice. Throw in some practice off of rocks, dirt berms, fence posts, etc. If you can't get to a spot where you can actually be shooting, then dry-fire practice. Main thing obviously is to practice as close as possible to what field conditions are likely to be. I practice with the same bullet I hunt with, to hold down cost use your 223 or rimfire at times, all trigger time is good. Over the course of a year I'll go through 1,500+ rounds over my rifles.

Once a week I've been shooting 20 rounds of Hornady 165gr sst 30-06 out of my Ruger M77. I practice from 100-400 yards at 100-300 I practice shooting of a bipod kneeling and sitting and shooting from prone of my pack. At 400 I practice from a tripod sitting and prone of my pack. I shoot into a large pond damn that has a giant hay field behind it so it allows me to shoot from different angles. Besides practicing from different positions and angles I'll occasionally do a few jumping Jacks before I get on the trigger to get the heart rate up. While the wind here in Oklahoma may not be a match for Wyoming wind it's still pretty windy especially in a wide open field.

I shoot out to 750, using my pack and the ground/dirt, which are both readily available most everywhere I hunt.

As to the bullet prices, shooters pro shop for the best prices on premium bullets.

WildWill said:

Once a week I've been shooting 20 rounds of Hornady 165gr sst 30-06 out of my Ruger M77. I practice from 100-400 yards at 100-300 I practice shooting of a bipod kneeling and sitting and shooting from prone of my pack. At 400 I practice from a tripod sitting and prone of my pack. I shoot into a large pond damn that has a giant hay field behind it so it allows me to shoot from different angles. Besides practicing from different positions and angles I'll occasionally do a few jumping Jacks before I get on the trigger to get the heart rate up. While the wind here in Oklahoma may not be a match for Wyoming wind it's still pretty windy especially in a wide open field.

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They say that in Wyoming when the wind stops blowing, everyone falls over.

We'll shoot of the bench and shoot a few rounds and then we'll go to the sticks. Since most of our shots are of the sticks we like to get comfortable getting set in on them.