you want to know the best way to start connecting with whatever you are shooting at.. that is by thinking you have a single shot, because if u know that you have more shots then ur just going to be shooting away. but if u have one shot then you only get one chance to hit it and if u get that in ur head you'll never miss.. because alot of practice and alot of thinking of "one shot one kill" then you'll end up with alot more animals on the ground...
Connecting on the shot... Tips and Tactis on hitting more dogs?
- Thread starter Thwap
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statelinerut
New member
Good point badly70.
BillyTheKidd
New member
Predator hunting is a game of seconds, you must expect the unexpected. Coyotes don't usually hang out and give you all day to shoot. You have to take your best shot when they give you one, if they give you one.
I've seen guys at the range take there time and shoot one hole all day long but miss a coyote at 40 yards. So I did it a different way.
I'd spend alot of time at the range myself, I Used 100 yard bench rest targets and shot fast, just like I would if it was a coyote. Find the target, crosshairs on it, touch the trigger, bang...dead coyote.
All that was done in about two or three seconds. Believe me, after you do it a few hundred times you get good at it. To this day I don't miss to many times and I think it was because of the way I practiced. Just another free opinion lol.
I've seen guys at the range take there time and shoot one hole all day long but miss a coyote at 40 yards. So I did it a different way.
I'd spend alot of time at the range myself, I Used 100 yard bench rest targets and shot fast, just like I would if it was a coyote. Find the target, crosshairs on it, touch the trigger, bang...dead coyote.
All that was done in about two or three seconds. Believe me, after you do it a few hundred times you get good at it. To this day I don't miss to many times and I think it was because of the way I practiced. Just another free opinion lol.
tawnoper
Member
Quote:
Go to North Dakota and go jackrabbit hunting. Get good at hitting those on the run and coyotes will come easy.
Best practice you can get!
Yup, agreed. Jump shooting Jackrabbits. Best way to sharpen your skills with a rifle. Go somewhere with a good population of Jacks, usually results in lots of shooting.
Go to North Dakota and go jackrabbit hunting. Get good at hitting those on the run and coyotes will come easy.
Best practice you can get!
Yup, agreed. Jump shooting Jackrabbits. Best way to sharpen your skills with a rifle. Go somewhere with a good population of Jacks, usually results in lots of shooting.
TonyTebbe
New member
Quote:
I think there are some keys that I ahve learned and would like to share:
1. One take your time, no need to rush the shot, especially if they're coming. More yotes are missed cause people rush.
2. Take high percentage shots, in your range at still animals who are present a quality shot.
3. Aim Small Miss small. Focus on the point of impact not the whole situation.
4. Breath and squeeze the trigger.
5. Make sure you are comfortible.
Excellent advice! Couldn't of said it better.
Here's a couple more tips:
- Get highly familiar with your gun. I practice from my shooting sticks all year long, on small targets like pop cans, quarter size pieces of shooting clays, soda bottle caps, etc... Basically, "Plinking" like you did when you were a kid. I rarely paper target practice.
- Spend good money on great optics. I spend as much or more on my scope than I do my rifle.
Great thread.
Tony
I think there are some keys that I ahve learned and would like to share:
1. One take your time, no need to rush the shot, especially if they're coming. More yotes are missed cause people rush.
2. Take high percentage shots, in your range at still animals who are present a quality shot.
3. Aim Small Miss small. Focus on the point of impact not the whole situation.
4. Breath and squeeze the trigger.
5. Make sure you are comfortible.
Excellent advice! Couldn't of said it better.
Here's a couple more tips:
- Get highly familiar with your gun. I practice from my shooting sticks all year long, on small targets like pop cans, quarter size pieces of shooting clays, soda bottle caps, etc... Basically, "Plinking" like you did when you were a kid. I rarely paper target practice.
- Spend good money on great optics. I spend as much or more on my scope than I do my rifle.
Great thread.
Tony
Dogn
New member
A lot of great advice so far!
I like shooting the orange clays as well. Set them out at odd distances and then shoot them using shooting positions you would use when coyote hunting. Doing this also helps out the distance judging. If you cant judge distance without using a range finder practicing this will help you out. It's all in the old adage - practice, practice and practice some more. As mentioned above, get very familiar with your rifle. The two of you should become one when you are shooting.
Another suggestion; set your scope at a setting that works well with your hunting terrain and how close you feel you can work your targets into. I.E. I have my scope zeroed @ 100 yards. Most of my shots on coyotes are inside the 100 yard marker and I know that the bullet is going to hit exactly where I am aiming. I also study the trajectory of my round and can accommodate easily in the field for longer shots.(A flat shooting rifle helps alot here also)
If your target is on the move and you feel you can pull off a good shot, don't forget to lead it so the animal will walk or run into your bullet. This is where the rabbit hunting really pays off. You won’t find better moving targets to practice on than them.
I like shooting the orange clays as well. Set them out at odd distances and then shoot them using shooting positions you would use when coyote hunting. Doing this also helps out the distance judging. If you cant judge distance without using a range finder practicing this will help you out. It's all in the old adage - practice, practice and practice some more. As mentioned above, get very familiar with your rifle. The two of you should become one when you are shooting.
Another suggestion; set your scope at a setting that works well with your hunting terrain and how close you feel you can work your targets into. I.E. I have my scope zeroed @ 100 yards. Most of my shots on coyotes are inside the 100 yard marker and I know that the bullet is going to hit exactly where I am aiming. I also study the trajectory of my round and can accommodate easily in the field for longer shots.(A flat shooting rifle helps alot here also)
If your target is on the move and you feel you can pull off a good shot, don't forget to lead it so the animal will walk or run into your bullet. This is where the rabbit hunting really pays off. You won’t find better moving targets to practice on than them.
TBone
New member
Just when you think "It's just me" - I recently bought a .204 and have had a tough time getting decent groups. This thread has really given me several good tips how to start shootin' straight! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I think I'll start by adjusting the trigger pull (accutrigger) and go from there.
Thanks for gettin' me pumped back up!
Thanks for gettin' me pumped back up!
Thanks for all the advice guys. It sure did not take long for guys to reply to a well thought question. We all think about "connecting" but no ever asks how others do it.
Most of the coyotes I call are shots from 60yds to about 200yds. I shoot squirrels, crows, muskrats and beavers durning the off season with my rifle. The problem up here is that you only get one good shot normally. If you screw up they vanish just as quickly in the thick timber as they appeared. Coyotes are just way more exciting and a lot tougher for me to hold everything together.
I use my pellet gun with a 22lr scope mounted on it for cheap practice. Still takes the basic skills to hit something with a grain of sand.
STILL LOOKING FOR A HEAT SEEKING ROUND FOR MY 22-250!!
Keep your suggestions coming.
Most of the coyotes I call are shots from 60yds to about 200yds. I shoot squirrels, crows, muskrats and beavers durning the off season with my rifle. The problem up here is that you only get one good shot normally. If you screw up they vanish just as quickly in the thick timber as they appeared. Coyotes are just way more exciting and a lot tougher for me to hold everything together.
I use my pellet gun with a 22lr scope mounted on it for cheap practice. Still takes the basic skills to hit something with a grain of sand.
STILL LOOKING FOR A HEAT SEEKING ROUND FOR MY 22-250!!
Keep your suggestions coming.
Thwap,
Since we hunt the same locale I'd like to suggest something that will rile a few feathers with others.
With the snow up here,GET RID OF THAT BI-POD! they have cost us fur in the past and so we now use shooting sticks or our knees. With 4" of snow above a crust then another 8" below that it just gets too hard to move that rig into position for a shot. Your right, up here you sometimes only get a fleeting glimps and with a bi-pod connected to you rifle you've just compounded a problem.
Keep things simple, Practice at all practical ranges and be patient. Your fur pile will start to develope.
Mudflap
Since we hunt the same locale I'd like to suggest something that will rile a few feathers with others.
With the snow up here,GET RID OF THAT BI-POD! they have cost us fur in the past and so we now use shooting sticks or our knees. With 4" of snow above a crust then another 8" below that it just gets too hard to move that rig into position for a shot. Your right, up here you sometimes only get a fleeting glimps and with a bi-pod connected to you rifle you've just compounded a problem.
Keep things simple, Practice at all practical ranges and be patient. Your fur pile will start to develope.
Mudflap
Byron hit the nail on the head. Dry fire, dry fire. I get in the yard every week with MY CALLING SETUP. If you shoot with sticks have the sticks. Get in the position you normally hunt from. make the first dry shot on a small leaf or object. Then swing the rifle across the yard to another location. keep moving the point of aim because the Coyotes are going to be moving when the bell rings.
On breezy days blow up some balloons and let them blow across the yard. I keep a BB gun at the back door and try to shoot it every day at the smallest target I can find. Byron is right about building muscle memory. Sports Dr's say you have to repeat a motion 2,500 times before it becomes a part of the muscle memory. So do you think you can practice to much. I also use a air soft gun to practice trigger control and sight alignment, Fifteen bucks at walley world. Good shooting comes from hard work. Put in the work and good results will come out.
On breezy days blow up some balloons and let them blow across the yard. I keep a BB gun at the back door and try to shoot it every day at the smallest target I can find. Byron is right about building muscle memory. Sports Dr's say you have to repeat a motion 2,500 times before it becomes a part of the muscle memory. So do you think you can practice to much. I also use a air soft gun to practice trigger control and sight alignment, Fifteen bucks at walley world. Good shooting comes from hard work. Put in the work and good results will come out.
In addition to whats been posted here to already, here are my thoughts.
First, maybe the best advice on shotguning I've ever gotten- "Take your time....but quickly" It also applies to rifles. Alot of time when we shoot we fall into the "good enough" syndrome and miss when if we hold off just a fraction of a second we connect.
Second, the best shooters I know with few exceptions are those that shoot the most. My advise is is to buy an accurate .22 with high powered optics find a barnyard where you can SAFELY shoot sparrows. Leave the scope on max power (18 or more) all the time and shoot from field positions. Trying to find a sparrow at 40-60 yards can be frustrating at first but if forces good target acquisition. Only, shoot sparrows in the head as its usually very mobile and hard to get a bead on. During this time, I also recomend mixing in a lot of bench shooting for groups. This serves as a constant reminder than the rifle is up to the task which is important when shooting in the field. You know the rifle will hit that bird everytime if you do your part. When you can hit a sparrow in the head with 9 out of 10 shots at 60 yards from field postions you are doing good.
Part two is breaking out the shotgun and shooting skeet or sporting clays once a week. Believe it or not, the mount, swing, shoot of clays will incoorperate itself into your rifle shooting at moving critters.
Shoot 5000 plus rounds between your .22 split between the bench and field shooting, and 2000 plus rounds through your shotgun on the skeet range over the course of a summer and you will put alot more fur on the stretcher come fall. The trick is to practice enough that shooting becomes instinct so that when mister coyote shows up you just shoot it without thinking about the shot.
I made a very difficult shot on the biggest deer of my life using this method. I had a split second to get one shot off and I can remember everything about that shot. It was like watching a telivision. Everything was instinct, I didn't think about the lead, the swing, or trigger pull, I din't think man this is a hard shot. I just pulled up and let the gun shoot the deer and there was never a doubt in my mind where the slug would hit. I wouldn't have made or even taken that shot if I had not shoot at 6 nights a week after work the summer before.
Last tip, if you have access to them, prarrie dogs are your friend.
Matt
First, maybe the best advice on shotguning I've ever gotten- "Take your time....but quickly" It also applies to rifles. Alot of time when we shoot we fall into the "good enough" syndrome and miss when if we hold off just a fraction of a second we connect.
Second, the best shooters I know with few exceptions are those that shoot the most. My advise is is to buy an accurate .22 with high powered optics find a barnyard where you can SAFELY shoot sparrows. Leave the scope on max power (18 or more) all the time and shoot from field positions. Trying to find a sparrow at 40-60 yards can be frustrating at first but if forces good target acquisition. Only, shoot sparrows in the head as its usually very mobile and hard to get a bead on. During this time, I also recomend mixing in a lot of bench shooting for groups. This serves as a constant reminder than the rifle is up to the task which is important when shooting in the field. You know the rifle will hit that bird everytime if you do your part. When you can hit a sparrow in the head with 9 out of 10 shots at 60 yards from field postions you are doing good.
Part two is breaking out the shotgun and shooting skeet or sporting clays once a week. Believe it or not, the mount, swing, shoot of clays will incoorperate itself into your rifle shooting at moving critters.
Shoot 5000 plus rounds between your .22 split between the bench and field shooting, and 2000 plus rounds through your shotgun on the skeet range over the course of a summer and you will put alot more fur on the stretcher come fall. The trick is to practice enough that shooting becomes instinct so that when mister coyote shows up you just shoot it without thinking about the shot.
I made a very difficult shot on the biggest deer of my life using this method. I had a split second to get one shot off and I can remember everything about that shot. It was like watching a telivision. Everything was instinct, I didn't think about the lead, the swing, or trigger pull, I din't think man this is a hard shot. I just pulled up and let the gun shoot the deer and there was never a doubt in my mind where the slug would hit. I wouldn't have made or even taken that shot if I had not shoot at 6 nights a week after work the summer before.
Last tip, if you have access to them, prarrie dogs are your friend.
Matt
perrytrails
New member
Great advise guys. Get out there with some clays and burn some rounds. A 22 rifle is great practice if your budget is tight. Same goes for pistol shooters, most will tell ya a 22 pistol is a good way to go for trigger control and muscle memory. Busting clays will give you the confidence that you can hit that yote! If the clays start to get easy, try crackers, even smaller and cheaper!!
sleddogg
New member
Most shots are missed because of "coyote fever" than poor shooting. The only way to get better at killing stuff is to kill stuff. The more in the field experience you gain the more your nerves will calm, and you will shoot as well on live game as "on paper".
Practice and become the best shot you can, and as the years go by your kill/miss ratio will naturally improve with field experience.
Practice and become the best shot you can, and as the years go by your kill/miss ratio will naturally improve with field experience.
WICOYOTE
New member
Like Jager said trap and skeet will help a ton on moving targets as it will teach you to follow through on your shot. When I was 14 I started shooting clays and my ability to hit a deer on the run went through the roof. Tons of great advice on this thred this is why PM is the best and always will be /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif