Favorite position

[czechsonofagun]

OK, I don't mean that position, whatever is on your mind I mean rifle shooting position.
Due to the nature of hunting in Virginia, I decided practice shooting rifle while sitting on the ground and eventually settled for shooting over my left knee while locking left arm on my right biceps. Years of Karate keep me reasonably flexible for folding right leg under to provide triangulated base. This position gives me some height over underbrush. Shooting from a tree stand compare to this is like bench shooting, shooting while standing I don't plan

Attached is 150 yards target, shooting over left knee with Winchester 70 - 270 WSM, Leupold scope and home reloaded ammo. The plan is to tighten the group, but I am still pretty darn happy with it. That group is 2 inches wide.

Offhand position targets are not publishable yet

[dave1949]

I think what you are describing is a modified 'kneeling' position. I belonged to a target rifle club in high school. That position was my worst. I could never get the rise and fall of my heartbeat out. The sights would just go up and down in time with my heart. Had to shoot on the beat so to speak.

I like the target.

Dave.

[czechsonofagun]

You are probably right, I was never sure what to call it.

[Egon]

Golly Prokop your asking questions on a sorta broad topic.

In "The Hunt" the shooting position is a matter of location, the target, the distance and the type of firearm.

For me position is relatively unimportant as almost always the target goes it's way unscathed.

On a recent trip to Newfoundland we saw the results of some shooting but what position was used I do not know!

[dave1949]

Prokop,

It's been a few years, but as I recall the standard kneeling position was to shoot over the leg/knee that was upright, foot flat on the ground, and the other leg extended straight behind you with the calf parallel to the ground. That would leave your rear leg toe on the ground with your foot sticking up Most guys put a padded roll beneath that ankle to stabilize that leg.

I used to take a position like what you describe as I couldn't put any pressure on my knee caps without really severe pain - some sort of bone development problem which I forget the name of. That's why it sounded familiar to me.

I would think for absolute consistent accuracy, the prone position is hard to beat, but probably the least feasible in most field situations.

We shot .22 cal indoors at 50'. Sometimes in summer we would have outdoor matches at 100 yds. That is not easy with a .22 on a breezy day. You had to put a little flag on a wire out in front of you and always try to get your shot off when the flag is in the same postion.

It was good fun and not expensive once you had the target rifle. The sights were iron, peep hole at the rear and ring-on-post in front. We did learn some good shooting skills.

Enjoy your shooting with anything but a scope now, before you need bi-focals

Dave.

[woodchuckie]

Since my shooting involves squirrels in trees I prop the gun on a tree. I can hit the squirrel somewhere when free standing but with a tree I can "shoot his eye out" using a scope.

[czechsonofagun]

Nice picture, Egon. Are those cariboues?

[Egon]

Them's just regular Moose. It was Moose hunting time in Newfoundland.

?I think the whole Moose population started from 4 imports from New Brunswick. The one we drove through was overpopulated at 1800 or so on the official count. They have no natural predators on the Island.

[/pine]

In my experience you don't always get to move into a favored position to make a shot...to prevent extended movement and the risk of being seen and spooking the deer etc. sometimes you have to make shots from precarious positions...
Even golfers practice unusual shots but it's harder for hunters to anticipate....

[rus_geek]

Translate "favorite" to "most reliable", and I'll vote prone, if you can be on a high enough point to have that be a clear shot. Most of the time I'm in brush that prevents that, so I lock my left elbow into my ribs to make my left hand as stable as possible.

Translate "favorite" to "most memorable" and I'll vote for halfway up my tree stand, fall harness clipped into a step lineman style and shot leaning/hanging off the side of the tree :-)

-rus-