Preseason Rifle Regimen

[nrpate05]

Hey team, curious how all you rifles guys get prepped for the season and what your shooting regimen is like. I have a 10" steel gong I set up and shoot at different ranges from different field positions. I'll shoot out to 400 yards, but most of my practice is inside 250 yards mainly because after that I really have to get prone. I try to work in some burpees to get the heart rate up and then time myself to get off shots. I'll shoot off my sticks and over my pack and also try to incorporate natural rests whenever I can to keep myself honest. Let me know what you do to get ready for the season eh?!

 

[Rancho Loco]

gophers.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I usually shoot a 3 shot group at 200 yds a couple of days before the season. It's usually still 1,000 degrees here to do too much shooting much earlier. Lol

Last year I killed 3 bucks(two 4.5 y/o and a 5.5 y/o) and they were all inside 100 yds.

 

[Anschutz]

I've shot close to or over 100k round through competition or training for one and am very comfortable in my accuracy in most scenarios. If I were to be doing an antelope hunt or sitting on a beanfield where long shots were more likely, I would shoot a lot more than I do. I generally bring my deer rifle as something to shoot while my Service Rifle is cooling down but I do dry fire it a good bit.

 

[Sawtooth]

Gophers in the spring, early morning load development from the bench and then situational target shooting out to 500 yards every other week in the summer and then in late August several families head up to the same mountain meadow for our annual camp out. Where we shoot targets out to 800 yards in the mornings and fly fish or float a nearby stream the rest of the day.

 

[RockinU]

I dry fire. Then I dry fire. Then I dry fire some more. Then I go to the range. Then I come home and dry fire...

Pretty sure my wife hates that "click", but it's all about repetition and consisitency. I get behind my rifle in random positions, and I do it enough that they are immediately natural, I don't have to get hot and dirty, beat my shoulder in, dirty my rifle up, or burn through a bunch of ammo. Since I started a vigorous dry fire regimen, going to the range is a snap, and my shooting is immeasurably better.

 

[Jbotto]

I had my rifle out for the first time in almost a year a couple weeks ago. I was shooting up older batch leftovers of handloads as I’m switching some of my loads around this year. Shot on paper out to 200 yards from the bench, then worked my way from 25 to 100 yards shooting offhand, and finished with shooting off the sticks for a few rounds to 200 again. I have lots of reloading to do to try out a new bullet so I’ll be getting a bit more trigger time soon. This short range session was a good way to gauge where I’m at, and watch the improvement from here on out.

 

[std7mag]

I use bowling pins at all ranges out to 1,000 yards.
Do the run through of ranging, setup, and shooting. I do this with all my rifles.
7mm-08 about 900 rounds per year.
257 Roberts about 300 per year.
280 Rem. (2 rifles) about 800 per year.
284 Win about 400 per year.
7mm Rem Mag 300-400 per year.
250 Savage ( new barrel Stevens 200) about 500 yr so far.

 

[hank4elk]

I will pull my -06 out give it a quick clean & oil,go to range & shoot maybe half dozen rounds.
1st 2 might be off a bit then it is dialed in. If I get my 1/2"@100 & 1"@200 groups I'm good to go. I may fire one off @ the 400 or 600 gong for fun but it is going to hit.
I might have put a hundred rounds thru this -06 the 1st couple years I had it,40+ yrs ago...and again when I had a cracked stock & rebuilt it 20 yrs ago.
Now the 50 cal MZ will take a few rounds to get used to again,but it will be an option too this year for elk & I have a late mz deer tag. I'll be good to 200 yrds with it.
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! Breath,calm,aquire,shoot.

 

[Brian in Montana]

My preseason regimen is bowhunting.

 

[noharleyyet]

Sunday early morning range sessions...40 a year is a conservative count.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Shoot just about every weekend. Our local range only goes to 250 yds, so once I’m all dialed in off the bench I switch to off-range practice. My husband built a little target that I can take out and setup wherever, so I can shoot farther from different positions and rests.

Put a new trigger in my .270 and switched ammo, so have been putting 1/2 box or so through that out to 300 yds. Would like to stretch that out a little more before the season starts. Also learning my new coyote rifle. Shooting a box or so of those each time at various ranges out to 625yds. That one is just so fun to shoot, it’s hard to stop once I get going!

 

[Panda Bear]

Shoot just about every weekend. Our local range only goes to 250 yds, so once I’m all dialed in off the bench I switch to off-range practice. My husband built a little target that I can take out and setup wherever, so I can shoot farther from different positions and rests.

Put a new trigger in my .270 and switched ammo, so have been putting 1/2 box or so through that out to 300 yds. Would like to stretch that out a little more before the season starts. Also learning my new coyote rifle. Shooting a box or so of those each time at various ranges out to 625yds. That one is just so fun to shoot, it’s hard to stop once I get going!

I am sure everyone else here knows but was wondering what is your, coyote rifle. ? Is coyote hunting always a long range affair ? I never shoot anything at that range, not even wolf, sheep or goat and those three sometimes require the longest shot, is why I ask.

My answer to the op's question always sounds weird, but it is just the truth. I prepare for hunting by hunting. We dont target shoot at all. If something new happens--scope, ammo, rifle repair, of course we work out the kinks, but nothing like you folks are talking about.

 

[Hunting Wife]

I am sure everyone else here knows but was wondering what is your, coyote rifle. ? Is coyote hunting always a long range affair ? I never shoot anything at that range, not even wolf, sheep or goat and those three sometimes require the longest shot, is why I ask.

Like everything else I suppose, you can make it as long distance as you want to. I personally would not shoot at an animal beyond 400. Figuring out how to get them closer is a lot of the fun for me.

I got a Bergara .22-250 and my husband got some fancy Vortex scope with all the dials to put on it. I’ve never had one of these scopes, so just experimenting and learning how it works. I kept hitting, so kept moving back. It was a ton of fun.

 

[Europe]

Hunting Wife . I bet that 22-250 willl reach out and ruin a coyotes day, nice Smiled at your scope description. He use to get a tad upset that I never wanted all the bells and whistles lol------Glad your hitting, moving back, hitting and having fun. Do you have whistle pigs that you can use and eliminate as target practice in your area ?

oops sorry forgot--preseason workout--mostly elbow bending workouts and mentally, remembering the good old days