Three Exceptional Hunting Rifle drills

Many hunters don’t practice with their hunting rifles the same way they will use them while hunting. Gun magazines and gun writers are to blame for a lot of hunters being corrupted by the focus on shooting small groups from a bench. It’s a good way to test your ammunition and is almost mandatory to sight in a rifle. But it doesn’t help you improve your relationship with the rifle that you’ll be using to hunt. Some practical exercises to develop field marksmanship skills and gun handling are a better way to prepare for hunting season. These three hunting rifle drills are easy to set up, and they’re also easy to score. Most importantly, they focus–isolate–skills a rifle hunter may very well need to be successful. These hunting rifle drills were also developed based on actual hunts. When hunting in Africa, most of the shooting is done with shooting sticks. This is partly due to the way hunting is done in Africa, but it is also because the vegetation often prevents shooting from prone, seated, or kneeling positions. This hunting rifle drill will prepare a hunter to go on an African safari, or for any hunting where standing and shooting with sticks is expected. You will need one Thompson Target Quick Kill Zone (#R-8700) and you will need to set it up at 50 yards. You can easily hit the target from this distance, but this is more of a gun-handling drill than a shooting one. You’ll also need a shottimer that is set to random delay. Start with your rifle on your sticks and your sights pointed at the target. You are simulating the situation where you have to wait for a professional hunter to say to shoot. In this drill, the shot timer is the professional hunter. When you hear the beep of the shot timer, you are free to engage the targets. After firing one shot, remove the sticks and step to the side. Fire two more shots while standing in the unsupported position. If you are using two-legged shooting sticks, push them forward to get out of the way. After your three-shot Safari Drill your target should look like this.Ideally you will have three hits inside the 6-inch circular area. To pass the drill you must hit at least one shot inside the 2-inch circle. The par time is between 7 and 10 second. This is the time you should take to fire three shots and get three hits. If you miss any of the shots you will fail the drill. You need to slow down, take more time shooting, or work on your rifle handling. This hunting rifle drill was inspired by a situation that I encountered during my first solo deer hunt. I was walking along an old logging route with my rifle on my shoulder when a large whitetail buck appeared in the road in front of me. It was only 30 yards away. I struggled to remove my rifle from my shoulder and, by the time I had done so, the buck had bolted into a brushy area, never to be seen. If you’re a hunter, you know that things happen when you least anticipate them. You can prepare for this moment with this drill. You’ll need the Thompson Target Life Size Deer Sight In Target (#R-8825) and you’ll set it between 30 and 35 yards. You will also need a shot-timer that is set to a random delay. This drill is done with the rifle slung over your shoulder. You will also need a sling to attach to your rifle. You’ll need four rounds for this drill because you will shoot it four times. On the signal from the shot-timer, unlatch the rifle and fire a single shot at the target. Repeat this process for a total two shots. Note the time taken to fire each shot. Now switch to African carry, (weak side with muzzle down), and repeat the drill twice, again writing down your time for each shot. Total the four shots after the four shots. The average time between each shot is 3.5 seconds. Your goal is to hit the heart/lung region of the deer target four times in less than 16 second. It’s like shooting a basketball at 30 to 35 yards. This is a gun handling drill that tests your ability to quickly get your rifle out of the slung position to your target. You can use this hunting rifle drill to determine your maximum range from the off-hand standing position. You will need four Thompson Target 8″ Halo targets (#R-4610) and you’ll set one at 25 yards. One at 50 yards. One at 75 yards. And one at 100 yards. You can also use a range that allows you to set the four targets 100 yards away and then shoot from 25, 50 and 75 yards. This drill is a combination between gun handling and marksmanship and simulates having to make a quick shot on an animal that you think is about to run. You’ll also need a shot-timer set to random delay. Start the drill with the rifle in high ready at 25 yards. On the signal from the shot-timer, fire a shot and record the timing. Repeat the drill four times, recording time after each shot. This will give you a total of 5 shots. Once you have fired five shots, add up the five times to determine your average. This same procedure will be followed at 50,75 and 100 yards. Don’t forget the average time for the five shots. You should have five hits per target. You should be able get your shots at 25 yards in an average time of 2 seconds. Your average shot time at 50 yards should be around 3 seconds. At 75 yards, it should be 4 seconds and at 100 yards, 5 seconds. When you add up your averages, your total must be under 16 seconds and contain 20 hits. You can use binoculars or a spottingscope to check for hits at 75 and 100 yards. For the Walk Back Drill you will use four targets similar to this one and fire five shots each. Write down the time for each shot. What about misses then? You’re going to miss some shots. To keep things simple, only 25 rounds are available to complete this drill. If you miss, use one or all of the five extra rounds to make up for it. If you can complete this drill within the time limit and at 100 yards, you are doing well. You may want to move the 25-yard target to 125 yards and give it another try. You’re doing well if you can complete this drill within the time limit and at 100 yards. You might want to try it again by moving the 25-yard targets to 125 yards. The target grids and bullseyes are measured in MOA. Subscribe to the Gun Digest newsletter and we will send you your print-at home target pack immediately. Enter your email below.