marksmanship(or lack of)

mintman

Member
Whilst looking through member galleries one thing that jumps out is the massive differences in achieved accuracy,as an ex military shooter(sniper)i accept bad shots happen but if people are going to post pics of badly shot animals then perhaps that is the norm for them and if so PRACTICE untill you can kill the target humanely,everything we pull the trigger on deserves as quick and painless end as we ourselves would wish for if the roles were reversed from rat to stag,i'm sure i will be told everybody feels the same but some of the pics tell a different story.
 
could i ask what you are classing as poor shot placement?

i would quite happly shoot a fox head on in the chest (knowing it will die quickly and not suffer) i wouldn't take this shot on a deer.

same would apply to shots at bad angles. there are many shot which are humane but don't look like it and are used in some situations.

Andy7mm
 
Mintman , of the photographs of deer on members gallery, all look very dead to me . Dead is dead . Why do you think they are badly shot ?



Chill
 
How can you tell 'accuracy' from dead deer!
Every one of those shots may have been placed very accurately where the shooter wanted them to go you just don't know where that point was.
What and where is your idea of an "accurate" shot?
Shot placement varies enormously dependant upon angle to target, distance , wind , equipment, calibre, confidence, species etc etc
 
A deer slightly quartering may have an accurate entry but the exit may look off.

It then might depend which side the deer is laid for the foto etc.

Cant see that everybody on here wouldn't agree that were all going for a humane kill.

Highlight the pictures your talking about !
 
Just had a look, a few foxes with their guts out. Could this be the angle of the shots?

Personally, I always try for a chest shot on a fox and not the head as it's a very very small target and a little bit off is a maimed animal.
The 55grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and 55grain Sierra GameKing I use in my 22-250 will generally exit with a pretty hideous exit wound even when shot front to back.
There are exceptions and the occasional head shot...I choose not to post the "messy" side for artistic purposes and since some of us may be eating our tea!
 
Quote "not been out as yet due to getting competency with a weapon back to acceptable standards(left forces 22 yrs ago and not touched one since),would welcome any good advice as am a complete novice."
As per your intro, some good advice........
you can't tell what has happened from photos, it's a bold statement to assume poor shooting from pictures of dead deer or foxes, just because there might appear to be a poorly placed shot does not mean it was so. Plenty of humane and accurate shots can exit in less than perfect locations, it doesn't always look pretty, but dead is dead.
 
Just had a look, a few foxes with their guts out. Could this be the angle of the shots?

that was my thought Dougster, an entry infront of the fore leg at could shot throught the heart and would exit in liver/gut. also a shot where the shooter thinks it is 100% broad side and is not could give the same exit/ or exit throught the fore leg.


Andy7mm
 
A deer slightly quartering may have an accurate entry but the exit may look off.

It then might depend which side the deer is laid for the foto etc.

Cant see that everybody on here wouldn't agree that were all going for a humane kill.

Highlight the pictures your talking about !

My thoughts exactly!
 
Whilst looking through member galleries one thing that jumps out is the massive differences in achieved accuracy

That's the real world for you, nothing ever turns out exactly like in the text books or when the target is a bit of paper. Deer move when you think they are going to stand, wind blows, things aren't always standing just as you thought plus, as you've said, the bullet doesn't always hit exactly where you intended. By the nature of all the photos you've seen the animal has died and been found, which probably means it has died within seconds of being hit.

My, limited, experience of stalkers is that they are rarely accurate to the nearest fraction of an inch but they know their limitations and they are good at getting a quick kill even from a dodgy rest, in the half light, with a gusty wind and with a real live and unpredictable target in front of them. They also know when not to take the shot. This effective real world shooting is not the same skill as accurate shooting and I would venture to suggest that the accurate shooter may not always be capable of dealing with all the variables that go to make up an effective shooter on live game.
 
A deer slightly quartering may have an accurate entry but the exit may look off.

It then might depend which side the deer is laid for the foto etc.

Cant see that everybody on here wouldn't agree that were all going for a humane kill.

Highlight the pictures your talking about !

Quote "not been out as yet due to getting competency with a weapon back to acceptable standards(left forces 22 yrs ago and not touched one since),would welcome any good advice as am a complete novice."
As per your intro, some good advice........
you can't tell what has happened from photos, it's a bold statement to assume poor shooting from pictures of dead deer or foxes, just because there might appear to be a poorly placed shot does not mean it was so. Plenty of humane and accurate shots can exit in less than perfect locations, it doesn't always look pretty, but dead is dead.

That's the real world for you, nothing ever turns out exactly like in the text books or when the target is a bit of paper. Deer move when you think they are going to stand, wind blows, things aren't always standing just as you thought plus, as you've said, the bullet doesn't always hit exactly where you intended. By the nature of all the photos you've seen the animal has died and been found, which probably means it has died within seconds of being hit.

My, limited, experience of stalkers is that they are rarely accurate to the nearest fraction of an inch but they know their limitations and they are good at getting a quick kill even from a dodgy rest, in the half light, with a gusty wind and with a real live and unpredictable target in front of them. They also know when not to take the shot. This effective real world shooting is not the same skill as accurate shooting and I would venture to suggest that the accurate shooter may not always be capable of dealing with all the variables that go to make up an effective shooter on live game.




These replies just about sum up this thread in a photo dead is just that dead.With no facts attached you just can't assume anything about accuracy or suffering caused or not.
 
That's the real world for you, nothing ever turns out exactly like in the text books or when the target is a bit of paper. Deer move when you think they are going to stand, wind blows, things aren't always standing just as you thought plus, as you've said, the bullet doesn't always hit exactly where you intended. By the nature of all the photos you've seen the animal has died and been found, which probably means it has died within seconds of being hit.

My, limited, experience of stalkers is that they are rarely accurate to the nearest fraction of an inch but they know their limitations and they are good at getting a quick kill even from a dodgy rest, in the half light, with a gusty wind and with a real live and unpredictable target in front of them. They also know when not to take the shot. This effective real world shooting is not the same skill as accurate shooting and I would venture to suggest that the accurate shooter may not always be capable of dealing with all the variables that go to make up an effective shooter on live game.
That has summed it up quite well, lots of variables to consider, and you don't have to be a world class shot to kill a deer humanely, and Mintman, i squeeze the trigger, if you pull a trigger you will miss ;)
Cheers
Richard
 
The simple answer is that when you start shooting live quarry take a few photos yourself. When you`ve shot quite a few compare the photos.
Yours won`t look any different to anyone elses.
 

Or, as we say, 'put up or shut up'.

I know a lot of trained marksman that don't have the instinct to put a killing round through a deer from less than ideal angles. To them any shots that aren't taken broadside aren't proper. Bull pucky. My favorite shot is angling through the lungs and heart, out the chest. It's a shot I will work to get. Because the animal is foreshortened due to the angle, a shot that might look to be "too far back" actually drives straight through the lung and heart. It doesn't look pretty in a photo but it is accurate placement, 100% lethal, and spoils little meat.~Muir
 
A1+ exactly what I was thinking but very well put.
That's the real world for you, nothing ever turns out exactly like in the text books or when the target is a bit of paper. Deer move when you think they are going to stand, wind blows, things aren't always standing just as you thought plus, as you've said, the bullet doesn't always hit exactly where you intended. By the nature of all the photos you've seen the animal has died and been found, which probably means it has died within seconds of being hit.

My, limited, experience of stalkers is that they are rarely accurate to the nearest fraction of an inch but they know their limitations and they are good at getting a quick kill even from a dodgy rest, in the half light, with a gusty wind and with a real live and unpredictable target in front of them. They also know when not to take the shot. This effective real world shooting is not the same skill as accurate shooting and I would venture to suggest that the accurate shooter may not always be capable of dealing with all the variables that go to make up an effective shooter on live game.
 
A comment like that is begging for a bad shot to follow if he or she is a shooter,I think that everybody is guilty of not such a good shot with all the best intentions,I am not into posting dead animals,how many dead foxes and deer do we need to see.atb swaro
 
That has summed it up quite well, lots of variables to consider, and you don't have to be a world class shot to kill a deer humanely, and Mintman, i squeeze the trigger, if you pull a trigger you will miss ;)
Cheers
Richard

Richard I suspect that you both actually manipulate the trigger in the same way it is only the words that are used to describe how you manipulate the trigger that differs.


Target shooters are taught to pull the trigger straight back in a gradual controlled manner rather than to squeeze it thereby implying that you could be pulling or pushing it at an angle. While the words used by sporting shooters to instruct other sporting shooters usually include the phrase “squeeze the trigger” to convey the need for a gradual controlled pull. In either case both groups recognise the need for all shooter to develop their trigger control skills if good marksmanship is to be achieved. Just a difference in terminology really which implies different things to different people.
 
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