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Hunter Class Challenges

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Uglyjohn

Uglyjohn

Member
Oct 5, 2017
961
250
Minnesota, United States
I’ve only shot FT for a couple of years but I really enjoy it. Being as I got started a bit late in life with limited flexibility, HC is a good means of getting to shoot some matches and have fun. Over the short time I’ve been involved with the sport I’ve discovered a few things that require much more attention and refinement than I once thought necessary. These include:

1) Stock fit. A comb height that works ok on the bench may be too low for many FT presentations.

2)Set-up. The seat height (+ or - 1” of perfect) and placement. The bipod has to be adjusted (quickly)





so that the gun alines with the target naturally and comfortably. If I have to muscle the gun into position bad things happen.

3)Consistency. I’ve got a few rigs and I like to shoot them all. I also like to swap scopes, experiment with different pellets at different FPS etc. That stuff is fun but I’ve noticed that the best shooters at my club don’t do it. They have confidence in their equipment and don’t make random changes. I will however continue my search for a better HC scope; one that is exceptionally clear and focus ranges better than I have at 16X.

These are just a few random thoughts. If any of you HC guys have some other thoughts along these lines please share. Uj








 
It could be that those best shooters you are referring to had done their experimentation years ago and settled onto what works for them??

I did some experimentation in HC and hit my main road block in the scopes I used. It was 12x max back then and the scopes I had on hand didn't have a shallow enough DOF to range halfway decently from 40-55Y, which is where most of my misses would come from. I wasn't interested in HC enough to try a bunch of scopes to find the one that ranged best so I went to other divisions. If I were serious about HC my #1 suggestion would be to find the optimal rifle scope for ranging well at the legal magnification.

Yep, experiment and set that scope up, and the rifle, so it feels comfortable to shoot! I see people using wobbly bipods in our club, not good! Spend the money and get a stiff bipod, even at the sacrifice of quick adjustability! One must be able to comfortably rest their elbows on their knee's as well. Comfort....

One thing that seemed to help was using lighter pellets and driving them fast. I had 8.4's going just under 1000 fps which somewhat made up for the ranging errors, but the downside was they blew in the wind more.

Last spring I attempted HC again with my USFT and it's Athlon Argos 6-24x50 on 16x. I won HC and the match that day and thought well I guess I've got a good combo now for HC and planned to shoot in that class for the rest of the year. The next match I didn't do well and as usual it was because I missed the farther targets due to ranging error. Either my eyes changed or?? Tried again later and the same thing happened. I find it very frustrating not knowing the distances within a yard so I once again decided to abandon HC.

When hunting with AG's I either take a shot within 40Y/ PBR, or if farther I use a laser range finder to determine the exact distance so I know within reason where the pellet will hit. Personally I've just come to the conclusion in my attempts at the class that I don't like the low magnification ranging rule in HC!!!

Off topic a bit here and hope you don't mind...

I've found my niche in FT and it's not even an official class. I shoot what's called Freestyle class in our local club. Basically the only rule is the power has to be sub 20ftlb. I sit on a bucket and have my rifle in a RRS VICE via a tripod. I use a laser range finder to determine distance. I like this because I know the distance. If I miss it's me not getting the wind right, made some kind of stupid mistake like forgetting to dial, etc, or I muffed the shot. 

I competed in open for 20 years and won 7 state matches so I am well acquainted with open. At some point about 7-8 years ago I got bored with FT open and almost thought about giving it up for a while. I was then, and am now, responsible for bringing the targets out and setting up the course, so I didn't want to abandon my friends, the club, and my duties, so quitting wasn't an option. My solution was trying different ways to shoot FT, or basically I didn't shoot in any official class but just shot my own way for the sheer fun of it. Doing this made FT fun again for me! 




 
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Wish to keep it FUN while at the same time if a competitive type A personality ....... Start paying attention to what your kill % is match to match and shoot against yourself trying to best your past or @ average %



Don't get caught up trying to beat another shooter, chase the high score etc .... BUT instead simply concentrate on YOUR GAME against the course and keep focused on simply doing your best, learn from mistakes made and those times when you screw up and know it .... FORGET ABOUT IT !!! and don't get distracted from what lies ahead in coming lanes.



Thinking like this you will have more fun and come days end your score will fall on YOUR MERITS of applying your ability best you could. Mistakes are yours alone ... learn from them until next time.



Scott S
 
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I agree with Motorhead. Have fun, and try to best yourself. It's OK to try to catch, match or beat someone's performance, but not to the point you are comparing scores during a match. I've done much better when I take it one target at a time and focus on that. Miss a shot? Well, try to figure out what you did wrong and make notes. 

Last year I used only one gun and scope, made no pellet changes or adjustment to my tune. When I had the gun tuned to what I thought was the best I stuck with it. 99% of the time if I missed a shot it was my fault- not the scope, not the rifle, not the pellet. I either mis-ranged, wiggled, or lost concentration.



And practice- a lot. 

-DeadEye
 
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