hunter field target

You can use shooting stick, but no rest and no range finder.

People use scopes with shallow depth of view and sidewheel paralax to find range.

I don't think there are any rules about magazine use. Most people prefer single shot, cause lesser chance of pellet damage.

Hunter FT is loosely based on hunting. Not sure if the scope magnification is still limited to 12x, but most hunter FT shooters range by scope focus or counting mildots. I have not yet met the game animal who will sit still while I set my sticks, focus my scope and then count mildots!
The targets that usually gave me the most trouble were the close ones with tiny kill zones. 
I wish I had more opportunity to shoot FT, I find it a lot of fun.

Hunter class is now 16X

You can find the rules, which will be amended after next week(end of season/nationals) here: http://www.aafta.org/

If/once you are confused come on back and ask away. I only suggest reading first as it is easier for you to ask the right questions for the answers you want. And if that seems confusing read through the handbook first

Lee, a lot of clubs have what's called an "Unlimited" class where just about anything goes. I switched from Hunter to Unlimited because a 12 power scope just doesn't cut it for me.
They are raising it to 16 power as of the 2018 season, but that's still not enough to sway me out of Unlimited. Now if they would have went for 24 power, then that might possibly be enough to sway me back to Hunter Class. Right now I use 30 power.

I took a picture of our quick reference PDF file with my cell camera so I could post it here. It gives you the gear used or not used for each class and like I say the Hunter will raise to 16 power scope next season.

+ 1 for johnl57. I started quail hunting with a springer this and between my off hand abilities totally sucking and the short time available to take the shot I hunted most weekends this entire season and got zero birds. So yea I’m with John , no time to set up the stick, them quail we’re running like banshee once they caught a glimpse. Oh well there is always next year. ?

​Hunter field target the British version you can use any field position but sitting. You can use a tree, a rock, the lane marker stake, fence and any other support. No sticks, no bipods. No range finding. Eye ball it and shoot. Time limit. Most shoot a 10x fixed power. No parallax adjusting while shooting. 10-45 yards unknown distances.

So I’m guessing the answer to the initial question is no. FT doesn’t mimic what we do hunting with attached bipods and prone, or sitting with bipod or tripod, laser rangefinder, scope set up to dial a yardage at whatever scope power you want, etc. 
I’d say the AFT at EBR would come closest to real life, but even then it’s not totally like for real hunting...

Centercut you are correct in the fact that HFT does not mimic hunting. The initial post referrd to "common sense" and I will point out that that is a subjective thing. Field Target is a competitive shooting sport with some small elements of hunting but IT IS NOT an imitation of hunting! The Hunter Division of field target was not established to mimic hunting. It was established to enable shooters who hunted to be able to use some of their same equipment in field target competition without having to go out and buy and set up the more expensive and specialized rigs used by Open Division Field Target shooters. In other words, the Hunter Division was created to make the sport of Field Target more inclusive and available to more shooters, not to mimic hunting! We debated and refined the specific Hunter Division Rules over time and today many (at some matches the majority) of shooters shoot in the Hunter Division.. The current rules seem (to me at least) to be working nicely witnessed by the facts that lots of shooters shoot in that division and also that most times at our matches the hunter scores are comparable to the Open Division scores.
There are some very valid legitimate reasons why the sport of Field Target competition would not and should not and could not mimic hunting. I'll save that explanation for a later post.
Rick Bassett
FT Match Dir.
Falls Twsp. R & P Assn.

Rich, appreciate the explanation. Makes sense to me. The only part that doesn’t make much sense to me is that laser rangefinders aren’t allowed. No one hunts greater than 50 yards without a rangefinder. Perhaps it’s that FT is normally limited to shorter distances? I think what I’m asking is “what does using the scope focus to estimate range have to do with shooting skills”? Thanks for your explanation of Hunter class FT. 
Mike

Mike, targets are between 10 and 55 yards. Part of the challenge is getting distance to target correctly with limited equipment. Once you estimate distance, you will use certain hold over point for aiming. If you got distance wrong, your margin of error will be smaller.

You also have to hold for wind, which is another part of challenge.

Yes, thanks. I do understand that, but I still fail to see how using the scope focus, or downright guessing relates to shooting skill? Holding for wind is always a guess, but rooted in experience. So if I understand correctly, estimating the distance is part of the overall challenge and fun of FT, but really not related to shooting skill? I remember when in golf, rangefinders weren't allowed, but even the golf gods have determined that getting into the 21st century was appropriate... 

PS., I'm not at all trying to put down FT. In fact, I want to get involved in it and start shooting FT in competition. I bought a .177 Brocock Bantam for that very purpose last year from Keith (@Kdog). Not much FT in the San Diego area... I do shoot 25M benchrest once a month, and hunt ground squirrels and rabbits at distances up to 125 yards pretty much weekly...

Some clubs have a freestyle or unlimited class where you can use anything including rangefinders. Hunter class in AAFTA is a misnomer. I wish they just renamed it to sticks, seat and 16x max class.

That’s a great answer Rich. I have just reached out to the guys in Chino Ca about attending my first HFT match. I can’t wait.

Try ranging with your scope and a larger wheel .Take the wheel and some way of marking it. I use tiny pre made numbers. I then have a board that has a focus eye chart and typing chart on it. I take that board and start at 10 yards and go every 2 yds all the way to 60. I promise once you do this it will all make more sense as to the challenge of ranging better than your competitor. Rowan Engineering and other places manufacturers make larger wheels and sticky numbers. I have a 125mm Rowan on my Aztec and on my 2 10x50x60 hawks I use their 6 inch wheel. I like it best because it is keyed/timed so can be taken on and off to put in gun case and when you put it back on it is always the same.

Hunter Class I think is harder than open division and is more about the shooter being in tune with his gun/scope etc. The open division CAN be an equipment race which is more about money than shooting skills IMO. The best skills IMO is WFTF 

Rich177 hit it right on the money. For less than a thousand dollars you can get a brand new springer setup and be competitive in the hunter class. Also as a 60 year old newbie ( this weekend will be my third match) I can tell you that standing up from a bucket or stool 40 times in a day is much easier on old knees than getting up from the ground. If I had to spend many thousands buying equipment to compete I don’t know if I would have ever gotten into field target. I don’t hunt so for me hunter class is just a name. Besides it sounds cooler than beginner class.

lee3045 said:

i just dont understand the 20 ft lb limit i know they say it will mess the targets up but targets can be made to with stand a 22 cal rifle eaxily so using what most of us would use for general hunting. you know 29 or so ftlb 22 40 or so 25 cal or 50 or so ft lb 30 cal not many of us hunt with 20 or less ft lb 177 rifles its a 22 at the minimum

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Well you can shoot what is called extreme field target or american ft or what my club calls it just high power ft where you can shoot to 80 fpe. And you can make targets for that but they are about 6 times the cost or more! Which is why most clubs stick to regular ft.