Practising with a hunting rifle

[catnthehat]

This has been discussed before I am sure, but after it was mentioned on another forum and consequently having a conversation with a couple of very well known gunsmiths and hunters who agreed with me I figured I would bring it up here instead of the thread about stopping heartbeat.

Basically speaking , after I get get a hunting load worked up and the rifle zeroed that I intend as a hunting rifle, I quit shooting it off the bench - in fact I don’t shoot groups with it at all as there is no need to!

What I do whenever I go to the range is take my hunting rifle to the range with rifles I intend to shoot targets with but before I do that I take my hunting rifle out and shoot only one or two shots with it at 1,2, and 300 yards at the steel gongs and put it down until I am about to leave .
I then pack up my gear and before I leave I take another few shots with it .
NONE of these shots are from the bench however.
They are either kneeling or prone or shot using my walking stick.

The philosophy behind this is that continual groups at targets off a bench rest or short bipod does nothing as far as shooting from more realistic field positions .
Taking a short run is laughed at by many as well, but many times that is the exact scenario that happens in a hunt !

Many people disagree with this system but there are more than a few very accomplished hunters that use this very style of practise as well .
Cat