It's fine to shoot from the prone position or a bench at the range, but you should also practice from realistic shooting positions you're more likely to use while hunting.
I don't know about you, but I've never taken a shot from a bench rest on a hunt. And while the prone shooting position is very stable, I've only taken a handful of shots on hunts from that position because something (usually tall grass) typically obscured my view of the animal while laying on the ground.
Indeed, I've taken the vast majority of my shots from some sort of improvised shooting position that provided enough visibility to see the animal while at the same time giving you a stable position to make a good shot.
There is a lot of advice out there on which shooting position is best and how to get into the various positions. Fortunately, former special operations sniper Ryan Cleckner of Gun University partnered with the National Shooting Sports Foundation to produce this outstanding video demonstrating his favorite shooting positions.
Watch the video to see Ryan demonstrate several different positions that are well suited for the various conditions you're likely to encounter in the real world.
While you're preparing for your hunt, make sure you spend some time practicing from a couple different basic shooting positions. Remember: it's unlikely that you'll get to shoot from the prone, so make sure you're prepared to shoot from a kneeling position, sitting position, or even standing position.
Especially if you use a sling or other form of support, you'll be amazed at just how stable you can get in an improvised shooting stance out in the real world. We can't always rely on a solid rest, shooting sticks, or a bipod/monopod, so finding the steadiest rifle shooting position is very important.
Your support hand and your sight alignment are altered when you change firing position, so now's the time to adjust to and perfect these techniques, instead of trying them for the first time in the field. That's not an easy way to produce an accurate shot.
You probably won't break any long range records while shooting from the kneeling or sitting positions, but being prepared to shoot from those stances will dramatically improve your marksmanship, not to mention your odds of punching your tag and filling your freezer.
Like what you see? You can read more great articles by John McAdams on the Big Game Hunting Blog. Subscribe to his show: the Big Game Hunting Podcast.
NEXT: 7 LONGEST SNIPER SHOTS EVER
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