I don't know how they do it..springer hunters

[barcabarca]

I have been shooting my springers lately in my yard, to keep a decent 1" or less group requires focus technique and a very steady consistent hold usually from a makeshift bench in my yard.  I have a Diana 48 and a Diana 54 and a Diana 34Panther all in .22.  At 25 yards its do able pretty reliably, I cant imagine shooting at something without a steady rest.  Spring gun hunters: How do you do it?  How close do you have to stalk to be successful.  Don't you always need some kind of rest in order to be accurate enough to turn off the lights in one shot?

[Bryan Heimann]

It's always been harder for me to shoot from a rest.  I usually rest my elbow or upper arm against my ribs, and let the gun float on my forward hand somewhere behind the balance point.  I use my wrist like a turret sort of, and shrug my shoulder up or down if need be, to aim the gun, lightly tough it to my shoulder, and my trigger hand/finger barely touch/squeeze the weapon just enough to fire.  That is the artillery hold =)  And it does work!  Even better than resting the gun on your palm, over a rest.

[gandalfretlaw]

I'm really interested in shooting offhand. After it everything else should be easy. I am getting pretty good. My backyard is only ten yards. I am pretty good at shooting inside an inch at that range. I just started shooting at 1/2" circles tonight. The largest problem I've had in the field is determining range. I do carry shooting sticks in the field. Their simple to make. I need to spend sometime somewhere shooting at 20, 30 and 40 yards. I put some tape on my field glasses and wrote down ranges for various focal points. This should be sufficient to get in the right ballpark which is really all I need. I think I'm zeroed at 17 and 36 yards, so at 25 I'm about a half inch high; at ten yards I'm about a half inch low. Point blank is an inch and a half low.

[thekid]

A tree, off a knee, or a rest.
yes most find something to rest against.
I have many times used a kneeling stance. My left elbow rest on my left knee, the rifle floats on my left hand. The right (trigger hand) just guide the rifle.
My most accurate way to shoot in the field. I have reached out long distances this way.
Many of killer shots witnessed over the years, and some I am very proud of.

[grizzlyadams]

i have been using my 48 for hunting for over ten years. i don't do anything but a preliminary sight in from the bench.when i shoot to check zero i use a monopod or the door jamb of my back door. i grab it (door) with my right hand, i'm lefty. and i sorta make a crook with my thumb and rest the gun in it. that way i have the same p.o.i when i shoot rested like that off a sapling at a bushy. i am deadly like that with that gun. maybe because i've shot it so much, but also just because the 48 has always been the most comfortable gun i've ever shouldered, like diana made it just for me! i regularly make 50+ yard kills with mine on bushys, bunnies, crows and occasionally chucks.

[shooter]

Dont feel bad I am too in the same situation. Can hit 1 inch circle at 18 yards with a rest. Go to shoot at animals and having a hard time hitting them. The one rabitt I did get I shot him perfectly in the head. I need more practice I guess.

[longislandhunter]

When I'm hunting I'll use a rest if I can but I don't have any aversion to shooting free hand if I have to.  It's like anything else, the more practice you get the better you'll get.  When shooting free hand for me the key is to just shoulder the rifle, put the scope on target and as soon as I see the cross hairs hovering over the sweet spot I pull the trigger.  What I mean is,,,, don't shoulder the rifle and then take a long time trying to hold the scope on target waiting for the slight movement of the crosshairs to stop..... because it won't.  Quickly get your sight picture and as soon as you have it then fire..  The longer you hold the rifle up and on target the more the crosshairs will start to "float" around the target.  Do I miss more shooting free hand ?  Yes, but I usually harvest the critter I'm aiming at

Jeff

[Trackmyer]

When I'm hunting I'll use a rest if I can but I don't have any aversion to shooting free hand if I have to.  It's like anything else, the more practice you get the better you'll get.  When shooting free hand for me the key is to just shoulder the rifle, put the scope on target and as soon as I see the cross hairs hovering over the sweet spot I pull the trigger.  What I mean is,,,, don't shoulder the rifle and then take a long time trying to hold the scope on target waiting for the slight movement of the crosshairs to stop..... because it won't.  Quickly get your sight picture and as soon as you have it then fire..  The longer you hold the rifle up and on target the more the crosshairs will start to "float" around the target.  Do I miss more shooting free hand ?  Yes, but I usually harvest the critter I'm aiming at

Jeff

+1 ..
Seen happen a bunch of times with some guys I hunt with.  They hold on target for what seems like forever.  And the harder they try to steady the more I see the end of their barrel floating about.

[Bryan Heimann]

It is harder to shoot well in the field though, and I do get where you are coming from.  I had an xl that could literally drill the bottom of a soda can at 75 yards every time when i had it together, but I never ever hit a critter with it.  Fudge my hold a tiny bit, pellet would fly way off target.  I think part of it is finding a springer that fits you well, that you can hold comfortably, and that shoulders naturally for you.  Yeah, practice practice practice and become familiar with your gun- but it also helps a lot to have one that fits you just right.  That's why I love wood-stocked Stoeger X10's so much.  I guess it is the shape and proportion of the stock, maybe in conjunction with the balance of the shorter barrel- I don't know why exactly.  But for me at least, the X10's are natural to shoot and the pellets hit where I aim them, period.  Especially off-hand and with open sights.  Maybe because it was my first springer, but I do believe ergonomics play a role.

EDIT-  Actually it wasn't my first springer when I think abut it.  I had owned a couple of Gamo's in the passed as well. But it was the one that made me fall in love with airguns =)

[VAFarmer]

I always shot my spring guns rested on something.

Took a monopod alot, and still do actually.   Just a steadier base.......

But always prefer to use what Im hiding in, around, on.....

Use a 4 wheeler alot, makes a good hunting seat

I dont shoot well offhand at all, rifles or pistols.

If shooting offhand, a good quality trigger is a must.

God bless,

Farmer

[Mrcarcrazy]

When I was a kid all my dad had was a springer rifle, I don't know anything about it, or if it is still in my parents house.  But I got more than a few headshots on pest birds in the back yard with it. That gun was cool. awesome shots off hand.

[ogre8472]

Like some of the others said a rest is a welcome aid.  When I was squirrel hunting with my big cat I used a rifle sling to help steady it on standing shots. My Tech Force wasn't as hold sensitive so a tree branch would work just fine.

It is something that needs lots of and lots of practice to do well.

[jmdavis984]

Regardless of gun type, I find that my biggest hinderance to shooting at an animal well is knowing hwere to hold.  I mostly shoot paper, and it is really easy to hold a steady 6 o-clock hold on a dot.  It's not so easy to use a birds head as the "dot" even if the bird is just printed on paper.

[vrotsos991]

I went to the darkside :-)

My springer was very hold sensitive, causing my hunting to be very aggravating along with some bad shot placements. Due to the  quick scenarios in hunting, tring to get the perfect hold was not always capable. I ended up with my mrod, and I shoot off hand, or for the +60 yard shots i use shooting sticks.


Good luck

[Bryan Heimann]

Shoot cans.  By far my favorite target is just a can.  Probably the number one airgun target there is.  Letters on cans, knock em over and try to hit the bottoms, and i really like hitting the harder edges of them.  A mid-power .177 springer might throw a pllet through a can so fast that it hardly moves if at al, so you start trying to hit the bottom edges where the material is a little more robust to knock em around.  Also try shooting the tops off bottles.  Line up your plastic bottles full of water and shoot the tops off, then perforate em all over- tons of fun.  Shoot at stuff like paintballs, necco wafers, skittles, etc.  Boiled eggs are fun, just any old kind of small, cheap food or candy makes a great three dimensional reactive target and hones your skills.  I hate punching paper, and I normally reserve that for zeroing a gun or checking it's zero.

[thekid]

Jeff (longIslandhunter) makes a very good point.
No need for the perfect hold. I use to be a very accomplished off hand shooter...open sight or scope, that was until I fell from the roof.
I had micro tears in my Sacroilliac ligament. This holds the spine to the pelvis, hurts to much to shoot off hand.
This is the reason for the kneeling shots.
At home I aim for rediculously small targets, making you focus hard on the cross hairs to land the shot.
Well when hunting, as long as the cross hairs are on the target or mildot for hold over, I let the pellet go.
I find it easier to put down a critter than I do, to hit a 4.5mm-5.5mm target.

[gamo2hammerli]

Of all my kills using a springer, I can say that only 3 or 4 have been unsupported...and most under 25 yards.  Most of the time it`s either my right shoulder was leaning on a wall or tree, left forearm supported by knee or branch or the forestock is on a window sill.

[only1harry]

It's all about how much you practice.  You also need to practice the way you hunt.  If you sit and shoot from a bench for 2 hours and go through most of a tin that way and feel confident, and then go shoot at a squirrel from a 2nd floor window, or leaning on the door way, you will not be as accurate.  You have to practice from the position(s) you normally hunt.

And Jeff 's advice was very good.  Shoot as soon as the crosshairs are on target.  The longer you wait, the more tired you might get, your breathing might change, etc. making it harder to keep it on target.  Plus the critter could flee if you spend too much time trying to get the crosshairs to stop moving, which they won't.  What I do is raise the muzzle and as soon as I find the target I take the shot when shooting off-hand.  I got 2 squirrels with the 48 off-hand and NO scope while I was breaking it in before I scoped it.  Then I scoped the 48 and I was not any more accurate as I was off-hand.  The same with my 350's.  This is why now I will only scope a tuned Springer.

I will conclude by saying that you really should get your Springers tuned if you want optimum accuracy, or have a hard time getting better than 1" groups past 25yds.  If you leave your Springers stock, I would not recommend scoping them.  They will shoot just the same at 25yds and you may even have an easier time hitting the critters without a scope.  I hunted with my 350 for almost a year without a scope and I had a 95+% success rate even out to 40yds with crows and Groundhogs, and squirrels out to 30yds.  Then I scoped it and didn't like the groups at all, started missing critters.  I broke down and sent it out for a full tune, and haven't looked back.  That changed everything.  I will no longer shoot a non-tuned Springer.

Harry

[Nate the airgunner]

I use whatever I have at my disposal, be it a tree, my knee, or offhand, I ca get my hold right and sink the pellet in the killzone fairly easy. I'm not spoiled 

[mtsheron70]

Practice!