Question for Mature shooters.

[N6CRV]

Was not sure how to put the question and did not want to say "old" . I'm getting into the mature range 60+. My question is how the heck do you adapt for the shaking? It seems like I have shakes that I never knew I had. I have been trying to pull the trigger between them but hope there is a better way. It might just be something we have to put up with. It bothers me when I can have a friend check my rifle and he can stack the pellets and I try and I get a 1/2 dollar size group. Thanks for any help.
Don
 

[Sfttailrdr46]

  Unfortunately the mature thing catches up with all of us as far as the shakes . try not drinking as much coffee. Some of it comes from just plain old loss of muscle mass as we mature to the over 60 point in the calendar  if all else fails buy some shooting sticks /bipod to help stabilize the rifle

[Motorhead]

Off hand shooting is a very difficult task taking much practice managing the shakes 
Most other type shooting we use a crutch of some sort resting gun across a fence post, truck bed, tree branch, horses back etc ...
If sitting down at a shooting table or such ... Shooting bags, Bipods help immensely !!

At 56 myself ... yea, can relate 

[Yarp]

Same advice, except that more coffee is almost always better than less coffee.

While hunting back when I still had hair, I always used a rest of some kind whenever available. Anything done to insure a clean kill is reasonable and responsible.

I don't feel the least bit funny using a rest to stalk paper today. 
   If you're traveling light, pick up a featherweight telescoping monopod for twenty bucks. 
   If not, pick up a telescoping or folding tripod or biopod. I prefer the latter. Mine adjusts up to 62 inches. 
   

[Slavia]

The only rules are to have fun and be safe.  I'm 60 (for another month) and I say use whatever "cheat" you can come up with.  Most of my shooting these days is from the bench, and I have a ball.  Besides, even though we're less steady than we once were, we're smarter. 

[Tommy]

I am a few months from 60 and I am disabled [4 new discs and a bunch of titanium in my neck]. I look for whatever i can to lean on. My guns have bipods and when in the field i have a camera tripod. My only problem is my old eyes. Scopes do their job but you have to see what you are scoping first
Tommy

[Yarp]

The only rules are to have fun and be safe.  I'm 60 (for another month) and I say use whatever "cheat" you can come up with.  Most of my shooting these days is from the bench, and I have a ball.  Besides, even though we're less steady than we once were, we're smarter.

I wish we had the option to "like" posts.

[Booger]

I am a young buck (55 will be 56 soon), and shaking is just part of life. Just drink coffee, smoke cigarettes, and shoot. I use a bag and table, firmly rest the gun against my shoulder and the shaking is not bad. I can hit grasshoppers off my fence at 32 yards.

[nced]

Was not sure how to put the question and did not want to say "old" . I'm getting into the mature range 60+. My question is how the heck do you adapt for the shaking? It seems like I have shakes that I never knew I had. I have been trying to pull the trigger between them but hope there is a better way. It might just be something we have to put up with. It bothers me when I can have a friend check my rifle and he can stack the pellets and I try and I get a 1/2 dollar size group. Thanks for any help.
Don
 

Well...I'm 67 and I use my bucket and sticks for all shooting like I'm doing in the avatar! LOL....even when still hunting for squirrels I shoot the exact same way!

[Minuteman]

I'm a ripe young buck of 57, and so far I seem to be pretty steady. I guess I owe it to clean living lol. I was just shooting offhand today with open sights and I hit just about everything I aimed at. A scope just magnifies any shaking of course. I'm not as steady with one, so I rest with a scoped gun. I definitely get a bad case of the shakes when the thermometer dips below freezing though!

[Mr Sasquatch]

At age 65 I do not even try off hand rifle shooting any more because  of the shakes. All my shooting now is paper targets from the bench and front & rear bags. Luckily, even with these limitations, it still is a lot of fun.

[Booger]

I'm a ripe young buck of 57, and so far I seem to be pretty steady. I guess I owe it to clean living lol. I was just shooting offhand today with open sights and I hit just about everything I aimed at. A scope just magnifies any shaking of course. I'm not as steady with one, so I rest with a scoped gun. I definitely get a bad case of the shakes when the thermometer dips below freezing though!

When I lived in Maine I shook in July, and let's not talk about the Over Homers.

[fortyshooter]

I'll just cross my leg and prop my left arm on my knee...left hand supporting the rifle foregrip. Of course this is from my sitting position in my favorite porch chair.  When shooting from a standing position,like when shooting my PB handguns,I try for a steady hold on target and pull the trigger as soon as the sight has a good line up.

[farrlarr]

At the age of 71, I do almost all shooting from a rest of some sort.  I do still plink and shoot maybe 1/2 of paper with pistols without a rest but that's when I'm just shooting for fun and not accuracy.  The other posters have given good advice regarding rests so I won't repeat what they have said, but the bottom line is that you are going to have to learn to accommodate age-related changes in whatever way seems most appropriate to you.

[ancient1one]

After a motorcycle accident I have become old real fast. Once in awhile I can shoulder a rifle but most of the time I have trouble keeping it on target without some kind of support. I bought an adjustable BOGgear tripod that is easy to use and light enough to carry anywhere. You can shoot with it sitting or standing and it's sturdy for being so light.

There is no way I will let a little shaking or unsteadiness stop me from shooting or enjoying the outdoors. I bought a 6 pound air rifle and a 1 pound scope. Next time your buying a rifle or scope think light, if you have a heavy rifle sell it and buy a lightweight AG. This will improve your accuracy and make shooting more enjoyable.

Last I have been to a few AG events and 90% of the people couldn't have been nicer before or after they saw my shooting skills. You should not be upset because you shake a little due to aging, everyone gets old and for those that stop aging? I would say they are in worse shape than you or I.   

Link:

[45Bravo]

Yes, we just have to shoot when the sits align between the shakes.

I tell the young guys at the range, they need to hang around the old guys,,they know stuff...

[lefteyeshot]

 I'm 63 and started shooting AG Dec. of 2012. I hadn't shot anything since I retired from the Army. I just wanted to learn to shoot left handed after loosing part of the vision in my right eye and got hooked. I only shoot off a bench because of the shaking and use 3 bricks, 2 long ways and one cross the top with a shop towel on top. I don't like bags. My back yard range is 23 yards. Last week I tried shooting off hand again in front of the table at 21 yards. I used three guns. A .177 Winchester 1028 I bought at a pawn shop, an old .177 XS B4-2 I rebuilt and a .177 B2-1 I got at a flea market and modified with lots of weight in the stock and a barrel weight. All the guns were scoped. The cross hairs were all over the targets the whole time. I
shot two pellet with each gun. Five pellets were in the 1" bulls and one on the edge. I guess in the last year and a half I didn't stop shaking but I learned when to pull the trigger.

I'm gonna' get one of those tripod things.

[Tater]

I wish we had the option to "like" posts.

Agreed, I've thought that many times. Even a "thumbs up" smiley would be a nice feature to have.

[Yarp]

I wish we had the option to "like" posts.

Agreed, I've thought that many times. Even a "thumbs up" smiley would be a nice feature to have.

NW Burbs?  ...mmm..I used to hail from Park Ridge?   (sorry for the hijack)

[SpiralGroove]

Yeah, I'm a young 55 .
Up until 2012 I hadn't thought much about airguns since I was 17.  I had brain surgery about 20 years ago, so my balance is off along with naturally, bad eye sight and loss of hearing in one ear (too much Led Zeppelin 1,2 & 4 in the other).  Keeping the darn target in focus is problem #1. 

However, You got to keep going ---------> being able to slow down......... and patiently think things through, is a real bonus
On the bright side, my PCP's don't seem as loud as everyone else says they are

+1 More Coffee