01-01-2020, 09:17 PM
The 7 O'clock method looks like a good method. Being and old codger I learned the NRA method with the support had closer to the receiver and tucked elbow in my side with firing hand arm extended parallel to the ground forming a pocket in the shoulder for the butt stock to sit in. Instead of a figure eight rhythm of the sight I use a tight little circle movement. This has worked best for me. In a hunting situation you should always try to find some sort of support. In ladder stands that have no shooting rail I have always used either a bi-pod or mono stick of some sort to help steady the front end of the rifle. In my younger and much more flexible days I could raise one foot up and place it on the seat and rest the rifle on my knee or leg for support.
I have made a bunch of long range shots on game in my life but probably what I count the best shot I ever made was off hand using the above NRA modified circle hold. I was hunting on a powerline cut out of a box stand but I kept seeing a buck three evenings in a row that was right at 700 yards away which was too far for me to try an ethical shot. My buddy had an old homemade ladder stand that had a plywood platform just big enough to stand on. The only tree that I could find within 200 yards to place this stand so I could see and not be seen by the deer easy was only about 4 inches round. I placed the stand on the back side of the tree so I could brace on the tree for a shot where the buck had been crossing. I had to stand up on this platform to see or shoot. I was watching down to my right to where I had seen the buck cross the power line and I heard something off to my left. I slowly turned my head to the left and there he was just about 60 yards away in the middle of the powerline cut which was mowed down like my front yard. As I shifted my weight to turn in that direction where the V that was cut into the plywood platform that the tree rested in it slipped a little and made a SHREEEK sound. The buck lookws that way and took off running into the woods to my hard left. It had been very dry that year and I could hear his hoof beats on the ground and the leaves as he ran and it sounded like he was turning back toward the powerline further down. Just past 300 yards down that way there was a little dip on the lay of the land and I could see the buck's antlers as he was trotting across but no body. When he got almost to the other side of the powerline cut he comes up out of the dip and stops broadside with his head looking in my direction. I guess he was thinking "what in the world was that noise down there"? I took my old NRA across the course off hand stance with my brand new tack driving Remington 700 in 7mm Rem. Mag loaded with a handloaded Hornady 139 gr Interlock that was zeroed dead on at 300 yards with the 3" high zero at 100 yards. I knew that the deer was right at 300 yards away from previously pacing off the distance between the power poles. This was before laser range finders. I started my little circle of the cross hair in the center of the bucks front shoulder and started my trigger squeeze which did not take too much to trip the 2 1/2 lb. Boom went the rifle and POP was the sound of the bullet hitting. Now this was the first deer I had ever shot with this rifle and I expected to see the deer laying where he stood because after all this was a 7mm REM MAG. I paced from the stand to where the buck stood at the shot and it was exactly 300 paces. No deer no blood either. There was a deer trail right there so I start down it looking for blood but after about 40 yards of seeing no blood I see the deer about 30 yards down the trail dead as a hammer. He was a high racked which turned out to be a 6 point because he had no brow tines which was a genetic defect in that area. I had hit him perfectly in the center of his front shoulder and the bullet never exited. I killed about 20 deer with that rifle over the next couple years using different bullets and loads and deer would run off 90% of the time and go 75 to 150 yards unless you hit the spine. I listened to my hunting buddy and sold that rifle and got me a 25-06 and that running off problem ended. Problem of them running off was I was hunting in east NC and mostly around crop fields where we were also doing crop damage control. If the deer got out of the fields it was very thick jungle and swamp and you stood a good chance of not finding them or being able to get to them. Plus I did not like crawling around in the cotton mouth territory.
I have made a bunch of long range shots on game in my life but probably what I count the best shot I ever made was off hand using the above NRA modified circle hold. I was hunting on a powerline cut out of a box stand but I kept seeing a buck three evenings in a row that was right at 700 yards away which was too far for me to try an ethical shot. My buddy had an old homemade ladder stand that had a plywood platform just big enough to stand on. The only tree that I could find within 200 yards to place this stand so I could see and not be seen by the deer easy was only about 4 inches round. I placed the stand on the back side of the tree so I could brace on the tree for a shot where the buck had been crossing. I had to stand up on this platform to see or shoot. I was watching down to my right to where I had seen the buck cross the power line and I heard something off to my left. I slowly turned my head to the left and there he was just about 60 yards away in the middle of the powerline cut which was mowed down like my front yard. As I shifted my weight to turn in that direction where the V that was cut into the plywood platform that the tree rested in it slipped a little and made a SHREEEK sound. The buck lookws that way and took off running into the woods to my hard left. It had been very dry that year and I could hear his hoof beats on the ground and the leaves as he ran and it sounded like he was turning back toward the powerline further down. Just past 300 yards down that way there was a little dip on the lay of the land and I could see the buck's antlers as he was trotting across but no body. When he got almost to the other side of the powerline cut he comes up out of the dip and stops broadside with his head looking in my direction. I guess he was thinking "what in the world was that noise down there"? I took my old NRA across the course off hand stance with my brand new tack driving Remington 700 in 7mm Rem. Mag loaded with a handloaded Hornady 139 gr Interlock that was zeroed dead on at 300 yards with the 3" high zero at 100 yards. I knew that the deer was right at 300 yards away from previously pacing off the distance between the power poles. This was before laser range finders. I started my little circle of the cross hair in the center of the bucks front shoulder and started my trigger squeeze which did not take too much to trip the 2 1/2 lb. Boom went the rifle and POP was the sound of the bullet hitting. Now this was the first deer I had ever shot with this rifle and I expected to see the deer laying where he stood because after all this was a 7mm REM MAG. I paced from the stand to where the buck stood at the shot and it was exactly 300 paces. No deer no blood either. There was a deer trail right there so I start down it looking for blood but after about 40 yards of seeing no blood I see the deer about 30 yards down the trail dead as a hammer. He was a high racked which turned out to be a 6 point because he had no brow tines which was a genetic defect in that area. I had hit him perfectly in the center of his front shoulder and the bullet never exited. I killed about 20 deer with that rifle over the next couple years using different bullets and loads and deer would run off 90% of the time and go 75 to 150 yards unless you hit the spine. I listened to my hunting buddy and sold that rifle and got me a 25-06 and that running off problem ended. Problem of them running off was I was hunting in east NC and mostly around crop fields where we were also doing crop damage control. If the deer got out of the fields it was very thick jungle and swamp and you stood a good chance of not finding them or being able to get to them. Plus I did not like crawling around in the cotton mouth territory.