>> if you want to get good at shooting take up hunting of all different
kinds with all different weapon and game types… that’s how you learn to
pick up any gun and shoot it dead on within a few shots…
Wrong.
Hunters without some other shooting experience typically lack solid fundamentals because hunting is a poor way to develop these skills. Compared to organized range practice or competition, shots taken in the field are too random and infrequent to effectively train marksmanship.
Hunting is a great test of already-developed shooting skills but a poor way to learn them.
Set up any form of recognized scored course of fire at a Sight In Day and let hunters (those that are brave enough to step up and try) shoot it for record. Their results will prove my point.
“Ain’t much at hitting paper, but I’m deadly in the field” is garbage. A firearm doesn’t know the difference and only puts bullets where and when they are pointed.
The hunter’s skill will gladly hit either the middle a bullseye, silhouette, steel plate or other range target just as well as the the vitals of living game – if the skill is there. Any errant shots and lost points on the range indicate these firearm pointing skills are lacking.
Firearm User Network 
Colorado Pete
Feb 15, 2014 @ 12:18:50
Rifleslinger over at “Art of the Rifle” blog just put up a good post on that subject.
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John M. Buol Jr.
Feb 15, 2014 @ 21:07:29
http://artoftherifleblog.com/is-marksmanship-at-odds-with-field-shooting/2014/02/is-marksmanship-at-odds-with-field-shooting.html
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Paul Mazan
Feb 16, 2014 @ 07:34:57
A responsible hunter doesn’t “practice” on game. You learn the skill first. Would you step into the ring without any instruction to learn to box or jump out of a plane to learn skydiving? Of course not, and why? Because you could get hurt.So, why would you hunt without learning to shoot? Is it because you don’t suffer for your incompetence? The “Deadly on game” argument is only used by those that don’t care how many animals they wound without recovering before they come home with their gut shot “trophy”. With the media spotlight on guns and hunting it is an attitude we can no longer ignore.
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E.D.M.
Feb 17, 2014 @ 13:15:09
This mentality is what lead to many frustrating conversations among my coworkers and I when I lived in Montana. I was happy to use a .223 or .308 for taking a deer at appropriate ranges. I was routinely told that I shouldn’t be using anything less than 300 Win Mag, or else I would not bring them down. When I finally got to see some of these individuals in action at the range, I understood why they said such things. I was no crack shot myself, but I could at least keep to within 2-3 MOA. These guys were happy hitting minute of buffalo.
There is no substitute for shot placement. Putting in the requisite work on the square range is important to developing those fundamentals. But I also realize that a square range is not representative of field conditions and dealing with the pressures of associated with getting that clean one shot kill to drop them “right there.”
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Colorado Pete
Feb 17, 2014 @ 18:27:17
Square range builds the skill. Hunting puts it to the test in a much less cooperative environment. After testing your skills in the hunting field, you can then change your square-range practice to reflect the unique challenges you experienced in the field.
One of my favorite practices years ago was to make life-size cardboard deer, set them up out in the hills and ravines on public land, and practice stalk-and-shoot with them in a field environment.
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