Firearm User Network

Shooting at running game used to be a standard part of the American hunter’s skill set. The guns they carried—lever actions, old semi-autos like the Remington Model 8, and sporterized military turn-bolts—excelled at this task.

We live in a different world today. The mere mention of shooting at running game during a hunter’s ed class would induce chest-gripping seizures among the gray-haired corps of instructors. I get why this is, but those old skills, like many other traditional exercises in woodsmanship, have atrophied and our hunting culture is the poorer for it.

We had to take a shooting test the day before our hunt in order to be allowed to participate. We shot a running boar target at 100 meters, going left to right and right to left, and had to go five for five in the vitals to pass and get a hunting license.

The shooting isn’t difficult with the right technique. Your mom would be happy to know the key is good posture and standing up straight. The goal is to have a smooth, even swing so you can track the target, establish the correct lead, and pull the trigger. Standing straight minimizes the vertical wobble of the barrel and lets you focus on the horizontal motion of the rifle. If you hunch over in a quasi-tactical stance, you’ll have less control over your muzzle. Do some dry-fire practice and see for yourself. Learning the right lead is a matter of time in the field. A good rule of thumb is to put your vertical crosshair in line with the boar’s ear, but, as with wingshooting, there are too many variables to give a single correct answer. No matter what, good trigger control and follow-through are critical. Keep that barrel moving after the shot.

More:
https://www.outdoorlife.com/how-to-shoot-running-game

Great article! Ranges for hunters need more moving and reactive targets shot from field positions and less bench rests. See the Monolith of Medicore for more details.

“We had to take a shooting test the day before our hunt in order to be allowed to participate. We shot a running boar target at 100 meters, going left to right and right to left, and had to go five for five in the vitals to pass and get a hunting license.”

This is the most important part. Notice how these hunters set up relevant shooting tests on the range to confirm skills before going after living game. Americans hunters need to do likewise.

I’ve observed hunters shooting on the range for whom any shot at game at any distance and circumstance would have been unethical… A shot taken with a high hit percentage is ethical. “High hit percentage” is dependent upon the skill of the individual attempting that shot. One of the goals of HunterShooter events is to help hunters identify what constitutes high hit percentage for them. Participants at HunterShooter events can evoke the Decline rule on any given Scenario. At such an event, all participants shoot all targets but don’t incur Miss penalties on Declined targets.

The idea is to practice learning what constitutes a high percentage shot (and what does not…) Like the hunters in the article here, they learn if the can or can’t pull off a given attempt on the range at a high percentage before trying it in the field.