How to Shoot Long-Range: Best Tips for Beginners

One of the most challenging feats as a hunter is shooting long range distances, especially for beginner users of the hunting rifle. However, that doesn’t mean you cannot perfect the art of shooting long range, which will improve your hunting reaps in the long run. Thus, in this article, I’m going to share some tips on how to shoot long range. — Joseph Gleason of captainhunter.com.

Know your rifle

Like any other gun, you need to be its master before you it can service you well. If you want to master the difficult task of shooting long range, treat your rifle like a third arm. Take care of it, practice with it as often as you can, practice assembling it, and learn how to un-jam it if the need arises.

Just like choosing the best IWB holster, you need to choose a hunting rifle that fits you best. After that, know your weapon well and treat it as your best friend both in and outside the field. Once you’ve got this step done, you’ll find that shooting long range will be easier with a rifle that you know better than anything else.

Moreover, in mastering your rifle, you need to learn how to maintain a consistent shoulder pressure and trigger pull. Find a shoulder pressure that works and can bring you the most accurate shots.

On the other hand, learning how to pull a trigger without disturbing the aim of the rifle is tricky at first. Of course, both consistent shoulder pressure and trigger pull can only be mastered through practice.

Learn to shoot in winds

More often than not, the wind is not going to cooperate with your shooting. In long distance shooting, the wind plays a big factor in your accuracy by influencing either the direction or trajectory of your shot. Therefore, you can learn to work with the wind by training in different conditions.

While doing this, you should learn from each of your shots. What direction is the wind blowing? How windy is it? Answer these questions while you evaluate the accuracy of your shot. With enough practice, you’ll master long-range shooting with the wind as an external factor.

Practice shooting from odd places

That whitetail isn’t going to stay still and wait for you to shoot it. Thus, you also need to learn how to shoot from unusual places. In long-distance shooting, this skill will also serve as your advantage.

When you can, practice shooting from behind a rock, a mound, or from a ditch. On the other hand, if you’re going to do a lot of prey stalking, practicing long-range shooting from behind bushes, rocks, or trees.

Master the proper position and breathing

Position and breathing are just as important as the other factors we mentioned beforehand. To be a great long-distance shooter, you need to master the correct position and breathing technique.

To do that, practice shooting with your spine parallel to the stock of the rifle (while laying on your stomach), and with the butt of the gun resting on the well of your shoulder. Wrap your middle and ring finger around the stock and let your index finger reach to the trigger. Make sure your grip is light, or this will affect your shot and the follow-through.

As for breathing, the most accurate shots will result from a shot taken at the tip of every exhale.

In general, you should learn how to coordinate these two factors until you’ve mastered your own unique strategy.

Take care of your rifle

For a Glock 26, you’re going to buy the best Glock 26 holster to protect it. Maintenance and care of bigger guns is just the same. To keep your accuracy consistent, keep your gun clean with a regular cleaning session.

However, a spotless gun won’t do you good either. Maintain a level of fouling that allows you to shoot the most accurate shots, and learn how to adjust the level of cleaning you have to do for each session.

Learn how to use a scope

In order to acquire the skill of scoping your target, buy a great scope and stick to it. Moreover, buy the kind of scope that works well for you.

Once you’ve got the right scope, you can now practice zeroing in. Zeroing in will allow you to see your target at the same focal plane. Thus, giving you the best shot possible.

This is a difficult skill to master, especially for beginners, but it is not impossible. Again, practice makes permanent; and understanding your scope is the first step to that.

Adjust your diopeter

Optimizing your focus is most important for accuracy in long-range shooting. To achieve this, focus your reticle using a plain background until it appears clear and crisp.

Follow-through

This refers to watching the bullet impact your target through the scope, which is important to make better shots. Seeing where your bullet hit (or where it didn’t) will allow you to calculate your next shot. Otherwise, you’ll end up guessing and probably making the same mistakes.

To follow-through, squeeze the trigger back after the shot, then slowly release it back to the front without removing your sight from the scope. Call the shot. Re-calculate. Learn. Then move on.

Keep a record

To be a smart long-distance shooter, you can start logging your shots in a notebook or sheet. Record the condition, distance of the target, scope reading, and the result of your shot. This will let you learn from your own mistakes, and possibly identify some of your weaknesses.

Assess the kickback

As expert long-range shooters say, your shot is good if the gun kicks back directly towards you and the crosshairs fall back to the target after the shot.

Therefore, you need to learn from the kickback of your rifle. Doing so will allow you to identify if your shot is “wrong” or not, and most likely improve your next one.

Conclusion

Shooting long-range distances is not an easy feat, especially for beginner hunters. However, learning how to do so will improve your chances of reaping rewards and also expand your options. There are many useful tips in this article on how to shoot long-range distances, but the most important one is: train smart; not hard.

I hope you learned a lot from this article. If you enjoyed it, feel free to leave a comment below and tell us what you think. Don’t forget to share this with all your hunter friends, as well. Thanks for reading!