Shooting Schools

There is a pretty good "shooting school" near Yakima, forgot the name but it should be easy to find.

There are shooting schools all over the place, seems like everyone is in the game of starting schools now days, Some are pricey, some are reasonable.

When deciding what school, remember, fundamentals are fundamentals, its what you do with them that count.

It doesn't take much of a school to teach: Natural point of aim, positions, sight alignment, trigger control, etc etc. Do you want to pay $500 to get you pointed in the right direction, or would you rather pay $2500.

Some have large round counts, some don't. Do you want to pay someone to watch you practice????

There isn't a whole lot of difference from shooting long range and short range. Except adjusting your elevation and accounting for wind and other environmental concerns.

What I mean is, you have a rifle, it fires a bullet, that bullet starts dropping as soon as it leaves the barrel, the got little knobs on the scope/sights to allow you to come up to compensate for the drop. Simply figure out how much your bullet drops and how many clicks your scope/sights require to bring your group up and do it........................There I just saved you a couple hundred bucks on this topic.

Same with wind, mirage, etc. Joe Instructor can give you an ideal what to look for, formula's for adjusting for wind, etc etc. but everyone eyes different we see things different. Learn the formulas, apply them, then practice making the adjustments to the formula your eyes call for. Save another 200 bucks.

Get the ideal, get the fundamentals down and start putting rounds down range, you'll learn.

You can get the fundamentals by shooting HP clinics, CMP-GSM Clinics, Appleseed, all at very reasonable cost, all under $100, some free. Then take the extra money you would spend on a high price school and put it in rounds down range.

I know I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this, lots of people say you can't shoot unless you spend tons of money learning how from "experts".

But its my opinion, I'm against turning shooting sports into a rich mans game. Fundamentals haven't changed, its practice that makes them work.
 
I know I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this, lots of people say you can't shoot unless you spend tons of money learning how from "experts".
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kraigwy....you won't hear any complaints from ME. I THOUGHT I was a good shot until I went to Appleseed!

As you said, it's inexpensive marksmanship training, using rack-grade rifles and open sights or scope.

With the new "ROC" (Rifleman's Opportunity Card) card, you pre-register for an event ($70), pay an extra $20 for an RWVA membership at the shoot, and you can attend Appleseed Shoots FREE until you: 1. Shoot a Rifleman's (Expert) score (210 or higher), 2. RWVA membership card expires (1yr). It really is a heckuvadeal!

Kraig....I know you're an experienced shooter, but if you haven't shot an Appleseed, you really need to. It is a lot of fun....
 
I never did the Appleseed but did shoot the same course of fire using M16A1s w/sub cal devices.

The Guard use to, (may still do) had a CNGB Postal Match (Chief of the National Guard Bureau) Postal match where units compete in their state against other units. The winners of each state were sent to Nashville to compete nationally. My unit won a trip to Nashville. It was fun but it takes some work to shoot those little bitty targets.
 
Attend an Appleseed. Doesn't cost much and it's excellent, pratical and fun marksmanship training. It's not competition training, but more driven towards military application.
 
Andrew:

Have you checked out the Firearms Academy of Seattle. It is located near Centralia. They don't have a Big Game specific course, but they do have a long-range shooting course.

I would also have to say that I agree with the Appleseed idea. They are great classes. There isn't any near Seattle, but there are some over in Eastern Washington.
 
appleseed is by far the best palce to learn marksmanship. A course dedicated teach you any more just because it is a big game secific course. The quality of instruction at an appleseed is some of the best in the country. An appleseed instructor does an average of 100 hours of hands on instruction under an appleseed certified instructor, after he completes two appleseed events, an 8 day riflemans bootcamp, and demonstrates his ability to shoot by being able to consistently shoot marksman on the amry qualification test
 
I'm all ready to attend an appleseed with my 13 year old son but somehow the website only shows one event in the entire state of Oklahoma. This is a large state that takes many hours to drive across and the one event is in the SW corner while I live in the NE one. The population centers are Oklahoma City and Tulsa but they put the one shoot about as far from them as they can get!

People in the Tulsa area would sure like something within an hour or two!

Gregg
 
Glad to see Appleseed getting metioned. Great place to learn and brush up on the basics of Marksmanship and for the cost I don't think you can beat what they offer.
 
If you want to get into competition/marksmanship type shooting, then classes are fine. If you're wanting to become a better hunter or fun paper puncher; even at long range; you don't need any shooting classes.

For the low end of $500, I can buy 2000 rounds of SS109 ammo. That's a lot of practice and figuring out for myself, what works FOR ME!!! I live in wyoming. I shoot antelope, deer, elk, and sheep out to distances of 400 yards. I definitely didn't need to pay someone to teach me how to shoot. Am I shooting the exact same style that some class might teach me? probably not. Do i really give a rat's a$s? Nope, not at all.

But if you're into bench rest, vice, artificial shooting; then some of these classes may be good. Part of the hobby. I say artificial, because if you use a weapon for it's intended original purpose, "Kill a live creature"; e.g. hunting or defense; you're not going to be shooting at a table with a bench rest, vise, or other device. Nothing wrong with competition or marksmanship type shooting. But that's a totally different purpose. An automobile's primary purpose is a mode of transportation. Nothing wrong with wanting to be into race car driving or similar; but that's a different purpose for the car than transportation.

If you want to be a better big game hunter at long range, use a 22LR or .223 rifle, and practice, practice, practice. Make shooting 2nd nature to you. Learn how to breath. How to learn what your rifle is going to do. Then, eventually get your hunting rifle(s) out and tweak from there. Each rifle/caliber is different. Once you learn to breath and aim, you can determine how much a certain weight/caliber bullet will be affected by gravity, wind, elevation, etc... The best way to figure this out, is with practice. Save your money on the schools. You can buy a bipod shiite load of ammo and have a lot more fun.
 
That's one reason I suggested Appleseed, low cost, we DON'T use benchrests, vises, bipods, etc. A LOT of our students are also hunters.
 
That's a lot of practice and figuring out for myself, what works FOR ME!!! I live in wyoming. I shoot antelope, deer, elk, and sheep out to distances of 400 yards. I definitely didn't need to pay someone to teach me how to shoot. Am I shooting the exact same style that some class might teach me? probably not. Do i really give a rat's a$s? Nope, not at a
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ll.

As an appleseed instructor I hear a lot of comments kust like this one, and while I am glad that you are capable of "figuring out for yourself" I would hope that your attitude is one that also accepts that there may be a better way to do things if someone can show you how
 
As an appleseed instructor I hear a lot of comments kust like this one, and while I am glad that you are capable of "figuring out for yourself" I would hope that your attitude is one that also accepts that there may be a better way to do things if someone can show you how
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I'm definitely not against learning. You can always learn something. But each individual is different. Me personally; I don't need a class to make me a better hunter. And that is what the original poster was asking about. 90% of hunting has nothing to do with shooting anyway. But as far as shooting goes when it comes to hunting, I don't feel I need training to hit my target. On a BAD DAY of hunting big game, you might shoot 4 rounds. "Assuming you miss a lot". So practicing throughout the year on a regular basis, will make you accurate. Some of us have 40 years of shooting and hunting.

Now; assuming a person is young and inexperienced with guns, they might need a class on how to properly shoot a weapon. I applaud appleseed and many others like the CMP for promoting our history, heritage, and weapons. And I love watching children being exposed to guns, safety, and marksmanship. But the original poster mentioned that he's a big game hunter. I have to assume that he's been hunting before. "You don't call yourself a "Big Game Hunter" just because you WANT to go hunting. Point is; the best thing for someone who is already a hunter/shooter, who wants to increase their efficiency at long range; is to simply practice. You don't need a class for that.

Now; would I be open to being taught something new? Sure. If I'm at the range or sitting around a camp fire on a hunt, and someone gives me some suggestions on the way I shoot, I'll definitely hear them out. I'll analyze what they have to say, and determine for myself if their suggestion may be beneficial. Will I go to a class? No. That would just be a waste of my money. But that's just me. There's a lot of people who are new to guns or shoot once or twice a year and have very little experience. There's a lot they can gain from classes. The problem is: We don't know the experience of the individual who made the original post. Maybe he's been hunting for 20 years at animals the size of deer at <200 yards. Now he's wanting to go after sheep and elk in the Rockies at 400 yards. Maybe a class would do him well.

We have a very large country, with the majority of folks living in urban/suburban areas and they don't have the opportunities to shoot like many in other parts of the country. I'm 50 years old. I've lived more than half of my life in the Rockies. 86% of all homes in Wyoming own at least 1 firearm. Everyone shoots. My children were shooting at 5 years old. I also retired after 21 years in the military. Part of that time was working CATM, training military members how to use weapons. But all that training never really helped me on an elk hunt. Not the shooting part. As long as you're not new to firearms, and you're not afraid of firearms, learning how to hit a target at 400-500 yards is easy. It's knowing how to put yourself in the right place to get a shot at an animal that is the hard part. Even to this day, I can go on a hunt and spend 2 days and never see the animal I'm trying to hunt. But again; I'm not taking anything away from most firearms courses. But hunting game is different than taking a carbine course or learning about basic firearm usage.
 
I grew up in wyoming. I was raised by an aunt who is a nurse, and an uncle who is an outfitter. I handled rifles my entire life, I never wounded an animal, I thought I was a more than adequate shooter. Then I attended my first appleseed. While hunting may be 90% about the scouting you do in summer and early fall, and the stalking you do when all season long, it always comes down to making the shot. The op asked specifically about long range shooting on big game, who knows, maybe he is typically an archery hunter who wants to expand his hunting opprotunities, fact is, he asked about finding instruction.

You may not have a use for competition shooting, most folks don't, but there is much to be learned from those same competition shoters. I have guided competition shooters in the big horns, the skills they use on the target range are very useful in the field.

As to the op, attend an appleseed, find a practical rifle course, get some instruction somewhere, the learning curve is easier with quality instruction as opposed to "figuring it out yourself".
 
People in the Tulsa area would sure like something within an hour or two!
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Go back to www.appleseedinfo.org. There is a forum on the sight. In that forum there is a section just for the folks in oklahoma. Post there and let them know you have an interest, maybe recommend a range where the event can be held.
 
Shawn Carlock In Idaho with Defensive Edge teaches a great long range class. That man knows his stuff. He has a few DVD's for sale that have some pretty long shots on them.
 
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