I known there is no substitute for shooting your hunting rig but do you ever think about a cheaper way to practice? I just bought and airsoft gun that out to 20 yards will hit a quarter. I am going to cut some cardboard hogs out 3/4 scale then LABRAT and I are going to backyard hog hunt until the next trip. We will still shoot our hunting rigs enough to stay condiditoned but this should save us a ton on components. reflex264

I didn't practice as much with my air "handgun" as much as I did my air rifle off of my shooting sticks but I think it did help some. The grip is probably different than your hunting gun but it did help me get used to seeing the sights bob around somewhat when standing behind the stick so that all of the movement wasn't unexpected.

I shot at some old IMSA silhouette targets @ around 10 yrds, and some simple felt marker dots around 1/4" in diameter.

I practice with a pellet gun (handgun). Of course the grips are not the same as my Bisley 45s but it helps with sight acquisition and trigger control.

one of the most fun things to do for practice is get a good .22 handgun,revolver or auto,its much cheaper to shoot than your hunting rig and a little more fun than airsoft or shooting lead pellets-john

and practicing with a .22 handgun will get you ready for the small game seasons too!-john

If you want good cheap practice, shoot hot glue bullets!! I drilled out the primer pockets of a few cases to take a 209 primer, which propells a hot glue "bullet" rather well. Cheek out the post in the off topic forum!

Well using the proper pellets (20gr) I can hit a coke can at 30 yards with the air soft gun. We have plenty of .22 sixguns that really shoot but ammo for .22s is in very short supply around here. This thing is accurate enough for some realistic shooting practice for pennies. Quiet too. reflex264

Hm. Good point. That's farther than my idea is good for lol

I stepped out the door and popped off a dozen shots out to as far as 40 yards this morning. Didn't wake anyone up. reflex264

Last night after mowing and weed eating my sweety and I were setting in the porch swing. I thought about it a minute and got the new toy. I set a can of carb cleaner at about 20 yards and proceeded to assault it with one handed shots. This was after shooting some more test loads in the .460 prior to mowing. It all works together. Now for the cardboard hogs and deer set along a trail beind the house.........

Usually I go through a lot of 22 ammo. Right now That isn't possible so I haven't shot much this summer. As far as my practice with my big game handguns I usually try a few bullets over a three or four kinds of powder in several handguns. By the time I get through the summer doing that I have usually put several hundred rounds through each handgun I plan to hunt with that fall. I'll usually have enough loaded rounds left over from test batches to have some fun on steel targets after I get through shooting for groups. Since I started reloading I haven't bought any "practice ammo" with the exception of 22lr 9mm etc that I can purchase cheap enough not to justify reloading for it. That said with this years shortages on just about anything ammo related I have done a lot more dry firing this year than any year past. Air soft may be a decent idea as long as it has a decent trigger.

I thought these things were a joke till my son bought one. I watched him hitting cans past 25 yards with it. The better ones have metal slides and can be had in the form of a 1911 or berreta 92. The trigger sure isn't as good as my hunting rigs but not bad either. I shot it over 200 times last night for about a dime. reflex264

When my son was little we used to go on safari in the front yard with BB guns and animal crackers....should be able to do the same thing with airsoft!

Yep we did the BB guns too. Still have BB guns! reflex264

So many of the people I work with always use the excuse of having to go to shooting range to shoot their guns (yuppies in subdivisions). They think I'm crazy when I tell them to get a BB gun. Cheap practice without concern of neighbors getting wound up.

I was using 12ga hulls for targets last night. reflex264

Not just practice. I hunted with a modified Crosman 2240 for 5 years before I got a contender. 12" .22 bbl, 3x scope and a power modified valve. Not a toy..! Tree rats, bunnies, doves and pigeons easily out to 25 yds. A couple of backyard coons and a possum last year, with head shots. Very accurate. And I can practice out the back door while sitting on the couch.

It's what got me motivated to get a 'real' hunting pistol.

Be well...

Welcome to HH. Weneeds to know more about this setup.

Its been awhile since I have posted here but I highly recommend dry firing your hunting rig on a daily basis. Of course you need to be very mindful of safety. By drying firing you will learn proper trigger control on the gun you will be hunting with. Place a 1" dot on an appropriate backstop and back away about 5 yards and dry fire at it. You want to fire the gun with no movement of the front sight or reticle. If you do that everyday for 5 or 10 minutes you will be amazed when you go out for live fire. Best thing is its free

I do dry fire exercise as well and here lately still pour a bunch of lead down range. The air soft just adds a nice quiet low cost dimension to my practice. reflex264

Tried posting pics several times, tried creating gallery. No luck - pictures don't retain. just fyi...

You can email me the pics and I will post them. reflex264

I bought a ruger pellet pistol that's looks just like the 22 auto. It is very accurate and great practice. No noise and the trigger is kinda hard so It forces me to have better follow through on my shots.