off hand shooting, a humbling experiance!

[Wingshot]

I don’t have near the experience as many on this site but I’ve been shooting muzzleloaders since I was 12 (I’m 60). I hunt with all my smoke poles and that said, it’s how I practice, it’s how I develop loads and ball/patch combos. The bench is good for dialing in a new to me ML but once it’s grouping and the sights adjusted I move into offhand, kneeling and sitting. It never fails that the deer you’re trying to harvest comes in on your offside or leaves you stuck in some contorted shooting position. I’ve found that squirrel hunting with my .32 helps me learn to ease into a solid shooting position and sometimes I’m lucky enough to get a supported shot off thanks to a tree trunk or branch. As a longtime traditional bow Hunter, I have the discipline to practice and find that hunting big game or small game is every bit as challenging and often more so than doing the same with stick and string. I can easily impress myself with some of the shots I can make from a bench rested longrifle but we don’t have that luxury on a trail walk or in the deer woods.

[Mike from OK]

A table and rest definitely help with load development... I have a better idea what charge/ball/patch combos will group like if I take as much of me out of the equation as possible.

Once I know for sure I leave the table and rest/bags in the truck and shoot. And sometimes I'll sit down on the ground with my back against the truck tire and my knees up for a little steady support.

If I'm after squirrels I'll rest up against a tree trunk if one is handy but I have made some pretty dandy offhand shots at near vertical elevation and brought home the meat.

No matter what just get out and SHOOT.

Mike

[Daryl]

I not only use a bench for sighting in as I noted on page 2, but also when working up loads. I hold the forend at the same location as when shooting offhand
and rest the back of that hand on the bag that sits on my adjustable rest. I hold it this way, as the point of impact is the same as when shooting offhand,
for sight adjustment.
I use a bench rest for working up loads, to remove as much human error as possible - I oft times just rest the forend on the bag when doing this as that
bench position is usually more stable than when holding the forend. Depending on the rifle, the difference in point of impact can be substantial and cannot
be trusted to be the same as offhand shooting. 
We shoot the trail-walk offhand, with no rests allowed.  We do have a weak-hand shot that used to be sitting, but the log we used for that has deteriorated
over the course of years we've been shooting this trail. Thus, this is a weak-hand, standing shot. What fun!

[Huntschool]

I have reached a point in my life (73 with COPD and Heart failure) that I go for any support I can get when hunting or just shooting.  I just cant hold the gun out there very long.  Even this has not stopped me from shooting and hunting.  There are always work arounds.  Sure its great to stand on your own two feet and blaze those deer and targets but that time has past for me.  I have even started carrying a pretty good stick to help me walk and shoot.  No, I am not embarrassed at all.....  Nuff said.

[Daryl]

The collaspable walking stick/shooting rests are quite interesting.  A close friend of mine is a big game guide still, and
packs one of the bipod ones, with 2 legs, for his hunters to use.  It has a V rest on top and an carrying handle, with a
push button for extending the legs. You hold it out with the rifle in the notch, pull the trigger and the legs drop down
and lock when you release the trigger.
Here is one, I don't know if this is a US or Canadian site. So - the actual price might be what shows, or a LOT lower.
It is available with 1 leg, 2, or 3.
So, it can be a shooting aid as well as a walking aid.

https://www.fieldandstreamshop.com/p/trigger-stick-gen-3-tall-bipod-18busutrggrstckgntgs/18busutrggrstckgntgs?uniqueID=4680762

[Fillwa]

My take....
Off hand shooting is a physical activity that I condition train for, eg a lot of reps sighting the rifle off hand, add in dry firing to train trigger squeeze. The goal is to be able to hold on sight and pull the trigger. I’m recently purchased a flintlock and spend time conditioning muscles for sight hold, use a dummy flint to condition for sight and sound of lock releasing in front of my face while remaining focus on front sight and sight picture, also I go on back patio load a flint into the top jaw, prime the pan and condition myself for the pan flash while holding on sighted object. All that is missing is the BOOM, but that I do at the range.

[Daryl]

Sounds like a great regime. Piece meal training, then putting everything together.
I should train but don't.   I used to when I shot competition with unmentionables
and wore a younger man's clothes.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

69 years of hunting?!  Dang.  I don't care if you have nothing to hang on the wall, that sir, is one helluva feat!

For MLs I only use the bench to sight in.  With a 42-in barrel I dislike the calisthenics of jumping up to reload!  And of course recoil always seems worse from a bench.

[wolf]

54 TVM southern rifle. 50yds off hand 3 shots. 75gr. goex ol eynsford hor. PRB
but I am showing the best group, not the worst,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,