Ryan went to SOTIC right out of high school. At the time it was the best shooting school in the world.
Ryan has said several times on many podcasts that you should practice off many props. I think he said one of his favorite is the one that takes the shooter down 2-4 inches at a time from standing to modified prone. He is one record that he is a 1 MOA shooter from any position at any time under any condition.
If you live close to a PRS Range, and have a DFAT, and can devote 3 hours a week CONSISTENLY to dry fire and 4 hours every weekend at the range, you can get pretty good. An ARC 6.5CM or a Solus 6.5 Creedmoor are both very competitive. A Burris XTR can go on top of it. With that you can be in the 90% for most club matches with some work at home. I know of two guys who started this year and did just that. A good reloading system will run $1000 used.
The key is to get the fundamentals down and learn how to maintain your gear.
So, PRS and adjacent competitions can be affordable in equipment. Although I have heard of shooters having a few barrels spun up and ready to change, if necessary.
I was going to wonder how many people went from PRS to military sniper school, such as SOTIC (they changed the name to something else, now.)
OTOH, Ryan grew up in a family of hunters so he had some experience shooting at some distances and needing to be accurate. I just rewatched his NSSF video on the different shooting positions if you don't have a bench. And I also practice those, even around the house with dry fire (ammo in on location, empty mag in another location and not in the rifle.) Primarily because I hunt and it is on public land. Not only is the land (Wildlife Management Area) unkempt, but you could see a deer all of a sudden and need to get supported fast, even using a nearby tree branch or tree trunk. It has happened to me going to one of the hunting spots.
A doe crossed a county road in front of me from one private property to another. I was driving. I always have my 9 mm on me but we cannot shoot across a public road and going into that other private property, I did not have permission to enter. In my state, it is a state felony to hunt on land for which you do not have permission. I am too pretty for state prison.
Even if she was on the public parcel, that WMA is managed by USFS and you can only rifle hunt a doe if you win a doe permit in the drawing.
Point being, especially on public land, you may have to take a shot of opportunity. So, that is where the quickness of setting up a supported position in PRS or even as the instructions of Ryan come in.
So, I can see where PRS helps with hunting and I think I meant that with my comments about Piet Malan. And not everyone has the ability to hunt from a blind 120 yards from an auto-feeder. And there is nothing wrong with that, BTW.
As for close woods, I encounter them. In the denser parts, I have sights from 70 to 100 yards. In the more open areas, I can range out to about 300 yards, which is within my comfort zone.
On the other hand, my gear is different. As oppose to a 6.5 which has less recoil, I have been carrying this season a 7 PRC, which will hunt anything. Although, one of my comfortable 308s that does just fine with inexpensive hunting ammo is good for anything less than 400 yards (I go by impact velocity.)
Man, this thread has gone around and around and I cannot even remember what Burt was talking about and I am too lazy to go back and look.
Am I an okay hunter without having done PRS? Sure. Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.
I also like the idea that even if you don't have the time or even some discretionary income (that will be necessary, especially for travel,) betting a case of beer or a bottle of whiskey on precision shots can be good. My boss made 200 dollars on a bet. He took his Windham Weaponry (he turned me on to that company, which by the way, has survived and will come back) AR-15 and popped a balloon at 850 yards.
And if it comes to saving money, I would probably save money toward a hunt. I think that is fully because I am not in the precision rifle industry, if there is one.
I work for an electrical contractor and it takes my day for 12 hours, whether in the office or out. And other life things prevent me from travelling a lot and let's face it, no one is setting up PRS events for Saturday morning in my part of the world because that is the only free time I have for personal stuff.
If you devote all of your time to it, though, you could be good. The band, Guns and Roses were so broke when they started, band members took turns sleeping in the storage unit with the equipment or on the couch in the house of Slash's grandma. That is commitment to the dream.
Is that what you need to become the best in PRS? I don't know but there may also be something to the 10,000 hours to achieve competency thing.
