I am thinking about trying my hand at NRL Hunter next year and I have a few questions for those who currently shoot the Hunter Series. What are the general or average distances you see at most matches? What's the shortest and longest yardage targets you've ever seen on a stage? Where do you see most people struggle or make mistakes? Is it time management, setup and work flow, errors in ranging or wrong dope, bad wind calls, or just poor fundamentals? What is the most common caliber used and what length barrels are most guys running, with or without a suppressor? I am just looking for some general insight since I haven't been able to attend a match yet in order to spectate first hand.
- Thread starter tex68w
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most matches post distances on their description practiscore but assume 200-1000y with an average probably in the 4-500y range for pretty much any match
everything you listed causes mistakes by different people. learn your kit and pack. learn how to find and range targets. learn to read wind and analyze a miss. practice positions that aren't from a stable metal barricade.
NRL Hunter has lots of match videos online
24-26" 6.5CM(or 260 or 6.5x47) cruises to power factor with low recoil. no real reason for anything more. but 25CM (faster) fits the bill as does 7SAW (higher power factor) if you want to be different
suppressor has some factors. mainly weight but also length maybe
everything you listed causes mistakes by different people. learn your kit and pack. learn how to find and range targets. learn to read wind and analyze a miss. practice positions that aren't from a stable metal barricade.
NRL Hunter has lots of match videos online
24-26" 6.5CM(or 260 or 6.5x47) cruises to power factor with low recoil. no real reason for anything more. but 25CM (faster) fits the bill as does 7SAW (higher power factor) if you want to be different
suppressor has some factors. mainly weight but also length maybe
Shoot "skills" division your first time.
Reduced price and the ROs will help you if you want.
It's still fun and you can feel it out.
Just an idea.
Lot's of you tube out videos out there.
Check out "Long Range with the Lilies" you tube channel.
Reduced price and the ROs will help you if you want.
It's still fun and you can feel it out.
Just an idea.
Lot's of you tube out videos out there.
Check out "Long Range with the Lilies" you tube channel.
The hardest part is finding targets, they generally forgiving in size
That was my plan, at least for the first one. It's been a while since I've checked out their channel, I'll take a look.
I've watched those and many others, good stuff.
Avg target distance is around 450yds over 20-22 stages of the matches I've been to in UT,WY,MO,ID,CO and CA. I know @hic28 calculated the avg distance for his match and it was around that figure.
I've seen targets as close as 140yds and as far as 1000yds and change, the MDs have been doing a good job of sizing the targets appropriately for the distance, a small target will be in the .2-.3 mil range and generally a big one on the .5 - .7 mil range. Most matches are a mix of animal shaped targets and your standard geometric targets.
When it comes to mistakes, equipment management and ranging/land marking are two big ones. Using a tripod on a prone possible position or going prone on very un-even terrain... those things will get you and correcting will do you in time.
Some matches do a better job than others at keeping stages blind so you'll see a lot of equipment mistakes on matches that do. Also, got to come in with a lot of confidence in your dope. Missing high on a stage and not knowing if its equipment/data related or just a bad range will carry over for stages if you aren't sure about your dope. Can't stress that enough.
As far as Cal a lot of people (if not most) run some form of 6.5mm. 6.5CM is popular and I've seen a lot of .25 CM too. Its power factor based so that's where your tie braker will come from. A lot of suppressors a lot of breaks a lot of different barrel lengths.
Its great field shooting but its gear intensive too. No one is out there competing with a sling or coyote sticks and having a good time. You can do well with a .5 moa gun all day. A good tripod, a Double o triple pull bipod and a good set of LRF binos will make the whole experience that much more enjoyable.
You can shoot one for less than half the regular fee with whatever rig you have in whatever cartridge. That'll give you a idea if it's for you. or you can attend as a spectator for free and hover all over the place with a squad.
yep, here are the exact target types and distances I used last year. 2024 will be completely different as I already pulled every target down and am working on a completely different course of fire.
Go find a sig hunter games/ hunter one match. They are the same base idea, without attempting to be blind. You can use anything you want, and practice your setup.
Latching onto this thread for some more info…Is the factory division typically competitive/popular with these matches? Is there any rule against using an arca bag plate, I guess it would be included in weigh in if allowed.
I think its not as competitive as Heavy or Light but you will still need to do well overall to place high.
The NRL allows for a seamless switching between divisions match to match so you will have a percentage of shooters from Heavy and Light that at some point during the season will attend a match as Factory
As far as attachments there is no restrictions provided no mods are made to the gun for the attachment and you still make weight
The NRL allows for a seamless switching between divisions match to match so you will have a percentage of shooters from Heavy and Light that at some point during the season will attend a match as Factory
As far as attachments there is no restrictions provided no mods are made to the gun for the attachment and you still make weight
If it attaches to the gun, it is included in the weight limit (except cameras)
Cameras, sling, Magazine, not included in rifle weights. Everything else is.
I plan on shooting some 2-day NRL Hunter matches in 2024. There are three within a 5-10 hr drive. So I was fortunate to find a 1-day Hunter Games match today at a club an hour away before launching into the big 2-day matches. Definitely glad I shot the match today to learn the ropes and make sure my gear/workflow worked out.
Not sure if all Hunter Games matches are this way, but they set it up so if you were new and wanted help the RO would help you. Plus it was optional if you didn’t want the stage to be ‘blind’, and you could glass ahead of time and watch the shooter before you. It’s also ‘run whatcha brung’, so I shot my 6GT in Skills division since my 6.5CM build isn’t done yet.
Being my first match, on the first stage I took advantage of my noobie-status and watched the shooter before me, glassed a little to find the targets, but I didn’t range anything until it was my turn. On the rest of the stages I hung out in the back and did my best to not watch and pretend it was a blind stage.
I felt like I shot well, got 51 pts out of a possible 64. Winner had 61 pts. Cleaned a couple stages, several I got 7’s on, wheels fell off on a couple stages where I only got 4 pts each. Going into the match my main fear was being able to find all the targets on the clock. I was able to find them all, but on one of the stages where the wheels fell off I found the target with my binos but when I went prone behind the gun I couldn’t see it anymore. Turns out there was a big tumble weed about 20 yds in front of me that blocked my view. Afterwards the MD told me I could have slid over 2-3’ to the left to see it prone (within arms length of the shooting pos) or could have used my tripod to shoot over the weed.
I will say that the targets today were fairly decent sized, not too hard to hit provide your dope was good, you took the time to build a solid position, and paid attention to the wind. One of the other stages I lost points on I think my dope was off bc I didn’t get a good distance. The target was surrounded by sagebrush and a little sky-lined, so I probably should have spent more time getting a good range. Another stage I barely finished under par time was due to not having a good reference for where one of the target was and I had to do some hunting & pecking on low mag to find it.
I definitely want to do more Hunter matches. There’s a lot going on inside of 4 mins, but I like the extra stress of having blind stages and the time crunch to find/range/engage targets. You definitely need to have your shit together and a clear mind.
Not sure if all Hunter Games matches are this way, but they set it up so if you were new and wanted help the RO would help you. Plus it was optional if you didn’t want the stage to be ‘blind’, and you could glass ahead of time and watch the shooter before you. It’s also ‘run whatcha brung’, so I shot my 6GT in Skills division since my 6.5CM build isn’t done yet.
Being my first match, on the first stage I took advantage of my noobie-status and watched the shooter before me, glassed a little to find the targets, but I didn’t range anything until it was my turn. On the rest of the stages I hung out in the back and did my best to not watch and pretend it was a blind stage.
I felt like I shot well, got 51 pts out of a possible 64. Winner had 61 pts. Cleaned a couple stages, several I got 7’s on, wheels fell off on a couple stages where I only got 4 pts each. Going into the match my main fear was being able to find all the targets on the clock. I was able to find them all, but on one of the stages where the wheels fell off I found the target with my binos but when I went prone behind the gun I couldn’t see it anymore. Turns out there was a big tumble weed about 20 yds in front of me that blocked my view. Afterwards the MD told me I could have slid over 2-3’ to the left to see it prone (within arms length of the shooting pos) or could have used my tripod to shoot over the weed.
I will say that the targets today were fairly decent sized, not too hard to hit provide your dope was good, you took the time to build a solid position, and paid attention to the wind. One of the other stages I lost points on I think my dope was off bc I didn’t get a good distance. The target was surrounded by sagebrush and a little sky-lined, so I probably should have spent more time getting a good range. Another stage I barely finished under par time was due to not having a good reference for where one of the target was and I had to do some hunting & pecking on low mag to find it.
I definitely want to do more Hunter matches. There’s a lot going on inside of 4 mins, but I like the extra stress of having blind stages and the time crunch to find/range/engage targets. You definitely need to have your shit together and a clear mind.
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