Hunting skills and self defense skills interchangeably beneficial?

[Spitpatch]

This website in its very composition of membership demonstrates what may appear to be a division between firearms enthusiasts interested in target shooting/self-defense/"shtf" skills as defined from those with hunting interests.

It is often thought by a hunter that "Those tactical guys have nothing to offer me." It is often thought by a self-defense trainer that, "Hunting just isn't at all like combat or a gunfight, and there is no applicable advice there."

Both contingents are losing by not recognizing what the other may have to offer.

It is my contention that each is contributory to the other. A well-trained combat fighter can readily and efficiently transfer those skills to the hunting field and find regular success. Conversely, a born and bred hunter can thrive in a combat situation and comfortably find his skillset learned while hunting to be entirely useful, especially toward Mission One: Staying Alive.

Listen to each other. (Or at least listen to some old fart that was ordered to carry an AR every day for four years, hunts mostly now with a Bow and Arrow, but paid money for a damn good Coyote rifle when politics got real stupid.)

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[quneur]

I often wondered how those living in the US during the per-industrial age would have utilized modern firearms as they traveled west. They had to have both skill sets, hunting and 'tactical awareness' in order to survive. Yet, I surmise certain firearm platforms would be chosen for different purposes.

Like, buffalo skin hunters would tend towards big bore rifles and a sidearm for emergencies. Pioneers, a few range weapons for the occasional deer but mainly traveling with SBR's for protection, etc. A fun thought experiment. I'm sure those that lived and survived in those days knew how to place shots accurately and was able to place themselves to provide a chance to take that shot.

 

[L84Cabo]

Some of the tactical boys are hunters. They're just hunting a...different...type of game.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Having both hunting experience as well as experiencing actual combat ....
I can say that for me , many of the skills of both are transferable....and useful.

We are the sum of our total experiences....without them and how they affect us...we would be a vastly different person.

With that said...
Our experiences don't have to always define us.
Changing , learning , wisdom and growth forward are worthy things to strive for.

There is no life rule that says you must be one thing or another only.
And if there was such a rule...I'd break it...I don't like being controlled.
Andy

 

[orygun]

Good advice. There is always something to be learned, at least when listening to someone with experience and a small ego.

Similar to the thought behind this thread, I've ridden motorcycles for years. Riding on road taught some skills that I use off road, and vice-versa.

I am not likely to hunt and shoot at an animal over 300 yards away, but I surely enjoyed and learned a lot when shooting at 400.

 

[dangerranger60]

For me the difference between hunting and combat are much closer together than the difference between the training I need to be a successful LEO and a successful Self Defender. DR

 

[Andy54Hawken]

After some further thought on this....
And again speaking only for myself...

Neither is worth overthinking , to me.
Keeping things simple , but also keep 'em thorough .

You can plan and prepare ....practice and work hard to gain and maintain the skills needed for both.
Yet...then best planned and prepared hunt can fall apart due to many things beyond your control.
Just like I have seen those soldiers who trained and worked hard...only to be killed or wounded by things beyond their control or by those who would be considered to be less trained and able.

Practice as you see fit for your situation.
Also...be careful to not "What if" yourself into practicing for unrealistic or highly unlikely situations.

Mindset is key....

Being positive...as well as not overestimating your skill is important....

Not being dismissive of someone or the opponent because they think or practice differently than you , is also wise...they may know something you don't.

Adaptability is extremely important...the game animal , the environment , the enemy don't care at all for how much you know , practice , prepare or plan...
They all have their own ideas about these things...and don't necessarily want to play by your rules.

Andy

 

[Ura-Ki]

I grew up hunting, mostly with my Grand Father, Uncles, and Cousins, several of whom were highly trained and experienced Vets who carried a rifle for a living and survived! For me, when I enlisted and began training for combat, I noticed many similarities between fighting and hunting skills, the better hunter you were, the better rifleman you would likely become, and thus, I had a bit of an advantage. Becoming a better rifleman is an absolute for ether practice if you want to survive and thrive, so in that, both share some of the same skills, and yet, there are profound differences between the two!

I often see the similarities, my rifle is a finely tuned extension of ME, as is my side arm, and together we not only survive, but thrive! Martial Skills are something one can learn, and can serve you well no matter what endeavor you find your self in, but nothing can replace experience in ether area.
I also know the differences between these two very different areas, besides the normal, deer ain't shooting back at me, there is also all the other combat stress's one generally encounters, things like not stepping on a trigger plate, or getting ambushed by a kid with an AK and all that, hunting you usually don't feel fear for your life and those around you, unless your hunting dangerous animals, its just you and nature, mostly on your terms.

For self defense, things tend to get mixed, skills I have finally honed may have little bearing on what's actually legal to use or do, and yet being able to navigate that in the civilian world is a serious advantage to have, from being highly alert to things others might not see or sense, to being that much faster to respond, or being that much more accurate with that first shot with a double action trigger have serious advantages, and yet, we are all human, and like combat, sh!t happens, things you have absolutely ZERO control over, and it comes down to how you react in those moments that can make or break you in the end!

I used to coach the F.N.G's that were sent to join us in the teams, and one of the things I always pointed out to them before they were sent down range for the first time, Picture your self on June 6th 1944 on a landing craft heading ashore in France, you have several years of training under your belt, you have the best equipment you could ever want, and the skills to take the fight to the enemy all the way to Berlin, and yet when that ramp drops and the bullets shred, it all matters not, it was just your time, Or not, and what you do in those few seconds may change your future forever! It always had the same effect, makes you really think, same as My own very personal experience of stepping out of a Helicopter onto ground with my med pack and a metal detector and my carbine, not knowing which step might be my last, but putting one foot in front of the other, ever forward into the Maw one more time! Sure is different then hiking up a mountain after an Elk that has no idea what's coming for him!

 

[lucusloc]

I think the set of people saying that there is no overlap are a tiny minority of people, no matter how loud they may seem to be. Most people recognize that all the shooting sports and real world application have a high degree of overlap. Yes, there may be some differences in specific discipline and application, but at the end of the day all of them are trying to get some kind of fast moving projectile to a specific point in space as accurately as is practical and possible. It does not matter if you are running and IDPA match at the range, are trying to take a deer in the woods or are in a really bad situation trying to keep some lowlife punk from harming your family, the lowest common denominator of "rounds on target" is going to be applicable no matter what. If you can learn to put those rounds on target in one situation there will be at least some applicable lessons you can take to all the rest.

Many of us participate in multiple aspects of this hobby. I can tell you all kinds of differences between 3 gun, woods hunting and fouling. When you get into the minutia there are a lot of differences. Shotguns shooting shot have very different range/safety considerations compared to a heavy rifle, for example. The first time I went duck hunting it was somewhat disconcerting to me, as a rifleman, to be shooting towards houses that were but a few hundred yards away, even though I knew the maximum travel for my shot was well under that. I was just too used to being cognizant of my backstop well past that range, and it took me a little bit to re-calibrate my instinctive safety distances to account for the dramatically reduced maximum range of my current platform. I could call that a difference, and then make the proclamation that "there is no overlap" between shotguns and larger rifles, but such a proclamation would be dead wrong despite the very correct difference pointed out earlier.

On thing that is very much the same is recoil management, for example. If you know how to properly control recoil in a rifle you know how to properly control recoil in a shotgun. Recoil is recoil, it does not matter if what you are sending out the other end is a bullet that will go over mile or shot that barely goes 200 yards, that shove to your shoulder will feel just about the same, and you will need to do the same exact things to control it; proper grip, proper stance, proper trigger control and proper follow through. There is no difference there. If you know how to do it with one platform you will naturally be able to do it with the other.

So if you find someone who tells you that there is no cross-disciplinary skills between the shooting sports you can know one of two things about them;

1. they don't know enough about those other disciplines to know how they are actually all basically the same skill set
2. they have gone so far down the rabbit hole into the minutia that they have lost sight of the fundamentals that tie it all together

Either way they will probably not be all that adept at conveying any relevant information to someone trying to actually learn something, and you can pretty safely discard anything they have to say. In the one case because they don't actually know anything relevant, and in the other because they have forgotten how to contextualize and convey the fundamentals before going off into the weeds.

 

[Tlock]

Sometimes hunting can be self defense. I had lots of experience in my last career with bear charges and going after wounded cougars. @Andy54Hawken pretty much said it all.....

 

[DB is Here]

Being well rounded and having many skills seems to make a lot of sense to me. If you've become to mentally old or so siloed in your beliefs of which skillset is "best" then you've missed in my opinion.

Keep learning, growing and hungry for knowledge. I'm always open to hear what another is passionate about, if I didn't, I would have missed some pretty cool experiences.

 

[Xaevian]

@Andy54Hawken pretty much nailed how I feel about it in both his posts.

Keep in mind there is a world of difference though between planning and training for something vs actually doing it. There are thousands of highly trained professionals that become completely useless when training becomes reality. Often though, training may kick in after the shock settles. Happens to hunters too. I heard it's called "buck fever".

 

[Certaindeaf]

Pistols are more useful than most people think.

 

[Tlock]

@Andy54Hawken pretty much nailed how I feel about it in both his posts.

Keep in mind there is a world of difference though between planning and training for something vs actually doing it. There are thousands of highly trained professionals that become completely useless when training becomes reality. Often though, training may kick in after the shock settles. Happens to hunters too. I heard it's called "buck fever".

I've seen buck fever first hand

 

[lucusloc]

@Andy54Hawken pretty much nailed how I feel about it in both his posts.

Keep in mind there is a world of difference though between planning and training for something vs actually doing it. There are thousands of highly trained professionals that become completely useless when training becomes reality. Often though, training may kick in after the shock settles. Happens to hunters too. I heard it's called "buck fever".

My biggest doubt while hunting is "am I sure that is a legal species/size/whatever to take right now?" I feel like I want to re-read the entire game rules every time I spot a shot to take. If it were not for the legalities of it all I would shoot anything that looked even vaguely tasty without hesitation.

 

[Tlock]

My biggest doubt while hunting is "am I sure that is a legal species/size/whatever to take right now?" I feel like I want to re-read the entire game rules every time I spot a shot to take. If it were not for the legalities of it all I would shoot anything that looked even vaguely tasty without hesitation.

Oregon sucks for regs

 

[P7M13]

I hunt, therefore I practice and train. That includes lots of bench time, exercise, lots of hiking in the woods, observing, and carrying a gun.
Simple commonalities likely cross over -- stealth, fast sight acquisition, a steady hold, and consistency in all actions.
There's something to learn from everyone, if your mind is open to it.
Never having served, I would have no idea about tactical. I know what works for me. Yes, I have military camo, because it was at a thrift shop for cheap. Otherwise, I'm about as gomer, non-tactical as you can get.

 

[TTSX]

I hunt but not avidly and I'm not intending to go into combat. Just let me punch holes in paper and leave me alone to be happy. There's way too much overthinking going on.

 

[Xaevian]

Oregon sucks for regs

Washington is also extremely ridiculous.

 

[Tlock]

Washington is also extremely ridiculous.

South Dakota seems reasonable the few times I've hunted there