Go Back to School for Your Long-Range Predator Hunting Goals

Making long-range shots on predators sounds daunting, but it's not impossible given the proper training and practice like at the Bergara Academy.
Go Back to School for Your Long-Range Predator Hunting Goals

Sending projectiles beyond the horizon has become as trendy as having a conversation with your faux friend Siri or Alexa. Just as trendy as this dynamic duo is going back to school to send those projectiles to infinity and beyond with precision.

You’ve been there. Just when you’re ready to leave a stand you look out to the horizon with your binocular and spy the beady eyes of a coyote peering at you from 525 yards. The shot isn’t impossible, but it stretches the imagination of your current capabilities. Just think of the stories you could tell if you were able to click your scope to the exact distance, settle and send that bullet home for another pelt!

Aiming at a 1,000-yard target may sound imposing but given the right training and practice, it's a shot you can make. (Photo: Mark Kayser)

That shot and others are possible. You can begin your journey to better shooting by paying tuition and attending one of any number of qualified shooting schools established across this great country. It doesn’t matter if you reside in the EastMidwest or West, you can find a long-range shooting school to attend.

For those of you that would like to attend such an esteemed school you can choose from dozens of courses taught by ex-military and law enforcement members around the country. Courses include everything from military training to the basics you’ll need to shoot a coyote across a harvested cornfield. Some schools offer a 1-day course while others expand to a week depending on curriculum

What can you learn while attending a long-range shooting school? Having just attended The Bergara Academy created by the Bergara rifle company and held in central Montana, I was surprised at what I was missing. This particular school is taught by Bart Bartholomew, who served as a Marine primary marksmanship instructor. Bartholomew later worked with the Baltimore Police Department SWAT unit in a sniper position and even after his retirement he served another stint with the Department of Defense as a weapons specialist. If that doesn’t add up to instructor material consider he was also named the third recipient of the prestigious Carlos Hathcock Award for precision marksmanship.

Intense training sessions move from the classroom to the field with more than 50 targets cloaked and scattered from 100 to more than 1,200 yards. You can even add prairie dog hunts or world-class trout fishing as a way to cap off your Montana experience all set in a lodge backdrop.

Firearms are included in the course, so if your old model 70 Winchester isn’t up to the task you’ll be handed a precision Bergara rifle. Those will be topped with high quality optics and quieted with a suppressor so you don’t miss any words of wisdom. Classroom instruction covers the basics of precision firearms, rifle care, mils, distance estimation, wind estimation and much more.

On the very first day of the class I was engaging targets to 1,400 yards with precision and by the end of the course I had a full understanding of using mils to increase my accuracy. It’s just one more step on the road to besting my predator game.

For information about the class call (877) 892-7544 or visit www.BergaraUSA.com.



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