Deciding on what shooting position to use really depends on what your needs are. There are three basic rifle shooting positions. Standing, Sitting, and Prone are the three basic ones. With variations of each and of course proper ways to do them and not so proper ways.
Standing Positon
The standing position is the most commonly used shooting position for hunters. It allows for quick aimed shots without having to get into a different position to shoot. Not mention the best field of view as hunters can easily see over the tall grass.
The standing shooting position is best used in hunting and shooting competitions where there isn’t time to drop to sitting or prone position. It allows you to quickly swing your body and move your foot to get the correct NPOA. Thus allowing for quick aimed shots.
While it’s not as accurate as other shooting positions it’s still good for relatively close ranges. Under 100 yards off-hand isn’t hard. When you start to stretch out to 200+ yards, you will want to consider taking time and getting into a more stable shooting position.
Variations Of Standing Position
We’ve already covered the proper way to hold a rifle standing up, however, there are some variations, and aids that can help you shoot better standing up.
You can always use a tree to lean on and steady your rifle while standing. This works for a lot of hunters, while police use walls and posts to do the same thing. Shooting sticks are used to rest the forearm of your rifle.
There are three basic shooting sticks that hunters use. The mono-pod which is a simple one-legged rest that holds your rifles forearm up.
Then you have a bipod that has two legs from triangle support under your rifle. The bipod is a little more stable than the mono-pod, with the drawback of having taking more time to position two legs.
Then there’s the tripod. Which, is the most stable way to shooting standing up. However, it will take some time to set up which pretty much voids the benefit of quickly taking a shot while standing up.
Sitting Position
Sitting Position is for when you need to be more stable than standing, but don’t want to lay on the ground. The main reason to use the sitting position is when there’s tall grass or other things preventing you from laying on the ground.
There are plenty of variations to the sitting position. All dealing with where you place your feet compared to your body. Most people like to cross their legs and rest the back of their arms on the front of their legs. Of course for those who are flexibility challenged, some people with place their legs in a more open position.
While there are plenty of variations to the sitting position there is also the kneeling position. Which sometimes gets confused with sitting position.
Kneeling is where you have your trigger hand knee on the ground and the other up supporting your non-trigger arm. With your trigger arm not being supported. This, of course, is a faster slightly more stable position than standing. It is however not as stable as a full sitting position. Many because the more points of contact with the ground you have the more stable you are.
Prone Shooting Position
Prone Shooting position is the most accurate shooting position you can use. It allows you to relax into a position and keeps you from having to muscle your rifle. This, of course, leads to more accurate shots and follow up shots.
The accuracy of prone position comes from having almost your entire body supported by the ground, which in turn supports the rifle. The major part of prone position is that you don’t have to use very many muscles to support the rifle. This means you have less chance of tired muscles causing your shot to be off.
The other advantage of prone position is that you can mount a bi-pod to your rifle for even more support. This allows you to have one less chance of moving the rifle while taking a shot. Of course, if you use a sling and follow the rifle shooting fundamentals you can get the same results for less money. However, it does take more practice.
Shooting Bench Rest
Benchrest shooting is the most common shooting position there is. Almost all gun ranges have some sort of bench rest for people to shoot from. This is safer and easier than any of the other shooting positions.
With bench rest shooting, you can have a rest for the forearm of your rifle and rests for the butt of your rifle leaving only your trigger hand to potentially move the rifle unintentionally while shooting. This gives way for very accurate shooting. Which is why many people prefer bench rest shooting. It’s great for sighting in a rifle.
The only downside to bench rest shooting is that it’s only practical on a gun range. Carrying a bench out into the woods can be rather impractical.
Conclusion
Standing, sitting or prone positions all have their uses. Even the bench rest shooting position has its use. In the grand scheme of things, you want to use the best, most stable, position that’s practical for your situation.
Standing is, of course, the fasted position to get a shot off, whereas sitting is more stable but depending on your timing it takes a little more time to get into position. While prone is the perfect position to really wait for that perfect shot. With the bonus of bench rest position giving you the best option to sight in a rifle with minimal movement from the shooter.