CSAT – LR Hunter AAR

I attended the LR (Long Range) Hunter class at CSAT (Combat Shooting and Tactics) presented by Paul Howe in Nacogdoches, TX April 30 – May 1, 2022.

https://www.combatshootingandtactics.com/

I’m writing this a week late, and may get things out of order/omit things, but I will report what I can.

Bottom Line: Great class, great instructors, great facility.  12 students, 3 instructors.

Why should I pay all that money for a class when I can learn to shoot from watching YouTube videos?
The thing you pay for is the experience that comes from guys who have watched people screw up shooting in almost every way imaginable (I was able to give them a new one, but they still fixed me) over the years so no matter what you are doing wrong, they can fix it.

Facilities: Classroom/barracks building (barracks available for students) and several hundred acre shooting facility with multiple shooting ranges and trails about 5 minutes-drive away.

Day 1:

Starting in the classroom, introductions, discussions on gun safety, gun maintenance, explanation of “The CSAT Way” and the reasoning behind it, course explanation, Q&A and feedback. Then range time.

The range is well set up, very clean, and very well prepped.  Ranges for other classes include dozens of parked cars, buildings to clear, etc.

Range time started off with confirming/creating good zeros at 100 yards.  The course offers a “4-pastie” target different from what I have seen before to go along with their procedures.  It works, period.

The class is self-paced.  This was great for me, I had problems with my gear and with myself.  The self-paced course meant I had time to “put myself back together” instead of just blasting away because the schedule said it was time to shoot the next target.  

The instructors were knowledgeable, approachable, and helpful.  Anything students needed to have success, they made sure they had.

My experience to this point was limited to “winging-it”/older deer-hunters in the family telling me how to shoot/and of course, YouTube videos.  To this point, I have been what most consider “better than average” as far as shooting went, and after I overcame my early equipment/mental problems, settled into shooting some pretty decent groups at 100 yards during the drills offered.  During the drills, one of the instructors knelt beside me to watch, and I shot a group I thought was pretty good.  I asked him what I needed to do better thinking I was about to get a complement on the group I had just shot, but instead I got my moneys worth for the class. He said “You have a trigger pull that isn’t ‘slapping the trigger’ – you’re not slapping it, but you are releasing the trigger as soon as the gun fires.  Try holding the trigger back to ‘follow through’ and shoot a group to see what happens.  Also, try turning that magnification down, I bet you can see your heartbeat in the crosshairs.”  This "talk" was not a talking down to, instead it was about the nicest way possible to tell someone they are doing something wrong.  For reference, I had the magnification at 18x, for 100 yards. Yeah - I won’t do that again.


After the talk, my groups shrank significantly.  A few more of those, a few more tweaks, and it was time for lunch.

After lunch, friendly competition time.  They had challenge coins for best cold bore shot, and best group.  I won a challenge coin for best group with a .281” three shot group.  Keep in mind my previous shooting experience.  I have never shot anything like that and thought previous to this that anything with holes touching the perimeter of 1” boxes was about as good as could be expected.  This is an AAR and not a brag session, but there is a point.  The process and procedures they have just work, but it is never forced.  The instructors STRONGLY encourage trying different positions for the shooter and the gun, seeing what happens, and recording it on the target for immediate and future analysis.  All of a sudden, and for the first time ever, I actually knew what to write in the “Notes” section of a range card/target – and it was still day 1.

The next part of day one was moving to longer ranges and bullet trajectories.  A torso-sized paper target was placed at 300 yards, and we shot at a spot on the head from the 100 yard line for a 200 yard shot, then back to the covered shooting line for a 300 yard shot.  No changes were made to the scopes, and all shots had the same aiming point. The result was a groping on the target for 200 yard shots, and a grouping lower down the target for the 300 yard shots.  These were then measured for drop, which could be used to verify scope calibration and shooting solutions.  BTW, when you use the Hornady 4-DOF app and calibrate it using distant drops, that thing is ON for distance DOPE.

After seeing trajectories, we paired up with a spotter for longer distance shots to 600-700 yards.  Previous to this, I don’t remember ever shooting past 200 yards, but with a newly calibrated app and the lessons from earlier, first round impacts on pig-sized steel to those distances was well, easy.

That ended day 1, and I had a lot to think about.

Day 2:

Back to the classroom for Q&A about the previous day, discussion of field camouflage, shot placements on moving targets, and reinforcement of general shooting techniques/practices/wind compensation/etc. Then range time.

Range time day 2was a new competition for best cold bore and best group at 100 yards.  Here I learned another lesson, and hopefully everyone else can too at my expense (one of the instructors asked if he could point it out to the class.) Here is the lesson - (In fairness, this was told to us repeatedly during day 1, but I have to learn by messing up.) - After shooting long range, reset your friggin’ scope back to your 100 yard zero.  I didn’t win anything because I didn’t even hit the paper with my 600 or 700 yard settings.  Luckily, the backstop was well built, and tall.


We had more drills at 100, then lunch, after which came the walk in the woods.  The instructions were “bring everything you need to make hits on targets at unknown distances – we’re going for a hike.”  There were of course suggestions for what to bring, and the instructors carried emergency supplies, but the end decision was up to each student on what they wanted to carry for a two mile walk and scenario shooting.  I brought my pack with what I planned on hunting with, and I will now be removing things I didn’t use.  Shit you don’t use gets heavy.

We split into two groups of six, then started walking through the wooded trail system the facilities offer.  Scenarios were presented in the most realistic way possible with safety in mind.  White posts in the woods indicate shooting stations that we took turns shooting from.  Everything in the area and everything you brought are available to use to shoot with/from.  Targets are in shooting lanes, but the distances are up to the shooter to determine.  Again, with safety in mind, targets were from very close – to simulate an unplanned shot on a surprise appearance, to what I would consider the longest reasonable ethical shooting distances.  Stations had single or multiple targets to engage.

After our walk, back to long range shooting, with props on the line ranging from a pop-up tent with some shooting sticks in it, to an elevated position similar to typical deer stands, or the regular shooting line with standing, leaning, sitting, etc. shooting positions.  Targets and spotters were available for shots out to 1000 yards.  This was the rest of the afternoon, as long as you wanted to shoot.

That wrapped it up.  I am a better shooter now than before I went.  I shot distances with regular hunting gear I thought only possible with specialized equipment.  I have a procedure to test myself and not only this gun, but other guns and ammo combinations.  I am completely satisfied and highly encourage anyone thinking about learning longer range shooting to take this course.

I did it last year, helped me a lot.