What I Learned at Bergara Academy’s Long-Range Shooting School

About 22 miles east-southeast of Great Falls, Montana, the small town of Belt serves as the jumping-off point for Bergara Academy’s Long-Range Shooting School.

From Belt, the lodge and range sit another six miles beyond the pavement, surrounded by the kind of Montana scenery that can make first-time visitors temporarily forget why they came.

Students trade stories about the mule deer and pronghorns they spotted on the drive in, but they all arrive with something else in common: They want to become better long-range shooters.

I did, too—although perhaps not for the same reasons.

I have little interest in turning a hunting shot into a 10-minute math problem while consulting weather apps and a small constellation of satellites. But as an avid hunter who occasionally ventures beyond the familiar confines of the whitetail woods, I share the desire to shoot confidently and responsibly at longer distances.

That made me exactly the kind of hunter Bergara Academy’s beginner long-range shooting class is designed to help.

a spotter calls information to a long-range shooter seated at a bench rest — Long-range shooting is a hobby unto itself, but the beginner’s course at the Bergara Academy is aimed at helping hunters master shots for real-world hunting situations.

What You’ll Learn at Bergara Academy

Proper shooting position and trigger control
How to fit and zero a rifle
First- vs. second-focal-plane scopes
How to dial elevation corrections
How to use reticle holds
Reading and compensating for wind
Shooting from realistic field positions
Making decisions under pressure

Who Is Bergara Academy’s Long-Range Shooting School For?

Chad Schearer is Bergara’s director of media relations, host of Shoot Straight TV and lead instructor at Bergara Academy.

When I contacted him about sending one of Hook & Barrel’s shooting experts to attend the class and write an article, his immediate response caught me off guard.

“Why don’t you come?”

“But I’m not a shooting expert,” I said.

“This class isn’t for experts,” he replied.

“Our beginner class focuses on how to handle longer shots in real-world hunting situations. It’s perfect for you.”

I’ve known Chad for 15 years and have hunted mule deer with him twice. More importantly, he knows me. He knows I’m primarily a whitetail hunter who occasionally ventures out West.

If he thought I would enjoy and benefit from the class, I couldn’t offer much of an argument.

I booked my plane ticket that day.

a photo of many suppressed rifles on a long shooting bench. Several men test the zero of their rifles. — On the first day of class, each student is assigned a rifle that is fitted and zeroed just for them and by them (with the help of the always-present instructors).

Arriving at Bergara Academy

Most Bergara Academy students fly into Great Falls, where Chad meets them for the drive to the lodge outside Belt. Students are also welcome to drive or rent a vehicle, particularly if they plan to explore more of Montana before or after the class.

Our group gathered that night for an excellent elk roast prepared by Chad’s wife, Marsha, his Shoot Straight cohost.

Marsha doesn’t instruct at the academy, but I wouldn’t challenge her to a shooting competition or try to match her hunting skills. When it comes to cooking, there isn’t even a contest.

We were also fortunate to have an easygoing and remarkably diverse group. It included father-and-son veterinarians, an engineer with Kawasaki USA, a United Airlines pilot, the president of a whiskey company and an active-duty U.S. Army Green Beret who trains fellow soldiers in marksmanship.

That range of backgrounds and experience ensured our group never lacked for great conversation.

It also reinforced one of the most important points about the class: You don’t need to arrive as an accomplished long-range shooter to belong there.

a shooter at a bench looks through a scope at a distant target — Notice the DOPE book on the table near the author. Students at the Bergara Academy don’t spend hours figuring math equations for each shot, but they do learn the principles behind long-range shooting and take notes about each target.

Long-Range Shooting Starts With the Fundamentals

Our first full day of instruction began with approximately two hours in the classroom, where we learned about the rifles and scopes we would use.

This was not simply a commercial for particular products. Instead, Chad concentrated on fundamentals that apply to virtually any rifle setup: establishing a proper shooting position, pressing the trigger cleanly, maintaining a full field of view through the scope and acquiring the target quickly.

The classroom session also cleared up concepts I had never fully understood, including the difference between first- and second-focal-plane scopes.

First- vs. Second-Focal-Plane Scopes

In a first-focal-plane scope, the reticle appears to grow or shrink as magnification changes. This allows its measurement marks to remain accurate throughout the scope’s magnification range.

In a second-focal-plane scope, the reticle stays the same apparent size. The drawback is that holdover and windage marks are accurate only at a designated magnification—usually the scope’s highest setting.

Second-focal-plane scopes are common among hunters, while many long-range shooters prefer first-focal-plane models because the reticle’s measurements remain accurate at any magnification. That advantage matters most when using the reticle for elevation and wind holds rather than dialing corrections with the turrets.

several men at a shooting range laugh and have a good time — The author enjoyed a fun group at his long-range shooting class, and there was plenty of banter to go with all the support and instruction.

It was exactly the kind of foundational lesson the class handled well: technical enough to explain why something matters, but practical enough that we could immediately apply it on the range.

From there, we headed outside to fit the rifles to each shooter and confirm our zeros. Bergara provides the rifles, optics and ammunition, and every student was assigned a rifle for the duration of the class.

The process moved quickly enough that experienced shooters weren’t left standing around, while students who had never mounted or adjusted a scope received the help they needed.

After lunch, we headed to the range for roughly five hours of hands-on instruction.

Making Long-Range Ballistics Manageable

I mentioned earlier that I have very little interest in turning a hunting shot into a math problem.

But once the distance stretches to 300 yards and beyond, math becomes part of the equation whether you like it or not. Bullet drop, wind, elevation and environmental conditions do not disappear simply because a hunter would rather ignore them.

shooters use a fence rail as a rest while taking long-distance shots — Shooting is never boring, nor the same at the Bergara Academy. All students shoot from a variety of positions and from different rests.

What impressed me most about the Long-Range Shooting School was how Chad and his sons, Walker and Wyatt, balanced the two sides of that reality.

They explained enough of the underlying principles for us to understand what was happening, then showed us practical ways to arrive at the information we needed without making every shot feel like an advanced calculus exam.

One of the best examples came from the rangefinding binoculars we used on the firing line. After ranging the target, the binoculars accounted for the ballistic information programmed into the system and provided the elevation correction needed for the shot.

From there, we could use that correction in one of two ways: dial the rifle scope’s elevation turret or hold the corresponding mark in the reticle.

The instructors taught us how both methods worked, along with the advantages of each.

Dialing allowed us to place the center crosshair directly on the target, while using the reticle offered a faster option when time mattered.

The technology shortened the path to a shooting solution, but it did not replace the need to understand the correction, make a wind call and execute the shot properly.

That distinction matters. Long-range shooting technology can provide a hunter with remarkably good information, but the shooter still has to use it correctly.

Several men seated at shooting benches aim at distant targets while spotters at spotting scopes look on — Students are paired up for the duration of the class, alternating between shooting and spotting for their partner.

Learning to Shoot Under Pressure

Because everyone couldn’t shoot simultaneously and still receive individual attention, we worked in pairs. When I wasn’t behind the rifle, I made wind calls and suggested elevation corrections for my partner, Mark.

To my surprise, I felt more pressure making calls for him than I did taking my own shots.

That pressure served a purpose.

Chad explained that one of the hardest things to simulate in training is the adrenaline, heavy breathing and shaking that can accompany a shot at a trophy animal—or making the call for a partner.

Partner work introduced an element of responsibility, while individual and team shooting competitions raised the stakes enough to make the targets more difficult to hit.

Combined with hands-on experience shooting from challenging positions and at varying distances, those exercises made me a far better shooter.

an image of a picturesque mountainside with long-range targets circled in red outline — Although you can’t see them in this distant photo, the red circles are where some of the long-range targets are located. The steel targets made an audible clang when hit, and shapes included a life-size elk, mule deer, turkey, mountain lion, moose, bear, wolf and more.

What Shooting at 1,400 Yards Taught Me About Hunting at 300 or less

By the final day, I was consistently hitting steel at 1,400 yards.

To put that distance in perspective, the calculations we worked through in class showed that the bullet required roughly 63 to 67 feet of elevation correction at that distance, depending on the ambient temperature. In the field, the rangefinder did that math for us, and after dialing the correction into the scope, I could put the crosshair directly on the steel.

Kenneth Piper Jr.

Senior Managing Editor, Hook & Barrel | Whitetail Expert

It still blows my mind that our barrels were effectively pointed about 65 feet above the target. The misses were equally instructive, showing just how dramatically a change in the wind could affect a bullet at that distance.

It still blows my mind that our barrels were effectively pointed about 65 feet above the target. The misses were equally instructive, showing just how dramatically a change in the wind could affect a bullet at that distance.

The effect obviously becomes more pronounced as the range increases, but the lesson applies at much more realistic hunting distances: Wind matters, and the farther you shoot, the less forgiving a bad wind call becomes.

I will never—ever—take a shot at an animal from 1,400 yards.

But that wasn’t the reason for shooting that far.

Knowing I could hit a target at that distance made the far more realistic shots of 300 yards and closer feel considerably more manageable.

Frequently Asked Questions

The class I attended was, but there are advanced classes available as well. The Long-Range Shooting School described here was specifically designed to teach shooters how to handle longer shots in realistic hunting situations. Students in the class ranged considerably in shooting experience, and the instruction began with fundamentals before progressing to longer distances.

No. Bergara provided the rifles, optics and ammunition for the class, and each student was assigned a rifle to use throughout the course.

The class covered shooting position, trigger control, rifle and scope setup, zeroing, first- and second-focal-plane optics, ballistic corrections, dialing elevation, using reticle holds, reading wind and shooting from different positions and distances.

You don’t need to arrive at Bergara Academy knowing the math. The instructors teach the underlying ballistics and calculations in the classroom so students understand how shooting solutions are determined and can reproduce them on their own. In the field, though, modern rangefinding technology can do much of that calculating for you once the rifle and ammunition data are entered. The technology provides the solution; the shooter still has to understand the concepts, account for wind and make the shot.

Yes. That was actually one of the biggest lessons of this class. Practicing at distances far beyond typical hunting ranges can expose weaknesses in shooting position, wind reading and execution. In my case, hitting steel at 1,400 yards made realistic hunting shots at 300 yards and closer feel considerably more manageable.

During this class, we progressively worked at varying distances and ultimately shot steel targets out to 1,400 yards. That does not mean the course encourages hunters to shoot animals at those distances; extreme-range target practice was used to develop skills that translate to much shorter hunting shots.

The academy described in this story is outside Belt, Montana, about 22 miles east-southeast of Great Falls, with the lodge and range roughly another six miles beyond town.

a man instructs a class in a hunting lodge setting — Each day at the Bergara Academy starts with a brief session of “classroom” instruction followed by five or so hours of shooting at the range.

Is Bergara Academy Worth It for Hunters?

For the right hunter, absolutely.

I didn’t leave Montana ready for the PRS circuit.

That was never the point.

I left with a better understanding of what happens between the rifle and a distant target, how to dial a correction or use the reticle, and how much wind, position and execution still matter after technology provides part of the answer.

Perhaps more importantly, I came away more confident in my ability to recognize both what I could do with a rifle and where my limitations began.

For a hunter who wants to become more capable at realistic hunting distances without pretending to be a competitive long-range shooter, that may be the most valuable lesson of all.

I apparently wasn’t alone. By the end of the course, almost every student in our group had either asked about Bergara Academy’s advanced class or already made plans to return for it.

Chad had been right from the beginning.

The class was perfect for me.

For more information about Bergara Academy, visit the Bergara Academy website or call Marsha Schearer at (406) 781-9027.

Make a Trip of It: Outdoor Adventures Near Great Falls

Montana’s scenery alone is reason enough to extend your stay.

Build a few extra days around your Bergara Academy class and sample some of the fishing, hiking and sightseeing within easy reach of Great Falls.

The Black Eagle Falls and Dam near Great Falls, Montana — The Black Eagle Falls and Dam is one of the scenic stops between Great Falls and the Bergara Shooting Academy. Notice the bald eagle flying near the top right of the photo.

Hiking and Sightseeing

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Giant Springs State Park: Overlooking the Missouri River in Great Falls, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center recounts the expedition’s grueling portage around the area’s five waterfalls through immersive exhibits, films and ranger programs. Next door, Giant Springs State Park offers river views, walking paths and access to the River’s Edge Trail.
Sluice Boxes State Park: About 35 miles southeast of Great Falls near Belt, Sluice Boxes State Park follows Belt Creek through a rugged limestone canyon. Visitors can hike, fish and explore remnants of the area’s mining and railroad history, although some sections require scrambling and creek crossings.
First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park: Roughly 15 miles southwest of Great Falls, this historic site offers prairie hiking trails, panoramic views and interpretive exhibits detailing how Indigenous peoples used the massive sandstone cliff during communal bison hunts.

a man holds up a trout he just caught from the Missouri River near Great Falls, Montana — The author’s partner during the long-range shooting class, Mark Matuszek, added a fly-fishing outing to the end of his trip.

Fishing Near Great Falls

Missouri River: The Missouri River runs directly through Great Falls, offering convenient opportunities for bank fishing and boating. Depending on the stretch, anglers may encounter trout, walleye, northern pike, bass or catfish.
Missouri River Near Craig: About 45 miles southwest of Great Falls, the Missouri River around Craig is one of Montana’s premier trout-fishing destinations. Visitors can book a guided fly-fishing trip, float the river or fish from public-access areas.
Holter Lake: Approximately 50 miles southwest of Great Falls, Holter Lake offers fishing for rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, walleye and perch. The lake is also popular for boating, swimming, camping and wildlife watching.