Acceptable Hunting Accuracy at How Far?

[HD.375]

Gday guys, loving the forum.... have a hard time finding anything better to do at a night time than scan forums for key topics and further delve into rabbit holes .... particularly levergunnin with cast.......

So ive been pickng up here and there, that some fellas own layzers and some own 100 year old tack drivers.......... This could be an intranet thing but some do post occaisonal target photos backing up their claims... :)
not here for that arguement rather a discussion around Acceptable Accuracy for Hunting deer sized game, from a Lever gun, Open sighted..........

Do you shoot 50m or 100m with 3 shots before claiming the group size? i see some guys shoot 75 yards/m , claiming 3/4 inch 3 shots at 75...........
i see some realists out there commenting their experiences, some mention 3 inches at 100 yards/m is Great hunting accuracy from Model 94s etc...


Do you prefer a reasonable sized target 6 inch +, an point an shoot to find where your max is? without holding over?
or do you know your limit and set up rifle and load to maximise its uses... EG- offset 100m zero? or bang on 100m zero for 150max. etc... your mileage will vary from the next.



im not totally stoked on the accuracy i am getting with this new bullet , but im not against it either, We have shot some Deer together now but well under 100m each time, 50 & 60m . so im due to punch a 3 shot group out this week,,,,,, wanna hear where i should be shootin... 50-75 or 100?

Thanks! look forward to the chat n hearing your experiences

[Randy Bohannon]

I test at the bench with a Tac Driver bag and a rear bag to get the best possible stability. I start at 50 yds to see what is good not so good, good loads are moved out to 100 yards. Sight adjustments are made and further testing until I am satisfied with the accuracy. I also check and make sure I can put 5 rounds into a 10” circle at 100 yds. If you can’t hit what you’re aiming at all is for nothing.

[Wheelguns 1961]

I think that it depends on where you hunt and the terrain. I hunt in the woods where a 100 yard shot would be next to impossible. If you are hunting on the edge of a field, a300 yard shot may be possible.

[hoodat]

Paper plate range is the criteria by which I determine my hunting rifle accuracy. Doesn't matter if I'm shooting at 25 yards, or 400 yards. If I can't reliably put my shots on a paper plate, (around 8"), I'd better improve the rifle, or the optics, or shorten up the distance. This method also determines whether or not I should be shooting from a rest, or am competent enough to shoot off-hand. jd

[country gent]

A lot of the needed accuracy also depends on the game being hunted. Ground squirrels, prairie dogs woodchucks require better loads at distance than deer do. On a deer rifle I wotk for 1 1/2 MOA accuracy while the varmint rifles I push for 1/2 - 3/4 MOA. I want a clean humane harvest of the animals.

Use your duplex reticle to your advantage. The "circle" imposed by the broad beams is 6 moa 3 moa in a side, a bult in range finder and bullet drop compensator. For longer shots simply use the lower beam as a post

[Eddie Southgate]

I could hunt with a rifle that keeps all shots in 3" at 50-75 yards on deer sized game . Fortunately the guns I own all do much better than that. If a rifle won't do 1 1/2-2" at 100 yards off the bench it goes down the road . I have owned for a short time many that would not. Most shots in my area are short being 75 yards or less as you normally can't see farther than that to make a reliable shot . Mostly woods hunting with smaller clearings where I hunt , good handgun hunting range .

[444ttd]

in the area i hunt 50+/- yards is normal. a 100 yards could be done, but it is unlikely. i limit myself to 150 yards. scoped rifle should go under 2" and aperture and open sights is around 4". if i need it further than 150 yards, then i go to ruger #1 in 270 win. and 140gr hornady sst and imr4350.
https://i.imgur.com/GqVfvNN.jpg

9.3x57 and 275gr wfn gc
https://i.imgur.com/fbHYQHz.jpg

35/30-30(sighting it in)
https://i.imgur.com/nBFtFB6.jpg

30-40 krag with 165gr ranch dog(1 - 6 are sighting shots, 7-10 is the group)
https://i.imgur.com/LG8vMD3.jpg

all were shot on a bench with sandbags at 100 yards

[FergusonTO35]

I am blessed to have some pretty accurate lever actions in my arsenal. My 1967 Marlin Glenfield 30 will put three into an inch or less at 100 yards consistently with it's favorite load. Still getting the others lined out, but none are worse than 3" at 100 yards.

[JDL]

My deer hunting area is too thick to get a shot much over 50 yards so just about anything will give sufficient accuracy. But naturally, I want the best I can get and usually settle for about 2 MOA for my cast bullet loads.

[Bazoo]

My Winchester 94 does a about 1.75 at 75 yards. I don’t try for better. I’m content with that. Some folks ain’t ever content. I practice offhand shooting a fair amount. Rarely from then bench, and never bagged.

[Char-Gar]

I accuracy test at 100 yards and consider 10 shot groups to be the Gold Standard. As it has been long stated, there are no lucky ten shot groups. The groups must also be repeatable. With this standard, lot of verbal groups and pics of groups become meaningless.

Military and commercial hunting rifles (30-06)will turn in about 1.5 - 2.00 MOA with good cast bullet loads by this standard. Do some tweaking with the bedding and this can be cut by .25 - .50 MOA.

My heavy barrel Remington 700VS (308 Win) is a true MOA cast bullet rifle.

Leverguns are different critters. My Marlin 336A (30-30) is a rifle and will turn in 2.5 - 3.0 MOA groups by above standard. Winchester and Marlin carbines, with the bands are good for 3.0 - 400 MOA. I shoot all leverguns single shot as if the tubular mag is filled, the point of impact will shift a smidge as the rounds move back in the tube.

I am well aware that many claim better accuracy that what I have posted, but these are by my accuracy standard, which is much higher than most folks. I can produce much smaller 5 shot groups and even smaller 3 shot groups.

Hunting accuracy for me is 3 - 4 MOA at point of impact. Most sporting rifles can meet this standard with ease.

[Hootmix]

Hey HD.375,, welcome to the fire ,, different rifle's ,different folks,, all doing " IT " their way. I'v been visiting here awhile , good folks and very good info. , hope y'a stay around and visit.

coffee's ready ,, Hootmix.
OH ! i shoot 40-60 win.( Chaparral ) >

[Rick B]

Welcome, once upon a time I could shoot open sights. Nowadays, due to getting longer in the tooth. Aperture front sights are required. My favorite lever guns also have Montana Vintage Arms Soule Tang Sights. With a good front aperture matching the target, good groups are still possible. A receiver sight on your 94 Big Bore 375, will greatly improve your ability to shoot consistent repeatable groups. I agree with Char-Gar on ten shot groups for testing out a accuracy load. When it comes to using a rifle for hunting purposes I stick to three shot repeatable groups. Spent most of my hunting years in areas where shots averaged 200 meters. Acceptable hunting accuracy with a Levergun would be three shots in 6" @ 200 meters. I generally test cast bullet hunting loads, at 200 meters. My favorite lever gun is a 1876 Winchester in 45-75
Rick

[dverna]

Accuracy is a function of the bullet, load, rifle and shooter.

"How far" is a function of accuracy from the various types of shots (rested on a pack/blind window, prone with a sling, sitting, kneeling, off hand. off hand at a moving target) that a shooter can deliver under stress (buck fever). The same shooter and gun/ammo will have a different "how far" as a result. People who have been snipers and/or are competitive shooters will generally have a higher skill level and can make shots most others should not attempt.

Then there is the "risk" factor. A wounding shot on a deer is unfortunate, but most people find it acceptable. For example, if someone knows their ethical range is 100 yards and sees a 12 point buck at 150 yards, there is a good chance they will risk the shot if they cannot get closer or they will soon run out of daylight.

No easy answer.

[Winger Ed.]

All my centerfire rifles are zeroed at 100 yards with cast.
Often times I can do a little better, but I can consistently hold a 2" five shot group shooting off sand bags.
Open sights on a Winchester .30-30, the groups are a bit bigger, so I didn't shoot deer past about 75 yards.

I don't hunt any more, but when I did and was going to shoot past 100 yards, I'd re-zero at 100 yards with
.30 caliber Sierra Game Kings. Where I hunted, ya weren't going to get a shot much past 200 yards.

Even with a pumped up cast boolit in .30-06, I wasn't comfortable shooting a deer past 100 yards.

[Mk42gunner]

I tend to start out with everything zeroed two inches high at 100 yards, then shoot groups at various distances to verify the trajectory curve I have in my head agrees with reality.

This used to work out that my .30-06 (and others of that class) hit very close to POA/POI at 200. It also made the .30-30 class cartridges more or less point and shoot within 150 or so.

No matter the gun/cartridge, I want a solid zero verified on paper at a repeatable range. It doesn't matter if the place I am hunting today only has 47 yard shots, what about tomorrow when I can easily see 300 yards? If I'm carrying a .30-30 tomorrow, I had better learn how to sneak quietly overnight.

The one time I went hunting with my .270 Wby Mag zeroed at 400 yards (planned to hunt a bean field edge), I ended up shooting Stubby (three points on one side, and a broken antler on the other) at a whopping 35 yards.

I also do not agree with adjusting your scope in the field for the shot. If the deer or whatever is too far for your basic zero, he is too far to ethically shoot. At least to me.

Thinking back over the years, I think I could have killed all the deer I have shot with an iron sighted .30-30. At least when I could still see iron sights.

Robert

[indian joe]

a different take (for hunting)
where does the first shot go? clean cold barrel shot is the money shot - then two quick follow up shots - whats that look like ?
Who gets to fire ten properly aimed shots hunting ? helicopter hog cullers ---is about the only ones

most lever guns I have owned will "walk" on the target, usually up wards, four to six inches at 100 yards is not uncommon, its more obvious with blackpowder - I reckon because BP heats the barrel much more and quicker than the other stuff - have had a couple that dont do it. (they are gems and NOT for sale)

[HD.375]

Great Discussion!

cool to hear some of you guy method in determining these factors- how far, accuracy and something else i forgot. :)

-some good points like
- Cold bore and where does IT land.
-Paper plate i think is a Great method and something i use myself / or a gong at varied distances often unknown (apart from past 50 an under 200) for my point an shoot max.
- repeatable 3 shot groups or a repeatable on any day 10 shot group (if ya got the coin to burn da powder(au is $$)
- original solid rest for zero, but off hand an field type positions used to fire upon said 'vital target' .

* there was some Questions thrown my way i feel- here goes.

- my Model 94 is aperture sight setup-has been for 10yr no problem alot more accurate than buckhorn * did file front bead off an thinner.
- no scopes for this matter just opens and typically levergun cals.


sorry got side tracked however thats the gist, good to mix an match some theorys too in our own time

[Winger Ed.]

- my Model 94 is aperture sight setup-has been for 10yr no problem alot more accurate than buckhorn * did file front bead off an thinner.

The aperture is naturally more accurate. You have a 360 degree circle to use for aligning the front sight with.
The thinner or smaller the front sight/bead is, the more precise the target picture will be.
Hence- this is why serious target shooters use them.

The big claim to fame for using a buckhorn/rear leaf rear sight and a larger front sight bead is that it is faster to acquire the target,
your field of vision is larger, and most people do better with it on a moving target or conditions of poorer visibility.

[HD.375]

The aperture is naturally more accurate. You have a 360 degree circle to use for aligning the front sight with.
The thinner or smaller the front sight/bead is, the more precise the target picture will be.
Hence- this is why serious target shooters use them.

The big claim to fame for using a buckhorn/rear leaf rear sight and a larger front sight bead is that it is faster to acquire the target,
your field of vision is larger, and most people do better with it on a moving target or conditions of poorer visibility.

agree, thats my understanding of it too :)

[Good Cheer]

And don't forget that making lever action cartridges hit an animal is very different from having your boolit function as you'd want when it gets there. "Far" can become a problem.

[hoodat]

For me, a hunting rifle has to be comfortable to carry, shoulder, and shoot. The ones that I love best for hunting, are seldom the most accurate from the bags. The rifle that I can shoot .5 MOA groups with, doesn't do me much good if I can't carry it all day and quickly shoot 6 MOA with it at 0 - 100 yards.

Wouldn't it be great if we all shot our deer rifle as well as we shoot our handy little 22 plinker. jd

[Mk42gunner]

For me, a hunting rifle has to be comfortable to carry, shoulder, and shoot. The ones that I love best for hunting, are seldom the most accurate from the bags. The rifle that I can shoot .5 MOA groups with, doesn't do me much good if I can't carry it all day and quickly shoot 6 MOA with it at 0 - 100 yards.

Wouldn't it be great if we all shot our deer rifle as well as we shoot our handy little 22 plinker. jd
That is precisely why my old 98a Mauser in .30-06 always came home with me on leave. If it got down to the last day of deer season and I still had a tag, old faithful went hunting. It didn't matter what new toy I was trying out, I knew that my 06 would work.

Robert

[georgerkahn]

Paper plate range is the criteria by which I determine my hunting rifle accuracy. Doesn't matter if I'm shooting at 25 yards, or 400 yards. If I can't reliably put my shots on a paper plate, (around 8"), I'd better improve the rifle, or the optics, or shorten up the distance. This method also determines whether or not I should be shooting from a rest, or am competent enough to shoot off-hand. jd

This is pretty much the same criteria I use, with a slight modification: I centre a pie-sized "paper plate" on my big one first, tracing around its edge with a Sharpie or Magic Marker. This actually -- to my eyes -- presents a better aiming target, too.
geo

[Outpost75]

I zero my hunting rifles to strike 3" high at 100 yards, which gives a point- blank range of 150 yards in a .30-30 class rifle, 125 yards with a .44 Magnum or 200 yards with a .30-'06. I keep a 12" square cardboard target in which I record the first shot from a cold barrel each time I go out, and another for the subsequent 5 shots. Accumulating range sessions my expectation for a 5-shot composite of First shots fired from a cold barrel not to exceed 1 mil, and a 20-shot composite not to be appreciably worse. The first shot may strike a bit out of the group of subsequent shots, but a good rifle and load should produce a 20-shot composite no worse than 4 inches firing one group per week, repeating the cold, clean barrel test four times.

[tmanbuckhunter]

Paper plate range is the criteria by which I determine my hunting rifle accuracy. Doesn't matter if I'm shooting at 25 yards, or 400 yards. If I can't reliably put my shots on a paper plate, (around 8"), I'd better improve the rifle, or the optics, or shorten up the distance. This method also determines whether or not I should be shooting from a rest, or am competent enough to shoot off-hand. jd
Pretty much this. Most of my levers will hold at least 2MOA at 100 yards, but minute of pie plate is about all one needs to reliably kill deer. Most of my shots are 60 yards and under.

[mnewcomb59]

Large targets help you get smaller groups with iron sights or red dots. To shoot iron sights well you need to look at the front sight, not the rear sight or the target. If your bullseye is too small you will have bad form and stop looking at your front sight so you can find the bullseye. A huge bullseye is easier to center when it is out of focus from focusing on the front sight. I can shoot nice groups at 100 yards when I make my own targets for iron sights. I like a 6-9" white circle at 50 yards and at least 9" white circle at 100 yards. That is for a flat top post front sight. A humongous bead like some guns come with nowadays requires a larger target to center the bead and see a nice even ring of white around it.

I like to use coffee can lids with a wire through the middle for a handle. Set the lid on a piece of computer paper and spray paint (matte black is best) a ring around the lid. I have also used bucket lid stencils on larger pieces of paper or white pizza boxes. Try it! And then realize in how accurate your iron sight guns are when you can focus the front sight and still see a blurry aiming point. After all, do you hunt 1" orange stickers at 100 yards or 4 feet tall, 5 feet long deer? It is really easy to shoot iron sights on large targets like game or steel silhouettes compared to an impossibly small bullseye sticker meant for a 16x scope.

Also if you are shooting a lever action on sandbags rest the gun on the receiver, not the forearm. Or if you are resting it on the forearm you have to be holding the forearm with your hand and snugging it into your shoulder. If you loosely rest the forearm on a bag it might shoot high, low, left or right when you actually hold the thing and shoot it.

[mnewcomb59]

Large targets help you get smaller groups with iron sights or red dots. To shoot iron sights well you need to look at the front sight, not the rear sight or the target. If your bullseye is too small you will have bad form and stop looking at your front sight so you can find the bullseye. A huge bullseye is easier to center when it is out of focus from focusing on the front sight. I can shoot nice groups at 100 yards when I make my own targets for iron sights. I like a 6-9" white circle at 50 yards and at least 9" white circle at 100 yards. That is for a flat top post front sight. A humongous bead like some guns come with nowadays requires a larger target to center the bead and see a nice even ring of white around it.

I like to use coffee can lids with a wire through the middle for a handle. Set the lid on a piece of computer paper and spray paint (matte black is best) a ring around the lid. I have also used bucket lid stencils on larger pieces of paper or white pizza boxes. Try it! And then realize in how accurate your iron sight guns are when you can focus the front sight and still see a blurry aiming point. After all, do you hunt 1" orange stickers at 100 yards or 4 feet tall, 5 feet long deer? It is really easy to shoot iron sights on large targets like game or steel silhouettes compared to an impossibly small bullseye sticker meant for a 16x scope.

Also if you are shooting a lever action on sandbags rest the gun on the receiver, not the forearm. Or if you are resting it on the forearm you have to be holding the forearm with your hand and snugging it into your shoulder. If you loosely rest the forearm on a bag it might shoot high, low, left or right when you actually hold the thing and shoot it.

[Ithaca Gunner]

I'm agreeable with a 2-3'' grouping at 100yds with a Winchester 1894 carbine sighted 3'' high for Eastern woodlands hunting.

[FergusonTO35]

I ordinarily verify the zero on a rifle with shooting sticks rather than a bench rest. This shows me what kind of capability I have with a somewhat shaky rest. I can make decent groups off shooting sticks, however they are usually a little up, down, right, or left depending on how I am shooting that day. I can nearly always make a group print within 2 inches of the bullseye regardless of which rifle I am using. Did this yesterday in fact with two Marlin .30-30's and my Remington 700 6.5 Creedmoor. The .30-30's are zeroed at 100, centerfire bolt guns are zeroed at 150.

[Bigslug]

See Outpost 75's post #25 - good wisdom there.

On "deer sized game" a solid hit in an 8" circle that's centered on the heart will get it done.

I shrink that to 6" for the sake of "standards". If you then plot your zero to give you a trajectory that climbs no higher than 3" before starting it's fall back to the zero, and figure out how much further it goes to drop the other 3", you have your maximum point-blank range for the round. This allows you to engage quickly without having to fire up your meat computer on the morning when you're low on sleep and low on coffee.

How far you can go with that depends greatly on the cartridge you are shooting of course. For the average tube-fed, blunt bullet lever gun, you may be able to coax it out to a tad over 200 yards with some of the modern powders.

Acceptable grouping for these brush guns? 2 MOA holds that 6" circle with room to spare at 200 yards, where many of the rounds used have started to drop like Lead Zeppelins. When you consider that you are unlikely to shoot as well as the gun can from a field position, there's a point of saying "good enough - let's go hunting"

[Tar Heel]

Do whatever you feel is necessary at whatever range you think is necessary at the rifle range. That's all fun and games. The real test is to have someone put a paper plate up weeks later at some unknown distance away. Take your clean rifle, cold barrel, and one cartridge. Determine the distance, establish the correct sight picture (knowing the trajectory of your cartridge and knowing what sight picture to use) and take ONE shot. If you can't judge the distance and put a bullet on that paper plate, you now know the problem is marksmanship (YOU) and not precision (The RIFLE).

Learn your sights, learn the trajectory of the cartridge, and learn to determine range. Know the limits of the tool in your hands. I go out in the evening as the sun is setting and take sight pictures of different colored objects with my open sights on my Winchester. At a certain time, the front sight just disappears and getting a sight picture at longer 100 yard ranges is impossible. Given those light conditions, a closer shot of <50 yards is needed.

So....your skills will determine the range you can shoot to. Your skills matched with a precision tool will be the determinant factor. Can you nail that paper plate at some range, in thicker clothing, in dimmer light, while shivering, and while second guessing the range you estimated?

The field is completely different than the range. The range determines precision. The field determines marksmanship.

Let's not kid ourselves either. The front sight at 100 yards covers a lot of target making precision shots extremely hard to take. At 200 yards with open sights, you are barn-door capable - not 6" capable.

BTW, the steaks I had in Sydney were the thickest best tasting steaks I have ever had. I will NEVER forget the all beef foot-long hot dogs with mashed up peas on top. Man were they good with an ice cold glass bottle of milk. That was decades ago when the Sheila's were prettier! Gday

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I shoot mainly wild pigs at ranges up to 100yds. I like using my aperature sighted 50/70 which is as accurate as I need.

https://i.imgur.com/7Rj84YXl.jpg

[mnewcomb59]

Let's not kid ourselves either. The front sight at 100 yards covers a lot of target making precision shots extremely hard to take. At 200 yards with open sights, you are barn-door capable - not 6" capable.



Like I said above, most people can't shoot iron sights properly. Don't assume my shooting skills based on what you can do. Same thing with guys who can't shoot handguns for beans telling me how I shouldn't shoot at deer with a handgun because they know they can't hit a paper plate at 7 yards. 200 yards is no problems at all if you quit looking at the target and start looking at your front sight.

We have a silhouette league with 200 yard rams. The only gun I have that I have to work hard for hits is the 6 inch security six. Out of all my hunting firearms this one has the front sight closest to my eyeball. If I focus my front sight the 200 yard ram is so blurry it disappears. The "problem" is that I have to look about 6" beyond my front sight to have the ram clear enough to line everything up. This leaves the front sight very slightly out of focus, but still with enough clarity to hold towards the front if they call my hit back, or hold towards the back of the ram if they call my hit at the front edge. I don't shoot at game at 200 yards with this gun but I will have some fun on the range to practice my fundamentals. Making hits at 200 yards with a 6" revolver gives you skills and confidence to do it with a longer barreled revolver or a rifle. This Security Six has no problem shooting 4" at 100 yards and less than 1" at 25 yards.

If you are barn door accurate at 200 yards that means you need to go back to the basics and focus your front sight and quit focusing on the target. You will never shoot a 1" orange sticker at 200 yards, but if you shoot at a sufficient sized target like a steel silhouette, large paper target or big game you can center your clear front sight on the hazy target and make small groups.

Look at the first picture in this link. Your target should be blurry. If your target is in focus you will not shoot small groups. https://applied-ballistics.com/sight-focus-vs-sight-attention/

[Tar Heel]

Well just butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Go get 'em Lông Trắng.

[FergusonTO35]

My limit for sights is 100 yards, and more like 60 in dim light. It really annoys me how there aren't very many choices in compact rifle scopes these days. The little 1-3x20 Weaver on my 336 Texan is perfect for hunting in the woods. Compact, tough, more than enough magnification out to 100 yards. And no, you don't need a 50mm objective to see the target in fading light, the little Weaver will get it done. Alot of manufacturers these days don't make anything less than 40mm except for rimfire scopes.

[dverna]

I zero my hunting rifles to strike 3" high at 100 yards, which gives a point- blank range of 150 yards in a .30-30 class rifle, 125 yards with a .44 Magnum or 200 yards with a .30-'06. I keep a 12" square cardboard target in which I record the first shot from a cold barrel each time I go out, and another for the subsequent 5 shots. Accumulating range sessions my expectation for a 5-shot composite of First shots fired from a cold barrel not to exceed 1 mil, and a 20-shot composite not to be appreciably worse. The first shot may strike a bit out of the group of subsequent shots, but a good rifle and load should produce a 20-shot composite no worse than 4 inches firing one group per week, repeating the cold, clean barrel test four times.

I will be doing what you suggest. I am fortunate that my range is off my back porch so it will not take long to gather the data.

I never shoot a clean barrel when hunting so I can dismiss that as a criteria.

[jmorris]

Acceptable Hunting Accuracy at How Far?


You need something that can deliver a fatal wound, quick enough they can’t get so far away you can’t find them.

I have killed lots of stuff that shot patterns instead of groups (shotguns) but not at very extended ranges.

I have also killed lots of pigs in traps with .22 LR’s I wouldn’t call accurate at long ranges but drop them in their tracks inside 20ft, after they present the right head shot.

[Rapier]

I live in the SE, so most of our shots are close, in comparison to the west. I figure 1” is fine for a big bore, like a 35 or 45 cal. I do load to my own standards though, about .5” at 50.

[FergusonTO35]

Ugh, tonight I missed a really big doe at 100 yards. Perfect broadside shot and I was sitting leaned back against a tree with my Remington 700 6.5 Creedmoor that easily does 1" at 150. Mebbe I should take up something easier like stamp collecting...

[mnewcomb59]

Ugh, tonight I missed a really big doe at 100 yards. Perfect broadside shot and I was sitting leaned back against a tree with my Remington 700 6.5 Creedmoor that easily does 1" at 150. Mebbe I should take up something easier like stamp collecting...

Acceptable hunting accuracy, the topic of this post. I feel like I shoot much better when I wear electronic hearing protection. Were your ears naked? There are certain guns where I don't worry if I have it or not, but I shoot better when I know my ears aren't gonna get nuked. I can just about tolerate wearing it all the time for everything except hunting pheasants when it is windy or deer driving in the brush. Both cases, wind noise or brush noise is too disorienting through the ear pieces, and they always get snagged when deer driving. Other times I will wear the muffs just above my ears for natural stereo hearing, then if a deer comes into view I can get them into place or I will just have earplugs around my neck.

[HD.375]

I shoot mainly wild pigs at ranges up to 100yds. I like using my aperature sighted 50/70 which is as accurate as I need.

https://i.imgur.com/7Rj84YXl.jpg

hey BAW, long time no see....... been a few years since i left that AHN place, think thats where u drink?
an aushunt shat the bed, stale as four day toast...

anywhooo- nice to see your still holden em still while ya plug em

[FergusonTO35]

I wear muffs on the range, but the lack thereof has never hurt me in the field. I have arthritis in my hands and a bit of essential tremor. Those two maladies teamed up to cause me to shoot under her, I knew what I had done while the rifle recoiled.

[FergusonTO35]

I guess I can do it right sometimes. Been looking for this old guy for awhile and caught him on the trail of a doe this afternoon. My 1976 336 Texan did her part and put one through the crankcase at 40 yards. The camera angle makes it look like a gut shot but the Sierra Pro Hunter took out the heart and lungs no problem.

https://opeforum.com/attachments/img_20211122_180753014-jpg.317064/

[HD.375]

I guess I can do it right sometimes. Been looking for this old guy for awhile and caught him on the trail of a doe this afternoon. My 1976 336 Texan did her part and put one through the crankcase at 40 yards. The camera angle makes it look like a gut shot but the Sierra Pro Hunter took out the heart and lungs no problem.

https://opeforum.com/attachments/img_20211122_180753014-jpg.317064/

need to be a member of site to see attatchment, got another Photo Hosting site to use?
we all lurv pictures

[FergusonTO35]

Lets see if this works:

292109

[Texas by God]

Looks like a bucket of venison from here, Ferguson!
You were too close for the Creedmoor to work, lol.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[centershot]

Wow, way to go Ferguson! You'll be busy for a day or two!

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks guys! Blind squirrel found the nut this time.

[HD.375]

Thanks guys! Blind squirrel found the nut this time.

Beauty buck!
congrats
thnks for sharing

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks guys. I'm going to have this one mounted as he will probably be the biggest deer I ever get.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I once shot a deer at 400 yards and had a hard time finding the blood trail once I got down range to it. Did not find it until the next morning and it suffered for much of the night and tainted the meat. Not sure I would make that long of a shot again.

[FergusonTO35]

My absolute max is 200 yards, and that's only with certain rifles. Fortunately the places I hunt you really can't even see anything beyond 80 yards or so due to terrain and brush.

[hoodat]

My absolute max is 200 yards, and that's only with certain rifles. Fortunately the places I hunt you really can't even see anything beyond 80 yards or so due to terrain and brush.

I'm pretty much with you on that. I've shot some deer at pretty whopping distances, and some of the stories aren't all that great.

I dropped one in his tracks at over 500 yards in a sage-brush desert one time, (about sundown) and we didn't find him till ten o'clock that night.

If you shoot something at 300+ yards, and you are in typical broken or timbered country, you can play hell finding the tracks where your animal was standing when you made your shot. Even a perfectly shot elk will frequently take off as if he wasn't hit, and run for a quarter of a mile before piling up. At longer ranges, my rifle usually doesn't punch through both sides, making for almost no blood trail.

It also seems to me that many guys have a much higher opinion of their shooting skills than is warranted. I, and probably most of us have found the carcasses of "long range shooters". jd

[jimb16]

Deer gun season starts here tomorrow morning. My 1873 .45 LC groups at slightly under 1 inch at 50 yards. Max range where I hunt is 80 yards. If I see one, I should have no problem putting a round thru the boiler room. But as usual, they are calling for bad snow on opening day. I'll be out there. I just hope I can see one. BTW I live in the Lake Erie snow belt! We can get some real blizzards.

[indian joe]

Hunters are often seen to associate with fishermen, sometimes are even the same body in different uniform.
Elastic ruler syndrome that afflicts fishermen can be quite contagious.......................................

[almar]

Deer gun season starts here tomorrow morning. My 1873 .45 LC groups at slightly under 1 inch at 50 yards. Max range where I hunt is 80 yards. If I see one, I should have no problem putting a round thru the boiler room. But as usual, they are calling for bad snow on opening day. I'll be out there. I just hope I can see one. BTW I live in the Lake Erie snow belt! We can get some real blizzards.

Hey jimb16, if you don't mind me asking, what load do you use and what bullet for hunting? Im curious because I just got me that rifle and would like to use it down here for deer. You can PM me if you don't want to write it here. I would appreciate it.

[curioushooter]

I have sort of evolved my thinking on this topic.

When I started hunting deer in Ohio, when you could only hunt with a shotgun, I was happy to be able to keep all my slugs on a paper plate at 100 yards using the "ghost ring" sights on my Ithaca 37. Bonus if I could keep them in the middle part of the plate. That was good enough, and I killed some deer that way. Still nothing hammers them like a 1 OZ 72 caliber slug, even if you hit them in the neck or belly because your accuracy is so poor.

Now living in Indiana where rifles are allowed, anything less than what my 6.5 Creed Ruger left-hand Hawkeye delivers is "inaccurate." This would be being able to keep three shot groups invisible (that is in the 2.5" bullseye of a 50ft NRA rapid fire pistol target) at 200 yards from a cold barrel, off my arms on a bench. This rifle wears a 3.5-10x Leupold VX3i, the highest magnification scope I've ever used.

The combination of flat trajectory (no hold over estimation...I sight it in at 200 yards), extreme accuracy, outstanding trigger, and very good glass give me almost surgical precision. Like I used to shoot "into the brown" when I lived in Ohio. Then when I started with lever action pistol carbines it was "shoot into the boiler room." Now it's like, do I take out the shoulder or the heart? I have been tempted to take brain shots, but haven't.

As someone that has always been of the big bore way of thinking, moving from 12 gauge slugs, to ever smaller bores, I must say the 6.5 mm 129 grain Hornady Interlock bullet is most effective, probably because I can deliver it to exactly right place. Only thing I don't like it how it will destroy some meat in the shoulder area, but that is isn't the best meat anyway.

It's almost boring to me, I don't get the adrenaline rush I once did. I was so far away this year I made a noise on purpose for them to face me and present broadside. In Ohio, where I had to get close enough they could see/hear/smell me, it was more exciting. And now I find myself wanting to hunt with my Flattop Blackhawk in 44 special.

[hoodat]

Now living in Indiana where rifles are allowed, anything less than what my 6.5 Creed Ruger left-hand Hawkeye delivers is "inaccurate." This would be being able to keep three shot groups invisible (that is in the 2.5" bullseye of a 50ft NRA rapid fire pistol target) at 200 yards from a cold barrel, off my arms on a bench. This rifle wears a 3.5-10x Leupold VX3i, the highest magnification scope I've ever used.

Thats a durned good standard, especially since you're doing it a 200 yards. Most folks would be hard pressed to do that at 100.

It's been my experience that a whole lot of hunters have no idea exactly what their rifle can or can't do -- or what THEY can or can't do at any range. Most hunters simply don't do enough shooting. jd

[FergusonTO35]

Every rifle and pistol I own is more capable than I am, that's for sure! I usually have to practice with a particular rifle for a couple of years before I ever hunt with it

[bigdog454]

I use the 8 inch plat method. If I can keep 5 out of 5 shots on a 8 inch plate, that is the max range for me. I can do it with a scoped hand gun at 75 yards with a steady rest, I try to keep all of my shots at a deer under 75 yards with that hand gun. With my lever gun 125 yards would be the max, after that bullets drop too much. As for varmiet rifles under 1 moa works for me.
BD

[curioushooter]

This is exactly how I used to think when used deer slugs.