Deer hunting BS thread

I hope the feller that made this is still hanging around.

 

OK, so last post on this subject. I have other more pressing matters.

There is no way the fault is with the gun, cleaned or not. Not missing that badly. It is the scope/scope setup or the shooter. Maybe you don't have a good rest, or aren't wearing hearing protection and flinching?

 

Lol... I think... I'm not what part of that is serious. I was just propped on towels and saw horses, but I do that every season. I'd chalk it up to an off day for me (a terribly off day) if it didn't shoot worse before I cleaned it a month or so earlier. I suppose the massive recoil of that 243 could have warped my scope rings or something, but I have now triple checked all my screws on stock, rail and rings, and it's literally a brand new scope, (and it was grouping worse with the scope I took off) I'm hoping the corelokt batches are different than the old recipe and my guns just don't like them anymore; I'll soon find out after I get some reloads worked up.

 

Its really easy for us to say you're flinching, need some time to adjust to new contacts, need a more stable shooting environment, etc, but I also don't even know if its fair to say you're shooting 3 MOA groupings. From your previous posts, it sounds like you were changing distances, making adjustments, and reticle covering most of the target on most of your shots. I just don't think thats an accurate representation of how the rifle is actually performing, and I think you're probably shooting better than you think. Sure, 10 shots on the box look all over the place, but break it down using the info you gave us:

Shots 1/2 - just getting on paper (disregard those)
Shots 3/4 - 25 yds, made adjustments between those shots (disregard that group as well)
Shots 5/6 - 100 yd shots using a 25 yd zero (expect to be 3ish" high, which it was)(rifle is performing as it should)
Shots 7/8 - 100 yd shots with elevation adjustment down 6 clicks (expect to be down 1.5", which it arguably was, even though left/right is spaced out)
Shots 9/10 - 50 yd shot, using your 100 yd zero (expect to be 1/2" low, which it also arguably was)

I think the true issue is you're only making 2-shot groupings, and its just not a good enough representation to figure out trends. Your groupings, with the exception of shot 8 all did exactly what they should have done, using the adjustments you made. A 3, 4, or even 5 shot grouping at 100 yds would likely show that its shooting accurately and you jerked a shot or two in those first 10 shots. I'd bet as it sits right now, you're shooting 1" high at 100 yds, and if you did a 5 shot grouping, you'd likely have 4 shots within .5-1" (as far as elevation goes), with maybe 1 outlier that you jerked. Your 1" high at 100 yd zero is doing exactly as it should at 50 yds, shooting .5" lower. I'd suggest taking it back out, doing some larger shot groups, and making far less adjustments until you see clear as day trends. Again, judging off of a 2-shot grouping is tough, but it seems your 100 yd zero is 1" high right now, making your 50 yd shots .5" higher than target. Don't be so hard on yourself buddy, just need to get it out for some more testing and get that zero exactly where you want it.

What distance do you intend to be able to actually get shots at while hunting? A 50-100 yd zero for a .243 is actually worse than a 25 yd zero if planning to shoot long distances. I sight mine in at 100 anyways though, because I plan for all of my shots to be 100 yds or less.

 

You can do different things but i go by the ammo ballistics for factory ammo. This is for .243 100gr bullet i usually go 1" high at 100yds. Make sure windage is dead on. If im in a stand or sitting Ill have time to get range. If on spot and stock hopefully i can get a good range or guess. 300yds is still only 7.3" drop.

Get a range and put cross hair just below spine on 300yd deer should drop right in a double lung shot.

Dirty barrel will affect accuracy...as will a bad scope. Also a solid rest is necessary to know if your rifle and scope combo is shooting correctly. After that its on you if you miss shot.

 

I typically do zero that rifle at 25 yards, which puts it a hair over 2" at 100 and about even again at 200 and Being in the neighborhood of 6" low at 300... But I'm setting it up for my daughter now, who currently has little to no business shooting past 200 (150 if I'm being completely honest, but I'd let her pop off at a coyote at 200 with no regrets) I only had 25 rounds on hand and I have two rifles to feed is the main reason i only shot 2 times between adjustments. I plan on loading up a couple boxes worth next week and I'll have a larger test sample at that point

 

Depending on the rifle, bedding is important.
On my Mauser sporters, barrels are free floating and the 2 receiver lugs are the only things that contact the stock.(wood stocks)
If the barrel heats up enough or the stock is swelled and makes contact with the barrel, accuracy will be affected.

 

It is and yes. But average hunter isnt going to bed his rifle or shoot much past 300yds. So i dont think bedding is necessary. Average factory rifle will shoot just fine out to 300yds

 

Well I saw 6 bucks, a hot doe and two yearlings this morning. A group of toms were roosted close, heard gobbling at daylight. Biggest buck was a basket 8. Would have shot a big doe but laid off the hot one hoping a bigger buck would trail by.

 

And bumped about 6 does from privet on left getting in this spot this eve.

 

And my wife says I'm crazy for not throwing scraps of wood away... My daughter wanted to hunt the same field but from a different angle, which from here she would have had a much easier shot on her doe last weekend, but there was nothing for her to prop on Under this massive hackberry tree... So I broke out the miter saw and remedied that. It's a bit short for me so it should be just right for her and it's super steady... Eyeballed an equalateral triangle with 15° shoulders, threw on some 28" long 1x4s and made a tripod. I could probably add some all thread to the center and make it adjustable in height without much added weight, but we will see how things go in the morning for her.

 

good luck!

 

Hunted till noon with my son on the mountain. saw 2 does in my saddle. kept hearing something behind me,thinking it was a squirrel. stood and turned. on the ridge flat saw a 8 ft white pine sappling just going back and forth and the butt of a deer. thought wow,a buck horning a tree. then he came by me at 6 yrds. was a record book 3pt. LMAO. took a pic after he got far enough away to get my phone. ive seen them make scrapes,mount a doe but my 1st horning a tree. yes,it was dang cold.

 

Have seen a nub buck wear out a 4” cedar rub when the owner wasn’t around.

 

Wasn't trying to be insulting, just covering all possibilities.

As to the scope being new. A few years ago I bought a Vortex scope for my high powered rifle. I liked it so much I bought another Vortex for my muzzleloader a couple years ago. First shot with it hit about 18 inches low. Long story shorter I used up all the adjustment possible and still was hitting 6 inches low. Call vortex, the rep was like "no way it's our scope". Took the scope off, put the first Vortex from the high powered rifle onto the muzzleloader, and within five shots had touching impacts at 100 yards. It was the scope.

 

I've taken none of what you have said as an insult; I have found it slightly humorous that you initially thought those tiny bullet holes came from a muzzleloader and that it would be unheard of for a rifle ammo combo to produce a 3 MOA group. It's not super common these days, but when I first started hunting, a deer rifle that would hold a 2" group at 100 yards was considered quite accurate. Most companies today may claim moa-sub MOA (usually that it's "capable" and they may shoot 10 shots groups and pick the 3 closest hits) but very few guarantee it, and if they do, it typically has several caveats. It's a difference of opinions I suppose and generations I assume. Anything is possible, but logically I leaned towards ammo because that had the most potential to have changed the most because of the company changing hands, and issues hadn't been noticed until I started shooting new batches of ammo.

 

She missed one this morning, broke out the .22 and set her up at 25 yards. She was consistently pulling right pretty bad but we got that straightened out I think

 

Like I said, not paying attention.

I left a post on a thread here about long range shooting. Around mid '80s a friend and I were into groundhog hunting. I had a bull barrel Ruger in 25-06, topped with a Leupold scope, and reloaded with a Lee hand loader with each charge measured out. If I worked up a load where all three shots weren't touching, or very close to it, it was discarded. Almost all our shots were in the 200-300 yrd range and 300+ wasn't out of the question. There was a group we terrorized at 618 paces that, although I never killed any of them, I peppered them with dirt hitting just short more than once. The farthest deer killed with my muzzleloader was 169 yds and with rifle 237, both checked with a range finder.

I've been a golf course superintendent all my life. That meant 7 day weeks March thru November, and all the time off I wanted Nov thru Feb. For a good amount of time I had a good amount of people around me that counted on a deer. Between the states I hunted I'd take 7/8-10 deer a year. The total number of deer I've taken these 40+ years of hunting may well be north of 1000 at this point.

So I've gathered a little experience over the years and thought I might try to help out.

 

40x10=?