Alsatian

I generally feel comfortable shooting at 200 yards; I feel a little nervous shooting at 300 yards -- on deer/pronghorn size game. I sight in my rifles at the range and practice at the range. Maybe I shoot 100 rounds a year total, through several rifles including .30-06, .243, and .25-06. When I shoot at game in the field I prefer to use the most stable position available to me, which is generally with my elbows supported on each knee. If I shoot offhand, it had better be less than 100 yards because my groups are about 5" offhand at 100 yards. I try to live within my limitations when I hunt.

Many other hunters, I believe, do not understand where their limits are. They don't sight their rifles in so they have no idea where their aimpoints really are when they go to the field. They do not shoot enough to know how much variation there is in their own shooting -- how wide their groups are in different shooting positions. They don't understand that different bullet weights and even different loads from different manufacturers result in shifted aim points. I know a hunter who prepared for the rifle deer season in Oklahoma by shooting 6 shots. I would guess he did not go to a rifle range but shot on his deer lease at an unknown distance at a rock or some other identifiable target. Who knows what field position he used. He experienced several misses or less than fatal shots during the hunt and was concerned his scope sighting "might be off," but did hit a doe standing broadsidein the belly shooting off-hand at about 30 yards and concluded from this experience that his rifle was "on target" -- I guess this means he deliberately shot 10 inches aft of where most people prefer to shoot. This example hunter has no idea what his shooting limitations are and what variables are involved in shooting (cartridge loads, positions, etc.)

That is just the way it is. I hear the voice of truth coming from the experienced guide who spoke above. I think he may even be seeing the better run of hunters when he says they can consistently take deer at 200 yards. Maybe a hunter who is investing in a guided hunt takes a little more trouble than the guy who happens to know someone whose property he can hunt on for free and pays $16 for a resident deer tag?

An interesting consequence of my limited shooting ability (shouldn't take shots past 300 yards, maybe somewhat less) is that for me there really is no advantage to magnum cartridges -- the good ol' .30-06 is probably flat enough for my shooting. And I would guess that 90% of hunters have just as limited shooting ability as me, so what is all the hoopla about magnums and the crappy performance of the .30-06 and how much better the Gazzumi x83-07 mm Super gazimbo cartridge is? This doesn't mean I disparage these high performance cartridges, I'm just suggesting most people -- myself included -- can't shoot well enough to obtain their benefits.