Howdy,
My Son(9) just killed His first deer at 175 yards Sunday. He was shooting a CVA Optima Pro 50 cal. with the 29" fluted Bergara barrel & topped with a Tasco 3x12x40 scope. It was loaded with 85 grains of Pyrodex RS & a 250 grain Shockwave.
After checking the yardage on the rangefinder I told Him to aim at the top of it's back & just behind the shoulder on a broadside shot. He turned the heart & lungs to mush with a perfect passthrough shot. The little buck ran about 25 yards & piled up.
We shot many different sabots,roundballs,& conicals before settling on the Shockwaves. We have shot probably 300 shots since spring through this rifle & had full confidence in making this 175 yard shot.
Find what shoots good through Your rifle & get Your routine down on cleaning & swabing between shots. Shoot as much as possible fron a bench or steady rest until Your gun is zeroed in. Then take the gun & hand hold it like You would in a true hunting situation.
Start out at 50 yards & then move out to 75,then 100,then 125,& so on. find out just where Your bullet is going to be at what yardage. After You've done this You can then feel confident of making a clean kill.
Andy