Question about scope power
 

If I sight my slug gun in at 100 yards at say, 6 power but then adjust it to 3 to take a close shot, will this harm my accuracy? I had it set on 8 last year and tried to take a close shot and couldn't hardly see what I was shooting at (I know, rookie mistake).

The distance will matter far more than the power you have your scope on.

If coser than 100 yards, your point of impact would be higher.


Keep your scope on "low" power for those up close and personal opportuinties.

If you need more power because your quary is father away, well then, you should have the time to power your scope up.

It won't harm your accuracy, but it could possibly change your point of impact slightly. At close range, you probably wouldn't notice it. The difference in trajectory will be more of a factor than the change in power. I usually sight my rifle in at 4x and generally hunt at that power. But I do crank it down to 3x if I'm hunting close. Not much difference.

I have 3-9x40 scopes on my slug guns, when sighting in I have it set at 9, when hunting I have set at 4

Shoot it a few times and see where it hits.

it might change you POI a few inches, but you will hit your target. i have a 3x9-40 on my 10-22 and sighted it in at 9 and i move it all around when hunting squirrels and never miss(unless i miss ;)

Yup. Changing the POWER on your scope should have ZERO impact on your POI if your POA is precisely the same. The distance of the target will impact POI, but for most deer calibers, this will be negligible from 0 - 150 yards if you're zeroed at 100.

As mentioned above, keep that scope on it's lowest power (unless your stand site dictates otherwise and you are expecting to see your game at longer distances). If you need mire power, chances are you'll have more time to add it than you will to dial down.

Thanks.

The big problem I had, other than being nervous, anxious, etc., was that the scope was on 9 when 4 deer came out 40 yards in front of me in dense woods. I killed one but one ran off and was found weeks later by the farmer. I would rather not repeat the scenario next time. I didn't realize what I had done with the scope until later. Rookie mistake. From now on I will keep it on 4 and move up if shooting over a field or other long shot.

Changing the power setting of your scope should not change anything but your field of view. Low power helps you get on target at close range. High power helps you aim more precisely at longer range. If changing the setting really does change your point of impact (unrelated to the way you are seeing the target and aiming), you've got an issue with your scope.