hardcastonly

I spent a couple hours recently checking out a couple cast bullet hand loads in several of my favorite rifles
one was a browning BLR in caliber 358 win, the load Ive used for 4 decades is 44 grains of IMR 4064 under a speer 250 grain bullet and using a federal 215 primer,
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/2453
the guy on the next bench over had brought a 270 win caliber savage bolt action, after watching me shoot a couple decent groups of the bench I got into a seated position ,
seated on the concrete and using a sling I fired off a couple shots to be sure the rifle still held the same zero the way it would be used vs the off the bench zero.

now a browning BLR throwing a 250 grain bullet throws those bullets out at about 2300 fps and I sighted in at 3.5" high at 100 yards,
this places the impact at 200 yards at almost dead on, and about 10" low at 300 yards,
after watching me for awhile this guy asked me where I was hunting, and I told him about one of the local wild life management areas.
this guy asked me why I was HAMPERING myself with such a limited range rifle?
now Ive had this discussion a hundred times in the last 50 plus years, and I pointed out that deer,
even big deer are not that large they may on average only have the shoulder height in the 36"-42" range and in a great many areas brush, even weeds and grass reaches that height,
I ask him if hes ever been watching an area and suddenly found he saw deer feeding in fairly close like 40-60 yards? (we all have)
I then ask him how come he had not spotted those deer when they were out at 300-500 yards...
the answers obvious if you have experience, they were not visible until they cleared the local ground cover brush,
and even if your up in a tree stand 15-20 feet above ground level which gives you a tremendous advantage,
this happens all the time here and in most areas Ive hunted.
if you have the skills to use your equipment of choice fast and accurately out to about 200 yards ,
you could spend several life times filling your freezer with venison, and still count the number of times you had a potential shot at deer ,
in many areas at ranges exceeding 250 yards on one hand with a few fingers still left.
he thought about that for a few minutes and smiled and said, you know! youve got a point , Ive hunted for about 20 years and Ive only shot one deer out past about 150 yards.

mrbb

how far you can see a deer and , or shot is a load question
how far can I see and how far can I see a deer tend to be the same, as if I see at "X" rabge, if a deer is in view I can see it as well as most things about it?(to a point of cource, sure I can see a tractor trailer farther than I can see a deer standing afar!)

as out in many places I hunted I could see way farther than any rifle I own could be used(I have owned a several .50 bmg bolt action riffles too)
I could see a few miles off on a regular basis, yet cannot or would never even considering taking a shot at 2+ miles? and doubt anyone else would either
(or even half that and then some LOL)
SO< how far can I see a deer , and how far can I shoot
been shooting 1,000 yard matches since the late 80's
and have shot a LOT farther than that and been very good at it!
but I still wouldn;t shoot at a deer as far as I do targets!, even knowing I can hit them!
HOW far are my average kills on whitetails with a rifle, I never tried to figure that out, as with many in the 500-750+ yards,
as well as many in the 3-30 yards , and a few hundred deer kills, s not sure where the math would work out, as I never kept track of distances of all kills!
but a guess would be about a 150 yards
I also, am not a guy that see's the point of sighting in a rifle for a 300 yard zero , if I shoot most at way less, it seems silly to me!
you can learn the dope of your rifle/bullet caliber t
WHY bother, the reverse deal is the same, if farther aim the adjusted higher, or better yet, have a scope you can adjust in field and know how to use it, and have a ZERO at the average range your shots are at!
after all this is a modern era of so many options of scopes today to not have to rely on sighting in High for WHAT IF shots in the field!

RaySendero

Me, too!
Depending on the rifle and cartridge,
I sight-in at 150 or 200 yards.
I don't want to deal with mid-range trajectories.
I do, however, practice hunting shots out to 300, 400 and 450 yards.
I find there is usually more time to figure hold-over or dot counts for longer shots
than there is time to fool with hold-under for the shorter range shots.

vapahunter

I sight in at 100 yards but I think I have never shot a deer further than 50 yards at the most. I always seem to hunt in areas with a lot of trees and underbrush. I wonder out of all the deer killed each year what is the percentage of them killed at more than 100 yards despite what the TV shows seem to indicate. Good luck to those who can do it but not me.

Fyrstyk54

I sight my rifles for a mid range trajectory that will not exceed 2.5". It depends of the caliber and load i am using as to what the maximum range I would be able to shoot a deer at. That way I know I can hold dead on a deer's vitals and if my aim is true, I should be able to drop the deer. I don't have to do metal calculations for hold over or under. I have to admit, that where I do most of my hunting here in the Northeast, a 150 yard shot would be pretty long. I don't think I could see a deer at that range in our woods. I suppose if I hunted field edges there may be opportunities for longer shots, but most of my hunting takes place in the woods and brush where you are lucky to see a deer more that 40 yards away. The farthest I have erver shot a deer in over 40 years of hunting is around 65 Yards.

grouch55

to me shooting a deer at short range is so much more fun than plinking a deer at 500 to one thousand yards, up close and personal is why I hunt

mackesr

I have been shooting a 7mm Rem Mag for close to 30 years now. I have it sighted dead on at 200 yds and it shoots out to 300 without any hold over. I shoot a lot of big cut overs, especially now as they have timbered all the land I hunt on. The main thing that determines if I am going to take a 200 - 300 yd. shot is whether I have a good shooting rest or not. Off hand at those distances I will not do. If I have a really good rest and the deer is completely broadside and not moving I have shot them. Now that I am older I tend not to take anything more than 100 - 150 yds and most times less than 100.

Fyrstyk54

To me, no one should be shooting at game beyond 300 yards. Shooting at game at 500-1000+ yards is not hunting and the game deserves better. These type of shots should only be made on paper or gongs. I would like to know how many of the shooters that take these super long shots across canyons or on opposite hillsides at game actually follow up their shots if the animal does not drop immediately. I'll bet most don't, and alot of game goes off with broken legs or gut shot only to provide food for the coyotes. Such a waste.

Oldtimr

Bocajnala

I'm glad fyrstyk is here to define what hunting is for everyone. As there was definitely some confusion.

I now fear part of the time I'm not actually a hunter....


-Jake