Sighting in, how and when

[Coyotes-R-Us]

I hate to see a guy come out to where I shoot with a refrigerator box and take a new gun out of the box to sight in on the day before hunting season.
I see it all the time...
They manage to hit the box three time at 80 yards and call it good.
I try to be ready a month before and practice / trigger time the week before.
We have a "Sled" but use it only for working loads. I sight in the way I plan to hunt/shoot.
On some guns/loads it can make a big difference.
I generally shoot sitting with sticks or tall bi-pods.
So when I sight in for the season I use them and set it for dead on at 200 yards.
The 4570 I sight in at 2 inches high at 100 yards.
I re zero if I change load or bullet for that rifle .
This years target.
220 yards little to no wind, 80 gr TTS Barnes 6mm rem.

 

[Nick87]

I've seen the "good enough sight in" too many times. I always cringe at that. Too much time and money spent to leave that part out. Not to mention owing the animal a clean ethical kill.

 

[fishing4sanity]

I enjoy shooting and never stop, it's about the only hobby/stress relief that fits my schedule and where I live. I try and get some trigger therapy in every week.

 

[7mm08mo]

I am like fishing4sanity, I usually shoot about at least 10 rounds a week. Distance varies from 2-600 all from bipod or laid out across my pack. I rotate rifles every week as well between .270 7mm08, and 28 nosler. It’s kinda like riding a bike, a little practice in any weather goes a long way. You wouldn’t believe what the wind will do.

 

[Coyotes-R-Us]

I do too.
Most every weekend I'm shooting Prairie dogs , gophers, coyotes, birds, ( shot gun ) or fishing.
My six does double duty, Varmints and big game. Each require different bullets/loads. Each have a different POI.
SO I have to re zero off and on during the year. Not to mention always trying to find a better bullet for the 22/250 to save fur. OR a new formula for killing geese with the 870...

 

[samking7185]

I primarily hunt with a bow, I wish I could say this was different in the archery world. Instead you see a lot of "September's rolling in, better dust the ole bow off"

 

[Michhunter 270]

Back when i first starting hunting ( 1956 ) the old boys said if you can put 3 shots in a pie plate at 50yds you are good to go, well things have changed i want 1.5 at 100yds but my hunting has changed too, from the big woods to the big fields !!

 

[D4570]

My 12 year old Granddaughter shooting her new Howa Grendel before hunting season.
100 yards sitting on the ground off shooting sticks.

The tape is one inch wide.

 

[hank4elk]

Early mornings on an empty range,dead calm. Breath , exhale, squeeze.
It only takes a few times each year to bring back hours,days & hundreds,thousands of rounds I have spent in my perfection of mindset. The physical ability & skill return instantly. Second nature.
Same thing with a woodworking tool for me.

Now don't ask me to make a spread sheet, update my computer,onx, or many other thousands of tasks I have been asked or needed to do in my life. It will be hinkey.

 

[gouch]

First day of deer hunting this year my buddy pulled out his new 7mm-08. I asked him how well it was sighted in because since he had gotten it he had never said anything to me about shooting it. He said, " that all depends on how well the guy in the shop bore sighted it" He was serious. All I could do is shake my head.

 

[3855WIN]

Several years back, I found some landowner elk tags and trespass rights for a New Mexico ranch. They wanted to sell three to us. My buddy brought along a friend that I didn’t know. On the long drive out, I asked Bill what rifle he was shooting. He said that he had his friends 300 WBY, but it had never been sighted in. He normally shot a .30-06, but the WBY owner had insisted that it wasn’t enough gun.
As we’re nearing Clayton, NM, Bill advises that he has no ammo for the rifle. Fortunately, we stumbled across a shop that had all kinds of ammo. Bill was shocked to learn of the cost of a box of WBY ammo.
It’s the day before our hunt starts, and Bill is shooting at a refrigerator box. After 15 shots, he’s six inches low at 100. He decides to stop there so he’ll have a few rounds for the hunt.
Wouldn’t you know, Bill was the first to get a shot opportunity that trip. A 5 point appeared at 100 yards. Bill held high due to his zero and dropped the bull right there. We even got a pickup in there and backed into a low spot. We were able to load the bull up whole.

 

[rjthehunter]

I have some family members that are awful shots. I came to the cabin one weekend to them sighting their rifles in. Shots were going everywhere, 2ft high, next one 3 feet left, just no where near on target. I asked to shoot it a couple times. Shot once, hit paper, shot again, missed high. I know I'm a good shot, felt the scope... Sure enough the screws were finger tight. So after mounting their scope correctly, I finished sighting their rifles in for them. Then they tried to shoot and still had trouble keeping the group within 8 inches at 100 yards. Some people are just awful shots. They can't control their breathing, they don't know how to hold still, scared of the recoil, etc etc etc...

 

[dgc1963]

I find it amazing how so many folks I know do NOT take sighting in a gun very serious and have no idea what ballistics are on the rounds they shoot or even what difference bullet type makes on bigger game
I am not a big gun hunter anymore but I can tell you how high in at and drop from 100 to 300 plus yrds when I have one of my rifles over my shoulder and that all would have been verified at the range many times before any hunt

 

[thusby]

I’ve seen guys scopes fall of their guns entirely. “Did you shoot recently?”, “yeah I had it behind the barn this summer.”
3 shots at a 50 yard target and getting it on the paper plate is good enough.
Drives me nuts. You gotta shoot 2-300 yards the week before season and put it in a hard case until you pull it out for the hunt.

 

[MarvB]

Never understood $1500 (or more) for a rifle/scope/mounts etc…another $1000 (NR) for license/tags etc… then gas/food/lodging etc. to get to wherever one might be going (not even talking related gear like binos, spotters, packs, etc) and then people get all tight assed on “wasting” ammo by shooting their rifles. I’ve seen guys at the range act like everyone they send down the tube is something they’ll never get anything out of?
WTH Learn how to shoot!!

 

[David658]

I don't shoot as regularly as I would like, since weekends at the range seem to have events scheduled that conflict with mine. But if I have a hunt in the late fall, I try to spend the entire summer shooting, hopefully twice a month. Not always the same rifle, the discipline is the same whether offhand with a muzzle loader or from the bench with a 30-06. But the hunting rifle will be sighted in, and used frequently, for several months before the trip.

 

[hank4elk]

Some folks just have ability or knack for shooting. Some never will and it's obvious.
I cringe when I hear ,"just checked it and I hit the paper plate".
Or the expensive best everything guy is bragging about his 200 yard zero group and it's 4 1/2" up & over from the crosshair on the target paper....
Now if there was a slight breeze and uphill or something....nah.
It has still never been zeroed right, I would guess.

If I needed to switch from one brand to another of the same load and powder,I would need to go re-sight my rifle in and use some ammo doing so. IMHO

 

[David658]

I guess I'm gettin' old, here's a story for you...

I managed to draw an agricultural damage hunt in Oregon, and back in 1991 we had to take a special class to go over the ethics of the hunt, how to deal with property lines, and to pass a shooting test.

My only centerfire rifle was a Winchester Model 70, with iron sights, in 30-06. Sure wish I had that gun, but that's a different story... All my other guns (well, my other gun) was a traditional muzzleloader, and I shot it frequently in both trailwalks and paper shoots. All off hand. So, this elk hunting rookie stood up to the line and shot at the target off hand. The requirement was to put five shots in a paper plate at 100 yards, off hand, kneeling, or sitting. Even though it felt like that light rifle wandered all over the place, I was minute of plate.

The gents in the class that had poo-pooed the class itself, the need for the discussion, and the ease of the shooting requirement to an old man had issues with hitting that target. I am older today than many of those that couldn't pass - even with scoped rifles! One gent, known to many in the class as a marksman, was shooting a Savage 99 with a scope, kneeling, and was missing the plate.

Once I was done shooting, I bumped in to a friend from my muzzleloading club, and we moseyed down to the clangers at the end of the line. The 200 yard clanger that was 10" in diameter was the subject of a bet.....off hand, I didn't miss it in ten shots, off hand. All the while the great hunters at the other end of the line were struggling to hit a paper plate.

All that said, one has to shoot. Rifle shooting is not as perishable a skill as pistol shooting (watch me to confirm that , at least in that case), but one still has to be a regular shooter to be a reliable shooter. Oh, what I'd give to shoot like I could in my 30s when I had eyesight, but I can still do pretty well simply because I get to the range more than once in a while.

We hunters owe our prey the mercy of a quick kill, hopefully a one-shot kill. It is total and complete bull shite for us to not do our best to be the best shot we can in field conditions, and one day before the season won't do it. Nor will leaning on shooting ability from years before - practice/training is an absolute requirement for the ethical hunter.

Done tellin' stories and preachin' on this thread. Blessings, friends!