Is this story about you?

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M.Bird
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Is this story about you?

Post by M.Bird » Wed Apr 17, 2013 7:44 pm

With all the hype about bullet speed and rifle accuracy, have we lost the art of hunting?
You can get your rest out, set it up on the concert bench, adjust your chair, check your target with your 60 power spotting scope (you see the fly landing on the upper right hand of your target). You bring your rifle to your shoulder, wearing you t-shirt with gun brand on it, get your check weld move a little, adjust your scope, reset your check, place your hand on the stock, start squeezing the trigger, then let off because someone else fired, you go through this again and hit the black, you do this 2 more times. You bring your target back, lay it on the bench and get you digital calipers out and start measuring the group spread, you come up with 1.05 inch 3 shot group and you are happy.
Don’t laugh you have done it also!
Ok you are ready to move your target from the 50yd line to the 100yd line.
You get your target to 100 and crank up that scope to max power (14? Or better) you shoot up your target, have a couple of flyers, but most are in the black of a standard 100yrd sight-in. you are happy
You go home and clean your prized rifle from a hard day at the range, the bore is cleaner than the day it left the factory, it is oiled in all the right places, you tuck it to bed in its special place in the safe and dream of hunting season 3 months away.
Why you are waiting for the start of season, you use countless ballistic programs and know every hold over on your dot system, you have calculated the turns on the knob for every distance.
Hunting season arrives, you are up in the hills opening day with your buddies, have a great camp area and know there are lots of deer. You are dressed in the latest and greatest high-tech layers, poly-pro base, thermal 1st layer, space age 2nd layer, fleece 3rd layer, good jacket and safety vest to top it out (you look like the little kid in the “Christmas Story”) you get to your favorite spot you can see opening and parks over 700yrds away.
You spot movement, you know it is a buck, buddy confirms buck, you see horn shine from the morning sun, you range this buck 456yrds true yardage downhill, you dial the scope turrets to 450, you put the cross hairs on him, can’t see him clear (scope power up scotty) now I have him 14 power I see all now, you shoot and miss, but he is standing there, shoot again, another miss you are high, hold low shoot again miss low, now he is moving you shoot again clear miss 10ft behind him.
What could have gone wrong?
If you cannot answer, YOU HAVE LOST HOW TO HUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope everyone has a good season
M.Bird
I will post my thoughts in the next couples of days. it is just MHO
Last edited by M.Bird on Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ABert
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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by ABert » Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:15 pm

I'll be first and say that the dot system that you have memorized if for only a set magnification. Once out in the field you are using a different magnification which will effect the distances of each dot. Sadly, too many folks do not know this.

Then again, this is why I only use the crosshairs and know what my bullet drop will be out past 300 yards. I can "guesstimate" the holdover needed past that range, if I feel comfortable enough with the shot, to put the round close enough on target for a good hit.

Ummm...we are supposed to guess what went wrong, right?
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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by 9er » Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:10 pm

You could always get closer.

If terrain, a setting sun, or other factors make you take the shot right then, you had better practiced enough to make it count. I doubt throwing a few rounds down range to sight-in is enough.
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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by Springville Shooter » Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:51 pm

ABert wrote:I'll be first and say that the dot system that you have memorized if for only a set magnification. Once out in the field you are using a different magnification which will effect the distances of each dot. Sadly, too many folks do not know this.

Then again, this is why I only use the crosshairs and know what my bullet drop will be out past 300 yards. I can "guesstimate" the holdover needed past that range, if I feel comfortable enough with the shot, to put the round close enough on target for a good hit.

Ummm...we are supposed to guess what went wrong, right?
This would be true unless you have a fancy FFP scope in which case the target size would subtend with the reticle as the power is changed. I guess I could be one of those guys, only I can shoot offhand, open sights, and even do pretty well at running game when I must. In fact....the narrative actually reminds me of a blacktail hunt I went on, only in my case, one perfect shot put the buck down and the range was 560. I am not quite sure where you are going with this, but I guess I will play for now. As far as a diagnostic, it sounds like a progression of failures to me, the first being that the rifle was most likely not even sighted in correctly to start with. Minute of black area simply doesn't cut it for shooting beyond 100yds and fliers are often an indicator of bad shooting technique, also suspect in the 10ft miss at the deer. -----SS
"Only accurate rifles are interesting"-----Col. Townsend Whelen

lancetkenyon
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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by lancetkenyon » Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:23 pm

Clean bore issues, adrenaline, lack of practice/practice/practice, confirming what your "ballistics program" told you, failure to ensure zero at start of hunt, getting off your butt and getting closer to the game where you are ensured of a clean ethical shot, etc.

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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by Springville Shooter » Thu Apr 25, 2013 4:02 pm

lancetkenyon wrote:Clean bore issues, adrenaline, lack of practice/practice/practice, confirming what your "ballistics program" told you, failure to ensure zero at start of hunt, getting off your butt and getting closer to the game where you are ensured of a clean ethical shot, etc.
You're right, long range shooters should never shoot from their butt. Prone with a good rest is the only way to shoot with the precision required to accurately shoot past 300 yards or so.

Please don't turn this into another "let's all bag on long range shooters" thread. We all know that no one should not be taking shots at game that they are not qualified to take. Lumping all long range guys together is a shallow stance. Also, be careful not to put down a facet of the sport that some folks might love. In my opion, legitimate long range shooters have just as much place as muzzle loaders, archery shooters, and road hunters. In other words, to each their own. I have actually found that true, practiced, long range marksman make the highest percentage of ethical kills. Maybe that observation makes the naysayers mad, but it is what it is.-----SS
"Only accurate rifles are interesting"-----Col. Townsend Whelen

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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by 9er » Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:50 pm

Springville Shooter wrote: Please don't turn this into another "let's all bag on long range shooters" thread. We all know that no one should not be taking shots at game that they are not qualified to take. Lumping all long range guys together is a shallow stance.
+100000 :thumb


Im waiting to hear to hear the original posters thoughts on this
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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by M.Bird » Fri Apr 26, 2013 6:30 pm

Ok here we go:
When was the last time you hunted in your t-shirt for Big Game in the west? You add several layers of clothing changing how you hold you weapon (if you think this is wrong: try it)
How many have had a bench to shoot off of when they spotted game in the field with your chair and spotting scope set next to it: practice shooting over your back pack after running in place of 1 minute)
Do you take your rifle out midsummer and happy with a 6 inch group off a bench at 100yrds? A hunter is a marksman, a marksman is a hunter: others just send lead and powder downrange
Not shoot from other positions and not shoot at all during the fall? Practice scout scout and pratice
Most of you got the part about the hold over with your mil-dot: is your scope a true mil dot? Unless you have spent some big money (more than the cost of the rifle) I will guess not
You plant you butt in a spot and start looking, you spot your game and don’t try to stock the animal: close is good!
How can you be competent when you never put yourself in the situation?
Hunting is not long range target practice

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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by Springville Shooter » Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:22 pm

M.Bird wrote:Ok here we go:
When was the last time you hunted in your t-shirt for Big Game in the west? You add several layers of clothing changing how you hold you weapon (if you think this is wrong: try it)
How many have had a bench to shoot off of when they spotted game in the field with your chair and spotting scope set next to it: practice shooting over your back pack after running in place of 1 minute)
Do you take your rifle out midsummer and happy with a 6 inch group off a bench at 100yrds? A hunter is a marksman, a marksman is a hunter: others just send lead and powder downrange
Not shoot from other positions and not shoot at all during the fall? Practice scout scout and pratice
Most of you got the part about the hold over with your mil-dot: is your scope a true mil dot? Unless you have spent some big money (more than the cost of the rifle) I will guess not
You plant you butt in a spot and start looking, you spot your game and don’t try to stock the animal: close is good!
How can you be competent when you never put yourself in the situation?
Hunting is not long range target practice


This is the most true statement that you make. As for the rest, I overcome all of these things by utilizing the one pivitol thing that long range provides......that is time. Years of experience have taught me that a buck, happily feeding 500 yards away is most likely not going anywhere fast. My best advice to potential long range shooters is to set up for a shot, then dry fire several times. Be honest with yourself about your sight picture, follow through, breathing, etc. All of these things will become extremely evident by where the crosshairs are when the hammer falls. Double check the wind, the distance, and the holdover. Adjust your position until everything is rock solid and comfortable, and then drop the hammer like you have done hundreds of times before and all summer long. The only difference is that this time the target is a deer instead of a plate or a rock. I will make this contoversial statement. I would much rather see a novice take a 300 yard shot from a rest than a 50 yard running shot offhand.....yet no one is ranting about the ethics of running shots or offhand shooting, both of which are affected by the same variables mentioned above such as clothing and breathing. What do you want to bet that my prone, rested 600 yard group would compare nicely to your 100 yard standing offhand group? Bottom line is that practice and familiarity are essential to ALL hunters who take to the field. I agree 100% with Mr Birds post, I would just extend it to include all hunters, not just long range guys.----------SS
"Only accurate rifles are interesting"-----Col. Townsend Whelen

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Re: Is this story about you?

Post by 9er » Sat Apr 27, 2013 7:27 am

M.Bird wrote: Hunting is not long range target practice
:thumb
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