your sight in range for big game?

im doing my final sighting in for my .62 for deer and elk.. Id like to know what distance your sighting in at?... please also list aprox velocity and caliber to make sence of it all.. remember this is for big game like deer and elk.. thanks dave..

My sight in range is at 13 yards.....then I see how high it shoots @ 100 yards.....then somewhere dead on close to 150 yards.

Check out what Bob Spencer has to say on the topic here:
[url] http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/trajectories.html[/url]

While not specific to the .62, it might give you some ideas. And look here:
[url] http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/196076/post/292865/hl//#292865[/url]

for a ballistic calculator that can help you out once you know what your muzzle velocity is.

Howdy.
I make a lot of guns for elk hunters, and I hunt them every year too. I sight in at 75 yards.I hunt mostly in thick timber. If you hunt in more open country, sight in for about 125

ffffg said:

im doing my final sighting in for my .62 for deer and elk..

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I have no data for the .62 caliber, however, it depends on your hunting terrain, is it open prairie or mountain wood lines?

What is your hunting area like?

If you know it's densely overgrown with sage brush and trees, then you need a shorter POI, like 50 yards, open shooting lanes demand a longer POI...

Having said that, elk are large animals, so the kill zone will be larger on them, a gun sighted in at 50 yards will still hit the kill zone at 75 yards on a large animal...

I personally would sight in at 75 yards, this way I would be in the kill zone from 0 to 125 yards no matter where the animal is along the bullet or roundball's trajectory...

ffffg said:

im doing my final sighting in for my .62 for deer and elk.. Id like to know what distance your sighting in at?... please also list aprox velocity and caliber to make sence of it all.. remember this is for big game like deer and elk.. thanks dave..

Click to expand...

Regardless of caliber, where I deer hunt in thick Eastern woods the average shot is 35-50yds...so I use a 50yd zero, and know from checking they'll be about an inch low at 75 and about 3" low at 100 if I should ever get such a shot.

I sight most of my sighted m/l longarms for 2" high at 50 yards (6:00 hold on the targets I use). With most I've used that puts me in the deer's vitals with the same lower middle of chest for near shots amd center chest hold out as far as a round ball should be shot at deer.

I'm actually about 1" high at 50 now with my flintlock rifle. May leave it alone at this point as I don't feature myself going out past 75 yards anyway.

roundball said:

Regardless of caliber, where I deer hunt in thick Eastern woods the average shot is 35-50yds...so I use a 50yd zero, and know from checking they'll be about an inch low at 75 and about 3" low at 100 if I should ever get such a shot.

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Sounds about the same as how I do it. 50 yrds seems to be my "bench mark" for sighting in then I'll check it at 25 yrds and 100 yrds to see where it's hitting. I hunt in the woods too, where shots are pretty close by rifle standards so if I can hit at 50 yrds it'll cover 80% of the shots that I see. :thumbsup:

I shoot patched roundball in all my guns at 1600 fps according to the charts in the back ofthe Lyman Black Powder Manual.

My .45 flinter is sighted in dead on at 25 yards. I only use this gun on deer at short range and usually only as a shot of opportunity while I am out scouting.

My .50 flinter is sighted in at 50 yards mostly because of my personal limitations shooting flintlocks. I am good on deer size game out 60-65 yards.

My .54 New Englander caplock is sighted in 2 inches high at 50 yards and is accurate out to my maximum personl distance where I would shoot a deer with open sights (about 110-120 yards).

Richard

With a .495" ball at @1800fps, I sight in 3" high at 50 yards which is still about 2" high at 100 and 2" low at 125. That would be about 8" low at 150 and I'd not knowingly try a shot over 100 but it is good to have some margin for error in range estimation.
Don't know how fast you are driving that .62 but few people push them over 1400 fps due to recoil and 1200 is more comfortable. At those speeds you'll have a lot more drop to deal with and probably a 75 yard zero would be more realistic for that punkin roller. :grin:

I put the adjustable Hawken sight on my .53 Santa Fe this summer. It is dead on at 100 and I can adjust it up to 150. I use prb over 120 gr of FFg. She kills on both ends, but that's the way I like it.

average shot in this country is 300 yards for elk , that of course is with scoped magnum.. we see them at 600 frequently and at 30 once in my life and didnt have a cow tag...but to ansere your question reasonalbly id like to be able to hit as far as i can reliable shoot off hand, and that iwould guess is about 75 yards.. so i dontknow weather to sight in for that range or less.. i think 75-85 would be best for me becouse there is usually somthing to lean on. thanks, dave

ffffg said:

id like to be able to hit as far as i can reliable shoot off hand, and that iwould guess is about 75 yards.. so i dontknow weather to sight in for that range or less.. i think 75-85 would be best for me becouse there is usually somthing to lean on. thanks, dave

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You could go with either a 75 or 100 yard sight-in, both will hold in the kill area of an elk at the forstated yardage...

I (myself) would apt for the 75 yard sight-in, this would keep me from trying shots beyond my eye's capabilities...

I also believe that a 75-100 yard sight in is probably best expecially for that caliber since the ball will drop like a rock beyond 100. Too far on the sight in and you will have an arc that could screw up your close shots.

I was very excited this past year because for the first time in my lifetime rifles were allowed for big game where I hunt. I used a stout .30 (actually, a 7.62 X 54R with 180 gr spire points) sighted for 150 yards, and took two bucks with it: 10 and 35 yards. :haha:

You sure you have to be 300 yards from an elk? I know a couple fellers who put wood arrows in some with recurve bows and the racks are on their garages. Never had the pleasure of elk hunting myself, maybe someday.

Where You at in MT. I'm in the Bitterroot :hatsoff:

My 73cal Mountain Carbine is sighted dead on at 75 yds. I hope to "meat" an elk with the 560 grain ball.

I was part owner/operator of an outfitter/guide service for a few years. We didn't get rich, but we sure had a lot of fun. I guided some muzzleloader hunts for mule deer. I liked my hunters and I have great respect for the animals we hunted.
Based on experience, I developed a couple of rules. Our hunters always went home happy with the feeling they'd been on a quality hunt. I followed these rules myself.
# 1. NEVER shoot at a buck that was further away than 80 yards, hence we sighted the rifles in at 80 yds. I used to shoot on paper up to 200 yds. From a bench, I could achieve hunting accuracy at this range, but you can't carry a bench with you and measure the exact yardage when you're hunting. Under hunting conditions there are too many variables that can occur. Because of the trajectory of a smoke pole, knowing yardage is critical. You can't always estimate the exact yardage accross a draw or through the trees. A dead rest isn't always available. Especially at higher altitudes, you may not be breathing steadily or easily after you've humped a couple hundred yards just to get in position. The wind is a factor that can not be ignored, denied or friendly at yardage further than this. The energy delivered decreases exponentially at greater ranges also. I used to discuss these factors with hunters while sitting around the campfire at night when we were having our "social hour" (or two, or three)
One time I had engineered a hunt that worked beautifully and a hunter unfotunately "gut shot" a big buck that was trotting about 50 yds away. I was accross a canyon from the incident when it occurred, sitting on a rock congratulating myself on a job well done. That is when I saw the buck running off with the typical "gut shot" gait. as I grabbed ol' Bulwinkle's reins to begin pursuit, I thought "Oh h---, what kind of a mess is this going to be?" I hadn't even got the horse into a run yet, when I heard another shot. "What the...." I looked accross and saw the telltale cloud of smoke, and then saw the buck rolling head over whatever down the rocky side of the canyon. He'd hit the animal in the neckbone running at about 250 yds. with my trusty old .58. A memorable shot. When we were eviscerating the animal to load it on the horse, he told me, "I remember you telling me how much the bullet dropped at longer ranges last night. I was aready reloaded, and I thought What can it hurt? I swung up about three feet above his antlers and out in front of him and touched it off." We laughed and bragged about that several times afterward. If you can't get within 80 yds. of your game, you might not be a hunter anyway.
# 2. I would never allow anything under .50 for big game. I personally hunt with a .54. I have too much respect for the quarry. I've seen too much game run off when hit with a lesser caliber. We can't always hit 'em in the eye under hunting conditions. If the hunters didn't have anything that big, I'd encourage them to use my .58. Nobody ever went home unhappy that they'd used my trusty old Zouave replica. You can have your opinions, I've got mine. :thumbsup:

The eastern mountains and woods is lots different than Montana. And I use a .50 cal rifle, sighted dead on at 50 yards. At 100 ( I've never had a shot I could take at over 50) it is in the 'boiler room' if I get a good shot at front chest area.
This is with 70 gr. and double PRB's.

Thick swamps & woods of the wiregrass 50 yards for zero.My shots have been closer.