George said:
shotgunner87 said:
Okay so maybe a dumb question then. If you guys are telling me 50 yards with a smoothie and the rifled guys say the same thing then why get a rifle for big game hunting?
That's a question I've never seen answered. I believe the majority of rifle shooters, though, will sight their deer guns for 50 yards and give a wide variety of reasons for doing so. That's been true for at least the last 40 years, and I predict it won't change anytime soon.
Spence
Personally, I think 60 yards is a good practical limit for Offhand shooting UNLESS one practices at longer ranges. Many people cannot or will not practice shooting offhand at 100 yards or longer distances, so that is probably a good thing. Many folks won't use cross sticks or at least one stick to support their guns, either, when a natural rest is not available.
I have also found a LOT of hunters don’t know what the “Point Blank Range” is of their guns. Here is a link for others who may be interested in it and it WORKS!! It takes a lot of the guesswork out of aiming for elevation, though one still has to hold off for windage.
http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/trajectories.html
OH, don’t forget that when aiming EITHER uphill or downhill, one has to aim BELOW the normal target area or you will shoot too high. Best to get some practice in on this as well to see how much you have hold below when doing such shooting. One hunter in our club was up in a Tree Stand and did not realize this. The Buck he shot at was only 30 yards from his tree, but he missed with three shots. I had asked who was shooting the “Full Auto Shotgun” and did that person actually hit anything? When he answered he did not hit the deer and said he was in a tree stand, I replied, “I bet you shot over him, eh?” He thought about it for a moment and replied, “Well, I did see the shot hit the ground behind him on the third shot.” So I gave him and others a short class to him and others on trajectory.
Where I hunted in Virginia, most of the time 60 yards was plenty for shooting around there. Further west in or around the mountains, they get longer shots. Occasionally one might get a 100 to MAYBE a 200 yard shot, but most hunters I know or heard about around there have never practiced at 100 yards, let alone further. Many of those guys also could not estimate range very well. So even if they had a rifle and could take a 100 to 125 yard shot, it would not have done them much good.
Thankfully, I don’t HAVE to shoot a deer to survive, so I have passed on some shots I was not SURE I could cleanly kill the deer even when I have practiced 100 and 200 yard Offhand shooting and I know where my guns will hit at different ranges and angles.
Gus