Good enough for hunting..?

BrowningRage

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I'm sure there's more than a few excellent marksmen here. I don't claim to be, hence my thread title.

Been shooting my 7mm a bit in prep for deer this fall. At 300yds, I'm basically shooting 5"-6" groups. Ive had a couple "fliers" outside of that, but pretty darn consistent. I decided to look it up, and it looks like I'm shooting 2 MOA. So, I feel pretty good about that. But I'm wondering, is 2 MOA considered poor shooting amongst most/some/any of you out there.? Is 2 MOA just "good enough for hunting"? If it is?

Also, my 12yr old daughter is shooting 1.5" groups with her 6.5CM... 3x9 scope, at 100yds. I'm so proud of her.! I think she'll kill a buck in the Book Cliffs with me mentoring her.
 
6" at 300yds is plenty good enough for hunting. Hold on the center of the chest and you will kill anything you shoot at.

One thing you may do is give your rifle barrel a good deep cleaning. Use a copper removing solvent and then try shooting again.
 
2 MOA is poor to me and I’m a long ways from being called a marksman, but I take loading and shooting very serious. I obsess over tight groups so that may be my issue. If I’m shooting .6 or .5 at 100, I’m not happy until it’s .25. I have friends that shoot Minute of Deer and are fine with that and I don’t bust their balls over it. Even though tight groups are my thing, I haven’t killed anything or even attempted past 400 yards and most kills of mine have been from 40 -125 yards with my rifle.

Your daughter is shooting just fine. At 12 years old, she is on her way to be really good. Just make sure she shoots often enough. That could be the hard part. She may not like it as she gets older.
 
I'm sure there's more than a few excellent marksmen here. I don't claim to be, hence my thread title.

Been shooting my 7mm a bit in prep for deer this fall. At 300yds, I'm basically shooting 5"-6" groups. Ive had a couple "fliers" outside of that, but pretty darn consistent. I decided to look it up, and it looks like I'm shooting 2 MOA. So, I feel pretty good about that. But I'm wondering, is 2 MOA considered poor shooting amongst most/some/any of you out there.? Is 2 MOA just "good enough for hunting"? If it is?

Also, my 12yr old daughter is shooting 1.5" groups with her 6.5CM... 3x9 scope, at 100yds. I'm so proud of her.! I think she'll kill a buck in the Book Cliffs with me mentoring her.
In the field, Half long range shooters are full of shiit....the other half lie.

You and your daughter are as realistic as it gets.....and above average
 
In the field, Half long range shooters are full of shiit....the other half lie.

You and your daughter are as realistic as it gets.....and above average
I don’t know. 100 yards here, brand new barrel with no load development. Groups have only gotten better. But I’m one of those long range liars

7C27F395-949F-4A34-AD34-5931395421CD.jpeg
 
If you can keep your shots into a 5-6 inch circle at 300 yards, you should not have a problem killing a deer at that range. The kill zone on the average muley, heart & lungs is around 8 inches.
use support, not off hand, to make the shot and you should collect your deer.
RELH
 
Hey, we all start somewhere!

How are you shooting the 300 yard target?
Sitting, prone or off a bench?

If:
Bench, sorry, not that great of a group.
Prone, you should be doing better than that.
Sitting, not bad at all.

I personally use a bench at various distances to determine what a rifle will do but then I do copious amounts of "drop to prone" (bipod and improvised rear rest) and shoot to replicate field shooting.

For me, if the distance is much over 200 yards, I need to be prone but I've killed a ton using a tree or sitting for 200 and under shots. Never killed a head of big game from a bench!

Yes, many internet heroes are full of themselves and certainly full of chit but a few folks can bring the goods.

At least you're shooting and most guys won't got a couple more months.... if at all.

Zeke
 
Honestly if I could only shoot 6” groups at 300 yards I would never take more than a 200 yard shot at an animal but that’s just me.
Because of Utah's system, I haven't hunted much rifle deer since 2004. Went twice, killed two bucks, under 300 yards.

Considering the size of the heart, lungs, and liver... why do you think missing left or right by 3" at 300 yards is excessive for hunting.?
 
Also, it looks like my previous trip to the range was all me being a little rusty...

Went this weekend, same loads, shooting on a bench with sandbags... furthest two shots apart at 300 yards... 3 1/4". Closest two were 7/8" apart. Felt really good afterwards. Also, full disclosure, I stopped at 5 shots at 300 yards. And I did that after putting together 2 tight groups at 100 yards. So, practice really does make perfect.

At basically $3 per shot, I really hate Biden. ?
 
I wouldn't worry about shooting more than 5 for a "group". I usually do 4, letting the barrel cool between shots. If you are shooting them one right after another, remember that the barrel is heating up which can impact placement all on its own.
 
Because of Utah's system, I haven't hunted much rifle deer since 2004. Went twice, killed two bucks, under 300 yards.

Considering the size of the heart, lungs, and liver... why do you think missing left or right by 3" at 300 yards is excessive for hunting.?
Nope, you're fine at 300 but it sounds like you've improved ....which is what we all should strive for regardless of where we are now.
Good on ya man!!!
 
I don’t know. 100 yards here, brand new barrel with no load development. Groups have only gotten better. But I’m one of those long range liars

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Shooting from a bench doesn't count for anything. Show me some groups from an offhand standing position or kneeling. 86.9% of people with a hunting tag don't even practice for real hunting scenarios.
 
Shooting prone over backpack with bipod. Once load is worked up I usually only practice under field conditions. This was a from a few years ago. And my steels are 12”x12”.
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In the past, I've personally taken a rifle hunting that generally tracked a bit over one MOA and still felt confident but that is the limit for me. I want to be sure when I pull the trigger that my rifle hits pretty darn close to where I'm aiming.
I've gotten way more finicky now days, but I have better shooting rifles now. (thanks to Zeke)
 
Shooting from a bench doesn't count for anything. Show me some groups from an offhand standing position or kneeling. 86.9% of people with a hunting tag don't even practice for real hunting scenarios.
So I take it you sight your rifles in offhand standing or maybe it is kneeling.
 
I suck at the range but I am good in hunting situations. I have never had to shoot at a deer more than 200 yards. Killed one at 200 in his bed the first year with new rifle that I had practiced quite a bit that summer.
I get closer if I am farther than I want to be.. But keep practicing til you are confident! Know your range/ limitations! Do u get buck fever? Don't shoot if crosshairs are wobbling all over.
 
So I take it you sight your rifles in offhand standing or maybe it is kneeling.
No I don't sight them in hunting. My point being that it doesn't matter if your rifle shoots MOA from a bench when you can only shoot 6-8 moa in hunting conditions which is where it really matters unless you are shooting benchrest competition.

The jerk on the trigger is where it matters most.
 
No I don't sight them in hunting. My point being that it doesn't matter if your rifle shoots MOA from a bench when you can only shoot 6-8 moa in hunting conditions which is where it really matters unless you are shooting benchrest competition.

The jerk on the trigger is where it matters most.
This make no sense whatsoever. If your issue is small to begin with then your mistakes will be small. However, if you already have a BIG mistake and in this case shooting offhand will only make it that much bigger.

Example: if you're shooting 1" groups on a bench then a slight pull will be off by 3 inches making your group now 4".

Example: if you're shooting 9" groups on a bench then a slight pull will be off by 3 inches making your group now 12".

So would you rather be off by 4" or 12" with an offhand shot?
 
This make no sense whatsoever. If your issue is small to begin with then your mistakes will be small. However, if you already have a BIG mistake and in this case shooting offhand will only make it that much bigger.

Example: if you're shooting 1" groups on a bench then a slight pull will be off by 3 inches making your group now 4".

Example: if you're shooting 9" groups on a bench then a slight pull will be off by 3 inches making your group now 12".

So would you rather be off by 4" or 12" with an offhand shot?
WTF are you talking about?
 
LOL

C'mon man. I know you're smart enough to understand what I wrote. I'll make it easy for you.

If your rifle is **** already...it won't matter if you shoot off a bench, free hand, off hand, no hands, off ****...it's still a shitty rifle.
 
LOL

C'mon man. I know you're smart enough to understand what I wrote. I'll make it easy for you.

If your rifle is **** already...it won't matter if you shoot off a bench, free hand, off hand, no hands, off ****...it's still a shitty rifle.
No shiit......but deadi was talking about shitty shooters not shitty shooting rifles....
 
I was going to leave this one alone mainly because I'm not a very good target shooter but I'm pretty darn good shooting at game under pressure. There are a lot of guys out there that can target shoot sub moa but then turn around and unload their rifle on a big buck or bull a few hundred yards away. If you can shoot the same groupings on an animal as you did on the target, you'll be just fine but many people out there shoot much worse under pressure. Like I said, I typically shoot 2 or 3 moa at targets but I always kill what I shoot at, That's if I have some sort of rest for my rifle. I have missed a few while shooting standing off hand.
 
Am I seriously reading “hunters” discrediting confirming a rifle will actually hit where it’s pointed from a bench before you go blasting away off hand? Wow…
 
Am I seriously reading “hunters” discrediting confirming a rifle will actually hit where it’s pointed from a bench before you go blasting away off hand? Wow…
no....you are not......show me where any post says that....
 
No shiit......but deadi was talking about shitty shooters not shitty shooting rifles....
Dead was talking about, and said twice, shooting from a bench doesn’t matter. That’s the dumbest statement in this thread. Not any of rookies
 
Dead was talking about, and said twice, shooting from a bench doesn’t matter. That’s the dumbest statement in this thread. Not any of rookies
no he didn't......he said practicing real hunting position shooting after bench sight in is VERY important and gets ignored too often....
 
wait a minute.....you can't ignore the context....

"Shooting from a bench doesn't count for anything. Show me some groups from an offhand standing position or kneeling. 86.9% of people with a hunting tag don't even practice for real hunting scenarios."
 
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I'm not sure if my rifle shoots 300 yards, so I guess I too am a shitty hunter?

Or maybe needing to shoot that far means you are?

I'm confused
 

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