Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I am new to hunting and shooting. This is the first year I bought a gun. I have a Savage 12fv with a diamondback 4?12?40 dead-hold bdc. If you are sighting in the rifle do you sight in on the highest or lowest magnification? If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it. I don't know anyone that knows about hunting or shooting so I'm trying to learn this all on my own
New to hunting and shooting
- Thread starter Solid18
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RELH
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You failed to give caliber and type of hunting you plan to do. Since you have a dead hold bdc, Sight in at 100 yards as your zero. I would use 9-14 power to sight in as it will give you better definition of your target bullseye. Welcome aboard, you will find great information on this forum.
RELH
RELH
TheOneRidgeRunner
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Every change in magnification will change point of impact on BDC except for your zero point. Check out Nikons Spot on website, throw in some random numbers with any scope and you'll see the variance with different magnification. Shooting is the only solid way to learn your gun and scope shooting capabilities.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
Soj51hopeful
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Being new to it all I would recommend not worrying about the bdc in the scope and limit your shots on game to under 250 yards. Sight your rifle in at 100 yards on whatever power you are comfortable with it doesn't matter. I would crank it up to 12 for site in purpose. With That caliber you can hold dead on out to your limit and kill deer without too much bullet drop. You need to get experience with bullet placement and animal retrieval from the field before making long distance shots.
LAST EDITED ON Oct-03-19 AT 11:30PM (MST)[p]Soj51hopefull is right. At this point, there is no need to complicate things. Sight in at 100 and keep your shots to 250 yards max. Just aim at the same spot all the way out to 250 yards.
At 250 yards, even if you shoot the heaviest bullet from your Creedmoor, it won't drop much and will still result in a hit to the vitals.
Just focus on shooting from odd positions (standing, lying prone, rifle on a backpack), learning the habits of your prey, stalking (reading the wind, etc) and most importantly, having fun and enjoying everything God provided.
Good luck!
At 250 yards, even if you shoot the heaviest bullet from your Creedmoor, it won't drop much and will still result in a hit to the vitals.
Just focus on shooting from odd positions (standing, lying prone, rifle on a backpack), learning the habits of your prey, stalking (reading the wind, etc) and most importantly, having fun and enjoying everything God provided.
Good luck!
Soccerdude
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Where are you located? I bet someone here is close and could offer some hunting/shooting help. It can be intimidating getting started with no guidance.
Las Cruces NM have a rifle cow elk tag been shooting my rifle but have it sighted at 100 on lowest magnification and do notice when I raise it to a higher magnification shots are different so have no idea if I was doing anything right or wrong. Using the hornady precision hunter and outfitter rounds. Haven't shot any farther since I don't know if it was right
RELH
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solid18, use higher magnification and sight in at 100 yards 2 inches high above your aim point. This will put that caliber in the kill zone of a deer from the muzzle to about 250 yards.
This way you do not have to worry about adjusting the elevation for different ranges from 0-250 yards. Just aim dead center of the kill zone and the bullet will strike in the kill zone. Might be 2-3 inches low or 2-3 inches high depending on how far the animal is when you shoot.
The kill zone on a deer is about 8 inches, so you have plenty of leeway.
RELH
This way you do not have to worry about adjusting the elevation for different ranges from 0-250 yards. Just aim dead center of the kill zone and the bullet will strike in the kill zone. Might be 2-3 inches low or 2-3 inches high depending on how far the animal is when you shoot.
The kill zone on a deer is about 8 inches, so you have plenty of leeway.
RELH
callsalot
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I agree with the others. To many folks worrying about long range shooting these days and not enough about just being a good hunter. I know you weren't talking about long range shooting but most ammo in that caliber range if sighted in 1.5 to 2 inches high a 100 is dead on at 200 and 5 to 8 inches low at 300 meaning be a good hunter and get in reasonable range and knowing where to hold is pretty simple.
heywouldya
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Welcome to the sport Solid! Most of the above advice is spot on. Keep it simple. Sight in at 2" high at 100 yards on high magnification and go have fun.
hwy
hwy
Joe2Kool
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Many have said it, just agreeing and reiterating. 2 inches high at 100 yards and hold dead on out to 250 yard. Have fun!
If you're gonna shoot past 250 yards, get some practice in at a range. Use a good rest to see how the gun performs, then shoot from different positions - seated, prone, use good rests - to see how you perform.
Most importantly, post pics of your success! And even if you eat tag soup, post some comments!
If you're gonna shoot past 250 yards, get some practice in at a range. Use a good rest to see how the gun performs, then shoot from different positions - seated, prone, use good rests - to see how you perform.
Most importantly, post pics of your success! And even if you eat tag soup, post some comments!
littlebighorn
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Follow the good advice Solid, and don't mind some "fool"s that pop off on this site.
One additional suggestion I would give for a new hunter would be to go out into the desert near by and pick out rocks to shoot at from different distances. If you don't have a range finder, this will help you get better at judging distances and shooting as well. You can also build your confidence at hitting an object from different shooting positions. When hunting, always try to find as solid of a rest as possible. Shooting off hand, even at close range, is pretty difficult to do accurately.
Best of luck Solid. If you were closer, I'd be glad to come help you out. Keep looking for an experienced hunter in your area to help. Maybe ask around at a shooting range. I'm sure there are guys down there who could help you learn the ropes.
One additional suggestion I would give for a new hunter would be to go out into the desert near by and pick out rocks to shoot at from different distances. If you don't have a range finder, this will help you get better at judging distances and shooting as well. You can also build your confidence at hitting an object from different shooting positions. When hunting, always try to find as solid of a rest as possible. Shooting off hand, even at close range, is pretty difficult to do accurately.
Best of luck Solid. If you were closer, I'd be glad to come help you out. Keep looking for an experienced hunter in your area to help. Maybe ask around at a shooting range. I'm sure there are guys down there who could help you learn the ropes.
