What range do you zero for deer?

[Little Wattsy]

I have founfd that dead on at 25 is 2.5" - ish high at 50 and back to dead on at 100 +/- 1".
Shoot a .50 and a 54...
.50 is 90 grs of Pyro RS and a 385 Hornady HPHB
.54 is 80 grs of Pyro RS and a PRB

 

[Trench]

I like to zero in at 75 or 80 yds. Trajectory stays less than 2 inches at midrange. The only down side is I would have to aim almost 4 inches high at 100yds....but I'm unlikely to take a shot that far anyway.

 

[longcruise]

I sight in dead on at 25 yards. With most hunting loads that will put you an inch or two high at 50, close to dead-on again at around 75, and a couple inches low at 100.

I don't use the 25 as a sight in range, but that's pretty much how my 100 yard sight in works. Makes a big game load a perfect head shooter for grouse and rabbits at close range. Just aim dead on. :thumbsup:

 

[jethro224]

I sight in dead on at 25 yards. With most hunting loads that will put you an inch or two high at 50, close to dead-on again at around 75, and a couple inches low at 100.

I don't use the 25 as a sight in range, but that's pretty much how my 100 yard sight in works. Makes a big game load a perfect head shooter for grouse and rabbits at close range. Just aim dead on. :thumbsup:

And the sights never have to leave the vitals on deer-size game out to 100 or so. Just aim at the top part of the lungs at the longer ranges. Works for me.

 

[Headhunter]

A man has to be able to hit center at 50 to 100 yards using field shooting positions without a problem.

What I do is make a full size cardboard cut out of the animal I am hunting (Deer or Bear) and paint it to be life like. Then, place it at various ranges and shoot it from field shooting positions. You will quickly learn how far is too far. And what you have to do to put one right where it is supposed to be.

Shooting at a bullseye is WAY different than shooting at a deer or bear.

HH

 

[Stumpkiller]

Thanks,

What is your load?

I use 80 gr FFg in my .50 percussion and 84 gr FFFg in my .54 flinter.

 

[Stumpkiller]

What I do is make a full size cardboard cut out of the animal I am hunting (Deer or Bear) and paint it to be life like. Then, place it at various ranges and shoot it from field shooting positions. You will quickly learn how far is too far. And what you have to do to put one right where it is supposed to be.

Shooting at a bullseye is WAY different than shooting at a deer or bear.

HH

I do the same thing. My archery "3-D" target is a featureless deer shaped stuff bag that forces me to pick a spot. I hang it in a mostly uncleared brushlot so I also have to pick shooting windows. Deer usually don't obligingly stand in mowed grassy lanes like the McKenzie targets with the lung and heart outlines the "big boys" use.

 

[longcruise]

A man has to be able to hit center at 50 to 100 yards using field shooting positions without a problem

I agree. Not necessarily with the 50 to 100 stipulation but a hunter has to know their limitations as far as range goes and your method of determining it is great.

Bowhunters do a thing called roving or stump shooting that is great practice for field conditions. I occasionally do the same with an ml. It sharpens range estimation abilities and quickly shows a shooters max shooting range under field conditions.

For me, it makes it pretty clear that I'm a 50 yard game shot under normal conditions and can stretch to 75 or even 100 under perfect conditions such as being able to employ a rest or cross sticks, open shooting lane, time to do it right, and not huffing and puffing from the last 100 feet of vertical! :haha:

 

[BrownBear]

For me, it makes it pretty clear that I'm a 50 yard game shot under normal conditions and can stretch to 75 or even 100 under perfect conditions such as being able to employ a rest or cross sticks, open shooting lane, time to do it right, and not huffing and puffing from the last 100 feet of vertical! :haha:

For me that's the bottom line. It's not a big sweat for me to group 6" offhand at 75 yards on the range. But shoot at a deer offhand at 75 yards? Not on your life! Heck, last year I missed one using a solid rest at just shy of 100.

Range shooting is good for strutting your stuff in front of your friends, but it has very little to do with determining your effective range in the field. As you point out, lots more factors are at work.

Having nothing to do with muzzleloaders except spirit, I used to bow hunt with a national champion professional archer. He wanted me along so he was sure to come home with venison. He could pin my ears back on the range, but never ever managed to hit a deer in the field. He couldn't hit deer at any range, but he could keep all his shots in a styrofoam cup at 50 yards.

 

[Little Wattsy]

For me, it makes it pretty clear that I'm a 50 yard game shot under normal conditions and can stretch to 75 or even 100 under perfect conditions such as being able to employ a rest or cross sticks, open shooting lane, time to do it right, and not huffing and puffing from the last 100 feet of vertical! :haha:

For me that's the bottom line. It's not a big sweat for me to group 6" offhand at 75 yards on the range. But shoot at a deer offhand at 75 yards? Not on your life! Heck, last year I missed one using a solid rest at just shy of 100.

Range shooting is good for strutting your stuff in front of your friends, but it has very little to do with determining your effective range in the field. As you point out, lots more factors are at work.

Having nothing to do with muzzleloaders except spirit, I used to bow hunt with a national champion professional archer. He wanted me along so he was sure to come home with venison. He could pin my ears back on the range, but never ever managed to hit a deer in the field. He couldn't hit deer at any range, but he could keep all his shots in a styrofoam cup at 50 yards.

I know that guy! :haha: Used to archery elk hunt with a guy like that (1st guy I ever saw with bow sights) NEVER hit a critter that I knew of.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Folks get to thinking that deer are immortal and ultra-fast or have ESP or something and get buck fever. I've known target shooters in both archery and centerfire that were hopeless in the woods.

Deer are astounding for what they can see, hear and sense . . . but you still have to just take the shot and be confident it will connect. THAT is what seperates a live target shot from a paper target shot. Paper don't move, breathe, leave or duck. Deer don't wait while you grunt and lift a heavy draw bow skyward to prepare, align a complex distance compensating rangefinding sight or squirm into a good, seated shooting position with a lot of shuffling and movement.

75% of my muzzleloader target shooting is offhand because that's what counts. For me, target shooting is preperation for hunting, and I still-hunt mostly so I can't rely on anything but a good offhand shot. I'll bench when I'm working up a load or regulating sights but after that it ain't helping my hunting much to shoot from a table with a chair.

 

[roundball]

Just a general comment...given the obvious belief that we must make killing humane shots on game, its important to know...without question...what our maximum off hand range is to consistently deliver a killing shot on a deer for example.

I think an easy way to do this would be to test myself using a few cheap 7" paper dessert plates...maybe start at 40-50 yards...put 5 out of 5 shots in the plate, move it out another 5 yards and repeat...when I can no longer consistently put 5 out of 5 shots in a 7" plate, my maximium off hand distance is 5 yards closer than that.

I know there are a lot of people who post about offhand groups of incredibly small size at 50, 75, 100yds...but that's not me...I have the stack of 7" dessert plates...now I need to schedule the range work...until then I'll stay seated on the ground leaning against a tree and brace my elbow down on my chest :grin:

 

[slowpokebr549]

That has always been my standard Roundball.Oddly enough my hunting range doesnt improve much whith a centerfire rifle unless I have a good rest and a scope.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Just a general comment...given the obvious belief that we must make killing humane shots on game, its important to know...without question...what our maximum off hand range is to consistently deliver a killing shot on a deer for example.

I think an easy way to do this would be to test myself using a few cheap 7" paper dessert plates...maybe start at 40-50 yards...put 5 out of 5 shots in the plate, move it out another 5 yards and repeat...when I can no longer consistently put 5 out of 5 shots in a 7" plate, my maximium off hand distance is 5 yards closer than that.

I know there are a lot of people who post about offhand groups of incredibly small size at 50, 75, 100yds...but that's not me...I have the stack of 7" dessert plates...now I need to schedule the range work...until then I'll stay seated on the ground leaning against a tree and brace my elbow down on my chest :grin:

:hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[rabjr]

I surprised myself at how well I shot my new rifle offhand at 50 yards this past summer. But this is something I've always tried to avoid at all possible when hunting. I can probably count on one hand the deer taken that I shot offhand in 35 years of hunting. Always tried to use some kind of a rest before shooting.

 

[longcruise]

It don't hurt to throw in some running in place before the shot too if you happen to hunt the west, specially for elk!

 

30 yards - Point of Aim = Point of Impact. This works well for me and a .54 PRB.

 

[wtilenw]

It don't hurt to throw in some running in place before the shot too if you happen to hunt the west, specially for elk!

AMEN!

 

[tg]

"What I do is make a full size cardboard cut out of the animal I am hunting (Deer or Bear) and paint it to be life like. Then, place it at various ranges and shoot it from field shooting positions. You will quickly learn how far is too far. And what you have to do to put one right where it is supposed to be"

That is one of the best /most important things one should do when sighting in a ML for hunting particularly if new to the sport and open sights, you can learn your limits and judgeing distance very well with this method.

 

[bucktales]

Although I practice shooting off-hand quite a bit, I still try to find something like a log or a standing tree to help steady my rifle.