Just how much accuracy is needed ?

[Ben]

I love to shoot tight groups at 100 yards.
If they are all " touching " , that is great !

However, at 100 yards if you can put 5 of 5
in this black square on white-tail deer with
an adequate caliber, someone in the group
needs to have a sharp knife.

I'll qualify this statement by saying that I'm not a long
range shooter. My shots are between 30 yards and 75
yards on deer about 90% of the time.

 

[Brad]

If you can hold 4-6 in groups at the max distance you will shoot them all is fine.
I haven't shot a deer over 50 yards in quite some time. Shot a couple inside of 20 yards.

You also need to be able to hold that 4-6 in group from field positions. Just because your rifle shoots 1 in groups from a bench doesn't mean YOU can do it offhand. And winded. And wearing more clothes. And excited.

 

[Josh]

I prefer my rifle to shoot sub 2" from the bench before I take it to the field, and field position shots need to be in about 6" at the shooting distance. For argument lets call that 100 yds, if my rifle shoots a 4" group from the bench I can assume I will hold 4" more than the mean group. So that rifle will hold 8" which is unacceptable, but if one of my other rifles shoots a 3" group and I can hold 6" with it I will take it.

I use 100 yds as my qualifier, any further and I will take a dead rest, any closer and I become way more accurate. I have been practicing shooting from field positions with a 6" steel swinger set at 100 yds, that sure is a real eye opener.

 

[Ian]

You also need to be able to hold that 4-6 in group from field positions. Just because your rifle shoots 1 in groups from a bench doesn't mean YOU can do it offhand. And winded. And wearing more clothes. And excited.

THIS.

For hunting, you have to consider the consistency of the whole system. That means where is the first shot going to land, will it be out of the group the rifle is sighted for, will it be high or low in cold weather, does your heavy coat let the rifle recoil more and throw shots high, does your off-hand or shooting sticks hold pull the barrel down compared to bags at the range, can you make the shot when there's a living thing in the crosshairs, etc.

Josh is spot on, gotta practice in real-world conditions. If you can hit a 6" target at 100 yards from any position, first shot, after a 30-second jog, you're ready to go. I practice this sort of thing, too, and it IS a real eye opener.

 

[Brad]

I do lots of shootng standing on my own two feet. That is how I'm likely to shoot in the field so if I can hit that way I'm good to go. With practice a 3-4 inch 5 shot group at 100 isn't hard to achieve.
I use a bench for developing loads, I stand up to develop ME.

 

[KHornet]

I grew up in shotgun with slug or punkin ball for deer in western N.Y. Accuracy with slug guns back then was
considered adequateif you could hit a 2 gal pail at 50 yds, and a lot of deer hunting was done by driving deer.
When the Marine Corps handed me a Garand I learned quickly that 50 yds was no big deal at all. Over the years
and being stationed in various places, I became a paper puncher mostly at 100, and a pdog shooter at ranges
exceeding 500yds. I believe the longest range I have ever killed a deer was about 115 or so yards, and the last
one was about 35 yds. Am not prone at all to shooting at a meat animal at much over 100yds. Am not the
worlds best off hand shooter to start out with, and prefer not to shoot offhand at much over 50 yds. If I don't
have time to think about the shot on a meat animal, I am reasonably competent on a moving deer out to
100. When I have time to think about the off hand shot at distances, I am not so pretty competent.

 

[9.3X62AL]

My longest shot taken on a deer was my first one--at age 13, 125 yards. Most recent one was in 2006, about 65 yards off the muzzle. Most have been closer than that 2006 "mean" distance. I didn't even draw a tag for the past couple years, but did get one for the local mountains for the 2016 season. I have committed to using a cast bullet this year, a BruceB Softpoint. Calibers under review are 44/40 WCF.....30/30 WCF.....and 38/55 M&B, all leverguns. This will continue for the next few seasons locally, until lead bullets get banned for hunting in CA outright in 2019.

Given these conditions--that I hunt in mostly wooded terrain with intermittent meadows where shots are fairly close-ranged, the need for precise accuracy is a modest one. Even my much-used Win 73 in 44/40 can manage 2.5"-3.0" at 100 yards, which isn't stellar from a "big picture" perspective. But it will make venison when called upon to do so, and was much-used by my ancestors for this purpose in these same mountains I plan to hunt this Fall. This old heirloom has had a few cameo appearances afield over the past 20 years or so, but apart from those daytrips it hasn't 'hunted hard' for 85 years. It will this year!

 

[JSH]

Needed or wanted...... I usually have all I need, but I still want more. I strive for MOA, don't always get it but that is what I try for.
I do all of my load work from the bench, this give me a known factor on the gun. I will shoot a fair bit from simulated field positions. If I can't get the accuracy I want/need from a field position I tend to tinker with it. FYI I have a couple of rifles that will not shoot as good as the can from the bench now, but the five me what I seek from a field position.
I do a fair bit of walking at work everyday, I can walk at a pretty fair pace for quite a while and not get winded. I have not tried jogging a bit and then shoot. I have a pretty good idea of the results though and avoid such circumstances. Most of my hunting will involve any where from a 20 yard hike to several miles. Only reason I would be running is if some critter with teeth or claws was after me, lol.

 

[Ian]

Running prior to making a practice shot simulates 'buck fever', in case you're not immune to it.

 

[35 shooter]

How much accuracy is needed? I prefer less than moa @ 100 yds and really 1/2" moa or better, but.....

I think at least 2 moa @ 100 yds. is "needed"
to make a somewhat all around hunting rifle.
That at least would allow small game hunting very possible at 25 to 50 yds(considering head shots on small targets) and big game out to about 400 yds. with a good rest.

Wow, this is a loaded question...really just depends on the size of the game and how far your shooting.

 

[JWFilips]

When I use to hunt deer with a CF it was with my 336 Marlin in 35 cal. My farthest shot was at 75 yds! I have taken whitetail with a 54 cal round ball Flintlock at bit over 110 yds Have not seen any difference...both ran 20 yds ( after doing the death jump & running down hill!) with heart shots!

 

[fiver]

the deer I got last year was at 330 yds.
I used a 4' tall pine tree for a rest.
I'd have rather have used an 8-9 foot one with an actual branch on it.
but I was caught out in the grass [as was he] and I had to actually move further away from him to get the shot in since he was on a ridge and I was in the saddle and had nothing to work with from down there.

it felt pretty odd to back away from the target rather than work in closer but it was that or pin-point a shot in at a 40* angle up hill at 250+ yds and hit the spine or top of the shoulder. [I'm good but I ain't that good]
backing off and slightly to the side to that little tree was my only option and they weren't gonna stay out there all morning.

two day's later Littlegirl got hers and I could have shot it with any handgun I own since I was only like 15 yds away from it.

 

[Pistolero]

The wife and I practice on the dessert sized paper plates (~5-6") at 100 yds from standing with
the gun against a post or on sticks. No need for better than that, and in most actual
hunting situations, we could get a sitting position to work, but not always! Still, never
have needed a second shot on large game. If it looks like it is that iffy, I will not take
the shot, just that simple.

 

[Ben]

If it looks like it is that iffy, I will not take the shot, just that simple.

The mark of a good hunter ! !

 

[Pistolero]

Thanks. I am more interested in being out there and enjoying the time than just killing
an animal. I have always said that if you don't really enjoy just sitting out in the woods
quietly and listening and watching everything go by, you won't like hunting, because that
is all that is certain to happen. Every so often, you get a shot at a good game animal, but
that is pretty much gravy, not the main course.

Bill

 

[KHornet]

Well written Bill! Have always said that the fun stops once the shot is made.

Paul

 

[Pistolero]

Hah! You haven't found out how true that statement about the fun stopping is until you have
shot an elk on a steep hillside. Shot her and she turned downhill and ran, then died on her feet.
She was wrapped around an aspen on a 35 deg slope, and weighed around 600 lbs or maybe 700, a
big cow. It took two of us with block and tackle to get her off of the tree and across and down slope to
a tiny flat spot where I removed the quarters, neck and back meat and the tenderloins. A LOT of work.

By the time this was done, the meat was bagged and hung in a tree, and I staggered back to camp
up a steep grade for 1000 ft, totally exhausted about 8 hours later.

Yep, the fun stops when the animal drops.

Elk is really, really good meat.

Bill

 

[Intheshop]

New guy here.

Just have to say that a well prepared Elk steak is about the best red meat this hillbilly has ever eaten.Never had the chance at one,too busy working and raising kids but,friends and relatives have kept us up to date on different game fare.

A Sitka deer steak is right there as well.

Back on topic...got to have all the acc. I can get.Deer are pretty easy here,heck they come up to the shop doors.But if you're in the woods,75 yds is a long'sh shot.

Get into small game and the requirements go up steeply.Confidence in the system under field conditions,as posted above is paramount.My crow rig .243 is well under 1 moa shooting off Bud bags.It'll get in the .3's and .4's off our heavy rest....BUT,under field conditions and shooting very quickly(a crow ain't gonna hang around here,haha)..I'd say it's a honest 2 moa "system".Something to work on,and it's not the gun/ammo.

Which is the salient point here....get the gun ammo development as accurate as possible because the shooter is probably the weak link in field conditions.

 

[KHornet]

Welcome aboard Intheshop! IMO the key to steak from any big game is to not overcook it. A crow shooter! You may be the first on this forum. They are tough targets.

Paul

 

[Intheshop]

And sometime crow eater,haha.

Char my Elk steak on the outside,red on the inside,salt N pepper cooked over a good hot bed of coals.Steak on a stick.