Deer don’t have an aiming dot and your groups aren’t really that small.

[TaperPin]

I’ve always encouraged kids to be thinkers and to practice shooting in ways that translate to actual field conditions, so when a nephew called me out for using plates and paper targets that are too easy to get a good aiming point, it’s hard to argue. It’s easy to spray a dot on a plate, or put a nice easy to see stick on target dot or square, but we do those things because aiming at something the size of a broadside deer is hard. The nephew said we should be practicing the hard situations because they are hard, and I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s right, a sub MOA rifle isn't really shooting that unless it can be pulled off aiming at the broad side of a buck - we trick ourselves into believing we’re as accurate with an aiming dot as without, and we’re not.

For those of us who have fine tuned our shooting techniques and equipment over decades, change is rare, but I’m 100% going to start using 20” squares of cardboard or 20” plates for the rest of the year.

We then had a discussion about working up loads or zeroing a rifle with or without an aiming point, and it’s hard to argue that if someone is unable to tell the difference in group size or point of impact simply because the target is large, maybe the shooter needs to practice more with large targets.

So far it has been a good reminder that my small groups aren’t quite as small when aiming at the broad side of a buck. My guess is both the nephew and I will be glad to use aiming points again by the end of the year. I’ve already tried only shooting large targets long ago, but he will get a lot more out of this experiment if we both tough it out until the holidays.

 

[bojangles808]

Luckily for me axis deer have spots

 

[Wolfshead]

I completely understand his thinking.
I still find an aiming point on the deer that I’m hunting.
It may not be as precise as a one inch red circle, but it still is a point of aim that is smaller than a 20” square of cardboard with no landmarks.
In your case I might draw a intersecting line that may indicate a shoulder or leg or something?

 

[Castle Rock]

but I’m 100% going to start using 20” squares of cardboard or 20” plates for the rest of the year

That doesn’t make any sense at all unless you just aim for the middle of the big bit.

Practice on a precise target like a dot, and when hunting choose a precise point like the shoulder knuckle or whatever is the best kill shot you are presented with

 

[Wolfshead]

That doesn’t make any sense at all unless you just aim for the middle of the big bit.

Practice on a precise target like a dot, and when hunting choose a precise point like the shoulder knuckle or whatever is the best kill shot you are presented with

There is always a point of aim.
“Aim small, miss small.”

 

[Drenalin]

I thought OP aimed for the booty hole...isn't that a "dot"?

 

[TaperPin]

That doesn’t make any sense at all unless you just aim for the middle of the big bit.

Practice on a precise target like a dot, and when hunting choose a precise point like the shoulder knuckle or whatever is the best kill shot you are presented with

Elevation wise I’ve never had anything to aim at other than the broadside of a deer. Nothing precise about it.

 

[TaperPin]

I completely understand his thinking.
I still find an aiming point on the deer that I’m hunting.
It may not be as precise as a one inch red circle, but it still is a point of aim that is smaller than a 20” square of cardboard with no landmarks.
In your case I might draw an intersecting line that may indicate a shoulder or leg or something?

We talked about life size cardboard deer shapes, or adding a cardboard leg to the square, but in the end a simple cardboard square is as simple as taking a cardboard box out of the recycling.

Make no mistake, the aiming is still at a very small point in the middle of the target, but it does take extra focus to make that that happen. The kill zone is still what it’s always been.

 

[Juan_ID]

Elevation wise I’ve never had anything to aim at other than the broadside of a deer. Nothing precise about it.

If using that as your “target” I see more than 1 “aim point” aim for whichever one makes you feel good, once the animal is recovered measure how far from the aim point your bullet impacted to tell the amount of “precision” that was achieved?
I guess if you wanted to you could use the same metrics the cold bore challenge does. 10” target meant to represent the “vitals”