Determining effective shooting range

[goathunter.oregon]

Scenario: it's the week before your rifle hunt. You aren't buying any more gear, you aren't adjusting your scope or rifle or shooting accessories or changing ammo; you have what you have and your shooting form is what it is. What steps do you take to determine your effective shooting range for the hunt?

 

[MuleyBuck]

I’d go shoot your rifle and see

 

[goathunter.oregon]

I’d go shoot your rifle and see

Sure, but what exactly would you do? I see a lot of guys go to the range and check the rifle zero at 100 yards and then go hunting (and presumably taking shots beyond 100 yards). What do you do to decide where to draw the line?

 

[Maverick1]

I don’t wait until one week before the season opens to make that determination.

 

[WhatToHunt]

I'd shoot the rifle at as long of distances as I could to see just how accurate I can be with it. I'd practice in potential hunt scenarios/positions at various distances. If I suck at longer ranges, it's outside my effective range. Before a hunt last year I was only able to practice to 400 yards and felt confident, so that was my effective range. Maybe would have pushed it to 450 under perfect conditions, maybe. If it's a week before the hunt and I haven't done that practice, I'd be hard-pressed to feel confident.

 

[Dave Thomas]

What is the farthest distance that you can reliably hit a vitals size target with first shot in field positions? Then take a little bit of that range away for a safety margin.

 

[goathunter.oregon]

I don’t wait until one week before the season opens to make that determination.

Fair enough. What do you do and when do you make the determination?

 

[TaperPin]

I take a 10” paper plate and only allow one shot. Either hit it or not - no excuses, no shot spotting, no second shots. The pressure of a single shot helps folks choke, much like they will while hunting.

I’ve driven a few hours with the nephew just to make a single shot. He talks about being able to hit at 500 yards, so it’s put up or shut up time and a miss at 450 yards is telling. It keeps folks humble and gives a realistic max distance for inexperienced or experienced alike.

At each position a person will quickly learn what distance they can make first round hits.

 

[hibernation]

I'd shoot 10 rounds from a hunting position as a starting point, no benchrest. Gotta know your baseline accuracy in the best-case scenario, that gives you a hard upper limit based on target size before you start stacking in all the other variables. Then I'd work on the single shots from field positions.

 

[Chase16]

Its hard to decide in one week. At any given day, you can walk in your wind dope or a minor zero issue and be hitting steel and forget quickly about the first 3 rounds you missed at say 700 yards. I always track my cold bore shots each time I go shoot (or multiple each time my rifle cooled, I know it isnt perfect) pick a hit probability that you think is ethical. And cut off your distance and whatever distance you drop below that percentage. This take logging some rounds. But that's part of the point of preparing to ethically shoot game at extended ranges.

If I had a week, I'd shoot a TON and see where I could hit the target just about every single time. That would be it. 90% or better.

 

[Jdeck09]

I'd hit the range and set 8 inch steel plates out and start testing at various distances. Once I feel that I am comfortable at a couple different distances, I'd introduce a little bit pace/tempo and new positions. Once I've got that as a cross section, I'd pick the max range. I need to have confidence in my gear so I'd probably end up shooting 4-6 boxes easy.

 

[wapitibob]

I shoot my zero at 200 after that I shoot 400 600 and 800, for months before season.

 

[Maverick1]

I

Fair enough. What do you do and when do you make the determination?

I’ve never found a shooting bench out in the wilderness. Nor an animal with a paper plate or bullseye on its side (that I’d like to shoot, anyhow). Those are useless and crap in making such determinations.

Shooting positions and heart rate: Simulate actual shot scenarios and much as possible. Get your heart rate up. Do a bunch of wind sprints, jumping jacks, jump rope, or burpees. Whatever it takes to best mimic hiking up a couple hundred feet in elevation and seeing the biggest trophy class animal you’ve ever seen in the wild. Your heart will be beating like crazy. Get it to that point.

“Target”: Take your shot. With your weapon in an actual hunting scenario. On top of a backpack. Leaning against a tree. Offhand. Off a monopod. Or whatever setup you will be shooting with while hunting. And shoot at a brown blob. You aren’t killing targets in the field. Aim small miss small. Pick a spot, pick a point, pick a hair.

Wind. If one hasn’t figured out wind at this point they won’t in a week. If that’s the case, no business shooting past 300 or 400 yards, at best, with anything greater than a light imperceptible cross wind. Head wind or tail wind different.

Shooting hundreds of rounds off a bench with rest, with low hear rate, at a tiny little paper target, and no wind is just wasting ones time at this point. Might build a false sense of confidence, if that is important.

 

[go_deep]

We shoot 5"x8" steel targets from 100-400 yards, you have to hit 9 out of 10 in my book to be good at that distance.

 

[West2East]

If I wasn't going to shoot to figure it out. I'd stick with 250 and in. That seems to be about the range where, depending on your cartridge, you have to start thinking about drops and getting steady. With a week and no shooting, you're dealing with box numbers and factory ammo. So you don't know actual drops and you can't verify scope drops for your ammo.

250 and in

 

[hibernation]

If I wasn't going to shoot to figure it out. I'd stick with 250 and in. That seems to be about the range where, depending on your cartridge, you have to start thinking about drops and getting steady. With a week and no shooting, you're dealing with box numbers and factory ammo. So you don't know actual drops and you can't verify scope drops for your ammo.

250 and in

Probably the range most hunters should stick to anyway.

 

[eric1115]

As others have said, consider the following common mistakes that lead to overconfidence -

Stress. Mental and physical, stress plays a big role in how well we shoot. 65 degree afternoon at the range with all the time in the world to fine tune your position and prepare for the shot is very different from cold and tired, with the buck you've been chasing all week getting ready to walk over that ridge and you're trying to get stable on a side hill. Especially if you've just hauled ass up the hill to get to somewhere you can see that ridge from and your heart is beating at 140 bpm.

Familiarity. Your home range you'll know that this target is a tricky one to range and sometimes you hit the hillside behind it, but it's actually 380 and not 425. You know that the wind feels like it hits you from straight behind but it is usually more of a crosswind by the time you get out past the sheltered area the firing line is on. You can't unsee the wind flags that are planted all over the place even if you're making a conscious effort to make as blind and realistic a wind call as possible.

Target size. A 16" round gong at 700 or a 24x30 at 900 are fun and build confidence. They do not tell you you're good to go at that distance if you can hit it (even consistently).

I'd say most guys, if they're shooting a 16" gong at their home range from the bench on a nice day, if they use that to determine the max distance they should shoot an animal at, are at least double what their realistic limit should be.

So what do we do? First get a good 10 round zero. Then get your backpack and go for a hike. Set a target out. Vital size (8" or 10" round). Set it somewhere that you don't shoot all the time. Go hike to a random location. Range it and shoot it from whatever position you can build with what you have on you. Ideally set a timer. Start with a two minute time (to range, set up, dial, and shoot) to put some pressure on. You get one shot. Then pack up, move to a new spot and do it again. After a few shots at that target location, pick it up and put it somewhere else and shoot from more new locations. You'll learn pretty quickly what you can and can't do with your first shot in a realistic-ish hunting scenario.

 

[Shortschaf]

I don’t wait until one week before the season opens to make that determination.

+1
the question doesnt make any sense to me

 

[rookieforever33]

Find God and start praying!

 

[roadrunner]

My effective range has already been determined and it hasn't changed in the last 20 years or so.

Same rifle, same scope, same load.