Zero question for big game...

[tominboise]

I normally site my big game rifles in at around 1-1/2" - 2" high at 100 yards (talking cartridges like the 25-06, 270, 7Mag, etc). But I was reading an article in an older Rifle magazine where a guy mentioned zeroing at 3" high at 100 yards. This would allow a dead on hold out to around 350 yards and the bullet should never be more than 5" above or below the line of sight.

Where do you all site in for hunting North American big game (mule deer, elk, antelope) with "standard" hunting cartridges?

 

[RegionRat]

That is a system called “Maximum Point Blank Range” and it works as well as anything else.

In practical terms, you limit the arc above and below the crosshair. Depending on the caliber, that can be just as useful as a BDC reticule system. The Kill Zone has to be well understood, and windage is still up the the pilot.

The truth of the matter is that you still need to memorize the sight picture for this or any system to work.

Using the old 3x9 or the more modern 3.5x10 in the Leupold Duplex scopes, I shot for three decades using a 300 yard zero and the reticule to cover point blank to 500 yards using 30-06 with Sierra 165 @ 2860 FPS. By using the places above and blow the cross where the posts went from thin to thick, mule deer and elk sized targets can be aimed very quickly.

 

[Terry_M]

It really boils down to doing what you can quickly remember and training that to be muscle memory. I use 1 inch high at 100yds for everything so I don't mess it up in the heat of the moment. YMMV

 

[CaptainMal]

Up close for shots and often there is little time to think. Target and shoot before things go away or bad. Now out past a few hundred yards there is usually time to think.

What that means is for longer-range cartridges and hunting something around a 200 yard zero keeps you in the kill range without thinking to at least 225 yards. After that i put a reticle tag upside down on my buttstock so I can read it from above. 300, 400, 500 - look down and see what part of the reticle you should be using for a zero and check what power ( for 2nd focal plane scopes) you should be on. Good reason to have 1st focal plane as you eliminate the power check.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

3" high at 100 yds here. Been doing that since the 70's. I have a book here that a guy whose name I can't remember wrote about reloading for hunting and sight in. At 3" high at 100 you have the maximum point blank range.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I run a MPBR of 8” in all my magnums.
This means the bullet never rises more than 4” above line of sight, or drops more than 4” below line of sight. Most have a zero between 250yrds-270yrds and the MPBR is 330yrds or more depending on velocity.
My ballistic calculator gives me the number of inches high I need @ 100yrds so that’s what I zero with.

Cheers.

 

[Bill Norris]

3" high at 100 yds here. Been doing that since the 70's. I have a book here that a guy whose name I can't remember wrote about reloading for hunting and sight in. At 3" high at 100 you have the maximum point blank range.

Jim Carmichael wrote that book Bro.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

I keep contemplating going to a +2 inch 100 yard zero, but on 3 elk hunts my longest shot has been 187 yards. 187,140,125. No where near being difficult shots for 1 moa and better rifles.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Jim Carmichael wrote that book Bro.

Yeah, it's down in the gun room .. Just didn't feel like walking down there to look. Great book.

 

[Bill Norris]

Yea Jim was a great writer and hunter as well.

 

[std7mag]

200 yard zero for me.
Depending on cartridge that will vary the amount over at 100 yards.
7mm Rem Mag is about an inch high.
250 Savage is about 2" high.

 

[sawcarver]

200 yard zero for me for everything, from the 20br varmint pistol to 357 Max deer guns or the 6-06

I tell my kids if you don't have time to range and dial you beyond 200 then you shouldn't be shooting at it.

 

[Kermit in Va.]

200 for all my rifles

 

[jepp2]

a guy mentioned zeroing at 3" high at 100 yards. This would allow a dead on hold out to around 350 yards and the bullet should never be more than 5" above or below the line of sight.

On antelope if you aim for half way up the chest and you are either 5" higher or lower, you aren't going to be real happy with bullet placement (or at least I wouldn't be). For my 25-06 (1.5-2" MOA rifle), I zero at 200 and at 300 I hold near the top of the back. I'm not saying you will not hit the animal, but it is a less than optimum hit.

It really comes down to exactly where you want your bullet to strike. I hunt mostly for the high quality meat and a bullet that goes through both shoulders damages a tremendous amount of meat. I intentionally stay behind the shoulder(s) to avoid this.

This may be helpful as you look at your trajectory and where you normally hold: https://www.chuckhawks.com/kill_zone_game_animals.htm

 

[Lonny in ID]

I go with a 200 yard zero or about 1" high at 100. The vast majority of game I shoot is between 100-250 yards.

I used to go with a higher point of impact at 100, but found myself a time or two, overshooting small critters like coyotes at 150ish. Add nerves and inclines to the fray and bullets can easily sail over the back of the smaller game when they are in the 150 yard range. At least for me anyway.

 

[effendude]

I'm a little different I guess. I use a 100 yard zero on nearly all my rifles and dial for anything farther. Often on close shots here in MN or even out west in the timber, I've snuck a bullet into a small opening at less than 100 yards away on big game animals who froze in cover. 200 or further zeros put the bullet too high for accurate shot placement on close range opportunities that require precision.

I might lose 100-150 yards at the long side of a 20 MOA turret's revolution, but realistically those long shots are really rare and I'd have plenty of time preparing for those shots anyways.
Scott

 

[Lonny in ID]

Scott, I know a number of very successful hunter that do the same thing and it works well for them. That's pretty much how i set up my kids when they first started hunting because we weren't going to have them shoot over 200 yards

 

[Kramerica]

If that’s as far as you’re going to shoot I guess have at it. If you have a turreted scope than why? Just zero at 100 then everything is up from there even at close than 100 range you still dial up.

 

[tominboise]

I go with a 200 yard zero or about 1" high at 100. The vast majority of game I shoot is between 100-250 yards.

I used to go with a higher point of impact at 100, but found myself a time or two, overshooting small critters like coyotes at 150ish. Add nerves and inclines to the fray and bullets can easily sail over the back of the smaller game when they are in the 150 yard range. At least for me anyway.

Mirrors my experience, which is why I usually set my scopes around 1-1.5" high at 100 yards. I tape a drop table to the stock.