Thread: Missed stag

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Thus WHY I said go shoot some wallabies with current set up. Try it for yourself either it will work for you or it won't. If the 1_5x suits 99% of your hunting and you can make it work for the other 1% why put up with bigger heavier scope the sucks more at bottom end?to each their own.

I wasn't arguing with you, just giving my perspective from my experience......no different to what you did.

there are 2 things at play here, the projectile choice 150gn I would suspect would be less than ideal at 500y, and the scope choice which is personal preference (the O.P stating that he felt it was "lacking" for him at that distance).

IMO the O,P made the right call on the day, not to take the shot.

I wasn't talking to you....I don't bother wasting my time doing that anymore.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I wasn't talking to you....I don't bother wasting my time doing that anymore.

clearly

Well firstly you didn't miss . . . Sometimes not taking a shot is the best thing. Not too many people recall the shots they took and had an animal run off. Even less would have the skills to stay on target and be completely sure it was a clean miss or hit and wounded (especially from an improvised position "on the hill"). This cognitive bias thing seems to be rife on the internet and particularly youtube where a wee edit fixes everything!

You’ve had plenty of advice so far, but here is the key takeaway for me.

1. .308 is plenty for the distance with the right bullets - something like an ELD-M
2. Don’t over-scope yourself. You can get away with 1.5x magnification per 100yds. The reason to go lower magnification, is that you can keep the target in view when you send the shot (important when solo) The lower the recoil, the more magnification you can get away with.

I’ve been transitioning to less power lately, and it’s a definite improvement. Shot some goats recently right on 400yds with 8-10x no problem, and didn’t lose the target at the shot. Saw it all play out. I do all my group shooting at 100m now on 7-8x even though the scope goes to 15x

Originally Posted by Hunter_Nick

You’ve had plenty of advice so far, but here is the key takeaway for me.

1. .308 is plenty for the distance with the right bullets - something like an ELD-M
2. Don’t over-scope yourself. You can get away with 1.5x magnification per 100yds. The reason to go lower magnification, is that you can keep the target in view when you send the shot (important when solo) The lower the recoil, the more magnification you can get away with.

I’ve been transitioning to less power lately, and it’s a definite improvement. Shot some goats recently right on 400yds with 8-10x no problem, and didn’t lose the target at the shot. Saw it all play out. I do all my group shooting at 100m now on 7-8x even though the scope goes to 15x

Very good advice right there. If ya ain't gonna hit with 10x at 500 going to 15 or 20 isnt going to change a thing. For some reason I dont understand lots of shooters seem to have a problem "seeing" an aiming point. Even wiith open sights where the bead covers quite a bit of animal its critical to have a definitive aim point on the animal.

1 negative to me of lower mag scopes is you don't really know how much wobble you have going on, with say 9-12x at 300-500 you can see when you are not quite steady enough and should reset your shooting position or calm your breathing.
This is just my experience, I know R93 could hit a gnat at 1200 with a 22 with open sights, I am not that good yet.

Remember aim small, hit small

At our range we require shooters to verify a 100M zero before going back.

Often for convenience we'll go straight back to 600Y ( the gongs at this mound are 571M) and usually hang a 500mm gong as a starting point to walk shooters on, especially if theres any wind.

I'd say the first shot hit rate on the 500mm gong at 571M for "hunters" is at best about 50% - thats a lost or wounded deer. It's funny how anybody who posts on a forum thinks they are a better than average marksman, but even funnier that the law of averages doesn't back them up.

Originally Posted by Tentman

At our range we require shooters to verify a 100M zero before going back.

Often for convenience we'll go straight back to 600Y ( the gongs at this mound are 571M) and usually hang a 500mm gong as a starting point to walk shooters on, especially if theres any wind.

I'd say the first shot hit rate on the 500mm gong at 571M for "hunters" is at best about 50% - thats a lost or wounded deer. It's funny how anybody who posts on a forum thinks they are a better than average marksman, but even funnier that the law of averages doesn't back them up.

Personnel experience here. It takes a bit of experience to realise your flaws. And admit them. It wasn't until I set up gongs out to 800 meters that I realised that unless I was prepared to go too one hell of a lot more expense, and one hell of a lot more practice, that under field conditions every 50 meters past 450 became harder. And most of that was wind related.
Id say your 50% is spot on.

You haven’t missed him. But by the time you dick about changing your scope etc you will have missed the opportunity. Get back out there this weekend and give it another go. He might show up at 50 yards….

In my short career as a hunter I've got my best group at 100 at .25 of an inch with a 3x. Nowadays my heart beat exceeds a good 1/2 inch at a 100 on 12x.

If longer shots 400-500+ are going to be a regular occurance id recommend a bigger cartridge. If not save the money and just get closer

Thanks for the advice team. I really appreciate it.
I think I will just change the scope out to a 2-10 or 3-12. I don’t want more than that, trying to keep the weight down and 10x will be heaps. 95% of the deer I shoot are generally sub 250m which I am more than comfortable shooting to with less mag.
I have the same scope in 3-12 on the .223 but I tend to shoot that more and actually use the higher end mag a fair bit shooting wallabies across gullies. I’ll try to move to something with a preset dial that I can setup and pretty much forget (as long as I recheck 100m zero occasionally). Or maybe get a holdover reticule to keep it simple.
Might try the hornady sst and see how it goes with my rifle.

Yep, I went down the path of a holdover reticle. You will find with the distance you want to shoot you will not likely need more than 2 stadia. And you dont need to get the habits formed for constant dealing and return to zero.

I had a 2x16x50 scope,weighted 770grams.Just got to heavy after a while and didn't use the 16x bugger all.Went back to a 2x10x50,520grams and 35mm shorter.Shorten the 308 barrel down to 20inchs,shorter suppresser.Now have a nicely balanced rifle and still good for a 400yds plus shot if needed.