I have been reading this forum and others for a number of years now. One of the things I find weird is the need for ultra precise accuracy. Not only that, but also the willingness to exhaust all efforts to achive this at any cost or time investment.
Accuracy is a good thing don't misunderstand this as anything else. I just find it amusing that there is a relentless pursuit of this magical sub one MOA group size and the associated need to prove this out with whatever equipment is needed from a bench.
I have read here recently that the Ballistic tip bullet was chosen as a big game bullet because it's so accurate out of the shooters gun. I have heard this probably 50 times now from various "experienced" hunters. Many writing on these forums and many I have met or know in person. What is Accurate? What is "more" accurate? What is minimum Accurate? Who is the judge of accurate? If that ballistic tip is shooting your "needed" 1MOA group and another bullet shoots a 2" group do you automatically choose the more accurate one?
I might remind the readers this is for BIG GAME so there is no confusion on the topic. If a really good terminal performance bullet such as the partition, Aframe,Bear claw, BarnesX, is less accurate do you pick the Ballistic tip because it's the most accurate bullet in your gun? If your gun is an over bore magnum do you consider this as a factor in the choice? If you're hunting close animals or distant game does that factor enter in? Or does just the fact that it's the most accurate matter to you?
Accuracy to me means I can shoot a sub 2" group at 100 yards with some sort of solid rest. Since I don't belong to a range that means I throw sandbags on the hood of my truck and sight in while standing and using the bags for my rest. I typically click off a few shots and see what they look like. After that I'm shooting from a packframe rest, prone or sitting. Then I use my Snipepod usually sitting. In one location I shoot at there is a convienient stump I can roll up my jacket and shoot from while sitting.
Just looking at this from a numbers perspective if you shoot a 2" group at 100 yards that number translates to a 6" group at 300 yards and about an 8 inch group all the way out to about a 1/4 mile distand target. It's a safe bet that if you can hit an 8" target at 400 yards your gonna kill what you have shot at. More importantly though is the time involved to do this practice and preperation differently. The difference between shooting a 2" group and a 1" or less group requires a lot of work, and a lot of time for many people. Some guys will spend a ton of effort to get down under that magic sub 1" group size. I don't mean doing it once but making your gun, scope, loads, and skills so good it's a consistant performance standard for you.
I think as a hunter ( speaking only for myself) I would much perefer to spend the time hunting then working on bench rest accuracy. I would always rather be in the bush then on the bench. The biggest retort I hear from people when I suggest this is that they don't hunt in the spring and summer so they work on the loads to develope their magic 1MOA guns and when the season comes around they are ready. These are the same guys who have a job, kids, wife, and other interests to spread them selves over throughout the year.
When the season rolls around they have done little scouting, and really truth be told they know darn little about the game they are hunting. The majority of big game hunters know the bare minimum about the game they choose to hunt. Barely enough to kill it. Maybe if the time spent on the bench was spent on a study of the animals habits in the animals own backyard the shooting distance issue would be corrected with hunting skill rather then long range target skills.
Even a trip to the zoo or a game farm to look very carefully at live big game animals anatomy to see perfectly clear where bullet placement shoud be at various angles. Then when you see this animal in the wild and look through your scope you automatically line it up perfectly. Bring a camera and take study photo's for yourself to look over from time to time. Taxidermists are great at having anatomy photo's for thier work why should hunters be any different?
How about learning all the natural plants the animals eat at various times of the year, see and understadning their sign and their tracks. Learn about breeding habits and effects of weather. Yeah I know most of the "know it alls" will claim this is a boring waste of time and they already know whats needed.
When I do a sportsmans show or speak to a group most of the people attending don't know the difference between a grazer and a browser or a herbivore. Few understand the travel patterns of various game, few understand much at all about the animals they persue. However nearly all will tell you the velocity at any given yard of the trajectory path and the most recent tiny group size they have shot with their rifle.
When I hear the silly conversations regarding accuracy with a hunting rifle I usually listen in just for the humor value! So few of these guys really want to hunt. What they seem to desire is to be expert marksman long range snipers and just hope they are lucky enough to be within their insane distance limitations when they see something to launch a bullet at. Hunting? whats hunting? we just need to shoot good and be within the needed 1/4 mile plus range. It reduces walking hiking and climbing. The only effort is to post up on a ridge and shoot to the horizon. I know people who do this and have the gear to pull it off. I know it can be done by some guys.
What bothers me is that this type of shooting/ hunting is becoming more and more popular as it's promoted by a few guys who do this. Young hunters or inexperienced hunters seem to think this is the right way or "easy" way to be successful at big game hunting. Where does it end? How far will hunters eventually shoot? What is the practical or functional limit? The gun, scope, and accuracy has become their God. They honour this as if it were a shrine. They must do whatever is needed to satisfy the shrine of the accurate rifle. Their days and hours are all spent dialing in the best possible accuracy and picking the finest equipment to make this Shrine better then anyone elses shrine of shooting. I think it's becoming a serious sickness that hunting has turned into target sniping at distant living targets rather then actually HUNTING!
As far as group size I have heard the stories and seen the results so many times I can't even count them. Folks with the latest lazer flat rifles who boast of the long range accuracy and then miss at standing big game 100-150 yards away. That year or more of effort and developement to build a sub 1MOA load and rifle was all a waste of time because they missed an entire animal at what should be considered a given. Yet some toothless old hillbilly with one shoe and a rusty old 30/30 using wet 20 year old factory ammo would have crumpled it in it's tracks!
I have had hunters who wanted to shoot from 350 yards even though we could easily and effortlessly get 200 yards closer to the animals. These guys were trying to tell me that "this is what they do" so they shoot and miss or wound the game????? excuses follow and next time I get them to 150 yards. They shoot and miss over the back???? Now what do I do? The guy wants to check his rifle " because something must be wrong with the scope". We go to the range and it's shot from sandbags, we find he is shooting one hole groups. Hmmmm To much time on the bench ya think?
Choose bullets that perform on tissue and bone, not those which shoot the most accurate. Who really give a rip if you shoot a sub 1MOA group? Penetration and performance on tissue and bone is the key far above a small difference in accuracy. A hunter with me that shoots a 2MOA group and gets on target fast and shoots well free hand to 100 yards and with an improvised rest to 200 yards is gonna kill a whole lot more game than almost anyone of these tack driving "expert marksman" with their Sierra match bullets or ballistic tips from their lazer flat magnum rifles.
I don't care if it's Alaska or Africa the situation is the same. You still need to be a hunter first and a marksman second. Don't let the priorities get reversed on you. Learn to hunt first and the shooting will be close enough not to worry about the super accurate rifles and hundreds of hours developeing the loads.
When the time comes to take that long shot and your practice has been OFF THE BENCH you will have a much easier go of it with your 2MOA setup and real practice then your sub 1MOA setup and all the shooting from the bench.
Accuracy is a good thing don't misunderstand this as anything else. I just find it amusing that there is a relentless pursuit of this magical sub one MOA group size and the associated need to prove this out with whatever equipment is needed from a bench.
I have read here recently that the Ballistic tip bullet was chosen as a big game bullet because it's so accurate out of the shooters gun. I have heard this probably 50 times now from various "experienced" hunters. Many writing on these forums and many I have met or know in person. What is Accurate? What is "more" accurate? What is minimum Accurate? Who is the judge of accurate? If that ballistic tip is shooting your "needed" 1MOA group and another bullet shoots a 2" group do you automatically choose the more accurate one?
I might remind the readers this is for BIG GAME so there is no confusion on the topic. If a really good terminal performance bullet such as the partition, Aframe,Bear claw, BarnesX, is less accurate do you pick the Ballistic tip because it's the most accurate bullet in your gun? If your gun is an over bore magnum do you consider this as a factor in the choice? If you're hunting close animals or distant game does that factor enter in? Or does just the fact that it's the most accurate matter to you?
Accuracy to me means I can shoot a sub 2" group at 100 yards with some sort of solid rest. Since I don't belong to a range that means I throw sandbags on the hood of my truck and sight in while standing and using the bags for my rest. I typically click off a few shots and see what they look like. After that I'm shooting from a packframe rest, prone or sitting. Then I use my Snipepod usually sitting. In one location I shoot at there is a convienient stump I can roll up my jacket and shoot from while sitting.
Just looking at this from a numbers perspective if you shoot a 2" group at 100 yards that number translates to a 6" group at 300 yards and about an 8 inch group all the way out to about a 1/4 mile distand target. It's a safe bet that if you can hit an 8" target at 400 yards your gonna kill what you have shot at. More importantly though is the time involved to do this practice and preperation differently. The difference between shooting a 2" group and a 1" or less group requires a lot of work, and a lot of time for many people. Some guys will spend a ton of effort to get down under that magic sub 1" group size. I don't mean doing it once but making your gun, scope, loads, and skills so good it's a consistant performance standard for you.
I think as a hunter ( speaking only for myself) I would much perefer to spend the time hunting then working on bench rest accuracy. I would always rather be in the bush then on the bench. The biggest retort I hear from people when I suggest this is that they don't hunt in the spring and summer so they work on the loads to develope their magic 1MOA guns and when the season comes around they are ready. These are the same guys who have a job, kids, wife, and other interests to spread them selves over throughout the year.
When the season rolls around they have done little scouting, and really truth be told they know darn little about the game they are hunting. The majority of big game hunters know the bare minimum about the game they choose to hunt. Barely enough to kill it. Maybe if the time spent on the bench was spent on a study of the animals habits in the animals own backyard the shooting distance issue would be corrected with hunting skill rather then long range target skills.
Even a trip to the zoo or a game farm to look very carefully at live big game animals anatomy to see perfectly clear where bullet placement shoud be at various angles. Then when you see this animal in the wild and look through your scope you automatically line it up perfectly. Bring a camera and take study photo's for yourself to look over from time to time. Taxidermists are great at having anatomy photo's for thier work why should hunters be any different?
How about learning all the natural plants the animals eat at various times of the year, see and understadning their sign and their tracks. Learn about breeding habits and effects of weather. Yeah I know most of the "know it alls" will claim this is a boring waste of time and they already know whats needed.
When I do a sportsmans show or speak to a group most of the people attending don't know the difference between a grazer and a browser or a herbivore. Few understand the travel patterns of various game, few understand much at all about the animals they persue. However nearly all will tell you the velocity at any given yard of the trajectory path and the most recent tiny group size they have shot with their rifle.
When I hear the silly conversations regarding accuracy with a hunting rifle I usually listen in just for the humor value! So few of these guys really want to hunt. What they seem to desire is to be expert marksman long range snipers and just hope they are lucky enough to be within their insane distance limitations when they see something to launch a bullet at. Hunting? whats hunting? we just need to shoot good and be within the needed 1/4 mile plus range. It reduces walking hiking and climbing. The only effort is to post up on a ridge and shoot to the horizon. I know people who do this and have the gear to pull it off. I know it can be done by some guys.
What bothers me is that this type of shooting/ hunting is becoming more and more popular as it's promoted by a few guys who do this. Young hunters or inexperienced hunters seem to think this is the right way or "easy" way to be successful at big game hunting. Where does it end? How far will hunters eventually shoot? What is the practical or functional limit? The gun, scope, and accuracy has become their God. They honour this as if it were a shrine. They must do whatever is needed to satisfy the shrine of the accurate rifle. Their days and hours are all spent dialing in the best possible accuracy and picking the finest equipment to make this Shrine better then anyone elses shrine of shooting. I think it's becoming a serious sickness that hunting has turned into target sniping at distant living targets rather then actually HUNTING!
As far as group size I have heard the stories and seen the results so many times I can't even count them. Folks with the latest lazer flat rifles who boast of the long range accuracy and then miss at standing big game 100-150 yards away. That year or more of effort and developement to build a sub 1MOA load and rifle was all a waste of time because they missed an entire animal at what should be considered a given. Yet some toothless old hillbilly with one shoe and a rusty old 30/30 using wet 20 year old factory ammo would have crumpled it in it's tracks!
I have had hunters who wanted to shoot from 350 yards even though we could easily and effortlessly get 200 yards closer to the animals. These guys were trying to tell me that "this is what they do" so they shoot and miss or wound the game????? excuses follow and next time I get them to 150 yards. They shoot and miss over the back???? Now what do I do? The guy wants to check his rifle " because something must be wrong with the scope". We go to the range and it's shot from sandbags, we find he is shooting one hole groups. Hmmmm To much time on the bench ya think?
Choose bullets that perform on tissue and bone, not those which shoot the most accurate. Who really give a rip if you shoot a sub 1MOA group? Penetration and performance on tissue and bone is the key far above a small difference in accuracy. A hunter with me that shoots a 2MOA group and gets on target fast and shoots well free hand to 100 yards and with an improvised rest to 200 yards is gonna kill a whole lot more game than almost anyone of these tack driving "expert marksman" with their Sierra match bullets or ballistic tips from their lazer flat magnum rifles.
I don't care if it's Alaska or Africa the situation is the same. You still need to be a hunter first and a marksman second. Don't let the priorities get reversed on you. Learn to hunt first and the shooting will be close enough not to worry about the super accurate rifles and hundreds of hours developeing the loads.
When the time comes to take that long shot and your practice has been OFF THE BENCH you will have a much easier go of it with your 2MOA setup and real practice then your sub 1MOA setup and all the shooting from the bench.
