“Eight-inches high, six-inches to the left of the bullseye.” I reported looking at the 100-yard target through my Meopta spotting scope. “Shoot one more.”
Bam! “Six-inches low and three-inches to the right of the bull’s eye.”
“Ought to be good enough. Elk are big! OK, I’m ready!” Said he, putting his rifle into a soft case.
Although I did not say it out-loud I was thinking, “You gotta be kidding, good enough? If you have to shoot beyond about 50-yards, you’re going to have a wounded elk on your hands! If you hit him.”
I asked, “Would like to try my .270 shooting Hornady ammo, just for fun?” Moments later he put two bullets near the center of the bullseye. As I suspected, he had been shooting an inaccurate rifle.
“Got another one back at camp, set up the same way as this one. It shoots just as accurately. I’d be honored if you used it to shoot your elk.” I suggested. Thankfully he thought that would be a good idea. Back at the range a few minutes later using my rifle he was shooting 1-inch groups. Two days later he tagged a really nice 5x5 bull at 200-yards.
Would he have taken the elk with his personal rifle, shooting a 14-inch group? I doubt it! At 200-yards his group would have been 28-inches.
That night around the campfire, I asked those in elk camp what kind of accuracy was required to take big game animals. The bearded hunter sitting across the fire from me responded immediately, “I think it was Dave Petzal, who writes for Field & Stream that said “Inaccurate rifles are boring!”. For me to keep a hunting rifle it has to shoot one-inch or less groups at 100-yards. That sometimes means trying several bullet weights and loads to find what that individual rifle prefers. People forget a rifle that shoots 1” groups, will shoot a 2-inch group at 200 and 3-inches at 300 yards!” He knew whereof he spoke.
“Back home where I hunt, most shots are less than a hundred yards. So, if my rifle shoots within a 6-inch circle at a hundred yards I feel it is sufficiently accurate. Never really thought that if I had to shoot at 200-yards I’d be shooting a 12-inch group.” Spoke the hunter who would be using my rifle come the morrow. “Growing up I was always told if a rifle shot within the vitals of the animal your hunting it was accurate enough to hunt with. The whitetail deer and bear I hunt back home in Pennsylvania usually have vitals 6 to 8-inch in diameter. Hunting elk and hearing their vitals were 14-inches wide and long, I assumed a rifle that shot within such a group would be sufficient.” He then added, “Knowing elk were bigger and tougher, I switched from 150-grain bullets to a 180-grain. Doing so opened up my group a bunch.”
“How accurate do you think a rifle needs to be, or what would you consider hunter accuracy?” Asked the outfitter pointing in my direction.
“Hunter accuracy is an interesting term. To me it involves both the accuracy of the rifle and ammo you’re using, but also the shooter’s ability to make an accurate shot. I’ve seen some hunters who at the bench could nearly put every shot into the same hole, but when there is “hair in the scope” they do well to hit within ten-feet of the animal.”
“What group size is sufficient hunter accuracy depends upon the animal hunted, speaking of the heart/lung vital area and distance to your target. Most whitetails standing broadside, the heart and lungs are about 8 to 12-inches in length and 6 to 8-inches tall. But if the deer is facing the shooter, the vital area is essentially 8-inches tall and just as wide. In both instances these include marginally lethal shot placement areas. The same is true with most of the deer species as well as black bear and pronghorn. In caribou and elk, their vitals increase to about 10 to 14-inches in length and 10 to 12-inches tall. Moose and buffalo of course have larger hearts and lungs.”
“The central part of the vitals is essentially 6-inches for medium-sized animals, and 8-or so inches in our bigger game animals. A properly designed bullet placed into a 6-inch circle within the vitals should be sufficient to bring down an animal.”
“No shots should be taken beyond the distance beyond where a hunter cannot keep his or her shots within a six-inch circle! That may be as close as 50 yards or out to 200 or more yards.” I ended my dissertation with “Know the capabilities of your firearm and your capabilities with it.”
That hunt took place years ago while I was hunting with Jay Verzuh and his “Colorado Elite”. But…the hunter accuracy question continues to be discussed in hunting camps around the world.
Recently while in the DSC (www.biggame.org) offices for an evening presentation I asked Tim Fallon about hunter accuracy. Tim operates the famous FTW Ranch where is taught Sportsman All-Weather, All-Terrain Marksmanship Hunter Training (SAAM). Each year the FTW trains many people in hunter marksmanship, from those with little or no shooting experience to those with many world-wide hunts “under their belt”. The FTW’s (www.ftwsaam.com) several day courses involve classroom and on the range training, and are the best in the business. Tim too, has long been a trusted hunting partner with whom I have hunted with throughout the world.
Said Fallon, “Hunter accuracy depends upon the shooter’s skill level, equipment used and the environment and circumstances. We train hunters who will never shoot anything bigger than a whitetail deer to those who hunt throughout the world, including dangerous game and distant mountain lands. We train to aim small, to select a specific spot, rather than shooting at the entire animal. Aim small, miss small.”
Fallon continued, “Keeping your bullets within a 6-inch circle, covers the central part of the heart and lungs, the vitals. We always suggest hunting with an accurate firearm/bullet and load/scope combination. We suggest rifles shooting 1-inch groups at 100-yards. At the range determine the distance at which you can keep your shots at longer ranges within a 6-inch circle shooting prone or from a solid in-the-field rest. That rest may be a backpack, tree, log, rock or shooting sticks.”
“Many hunters can keep their shots within a 6-inch circle at 100 yards taking a relatively quick shot from a rest if they are shooting an accurate rifle, which also includes a “good” trigger. With a solid in-the-field rest that hunter’s accuracy distance increases to 200 yards. If that same hunter has sufficient time to properly set up for a longer shot, knows his or her equipment has spent hours at the range practicing longer shots, has a range card telling them how much a bullet will drop and what the appropriate dial-up is on their adjustable turrets, and knows wind drift, he or she may be able to make a shot at longer ranges, but again only after considerable practice at the shooting range. But remember a rifle that shoots a 3-inch group at 100 yards will shoot a 9-inch group at 300-yards. Too, if a hunter wants to learn how to shoot greater distance it is imperative they also learn how to read the wind!”
“At the FTW we do not encourage long range hunting. We always suggest getting as close as earthly possible before squeezing the trigger on any animal. We train hunters to shoot long range, so when they crawl to within 200-yards or less of the animal they can precisely place their bullet into their quarry’s vitals.”
Later that same afternoon I called Linda Powell, long-time friend with Mossberg Firearms. During the past months I have become enamored with the Mossberg Patriot rifles (www.mossberg.com). They are relatively inexpensive, very finely accurate with excellent triggers, and very nicely accurate. I own three Patriots, a .270 Win, .30-06 and 7 PRC. Each is topped with either a Trijicon Huron or Trijicon AccuPoint (www.trijicon.com) scope. My Patriot rifles absolutely loves Hornady’s Precision Hunter ammo (www.hornady.com).
Linda spends considerable time in hunting camps. She too is almost daily in the company of knowledgeable and experienced hunters. I asked her about what she considers hunter accuracy. She replied, “As much as everyone would like a rifle to shoot 1 MOA, that level of accuracy may not be necessary for hunting and not applicable when in the field as many factors may come into play. Know the vital zone of the game animal you pursue regardless of their angle. Sight-in with an appropriate bullet weight designed for the animal hunted. Terminal performance of the bullet is paramount. With most big animals, a rifle that shoots a 3-inch group or less at 100 yards should be sufficient when shooting out to 100-yards but not beyond.” She continued, “Practicing shooting from various in-the-field positions; standing, prone, etc., and from sticks will improve your in-the-field accuracy. Remember the accuracy you achieve shooting from a rest on a bench likely will not transfer into the field especially if you are looking through your scope at the buck of a lifetime!”
I love hunting with handguns and rifles. I have been doing so for many years. My hunting handguns are single-shots and revolvers, both single and double-action. In the past I mounted long-eye relief scopes on my handguns. These days my handguns are topped with Trijicon’s SRO, 2.5 MOA red dot sights. Those include Taurus’ Raging Hunter revolvers chambered in .44 Mag, .45 Colt, .454 Casull and occasionally .357 Mag and .460 S&W Mag (www.taurus.com).
I shoot and hunt with Hornady ammo. My .44 Mag dearly loves Hornady’s 240-grain XTP Custom. My .454 Casull accurately shoots both Hornady 240-grain and 300-grain XTP. In my .454 Casull I also shoot Hornady’s 225-grain FTX Leverevolution .45 Colt. These combinations at 100-yards shoot as accurate as most rifles.
After visiting with Linda Powell I called Ryan Hoover with Handgun Hunters International (www.handgunhuntersinternational.com). His response regarding hunter accuracy follows.
“As far as what someone should consider good hunter accuracy, I really think it’s up to the person. But at a minimum, I think a shooter’s group size should be smaller than the vital zone of the animal pursued. I limit my shots to the distance out to which I can keep all my shots in a 4-inch circle. I practice shooting at a 4-inch round steel target. This is a personal choice based on my own self-assessment of my shooting ability. However, if someone could only keep their shots in a 6 to 8-inch diameter at the range, yet killed every deer they shot at, I would not be giving them a hard time about their group size.”
Ryan added, “Since manufacturing techniques have allowed us to develop and maintain tighter and tighter tolerances, guns have become capable of greater mechanical accuracy. I don’t know of any factory gun where the average representative isn’t capable of hunting accuracy right out of the box. I think many shooters have come to expect tiny groups, and, translated that to what they “need” for hunting. Think back to the heyday of handgun hunting. Remember when folks got excited by a revolver that could shoot 4-inch groups? Yet, even though we have custom revolvers that can shoot every bit as good as rifles, the size of a deer’s heart has not changed… To sum up, I’d say that it is far better to practice keeping your groups within a moderate size under as many field conditions as you can simulate than it is to chase ever smaller groups.”
All good advice and comments regarding “hunter accuracy” from those who have been there and have dealt with many different hunting situations and circumstances.
Shooting from a solid rest at a bench at 100-yards I personally want my rifles to shoot a group no larger than 1 ½-inches and my handguns a group no larger than 2 1/2-inches but I prefer tighter groups. I personally limit my shots to distances where my groups will not be large than 3-inches with my rifles. I limit my hunting handgun shots to 125-yards depending upon which one I am hunting with and what kind of solid rest I can achieve. Shooting at any animal, I am a firm believer in getting as solid a rest as possible. I have hunted essentially my entire life and I still get excited when getting ready to shoot an animal. Shooting from a “rest” rifle or handgun, regardless of the animal, I feel more confident of making a killing shot with my first shot.
Most outfitter/guides as do I, when outfitting hunters require clients to shoot their firearms before the hunt. I waned to determine if their firearms were properly sighted-in, but also wanted to see how the hunters handled firearms. I always ask each hunter to shoot three shots, but paid most attention to their first shot, always the most important.
Do you need a hunting firearm that shoots 1-inch groups at 100? No, probably not. But you do need to be able to keep your shots, at whatever the reasonable distance within a 6-inch circle, the central part of the vitals of the game animal, regardless how the animal is standing. If you do not feel confident in making a killing shot, do not shoot!
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