Flatbush Harry
Member
I agree with all posters who note that, unless you practice extensively, have excellent technique and reliable rifle, ammo, scope and experience at longer distances, you confine all hunting to roughly 300 yards or less. The why is direct: practical field accuracy is 1.5-2 MOA for a good shooter from a field position with decent support (sticks, pack, tree stump or log, etc) at best, particularly if you've been dragging your rear end up the side of a hill to get to your animal of choice. 2 MOA at 300 yards is slightly more than 6" groups...and the vitals of a typical deer are 6+" in diameter.
Now, at 300 yards, any non-magnum caliber .257 or above will get the job done if you do yours. I go to the range 2 to 4x per week and watch a bunch of folks flinch their way through an expensive range session with magnum rifles they don't need and can't manage. For all my N.A. hunting needs, one of my .308s or a .30-06 is just perfect and I know the trajectories of my loads. While I have competed in matches out to 600 yards, I personally will never take a hunting shot that far. As Dirty Harry (not my real namesake) once said, "A man's got to know his limitations!". I consider mine to be 300 yards when shooting at game.
With that as a belief set, I recommend a basic .270 Win to .30-06 Sprg hunting rifle with a 2-7x34ish or 3-9x40 scope in good mounts. All of the rifle manufacturers and major scope manufacturers make really useful products. My FIL taught me to keep my scope on the low power for target acquisition and scale up as needed to get to a decent sight picture. If you need more than 7-9x for deer-sized game, your range is probably a bit too long, IMHO.
Brand of equipment is much less important than lots of practice. I have Remingtons, a Winchester M70, Ruger 77s and a Ruger No. 1A, and a Savage 116 for hunting...everyone shoots to < 1MOA with my hand loads. I use both a 43-y/o Redfield 2-7x, a few Leupy VX-3s in 2.5-8x36 and Zeiss Conquests in 3-9x40. I have a Zeiss 3.5-10x44 on a target rifle...that is enough out to 600 yards for me. Stick to any of the majors and you won't go wrong...and you'll get to success the same way a violinist gets to Carnegie Hall...practice, practice, practice.
Good luck,
FH
Certified NRA Instructor
NRA Life Member
Now, at 300 yards, any non-magnum caliber .257 or above will get the job done if you do yours. I go to the range 2 to 4x per week and watch a bunch of folks flinch their way through an expensive range session with magnum rifles they don't need and can't manage. For all my N.A. hunting needs, one of my .308s or a .30-06 is just perfect and I know the trajectories of my loads. While I have competed in matches out to 600 yards, I personally will never take a hunting shot that far. As Dirty Harry (not my real namesake) once said, "A man's got to know his limitations!". I consider mine to be 300 yards when shooting at game.
With that as a belief set, I recommend a basic .270 Win to .30-06 Sprg hunting rifle with a 2-7x34ish or 3-9x40 scope in good mounts. All of the rifle manufacturers and major scope manufacturers make really useful products. My FIL taught me to keep my scope on the low power for target acquisition and scale up as needed to get to a decent sight picture. If you need more than 7-9x for deer-sized game, your range is probably a bit too long, IMHO.
Brand of equipment is much less important than lots of practice. I have Remingtons, a Winchester M70, Ruger 77s and a Ruger No. 1A, and a Savage 116 for hunting...everyone shoots to < 1MOA with my hand loads. I use both a 43-y/o Redfield 2-7x, a few Leupy VX-3s in 2.5-8x36 and Zeiss Conquests in 3-9x40. I have a Zeiss 3.5-10x44 on a target rifle...that is enough out to 600 yards for me. Stick to any of the majors and you won't go wrong...and you'll get to success the same way a violinist gets to Carnegie Hall...practice, practice, practice.
Good luck,
FH
Certified NRA Instructor
NRA Life Member