Hunting Rifle Zero's and practice

[1100 Remington Man]

For years I sighted my Big Game Rifles like Jack O Connor and Bob Hagel suggested 3 inches high at 100 yards and my .264 Win Mag dead on at 300 yards and to around 375 yards or less just point and shoot and you have a Deer.
Today my .223 Rem,.264 Win Mag and 300 H&H Mag all have Leupold VX3's with CDS and I sight in at 200 yards.
My 6mm Rem has a Weaver Steel tube scope with Just a Duplex I sight in at 200 yards for Coyotes and Deer, if I take it Antelope hunting I sight it 3 inches high at 100 yards.

 

[thatguySHM]

I sight most everything for 100 yards and zero the scope out. From there I look at my ballistic tables and d.o.p.e. from other distances and correlate to where I'll be hunting. Most places I know where the animals will be coming out, so I can adjust from there.

I've recently started hunting more in the woods then open spaces so the VX1 2x7 is my go to optics for those rifles. My 308 M88 gets two inches high at 100 which puts me dead on at 50 yards, which half of my deer stands have for plausible shots.

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[cloverleaf]

100 Gr Bt's out of my 250-3000 Savage are 1.5 inches high at 100yds. That works out to about 4in low at 300. That's my self imposed limit with that rifle, for big game any way.
The 12 Ga slug gun is zero'd at 100 yds. That keeps things pretty point blank at closer ranges. Where I hunt, a 200 yd shot is pretty likely but not one I will likely take. No point in missing a close one being 3in high at 100. also where I hunt with the 12ga is pretty open, deer don't just stand around and wait for you to figure out drop and windage. Its always blowing on the prairie where I am hunting. Its not the drop its the drift that gets you. I work on the KISS principle. CL

 

[mcseal2]

I run the ballistics on Hornady's calculator and zero for no more than 2.8" of mid range rise. I see how far out that gets me without hold over. I started doing that on coyote rifles and since I shoot them the most I do it for big game rifles too.

Usually I end up being 2.8" high somewhere around 150 yards and can hold dead on to 300 yards (-4") with the big game guns. I do most of my big game hunting with a 264 win mag pushing a 140gr Berger at 2914fps or a 300 win mag pushing a 180gr E tip at 2896fps.

I dial elevation on these rifles whenever there is time to do so and the shot is long enough to justify it. I like scopes with covered turrets so I can set it to 240 and forget it until it's needed. I will occasionally adjust the zero to 100yds when in thick cover just to avoid hitting a limb on a mid-range shot.