..........................................A wider filed of view comes in handy when a buck is moving through such cover and the focus should be on not only staying with the buck but also seeing where he is headed as you look ahead and make the split second decision to kill him in the opening ahead of him,because anyone who swings a rifle to lead a running buck in the woods, with rare exceptions(he hit a real BIG opening), is doing it all wrong.
He who swings with moving game in the woods is doomed to failure.
The buck's line of travel should be determined, and sights aligned on the next opening,the shot released just as he hits the opening or slightly before,depending,and this must all be done, sized up, and executed in fractions of time,with a staionary barrel,or slightly moving.To the extent the barrel is moving, it is not done to lead the game, but merely to position the rifle and sights to the opening.This is in contrast to more open country hunting where follow through with a moving rifle works well.
The wider field of lower power scopes always seemed to me to be more amenable to this style of shooting than higher magnification scopes provide.
Not to say that 6X is unuseable but neither is it idealand sooner or later,under someconditions, you will come to grief with it.
Perhaps I misunderstand your advice and I would admit that frequently there is more than one right answer.
However you wrote some, to me, incorrect statements such as: "
He who swings with moving game in the woods is doomed to failure."
and then:
The buck's line of travel should be determined, and sights aligned on the next opening,the shot released just as he hits the opening or slightly before,depending,and this must all be done, sized up, and executed in fractions of time,with a staionary barrelI don't agree with your method at all. I follow the moving game with my sights and eyes open moving the rifle or shotgun for that matter with the game. When there is an opening and or the game is in the air and its feet are not about to hit the ground I shoot.
I have been doing this for a long time, I participate in running deer shoots and I am confident of my ability.
I would not snap a shot off while waiting at an 'opening' on game unless it were walking slow.
