Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Low powered scopes and long shots?

Not a really good combination if you are looking for any kind of precision.

Maybe for a general hit..................or a hope & a prayer as the distance extends.

Not my cup of tea when too many good options are available now that weren't available to the likes of JOC & Elmer Fudd, back in the day.

I kinda think that they would think differently today.

YMMV

MM

I've learned at this late stage of my life, and as a single shot shooter, that my gunrest is far more important than a couple extra power settings on my scope.
Since I started using a Primos Triggerstick (monopod) my success rate has increased more than I have imagined it would. It's a gamechanger for me.

When I was young (15-18ish) I killed a crap load of groundhogs at 250-400+ yards with my Remington 788 .243. It had a Weaver K4 on it. 85 grain Sierra spitzer loaded with 43 grains of IMR 4350. Put my 3-9 on 4 power when hunting in the deer woods.

Ron

I hit a marble at 2000 yards with a 2 power scope. 5 times in a row.

High mag scoped are very good for something else.

They magnify the shooter's errors, and make them obvious.

I always carried my variables at max power. For many years that meant a V7 at 7x. Then I changed up to a Burris 4-12x42 in about '90.

When the crosshairs are wandering all over the target, and beyond, it is tough to ignore at 12X. One can decide to pass on the shot, or find a better steady rest.

I wish I had a dollar for ecery time I have heard, " I can not shoot with that high power scope. The gun moves too much."

Well, the gun has always moved, you just see it now.

It all depends on your eyesight, the better you see the target the less magnification you need. As our eyesight gets worse with age we need more magnification. Eyesight, steady hands and trigger control are all necessary for good shooting providing the weapon is accurate. Teddy Roosevelt by his own admission had bad eyesight and shooting at longer distances either missed or wounded many animals.

You'll play hell trying to shoot a running animal through timber that way. Of course, some foot daggers never walk up or jump a bedded animal.

It always aggravates me seeing my crosshairs wiggle while trying to get an offhand shot at a buck, bull or bear hauling ass through timber.

Shot a doe another guy had crippled at 325 yds with a 1 3/4 x5 Redfield on my 35 Whelen. I rested on a rice levee.

You would be amazed at the proficiency which might be gained via practice.

I have never shot an animal jumped from its bed, and I make a serious habit of NOT shooting at running game.

Of course those are easy statements to make when one hunts grassy ridges and shoots into the bottom of the canyon or onto the side of the opposing ridge.

My hunting parner did however, jump a doe from her bed. The doe jumped from her bed, made one more jump, and fell dead with a 270 bullet in the back of her head.

He had the rifle slung on his shoulder before the deer jumped.

But he always was very fast on the draw, and very accurate. When pheasant hunting, he would have the bird on the ground dead, before I could shoulder my shotgun.

I am a slow and deliberate shooter.

Seeing it can trigger a bad feedback loop, making things worse.

Two facts: Unless the reticle completely masks the target, you do not have too little magnification. And, if you think the target is too far off with the scope you have - it is.

Carried a .270 with a fixed 6x on it for years. I don’t know how many critters I took with that rifle from groundhogs & coyotes to a pile of deer and elk. Several kills out to 500 with it, one on a very good buck at close to 600. Most under 200 though. And one at darn near point blank.