Before a 1K BR match, we had a 12" square piece of tractor blade painted bright green that we'd set up against a dirt bank just shy of 1000 yds. We called this the "gong" and it was for gettng guys close before they went to paper. At the club level, it could take a new shooter, or even an old shooter with a new combo, a LONG time to find paper without the gong.
I'd guess that 70% of the time my first shot was within a foot (horizontally) of the gong, and that would have been with the scope setting used at the last match. Vertical was usually within 6" of point of aim. In 1K BR you are constantly cranking the crosshairs during the sighter period to figure out the wind, and then the scope stays set for the record group, usually shot as rapidly as one can single feed the ammo.
However, 30% of the time the shot could be off horizontally by as much as 2 feet. Now if this happens when shooting from a bench at a known distance, in a field condition that problem would be greatly amplified. Point is that ANY first round hit at 1000 yds on a deer is a decent shot.
I think that is something a guy has to be prepared to accept when shooting deer at very long ranges. You don't have any wind flags and reading mirage--if there is even any mirage, is a fine art. Fortunately, deer are easy to kill and don't require perfect shot placement to take them down.
