Getting ready for elk and mule deer hunting

[xphunter]

Getting my 284 Win XP ready for elk and mule deer this year. The stock was done by a good friend. 162 grain A-Max at 2625 fps.
Recently I sent my barreled action off to Chris Rhodes (Bayside Custom Gunworks) for him to cerakote it.
Some like the blued action and stainless barrel look, but I think this just looks classy now.
While getting a hard zero and confirming drops out to 700 yards, I met a young man who is a dedicated mule deer hunter.
He was getting his rifle ready for high country mule deer hunting. He had never shot at 400 yards with any kind of weapon.
After working on some shooting techniques with his rifle, I asked him if he would like to shoot my XP.
He said, "Yes!" I suggested we shoot at 500 yards, and he told me he had never shot that far before. I said that was no problem and walked him through on how to shoot the XP, and let him practice several times by dry firing. I only had two rounds left.
He shot twice and hit twice. Just under 3". He thought it was so cool that he now wants a XP for high country mule deer hunting.
He shot his smallest group ever at 200 yards - 1.5 inches with his rifle (A Rem 700 chambered in 270 Win./factory ammo) as well. Yes, I worked with him on the basics of shooting with his rifle as well.
Before this he was satisfied with 2-3" groups at 100 yards.
I think the hook is set deep with this one.
The smile on his face was priceless when he was telling his hunting buddy what he had just accomplished.

 

[gamestalker]

This is a topic that seems to gain a substantial amount of debate, but I can relate to what your saying. Where we hunt, shots can often be well over 300 yds., and if were looking at a good buck, something in the record class, we'll shoot 600 yds.. We take a lot of new hunter out to the range to get their loads and rifles tuned for the long shots, and to teach them how to shoot those distances with confidence.

The folks we guide each year usually have no concept of what to expect, so we always spend a fair amount of time getting their loads developed, the rifle tuned, the right glass, good trigger job, and then start teaching them the technique.

In the field, we utilize a Caldwell field rest, it's an amazing tool for those really long shots. We also get the range finder programmed so it will correlate with the ballistics of the load and rifle, this eliminates about 90% of the guess work when shots start to exceed 300 yds.. Last year we had a son and father, in which his 10 yr. old son who had never hunted before, killed his deer at 370 yards shooting off the Caldwell. Those are the memories that make this sport so rewarding.

GS

 

[xphunter]

Well said.
Hunting at distance is a systems approach.
You need good equipment for accurate field shooting, at the same time you can't buy your way into proficiency. It takes practice and actually shooting from those field positions so you can learn what your skill set is under varying conditions.

 

[Robert]

While that pistol/rifle/ whatever it is, is not my thing I have been fascinated with your threads. Thanks for sharing.