Hunters: What yardage do you sight in your scope?

[john l]

Guys,
Just wondering what yardage seems to be the most optimum for sighting in your hunting rifle?

I am thinking about having a dead-on at either 200 or 300 yds. I dunno.

John L

 

[Smoke]

For where I do most of my hunting... 100 yards.

I have one .30-06 and a .22-250 sighted in at 200.

Let the terrain you hunt decide the yardage you sight in.

Smoke

 

[LHB1]

Hi John,
With any modern high power rifle, I sight the scope to be dead on at 200 yds. This usually gives optimum bullet variance from line of sight all the way from muzzle to 300 yds. Additional holdover can be used for distances beyond 300 yds if you are capable of hitting the target at those distances.
Sighting at 300 yds would yield considerable midrange variance and you could easily shoot over small targets at closer range.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

 

[Delmar]

Lots is going to depend on where you hunt-both foliage, altitude and caliber. On my old deer lease, longer shots were possible, so I put it 2 or so inches high at a hundred, so the bullet was in a 6 inch kill zone out to 275 with no holdover. My new lease is going to be closer shots, and may not even take the 308 or the 270 and grab up the old Winchester 94 which is on the mark at 130 yards and open sights.

 

[jem375]

I sight all my hunting rifles in at 25 yards.....when I take it to the 100 yard range it is usually 2-3" high and all I have to do is to make sure it is close vertically, and that means I have about 250 yard dead on trajectory.....

 

[JNewell]

With any modern high power rifle, I sight the scope to be dead on at 200 yds.

Most of mine are sighted to be 2" high @ 100 yds. Most would be somewhat low at 200, but I don't remember the last time I had a 200 yd shot here in New England. It all depends on what you need...and my comment isn't meant to take anything away from anything anyone else posts here.

 

[P95Carry]

90% of shots here tend to be sub 100 ... so sight mine to 100yds. However, that is invariably allowed to be high of ''water line'' .. rather than low. Thus effectively I am useable from 50 to 150 very reliably.

 

[rbernie]

The designated 'brush guns' and iron-sighted rifles get sighted in for a 100 yard zero. My scoped hunting rifles get sighted in at their point-blank-range zero as calculated for a 6" kill zone, for each load I'll shoot thru it.

 

[Fumbler]

For my .308 I sight 2.7" high at 100 yards.
Out to 260 yards it will be within +/- 3" of the liine of sight.

Check out http://www.chuckhawks.com , he gives lots of good info on sighting.

 

[standingbear]

223 remington/5.56 @ 150 yards.51 grain vmax ballistic tip, blackhills

22 long rifle sighted in @ 85 yards.cci hi velocity hollowpoints,not stingers.


these are the only 2 rifles I have that have optics, everything else is plain ol irons.I base those (irons) on midrange tradjectories and range.

 

[Lennyjoe]

30-06 @ 200yds.

 

[Art Eatman]

.243, 7mm08, '06: All zeroed at 200. Open country hunting, for me...

, Art

 

[Heavy Barrel]

Every thing I own except this is sighted in 3" high at 100yds.This one is on at 100yds and adjusted for range.

 

[jefnvk]

6.5 at 200 Yards. We have a field where 300 yard shots are possible, so its good there with a little hold over, and still within the kill zone at 100 & under.

 

[browningguy]

All of my regular hunting rifles are 2" high at 100, my longest shot in the last year or two was 165 yards by the way.

 

[Lonestar.45]

I sight my .270 BDL 1" high at 100yds w/Hornady Light Magnum 140grs. I can pretty much hold dead on up to 250yds or so and hit a deer in the vitals. That said, my longest shots are rarely over 125yds. Heck, I'd say that the last 5 deer I've shot, they were all under 100yds, a couple only 40-50 yds. Long shots are great for bragging rights and all, but I think all the years bowhunting taught me that there is no subsitute for getting CLOSE, even with a rifle.

 

[DSRUPTV]

My .270 win (model 700) is 2.5 inches high at 100 yards which puts it dead on at about 250 and good all the way out to 350, which is really pushing my limits in the field. But this gives me a spread of 5 inches all the way to 350 yards which is well within a 6 inch "vital zone" for deer sized game. This setup allows me to hold dead on at any range out to 350 with a good probability of a vital hit. I find it to be a good, vesatile setup setup. It will also depend upon what caliber you use as some will shoot flatter than others.

 

[Dave R]

.308 and .223 sighted for 200 yards.

 

[Zak Smith]

Anything with optics and one primary reticle aiming point: 200 yards.
Any ACOG: per the BDC, e.g. 100 yards top of donut.
Any 1x red dot or iron sights: 50 yards, gives second zero around 200-250 yards.
Precision rifle: 200 yards
50BMG: 400 yards

 

[Dr.Rob]

200 yards.

If you can't get dead zero at 200, most ballistic charts show you how to 'get on' at 100. IE 1.5 inches high @100 = zero @ 200.

 

[dakotasin]

i zero everything at 250 yards.

 

[john l]

Thanks guys,
I was planning on sighting in at 200 and have already done so. I figured that sighting in at 300 would put me too high at 100 yds for that surprise shot at game that comes out of nowhere.
Now to get a bipod, and a trigger job...
hey, it's only money stopping me.
thanks again.
john l

 

[30 cal slob]

Guess it depends on where you are and what style of hunting you do too.

For example, in the Northeast, you're usually hunting dense woods (trees and tree stumps, bushes, branches, etc). Most guys "ambush" hunt for white tails and wait for shots well inside 100 yards. So usually here guys sigh in at 100 yards but they definitely get an idea of where the bullet is going at 50 and 75 yards.

If you're out further west and you have wide open spaces (hilly plains), then you might want to zero at 200 or more yards, or zero at 100 yards and see how much you need to adjust your hold to be dead nuts on at 200 or 300 yards. Cuz I'm such a lousy shot and I don't get to practice that much, I personally wouldn't be confident at taking game at more than 300 yards, but that's just me.

Don't forget to dope your slope if your shooting at an angle. I'm jealous, really.

 

[TallPine]

I sight all my hunting rifles in at 25 yards

Any rifle/scope combination will have TWO zero points - one close in (+/- 25yds) where the bullet is rising and one farther out as the bullet drops back through your line of sight. Just look at your rifle and you can see that the bullet starts out at least a couple inches below the scope LOS.

So theoretically, knowing your trajectory curve, you can sight in at 25 yards and then go shoot your deer, although it might be best to verify it at longer ranges. (I bore sighted a rifle for someone who killed a deer without even test firing the rifle )

As others have said, 2" high at 100 yds is usually right on at 200, for most modern rifle cartridges (30-06, 270, 243, etc ....).

And I would agree with Jeff Cooper that any hunting shot over 300 yards is unsportsmanlike (with exceptions).