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Stinky, au contraire my friend! You are obviously very interested in long-range shooting/hunting, you are educating yourself, practicing and recognizing the importance of quality equipment all of which should give you both confidence and consistency. That’s admirable. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be a long range shooter but it should help in defining both your own personal limitations and the limitations of your equipment. For the record, I am not a long range shooter or hunter. Regards, Mike
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Right on. For the record i have no record...just kidding. The only big game animals i killed with a gun were when i was a kid. I didn't get along well with scopes for some reason(something to do with how much time i spent on end of iron sighted .22) so when i tried a rem 700 in 30-06 with iron sights and did a 3" group at a 100 yrds they took me hunting(couldn't do jack with a scoped 308 they tried me with). 3 shots later i had two whitetails (one a 6x6 164 gross) and a black bear (20 11/16")...the bear was the longest shot at a bit over 115 to 125 yrds all boiler room drt kills.
Then took up the bowhunting about 5 yrs ago for big game and guns for coyotes...didn't take long before the old 30-06 was retired for more accurate and appropriate calibers as the first coyote got it in the face at 75 yrds with 150 gr hornady light mag....kerrrr splat! Didn't like what i was seeing at the range either...so many guns later i have a little cz american in .204 that will do 5 into 3/4 with factory 32 gr v-max and about 4030 fps over my chrony...love this little gun...my two long coyotes with it so far were 235 and 285 yrds, both bang flops and both hit exactly where i aimed with a 1.5" high at 100 yrd zero....the 285 yrd one was early sept before the archery opener and i was itching to get some blood on the little cz...it was a first year female (very small) and i guessed her to be about 350 as no time to range so i held just below spine sort of thing and thats where i hit her....ranged it afterwords.
The .204 is a flatster...i can hold on very small points of interest in the snow at 330 yrds and you can be watching and i take them out....reality is i'm probably about 1.5"-ish low but it looks like a direct hit as my partner and myself can both watch impacts in scope (light kicker)...pretty neat to see what you can do at distance if you start shooting at distance. Your still on fur at 350 with the .204.
I had a .223 that shot 1/2 moa but single shot and just not what i thought was ideal calling gun. I had a tikka varmint in .204 and it was 1/2 moa too but too heavy for my tastes as a calling gun...much better for the wide open country coyote hunter so sold that. I had a tikka t3 lite in .243 that shot the lights out also but got bored and sold it. Decided i need to have a decent all-around centerfire for chasing bigger predators or if ever to hunt big game with gun again someday...so bought the tikka .270 and its not as accurate as my .243 was but its no slouch, it will make me happy for coyote hunting so thats more than enough for big game....i'm guessing it can do 5 into moa easy but my hands generally shoot 5 into 1.5 with its favorite ammos....those bigger holes aren't as easy to moa as the little .204 or the .17 hmrs i've had quite a few of too
. Which brings me to .17 hmrs, have two of them and sold a couple others....and am 17 for 17 on coyotes with just that caliber fyi...small groups...small critters....small kill zones....i'm all over it like a duck on a june bug!
I'll also know exactly where my .270 hits at 3,4, & 500 yrds compared to where the ballistic plex reticle chart says its supposed to hit for my burris scope by the time sheep season starts(the charts get you close but i like to know exactly)....plus what groups sizes i do at those ranges to determine what some limits might be.....for the 'just in case' some magical situation arises with the right conditions and the right ram and it all falls within what i'm comfy with then wammo blammo thank you mammo.
But it'll probably be more like the guy with the stw and the 80 yrd shot in reality...can't say i won't be ready though.