New to predator hunting and rifles

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hunter10
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New to predator hunting and rifles

Unread postby hunter10 » Sun Feb 05, 2017 1:36 pm

First time being on this section of the forum but lately we have had yotes up near the house so I picked up a new savage model 11 .223 and have no clue how to sight it in properly. I'd like to reach out far on the yotes. What do I zero the gun in at? Etc. I'm not into military precise shooting I just want to put them down when I pull the trigger. I will be buying cheaper ammo and I'm new to this type of shooting, all I have ever sighted in is my muzzloader at 100yds Thanks in advance


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checkerfred
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Re: New to predator hunting and rifles

Unread postby checkerfred » Sun Feb 05, 2017 4:29 pm

If it's a new rifle I boresight mine first if it's not already. You can do this with a target on the wall, remove the bolt, prop the gun up on a table or something and then look down the bore. Center the target with the bore, then adjust the scope to match

Then I take it to the range and zero it in at 25 yards. Then I move out to 100 yards. It will likely be 2-4 inches high if done right. From there further adjustment depends on your range and shooting ability.

If you're new to shooting which it sounds like you are, practice practice practice. 200 yards is a long shot on a small animal like a yote. Definitely use shooting sticks or a bipod or some kind of steady platform when hunting them.

Please don't shoot outside your abilities. Even though they are considered nuisance animals and they kill fawns etc, we owe it to the animal we hunt to kill it as quick as possible.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by cheap ammo but don't use full metal jackets for anything but paper. Also whichever hunting ammo you use, you NEED to sight your rifle in for that particular round. Even changing brands. Shoot a round or two adjust your scope if necessary.

For shooting long distance there are lots of factors. Bullet drop, wind, and other factors depending on how far out you plan to shoot. Again practice and know your range and your abilities.
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Re: New to predator hunting and rifles

Unread postby Kokes » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:07 am

Like checker Fred said take your rifle and make sure you are sighted in and comfortable with the gun. That savage should shoot 1 inch groups at 100 yards for fun.
Personally I'd adjust thay trigger down to the lightest it can be - it will just help you keep right groups out further distances.
You said you are shooting cheap ammo but I think yiu shoukd buy a few different types and see which one your gun likes to eat - you will be surprised at how well it shoots one type vs another and all guns are different.

Whatever scope you have make sure you get comfortable with how it's set up for longer distances too.

Go have some fun at the range and we'll be looking forward to some coyote pics from your shortly!
hunter10
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Re: New to predator hunting and rifles

Unread postby hunter10 » Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:44 am

Thanks guys so if I zero at 25 then go out to 100 and zero there, what happens to my zero at 25? If that makes sense. Then at say 200 yds wil I just have to compensate for the bullet drop or do I again zero at 200 say?
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checkerfred
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Re: New to predator hunting and rifles

Unread postby checkerfred » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:51 am

hunter10 wrote:Thanks guys so if I zero at 25 then go out to 100 and zero there, what happens to my zero at 25? If that makes sense. Then at say 200 yds wil I just have to compensate for the bullet drop or do I again zero at 200 say?


A bullet doesn't travel flat then drop. It actually makes an arc. Going flat, then rising, then dropping. So if you zero at 25, you'll be a little high at 100. Then if you zero at 100 you'll be low at 25. There's also something called maximum point blank range. In a nutshell it is the maximum distance that you can zero in and not shoot too far above or below your intended target. It can be kind of confusing but if you want to read about it here's the link http://www.rmvh.com/MPBR.htm. It's dependent on your ammo, caliber etc. but say for your load and gun it's calculated at 260 yards. Well then you can aim for the vitals of a deer and not shoot more than a few inches above or below from any range of 0-260.

What I would do if I were you until you become more proficient is zero for 100. At 200 you'll likely have about 2 inches of drop. OR after zeroing at 100 shoot out to 200 and zero in. Then anything at 100 will be about 1.5-2 inches high. So pretty negligible. You need to be on a good solid stable rest and in a good shooting position. I use a gun rest and shoot prone. I lean into it also to front load it like a bipod for good stable anchor. The trigger pull is important as was said too. A lighter trigger is more accurate. For coyote hunting look at something like the bog pod.

Also to echo what's been mentioned, her decent ammo and shoot several brands. I've seen guns act crazy like the scope was defective and the zero bouncing around only to find out it was the ammo. I've also seen rings cause this. Make sure to tighten them down equally and not over tighten so it damages the scope tube.

All of my guns can shoot the blue box federal soft points, reminington core lock, Winchester silver box soft points. Premium ammo you get mostly a better bullet and tighter tolerances on the load but mine shoot good with the standard soft points and I have never lost a deer with one yet. It's all shot placement.
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Re: New to predator hunting and rifles

Unread postby jwilkstn » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:55 pm

Great advice advice. Adjust the trigger poundage to 2.5# or less, bore sight it to get on paper, and zero your elevation. Then practice, practice, practice
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hunter10
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Re: New to predator hunting and rifles

Unread postby hunter10 » Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:18 am

Got around to sighting in my gun. Decided to zero in at 150 yds and surprisingly the gun was fairly accurate out of the box. It took 6 shots to get it accurate enough to hit the 6"x6" dot. The cheap American eagle? Ammo worked pretty good. The new icotec gc 300 yote call just came in the mail today too. I'm set


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