how do YOU decide what is "accurate enough" for hu

[jakesdad]

How do you decide what is accurate enough for a good hunting load you feel confident in?I know we would all like 3 shot cloverleafs at 100yds,but it probably aint going to happen.I personally like to keep 5 shot groups at a MAX of 2 inches at 100.try to get less and usually do,but I am not scared to hunt with a gun that shots 2" at 100 consistently.my personal max range i have set for myself for shooting at game is 125yds-----period,so this accuracy margin works well for me.What are your thoughts on this.

 

[UtahRob]

My son's CVA would only get 4 '' groups at 100 yards . He was still able to drop a bull elk at 90 yards . A elks heart is a 4'' target . The more accurate the better , but i would not worry if you dont get clover leaf patterns .

 

[cayuga]

That is an interesting question. I read posts all the time about out outstanding groups. And I have friends tell me that they shoot 1-1/2 in groups with their rifles. Still on the range my friends seldom shoot better then a 3 inch group. Yet they kill deer each year with them.

So what is needed is a matter of personal choice I believe. WE all want a 1 inch group shooting rifle. The trouble is while it might happen on the range off a bench rest, that is not a promise that in the field the same thing is going to happen. Personally I feel if off shooting sticks I can hold a four inch group out to 100 yards, I can deer hunt with that load. As said, better accuracy is nice, but sometimes it does not happen.

Then there are the paper plate people as I call them. Remember them on a range.. "Well I kept them all in a paper plate.. that should be good enough." They make me shudder.

So if you can keep all your hits in a kill zone area you can hunt with that rifle. Those targets that show vital organs but not detail are great. One year when we were planning a western elk hunt, we sighted in with them. I was amazed at how far out we could hold hits in that kill zone. Then the elk decided to walk out in the open under 100 yards, so all my long range practice was for fun..

 

[Grouse]

If you cant get a Modern Muzzleloader to shoot 1 1/2 groups or 1 3/4 at the worst. Send it back to the company you bought it from. Most muzzleloaders off a bench will shoot 1" groups with proper bullet sabot combination. Sometimes that takes time to achieve. A couple different kinds of sabots and bullets helps start the process.

 

[frontier gander]

I like atleast an inch and a half. Anything over that @ 100 yards, i tend to get annoyed.

 

[Underclocked]

FIVE shots in 2" consistently is hard to beat.

 

[Lee 9]

What is actually needed for hunting and what we would like to have are two different things. Hunting with my Hawken with open Iron sights and round ball I took a lot of deer before I ever heard of an inline and my groups some times went as high as 4" if the wind or light were not co-operating but with that 35.5 inch barrel and 130 gr RS most of the deer and hogs were bang flops admitedly there were a couple of exceptions but all were recovered with out any problem.
Now when the tempture is between 50 and 75 the light is perfect with out any heat waves or distortion and the wind is still it really isnot that hard to get a clover leaf or two but getting all the conditions just right aroud here just dont happened all that often, most of the time and inch and a half is a good group and two is not all that bad. We have very warm temps here in AR and after 3 or 4 shots the barrel starts getting hot so I usually take two guns and alternate them even then its let them cool for a quite a while if you want very good groups. Lee

 

[txhunter58]

I would be happy with a muzzleloader that will shoot a 3 inch group at 100 yards any day.

Of course, I have never shot at anything past 100 yards, but this year I expect to extend that to 150. Even so, that would be a 4 & 1/2 inch group at 150.

A 4 & 1/2 inch group is has no bullet striking further than 2 & 1/4 inches away from the bullseye.

that is plenty good in my book.

 

[Semisane]

I'm pleased as punch with a consistent three-inch five-shot group at 100 yards. An inch-and-a-half five-shot group has me dancing on the shooting bench.

In my book, a three-shot group isn't a group yet, until the other two shots are fired. I've had lots of guys tell me about their one-inch groups, only to find out that it was two shots. I've had the first two shots of a group almost touching many times. Real nice - but not a group.

 

[big6x6]

If you cant get a Modern Muzzleloader to shoot 1 1/2 groups or 1 3/4 at the worst, Send it back to the company you bought it from.

I agree 100%! I'm not interested in anything that won't shoot 3-shot groups 1.5 inches at 100yds at least MOST of the time. Of course this is with a good scope. A Triumph will do it, an Omega will do it, several Knights will do it, a White will do it, a Savage 10ML-II will do it, a Sidekick will do it...so there you go. There is certainly NO excuse for a modern inline muzzleloader to not consistantly shoot two inch groups at 100yds with good optics...

 

[lane]

I would be happy with a muzzleloader that will shoot a 3 inch group at 100 yards any day.

that is plenty good in my book.

Mine too :wink:

3 inches @ 100 yards, or MOD (Minute-of- a deer) :wink: 8)

 

[tnhagies]

I would be happy with a muzzleloader that will shoot a 3 inch group at 100 yards any day.

that is plenty good in my book.

Mine too :wink:

3 inches @ 100 yards, or MOD (Minute-of- a deer) :wink: 8)

I'm with you guys. Where I hunt in the east 75 yards is a long shot so I'm not real interested in what the gun can do at 100 yards. All of my guns at 50yrds shoot one hole and that's all I can ask for. When I go to CO to hunt, 100 yards is my max because I'm not a good open sight shooter. If you can consistantly shoot a 3 inch group at 100yrds then you're fine in my book.

 

[vabowhntr]

I am not really interested in groups from a bench when I am looking at hunting accuracy. I can get all my guns to shoot 1 1/2 inch 3 shot groups at 100, but one of them I can't hit a deer sized target every time at 100 when shooting offhand. That is the key to me. I want to hit the kill zone (which is pretty large) every time without a rest. The distance I can to that is about my max distance.

If I have a rest, I have the drop charts and wind charts out to 200 yards and would not worry about at least a 150 yard shot. But very few of the stands I hunt from have a rest.

 

[Reese]

I have not found any deer to stay around long enough to allow me a three shot or five shot group. Attention to hunting accuracy should be focused on how well we can shoot the gun using a cold, clean barrel or once fired fouling shot barrel in the field. It should be the first shot that counts.

It's good to know how tiny the groups can be from the bench when everything is as controlled as possible, but practicing that one shot in the field is also important. That's why, for me, I like to and can practice from shooting sticks or from my hunting stands (private land) in the off season. Around here, I can also groundhog hunt with my muzzleloader.

 

[Semisane]

.
Here's a one-inch group.

And here's a three-inch group.

Which one do you think will kill a deer deader???? Deer don't know the group size!

(By the way, the load in that first target - 300 grain Gold Dots in crush rib sabots over 120 grains GOEX FFFg - gave me a 5-shot average of 1641 fps.)[/b]

 

[Redclub]

Any HUNTING rifle, centerfire or ML that will always shoot 2" groups at 100 yards will always have a place in my rack.
Redclub

 

[Confederate rifleman]

group size

Size does matter. I say this not because a 1 inch grouper is any more effective in the field than a 3 incher ( you most likely cant hold that tight under field conditions anyway), but those small groups bring an increase in confidence regarding your ability and your rifle's. Not having to second guess a tough shot is priceless.Warren Page once said that " Factories do not produce .35 Remington ammunition that will stay in a demitasse cup at 200 yards because rarely will someone armed with a .35 shoot at 200 yards and never at a demitasse cup.". While there is a lesson here, its very inspiring to have a rifle that can hit said demitasse cup. It can be taken too far though. Sometimes we reject a bullet with superb terminal effects in favor of one that has better accuracy but doesn't kill as quickly.I would rather shoot a death ray bullet that produces 2 1/2 inch groups ( or even 3 inch) than one that shoots MOA but lets a critter get over the hill before it gives up the ghost.Happily , I get tiny groups and bang flops from Hornady .44 caliber XTP's out of my Omega Z5. If I had to choose, I'd take terminal performance over pure accuracy ( within reason of course) in a hunting load.

 

[DPH]

Re: how do YOU decide what is "accurate enough" fo

How do you decide what is accurate enough for a good hunting load you feel confident in?I know we would all like 3 shot cloverleafs at 100yds,but it probably aint going to happen.I personally like to keep 5 shot groups at a MAX of 2 inches at 100.try to get less and usually do,but I am not scared to hunt with a gun that shots 2" at 100 consistently.my personal max range i have set for myself for shooting at game is 125yds-----period,so this accuracy margin works well for me.What are your thoughts on this.

I judge how far I can comfortably shoot with any particular rifle by how far I can consistently hit a vitals-sized target (2 liter bottle to gallon milk jug filled with water) from hunting positions. For example: With my old TC 54 cal Hawken, 75 yards is about my limit. With my 700ML, I feel comfortable out to 150 yards. With my 700 30-06, two fifty or so yards is about as far as I am willing to shoot, and then only with a good rest.

To translate these from shooting off of sand bags on a bench rest: The Hawken may stay within three inches at 75 yards (and open sights). My 700ML will shoot around an inch consistently for three shots at 100 yards, likewise for my .30-06.

Bench rest groups don't really show the whole picture. Take some shots offhand, prone, kneeling, sitting and off of shooting sticks. It will boost your confidence when you are consistently blowing up bottles of ater at extended distances.

 

[big6x6]

Size does matter. I say this not because a 1 inch grouper is any more effective in the field than a 3 incher ( you most likely cant hold that tight under field conditions anyway), but those small groups bring an increase in confidence regarding your ability and your rifle's. Not having to second guess a tough shot is priceless.

ABSOLUTELY! Before I can BEGIN to evaluate myself as a shooter in the field, I HAVE to evaluate the rifle at the range. I owe it to myself AND to the game being hunted to develop the most accuate load possible in said rifle before I even attempt to shoot offhand or with shooting stix. Although I have taken deer offhand at close to 150yds that's not usually the case. Most offhand shots are much less than 100yds and that's certainly do-able. Longer shots practically require a rest of some sort so that's when a tree, backpack, or shooting stix/etc come in handy. A good rest gives me the confidence to take game over 200yds with a muzzleloader which I have done. But that confidence comes from being familar with a rifle at the RANGE and shooting little bitty groups THERE before ever stepping afoot in the field. Give me a muzzleloader that consistantly produces 1.5 inch groups or LESS at the RANGE, and I can make it happen in the field, whether using a rest OR offhand.

 

[BIGT]

Chuck has nailed it, imho :!: