How accurate does a hunting rifle need to be?

My 338WM 12 shots total all consistently hit close enough to aim point significance of tight groups it shoots to where it's aimed.
 
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Shooting is often the easiest part of hunting. There are lots of successful hunters with little money and less accurate rifles. Think of all the animals shot with surplus rifles, shotgun slugs, and muskets over the years. Know your rifle and your limitations. I never took a shot at a distance that I wasn’t comfortable with.
 
Was a thing among the group that I hunted with in 1970's - to NEVER clean the bore after sighting in, until after hunting season - wanted to hunt with that bore in exactly same condition as last shot at target. Versus - reading of a certain type of specialist who "hunts" for days and must rely on that one cold bore shot - so bore gets cleaned daily - and he knows exactly where the first, second and maybe third shots from a clean, cold bore will land. Totally glorious, I guess, if that makes a group, but evidence from target shooters seems to say that some fouling is needed before the barrel "settles in" to produce best groups.
 
Agree with 1.5MOA from shooting positions. My rifles all shoot better from a bench. Add in being tired, cold, wind, not stable position, and being excited to your shot and you are adding alot of play into your bullet POI.
 
track said:
I agree, 1.5" at 100 yards is plenty accurate for hunting big game. I love reloading to have my rifles achieve sub .5" moa, however was probably not required, accompanied with ultra high velocity. Knowing the POI from 100 to 300 yards is probably more important that 1/2" groupings.
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I agree. When hunting Moose along a swamp and Mr. Bullwinkle is creeping along the far side at 250yds across the marsh between Cedars and Balsams,your crew has one bull tag between 8 guys and it's the only Moose you've seen in 5 days,you'll want your rifle to hit between the third and fourth rib when he steps between those tree openings. "Ballpark" groupings ain't gonna cut it.
 
What an interesting discussion it would be if the topic were: "This is the maximum distance I would bet $500 that I and my hunting rifle could put my first round into the vital zone, in the field, while standing, kneeling or braced against a tree".

Correct: there are some hunters and some locations where all shooting is done from prone, more often than not with a bipod, and never after having to run/jog 50 yards or so to get view and a clear lane to fire. And there's the crowd who hunt from stands, complete with the ability to stabilize their rifle on a rest when they shoot.

But that isn't the scenario and the conditions where the vast majority of big game is shot in this country.

I specifically said shot - not shot AT.
 
Potashminer said:
Was a thing among the group that I hunted with in 1970's - to NEVER clean the bore after sighting in, until after hunting season - wanted to hunt with that bore in exactly same condition as last shot at target.
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I follow the same practice. If you leave oil in the bore your first shot could be a flyer.
 
Agree,Agree,Agree.
1.5 MOA from my Humble point of view.
Checking every screw before sighting in, same ammo for hunt. Same barrel condition.
When benching for sighting is done: I check the screws again, i let the barrel cool down, I go in front of the bench, barrel down and I take a sudden shot to the target without too much waiting time. That’s my « true » precision skills.
 
I do not know about silhouette chickens, but I do know about the stories that I got, when gathering up 8" paper pie plates on wooden lathes, with no holes, between 100 and 200 yards. So many stories about taking running deer at 400 yards, kinda loose a ton of credibility...

Had never previously heard of, but Drayton Valley and Ponoka, Alta. rodeos have a "rodeo target completion", or maybe is called a "rodeo rifle competition" - as most things cowboys do - in front of a crowd - have to sort of put up, right then and there. Some are pop-up targets out to several hundred yards - just showing for a few seconds - and crowd gets to see if you connected or not. Your "go round" might be 6 or 8 shots - in less than a minute or so - that was it...
 
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In central Ontario where I live and hunt, shots are usually within 100m, and rarely exceed 200m. I'd always been told that the good hunter should be able to put 3 consecutive shots into a dinner plate at 100m from a field position. Thats perfectly acceptable around here.
 
Potashminer said:
Was a thing among the group that I hunted with in 1970's - to NEVER clean the bore after sighting in, until after hunting season - wanted to hunt with that bore in exactly same condition as last shot at target. Versus - reading of a certain type of specialist who "hunts" for days and must rely on that one cold bore shot - so bore gets cleaned daily - and he knows exactly where the first, second and maybe third shots from a clean, cold bore will land. Totally glorious, I guess, if that makes a group, but evidence from target shooters seems to say that some fouling is needed before the barrel "settles in" to produce best groups.
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I thnk theres a grain a truth in this, although I think the variability of impact is probably well within acceptable for the ranges most guys shoot a deer at. IE I dont think you'd see a swing of 8" from a clean bore vs a fouled bore from the ol' 3030 at the deer 37 yards away.
 
Potashminer said:
I do not know about silhouette chickens, but I do know about the stories that I got, when gathering up 8" paper pie plates on wooden lathes, with no holes, between 100 and 200 yards. So many stories about taking running deer at 400 yards, kinda loose a ton of credibility...

Had never previously heard of, but Drayton Valley and Ponoka, Alta. rodeos have a "rodeo target completion", or maybe is called a "rodeo rifle competition" - as most things cowboys do - in front of a crowd - have to sort of put up, right then and there. Some are pop-up targets out to several hundred yards - just showing for a few seconds - and crowd gets to see if you connected or not. Your "go round" might be 6 or 8 shots - in less than a minute or so - that was it...
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Actually, shooting & hitting a running target out to 400 yards or more is considerably easier than shooting a stationary target at 200 once you get the knack of it. holding a cross hair on a stationary target shooting free hand will take a lot of strength...it aint very long until that cross hair starts to do figure 8's al over the paper...not so with a running shot, you are moving the crosshairs with the animal speed at a steady plane...much easier to keep that cross hair level & moving in one direction than a figure 8.

Of course a mule deer just bouncing along as they do when not stressed will make the shot more challenging but a very aware deer or yote that is running flat out, belly to the ground like a greyhound is pretty much duck soup to a lot of hunters I have hunted with.
 
blasted_saber said:
In central Ontario where I live and hunt, shots are usually within 100m, and rarely exceed 200m. I'd always been told that the good hunter should be able to put 3 consecutive shots into a dinner plate at 100m from a field position. Thats perfectly acceptable around here.
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Most guys i know around here a using iron's on a 308 from the 70's
80m to 125m is 99% of the shots.

A pie plate in the local gravel pit, once a year, is all the rage time they get.

The freezer is always full of meat
 
Where I hunt shots are normally under a hundred yards and where a iron sighted lever gun shines.In fact one of my favourite guns is my Browning 1886 sporting rifle in 45/70 cal which I use for what I call up close and personal hunting
 
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