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flat shooting vs. long range accuracy
Mobuck
Member Posts: 14,081 ✭✭✭✭
I got re-educated this deer season and finally gave up on getting a big buck I'd been seeing. I use a 257 Wby during my buck hunting forays and have done fine for the last 4-5 years. This year was different. This big boy hung out in a thicket only coming out for a minute or two and no way to approach closer than 450-500 yards. The Wby just didn't have the accuracy/wind bucking capability for me to be confident of a clean kill at that range. I've shot deer at that range but not these specific circumstances. Ethics got the better of my desire to kill this wall hanger and I waffled and shot a smaller but mature buck closer to my deer stand(clean, one shot kill). The only other hunter in the immediate area seems to have shot a nice 10 point that I passed earlier yesterday morning so big boy will likely live another year. I have to move the shooting point closer to the thicket or change shooting equipment for next year.
Comments
For distance shooting, BC is the king.
Find the most accurate load for your rifle, using a high BC bullet, than learn your "come ups" and "hold offs" for the various ranges.
Above all, practice, practice, practice (so what if you burn out a barrel or 2, new barrels are cheap)
The 257 Wby is impressive(that's why I own one) especially for shots at unknown ranges. I've made some very impressive shots with a 257 w/ a 27" medium taper barrel including some coyotes at 500+(first shot, not walking the hits in). A couple of things make my current rifle(sporter weight) less so than is optimum. Here's the problem (for me anyway). I'm well into senior citizen(ism) and no longer handle recoil as well as 20-30 years ago. My 257 has a fairly sharp recoil pattern-the fore end will jump out of the support hand if not held securely causing significant vertical stringing at times.
As things are for me right now, I can make more shots with my heavy barrel 308 at longer range(I use a very good range finder so distance/bullet drop is a known factor) and wind drift is not that much different for streamlined .308 or .257(maybe less for certain .308).
I've decided to concentrate on building an elevated deer house within 300-350 of this buck's perennial cover thicket early in the spring to allow plenty of time for acclimatization. Even if this particular buck doesn't make the season, this spot is well known for holding the biggest buck(s) in the area.
Speed kills. Only when everything else is equal.
equal being the bullet hits the same place on the animal[?] I am going with the 257wthby for pure speed and impact damage.
quote:Originally posted by swearengine
Speed kills. Only when everything else is equal.
equal being the bullet hits the same place on the animal[?] I am going with the 257wthby for pure speed and impact damage.
You are correct. That is why so many hunters use the 257 WBY when hunting dangerous game.[;)]
Fancy/epensive guns/optics mean nothing if you cant hit the target..
Barrel life is important to me. On paper energy doesn't always tell the whole story, big heavy bullets are reliable killers when a wounded animal might just have you for lunch.
There have been times when l stop and clean the Hoppes will just ''boil'' IN THE BARREL. [:p]
AHHHHH...[:p] Pure perfume.. The AROMA
A man has to know his limitations!
The 257 will get er dun but it's main limitation is the shooter. (sometimes the shooter just don't feel right with the shot and that comes from experience and wisdom and respect for the animal.
I reload for and shoot a 264 Winchester magnum with a stainless steel barrel and have easily taken coyotes to 550 yards, one shot, not walking it in. Very very accurate with my reloads.
The gun is the equivalent to the new now 26 Nosler. (appears Nosler copied the 264 Win mag with their gun and renamed it the 26 nosler to make it sound more important. I do not own a 257 but it would be my next magnum choice for long range get er dun
I've passed on deer that were well within the range of the 264 magnum because things were just not correct at the time. (and also have respect for the big-uns, and would lose sleep if I messed up a shot and wounded one I had seen several times, they will be bigger next year and me little wiser to his pattern.
+1 for you need to be able hit the target first, after that is established then worry about how hard you are hitting it.
Barrel life is important to me. On paper energy doesn't always tell the whole story, big heavy bullets are reliable killers when a wounded animal might just have you for lunch.
Barrels are to be thought of as "perishable components" if you wish to gain proficiency at longer ranges. The only way to become proficient is to practice, which in turn means to burn barrels. I may have $600+ in a barrel (including a brake) and I know that once it falls off of competitive accuracy, I will no longer be satisfied with it, so it gets replaced with a new one. It will still be plenty good for most people's use, so it will be sold or traded to them and they will likely never fire it enough to know the difference between match accuracy and "plenty good enough" for their hunting purposes.