One of our hunting friends missed a trophy buck with an easy 50 yard shot in December. His mistake was thinking his miss was some kind of fluke, and he did not check his zero to see if his scope was on with the ammo he was using. He came out to hunt during the last firearm weekend in January, and he missed another deer. He had one more day to hunt, and I left a target clipped to a sheet of cardboard in the barn for him.
Here's what he learned. The slugs he was shooting from his shotgun were printing about 6" high at 25 yards. I don't know just what the problem is; maybe he sighted his shotgun with a different type of slug than he used to hunt, maybe someone fiddled with the elevation on his scope. Whatever the problem, my friend would have bagged a couple deer if he had just taken a few minutes to check his zero before his first hunt last fall.
Another hunter I know recently told me that for years he has fired his muzzleloader twice a year; once to check his zero, and a second shot to kill a deer. I think he would enjoy life more if he spent more time shooting, but it's a good lesson. Zeroes aren't forever, and you must check how your gun/ammo combination shoots if you change anything. Now, go and miss no more.
1 comment:
I had the same bitter lesson with my M70 Winchester. It turned out to be the stock was not sealed in the barrel channel, and the moisture absorbed pressed on the right side of the barrel. That was a bitter lesson I never forgot.
Merle
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