How Accurate Does Your Rifle Need To Be For Deer Hunting?

[ryalred]

Another question that has plagued me is how accurate does my gun need to be to be adequate for deer hunting. Should my firearm be able to shoot sub MOA groups, 1" groups, 2" groups, 3" groups, 4"groups or larger AT 100 YDS?

I feel like, that if I could consistently hit an 8" plate at 100 yds, that would probably be adequate for deer hunting as most shots are taken at under 100 yards. I believe one needs to know their ability and the ability of their gun and take shots accordingly. I also think this is a subject that has a large range of opinions and that this can be a volatile subject for some.

All of that said, I'm going to choose 5" groups at 100 yds. That's what I've set as my standard for my old .45 caliber muzzle loader. I'm sure I'd be disappointed if any of my center fire rifles could not do better than that, but if one had a gun that he could consistently do that with, I believe he could consistently take deer.

 

[Moloch]

At 100yds 2'' should do the trick, if you aim for the boiler room any hit in a 2'' circle will do enough damage there.

 

[sureshots]

How Good do you shoot?????

The size of the group becomes A secondary issue when hunting. The real issue is how good do YOU shoot? I have several rifles that shoot under 1-inch groups at 100yrds. on the BENCH. I sure can't do it in A hunting situtation though.

 

[charles isaac]

4 inches is about as loose as I would go, although I always hunted in thick woods. All the deer I have killed could have been killed with a pistol.

The shooting bench is not the hunters friend.

 

[Art Eatman]

Starting off, it seems to be pretty close to reality that somewhere around 90% of whitetail deer are killed inside of 200 yards.

I recall articles from the American Rifleman from back in the 1940s/1950s which commented that any groupings inside of two MOA were quite adequate for deer hunting. Back then, remember, folks didn't have all these modern scope sights. The common Lyman, Weaver, Stith and even Bausch & Lomb scopes just weren't all that bright, and there were often troubles with the "innards". (The first Tasco scopes were popular because--besides being inexpensive--they were a lot brighter than any of our domestics.)

So "adequate" to actually make a killing shot means being at least able to hit the heart/lungs of a deer inside of 200 yards, and two MOA would certainly allow that. Most folks want better than that, of course, and given my own open-country hunting, I try to work up a package that gives me sub-MOA.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

2" at 100 yards works for me.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

How accurate does it NEED to be or how accurate do I WANT it?


Two different things. If you can hit a 6" circle at 100 yards it's plenty for a deer. Just ask the thousands of people who have been shooting deer with smooth bore 12ga for decades.

Now, what I'd like is 2" groups or less, preferably less.

 

[L_Killkenny]

It's not how accurate the gun is but how accurate "you and the gun are". Pie plate is good enough if you are shooting in feild positions and simulating field conditions (cold, wet, excited, out of breath, etc) but if you site in a rifle from a solid rest and are getting pie plate groups you really need to ditch that SKS and get a different (i.e. better) rifle.

There are very few rifles made in the last 100 years that won't hold 3" or less groups at 100 yards. I won't own a rifle that shoots anything over 2" groups. If you have a rifle and all that you can get is pie plate accuracy than it has major problems. Fix it or get rid of it.

LK

 

[jpwilly]

You and the rifle need to be able to shoot a paper plate under the same conditions and distance as you take the shot.

Deer are pretty big targets at 100yrds or less

MOA is for punching paper ask your Grandpa (if he's still around).
He probably took deer in his daily attire on his way home work too.
You don't need Camo, Sent Blocker, doe urine, and a target rifle to hunt deer.

 

[JagFarlane]

Personally, myself and most of the people I know that hunt, prefer not to think in terms of how accurate is the rifle, but how accurate am I with the rifle?

You have to account for a lot of different factors in a hunting situation vs a bench situation.
In a bench situation, you have a very stable rest, with no ill effects from your body on it. Your heartbeat will normally be calm. You'll also be in a more controlled situation.
In a hunting situation, 9 times out of 10 you won't have as stable a rest. You'll be suffering "buck fever" which is adrenaline rushing through your system, causing a racing heart, sweaty palms, and heavy breathing. Also, unlike during a bench shooting, all those nifty questions of wind speed/direction, height to hold the sights at, where to place the shot, what range the animal is at, what obstructions are between you and the animal, and how is the animal moving come into factor. They'll be racing through your head.

Best thing to do, practice. Take your rifle off the bench, practice standing, kneeling, sitting, and prone shots till you can confidently place the shot in the boiler. Take shots from different ranges, and if your range will allow it, from different angles. There are targets out there that simulate the same size as the broadside of a deer.

And finally, some of the best advice I read years ago still applies. Buy yourself a good .22 in the same action as your hunting rifle. Put a good scope on it. Take a brick and shoot. Become proficient in using that action, along with a scope.

As far as the rifles accuracy, I'd say 2MOA, which the vast majority of good production rifles these days are capable of giving you.

 

[davlandrum]

I guess I answered the wrong question - I voted 1 inch, because that is what I want mine to be.


There is another part to this question that is a factor - what is the absolute longest range you will shoot. 5" with your muzzleloader may be fine, because you won't shoot past 100 yards.

5" at 100 with a centerfire rifle would put you at 10" at 200 - which would be unacceptable to me.

 

[Picher]

It's not the rifle as much as the hunter and how well he knows what he/she can do at different ranges and shooting positions.

Find out at what ranges you can put five out of five shots from standing, sitting, prone or field-rest positions on paper plates. If you can't do it from distances you may encounter deer and want to shoot that far, practice with a .22LR until you can, then switch over to the hunting rifle for more practice.

Changing sights from open rear to receiver sights or a lower powered variable will help your ability to aim more precisely and to get longer range accuracy than with factory sight. Even a 2 1/2 x scope can increase accuracy at least 300% over open sights at ranges beyond 75 yards.

The question was how accurate MY deer hunting rifle needs to be. Mine needs to shoot 1/2 MOA, but I tend to shoot deer at longer distances than most folks. Two hundred yards is common, even for offhand shots at standing deer. Probably about one in 100 hunters in Maine will shoot deer beyond 150 yards in their lifetime.

Picher

 

[Moloch]

There is another part to this question that is a factor - what is the absolute longest range you will shoot. 5" with your muzzleloader may be fine, because you won't shoot past 100 yards

The Kerr rifle (.45) Muzzleloader shoots 600-650-grain .45 conicals and shoots 2'' moa or better. It in the late civil war sharpshooters were able to hit officers and artillery crew beyond 600yds.

MANY muzzleoader rifle shoot 3MOA or less today, and with conicals and a good load you can hit deer 2-300yds away.

 

[THE GENERAL]

Iv'e always been raised up to make sure you take your deer in the most humain way possible. Its not fair for any animale to suffer. I always make sure that my rifle can atleat hit a quarter from a hundred yards. Plus, you never know when that 170-180 boon & crocket will step out! Dont want to miss that one.

 

[noyes]

better question
what size is the kill zone for said animal ,bear ,dear ,etc.

That will tell you at whay range you can kill the pray & how accurate your weapon needs to be at said range.

 

[Frankyoz]

It was said before but Ill second or third the paper plate idea. Set that up at 100yrds and shoot from the offhand you wont have a bench in the woods, or hunting deer anyway. If you can hit that consistently from 100yrd in the offhand your good to go. The only time I use a bench is to sight in new optics.

 

[texfar]

How accurate does it have to be or how accurate do Iwant it to be. All my rifles are 1MOA or below that I shoot period. That is MY standard Where does it have to be accurate at. OK 6 inch pie. I am not satisfied with that, but that is me. I don't much compromise on accuracy with any of my weapons, Mil Surp excluded. They are what they are. My bolt rifles and semis are accurate peiod.
Ken

 

[horatioo]

If you can hit a 6" circle at 100 yards

What does that mean in moa? If you were aiming at the center of the pie plate you were only 3 inches off, so are you 3 moa or 6 moa?

Thanks

 

[Alleykat]

If deer "hunting" (we don't really classify ambushing from a tree stand as "hunting", do we???) were very difficult, those 7-yr-old girls with their SKSs wouldn't be killing those big bucks every year.

 

[Scorch]

People shot millions of deer with rifles that would do no better than 4" at 100 yds. That's half the size of the heart/lung area, so you are responsible for the other half.