By Glen Wunderlich

With relatively moderate temperatures still with us, it’s best to get your favorite deer gun sighted in properly while conditions cooperate. By procrastinating, you may be relegated to testing during cold and windy days, which can end up being a total waste of time and expensive ammunition.

 

While it may be true that wind can be present in hunting situations, you certainly don’t want to adjust aiming points relative to any substantial crosswinds, when they probably won’t be the same later. It’s best to select a calm day for testing; any adjustments necessary during a hunt should be made afield based on the conditions that day, instead. Crosswinds cause substantially greater deflection of a given projectile than do headwinds or tailwinds. So, if you must sight in with the wind blowing, line up your target directly downwind or upwind, if at all possible.

 

A six-inch target will provide a necessary margin for error for deer-sized targets, even though the actual kill zone is larger. Orange squares with the black outlines are good for scoped guns and plain black circles or squares are best for iron sights, red dot sights.

 

Start with a clean, unloaded gun ensuring there is no oil or grease in the barrel by running a dry patch through it. Make sure everything is tight – especially scope bases, rings, and stock screws. Use a good, solid rest at the forend and butt stock. Sandbags work well, but it’s best to place your hand on the forend and rest it on the sandbag to simulate hunting conditions. Small bipods can make for a steady front rest when target shooting but may not produce the same results afield, unless you’ll be hunting with one.

 

At 25 yards, shoot three shots and find the middle of the group. (If you are missing the paper completely, move in to about 10 feet. A single shot will usually be enough to let you know which direction to go.) Remember, at 25 yards to make adjustments at four times what you would at 100 yards.

 

For most guns, you are ready to move the target to 100 yards, if you are dead on at 25 yards. Don’t change anything and shoot another 3-shot group at 100 yards, find the center of the group and adjust to your chosen elevation at 100 yards. Even with a conservative 6-inch kill zone target, “Point-Blank Range” can be maximized by having the bullet or slug impact somewhat high at 100 yards.

 

The Point-Blank Range of any gun is the distance at which a hunter can hold right on the center of the kill zone and be able to hit within the vital zone. This means, if you set up your gun properly, you won’t have to guess whether to hold high or low on the deer, or how much. Just aim for the center of the vitals. Some hunters make the mistake of sighting in dead on at 100 yards, when longer shots are possible during a hunt.

 

Here’s an example: A 30-06 with a 180-grain spire point bullet going 2700 Feet Per Second (FPS) at the muzzle, with a 100-yard zero puts the bullet 3 inches low at 175 yards. Using the 6-inch kill zone, 175 yards becomes your limit without ambiguous holdover, because the bullet will fall to the bottom of the vitals by aiming at the center of the kill zone.

 

However, if the same cartridge is set for a 215 yard zero, the bullet reaches its peak of 3 inches high at 130 yards and is 3 inches low at 255 yards. As long as the deer is no farther than 255 yards, can aim dead center and take him out cleanly. Just by changing the zero, 80 additional yards are gained.

 

Shotguns are relatively slow in comparison – even with the fastest modern sabot offerings. The best bet is to get to the range and test at various ranges with your gun and loads, because there are just too many variables to rely exclusively on charts. Whatever you choose to shoot, just make sure the bullet/slug never gets higher or lower than 3 inches when holding dead on.

 

Once sighted in, shoot from various positions and with rests you may use in the field. As long as you can keep 9 out of 10 in the six-inch circle, you are shooting within ethical standards. If you are unable to do so, being ethical demands you to restrict your shots to a maximum range that allows you to do so.

 

When finished, don’t clean the gun’s barrel, because a clean barrel may change your point of impact. Just unload the gun, wipe off the exterior using a light protectant, and store it safely and it will remain ready for hunting.

Columbia, MO- Larry and Brenda Potterfield, owners of MidwayUSA, recently donated to the MidwayUSA Foundation to support youth shooting sports. Their contribution of $350,123 will benefit teams and organizations that have a Team Endowment Account with the MidwayUSA Foundation. A portion of the funds are a direct result of the Foundation’s matching program, a program allowing donors to triple the money they donate to shooting teams of their choice. Every general donation is matched 2:1 by the Potterfields. Read more

By Glen Wunderlich

One thing I’ve learned over the years is how difficult it can be to regain certain rights that have been taken away by lawmakers.  Most of us may be eager to bellyache about politicians’ tone-deaf ears; some may even write an opinion editorial to the local newspaper.  I was that guy back in year 2012.

When I read about a proposal by Matt Lori, of the Michigan House of Representaives (R – District 59) to allow the use of certain straight-wall cartridges in rifles for deer hunting in Zone III (our “Shotgun” zone), I retorted with a scathing column, which indicated the proposed legislation didn’t go far enough.  My perspective was based on the science of ballistics, and I was prepared to back up my claims.

I did just that, when Mr. Lori telephoned me about my position, never attempting to persuade my thinking otherwise.  In fact, he asked if I would testify at a hearing in Lansing.  I agreed and did so over 2 years ago.

He also encouraged me to discuss the rationale of the bill with its author, Craig Larson of Niles, Michigan, who had worked for several years on the matter, but would not be able to attend the hearing.

Mr. Larson was well-versed on all aspects of the debate and convinced me that expanding the bill to more allowable cartridges would have the effect of defeating it entirely.  His pitch was to take a small step now, and after having implemented the rules, analyze results and amend it later, if concerns did not materialize.  It made sense to go along.

At long last, HB 4283 has become law.   Under the proposal, which will be on a trial basis until 2017, rifles that take .35 caliber or larger ammunition can be used in the southern zone as long as the cartridges used are straight walled with a case length of 1.16 and maximum of 1.80 inches. (Understand that these measurements are that of the metallic cases only and not a measurement of the overall cartridge lengths.)

“I am elated that the NRC took the initiative and established the new rule based on legislation I introduced last year,” Lori said. “Communities in southern Michigan are losing hunters to Indiana, making those small businesses, sporting goods stores and lodging accommodations miss out on economic opportunities during hunting season.  This is a victory for deer hunters in Southern Michigan and the communities that serve them during the hunting season,” continued Lori.

Representative Ben Glardon of District 85 (R-Owosso) had this to say about the legislation:  “There are some excellent deer-hunting opportunities in southern Michigan, and this legislation will give rifle hunters additional options to hunt closer to home. We need to do all we can to allow more people to take part in Michigan’s great hunting heritage.  I’ve heard from many constituents who support this legislation, and believe hunters in Shiawassee and Saginaw counties will enjoy the benefits this bill provides.   I’m happy to vote in favor of the bill and others that promote hunting in Michigan.”

Although there would be no increased cost to the state, additional firearms sales in the newly configured rifles using pistol cartridges, would funnel more funds into wildlife conservation through additional hunting license sales and excise taxes imposed on firearms and ammunition.

It just may be time to dust off an old lever gun and prepare it for action, because common sense is on the march in Michigan.

With Michigan’s archery deer season set to begin Oct. 1, the Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters of recent changes to the state’s hunting license structure. 

The new license structure – authorized by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2013 – took effect March 1, 2014.  

Among the most significant changes affecting deer hunters, a base license is now required for all hunters. The base license provides critical funding for habitat and conservation work on both public and private land and supports the work of conservation officers and field staff to ensure safe, legal hunting practices are followed. The purchase of a base license includes small game hunting. Whether they choose to hunt small game or not, hunters’ base license dollars will be used to enhance and expand hunting opportunities, which benefits hunters of all species. Read more