Hunting without trajectory validation up to 600 meters possible?

[xsn10s]

There's tons of guys that'll buy a packaged rifle, ballistics calculator, rangefinder, and ammo built for a system and score a hit. We see it on TV all the time. But we never see those who botch a shot, miss completely, or just wound an animal only to never see it again. that's mot the kind of hunt I want.

 

[jebel]

I think of velocity, BC, and trajectory/drop as three pillars. If you can validate any two with real world observation, you can accurately estimate the third. Don't estimate (or read off a box) more than one.

This assumes accurate atmospheric info and calibrated scope turrets, as others have mentioned.

 

[Harvey Durham]

Having just recently started using Ballistic calculators, I can tell you that you have to shoot to prove the calculations. Then adjustments can be made. I found elevation to be the biggest variable. You may sight in at say sea level, enter the intel, but when you are at 2500 ft. above sea level, if you calculator desn't adjust for elevation, the come ups will be off. That's all I think I know.

Where I shoot here is at 340' and I hunted in Colorado at 7,500. I took my Chrony with me and in 5 rounds that I shot through the Chrony it showed 4.5 FPS difference. Everything else was the same. I'd always wondered and had heard tale after tail so I wanted to know. I took 2 elk past 700 yards and used the exact calucations that I used here and dropped both in their tracks. One was a cow and it was getting dark and she had bedded and I head shot her. I'm not buying all of this elevation stuff that I hear. Another thing, the rifle that I checked and the two elk that I took were all different rifles. Just saying.

 

[jebel]

Harvey,
There are a lot of thoughts that come to mind reading through your experience. But the easiest are that I'm happy you got your elk and I'm tempted to ask you for some lottery numbers.
Cheers

 

[User4302021]

Where I shoot here is at 340' and I hunted in Colorado at 7,500. I took my Chrony with me and in 5 rounds that I shot through the Chrony it showed 4.5 FPS difference. Everything else was the same. I'd always wondered and had heard tale after tail so I wanted to know. I took 2 elk past 700 yards and used the exact calucations that I used here and dropped both in their tracks. One was a cow and it was getting dark and she had bedded and I head shot her. I'm not buying all of this elevation stuff that I hear. Another thing, the rifle that I checked and the two elk that I took were all different rifles. Just saying.

If you were shooting something like a 300 WinMag with say a 200 grain Accubond w/a .588 G1 BC, then it is likely that your difference in trajectory at 700 yds was only about 10" between 340 Ft and 7500 Ft. Any number of things could have easily offset that difference so that you hit point of aim.