Acceptable Accuracy For Hog Hunting

[59FLH]

True Story:

A few weeks/months ago my brother and I were shooting rifles at our local range when a member and his guest showed up. The guest was there to sight in his 300 Win Mag for an out of state hog hunt. He fired a few shots at 50yds then moved his target to 100yds and fired a few more. He cased his rifle, thanked us for our patience and left. I didn't think much about it, as it seemed a normal zero check to me. As I was putting my target stand back in the house I could not help but notice the grouping on his big black circle target. I have never hog hunted, so Ill ask those of you who do. Would you head to the field with this?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

That looks to be a hunter with paper plate accuracy. Paper plates are 9" across as is the kill zone of a deer (approximately), so if your shots are on the paper plate, you hit the kill zone, hence you are zeroed good enough. Full sized hogs have a similar size kill zone, but not smaller hogs, lol.

I had heard of this and then saw a guy actually do it the weekend before deer season years ago at a private membership range. He shot a more dispersed group at 50 yards than what is shown above, but he was happy because all his BALL ammo was on target. The guy wasn't even zeroing with hunting ammo, because that is expensive. We are at a private gun range and this guy is complaining that hunting ammo is too expensive to zero. 14 MOA isn't too bad, right?

Anyway, since we don't know what bullets were shot at which distance, it is hard to assess what he was trying to accomplish, but it looks like he is shooting 6 MOA, which is not really acceptable. Doesn't matter if it is a hog or a deer, you need decent accuracy to make decent shots.

Hopefully, he verified that he wasn't zeroed with that rifle and opted to later fix that one or took another, LOL.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

True Story:

A few weeks/months ago my brother and I were shooting rifles at our local range when a member and his guest showed up. The guest was there to sight in his 300 Win Mag for an out of state hog hunt. He fired a few shots at 50yds then moved his target to 100yds and fired a few more. He cased his rifle, thanked us for our patience and left. I didn't think much about it, as it seemed a normal zero check to me. As I was putting my target stand back in the house I could not help but notice the grouping on his big black circle target. I have never hog hunted, so Ill ask those of you who do. Would you head to the field with this?

It appears that he might be better off with a .308win or maybe a 6.5Manbun. Just sayin".

 

[std7mag]

I've seen this with 2 different people at a private range.

First, guy & his son.
Every year just before deer rifle season.
Show up, staple paper plate at 50 yards.
Then proceed to pull a beautiful Weatherby Mark V in 300 WBY out.
3 shots each.
If the 3 shots hit the plate, they pack up and leave.

One couple showed up for a few weeks straight.
Both shooting 300 Win Mag. They were getting ready for a guided moose hunt in Nova Scotia.
Using 18" Shoot & See targets set at 100, 200, 300 yards.
At 300, they each barely had 3 shots on the target.
I asked why they thought they needed 300 Win, when a smaller cartridge with less recoil would work?
Let the lady shoot my Stevens 200 in 7mm-08AI.
She put 5 rounds about the size of an orange at 300 yards.
Claimed she liked shooting my rifle much better than hers.
Go figure!

 

[Mrvmax]

Not everyone shoots well and not everyone requires sub moa accuracy. I've seen multiple people shoot like that and to them that is a good group.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

IMO recoil is just something you get used to. If you're a regular shooter, you learn to ignore recoil. If you shoot a heavy cartridge once or twice a year, it gets your attention.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

True Story:

A few weeks/months ago my brother and I were shooting rifles at our local range when a member and his guest showed up. The guest was there to sight in his 300 Win Mag for an out of state hog hunt. He fired a few shots at 50yds then moved his target to 100yds and fired a few more. He cased his rifle, thanked us for our patience and left. I didn't think much about it, as it seemed a normal zero check to me. As I was putting my target stand back in the house I could not help but notice the grouping on his big black circle target. I have never hog hunted, so Ill ask those of you who do. Would you head to the field with this?

Are we looking at 2 different targets, shooting different calibers ? Are we just supposed to judge the splatter target ? I would be curious to know if the last 3 shots at the bottom right were his last shots ? If so I would say he was GTG. Perhaps the other shots were to get acclimated to the recoil. Or adjust the scope. Perhaps he knew which shots he knew he pulled. Was he shooting different ammos ? I would need more info to judge. Just saying.

 

[Beluebow]

Is it good enough for hogs...yes.....ideal..not in my world.

Here they are a nuisance,many shoot and leave them laying.

 

[59FLH]

Are we looking at 2 different targets, shooting different calibers ? Are we just supposed to judge the splatter target ? I would be curious to know if the last 3 shots at the bottom right were his last shots ? If so I would say he was GTG. Perhaps the other shots were to get acclimated to the recoil. Or adjust the scope. Perhaps he knew which shots he knew he pulled. Was he shooting different ammos ? I would need more info to judge. Just saying.

The red & white target is mine, the 3 shots LR are my ML. I peeled the black circle off his backer and stuck it onto the other target. The black circle is his combined groups at both 50&100 yds

 

[Rick Richard]

Yes, but You just have to shoot at a BIG pig.

 

[59FLH]

Regardless of group size, I guess I was just amazed he considered that zeroed at 50 (4 shots) and zeroed at 100 (3 shots)

 

[dwightb]

Our standards have really narrowed down in the last couple of decades!! Win Mod 70 with a 4 power Weaver scope and factory 30-06 ammo that would have worked just fine in 1970! I am sure it will work just fine now but we have better! When people could not see open sights anymore and went to a 4 power it was pure heaven. Factory ammo was just not that great either. You kind of had to will the shot in there but they killed lots of stuff. I was told a year or so ago about a sub moa rifle, "that's a target rifle, you just don't need that to hunt" and he was probably right!

 

[Buckfever34]

Maybe they're hoping to shoot, but not recover, the pig lol.

 

[victor3ranger]

True Story:

A few weeks/months ago my brother and I were shooting rifles at our local range when a member and his guest showed up. The guest was there to sight in his 300 Win Mag for an out of state hog hunt. He fired a few shots at 50yds then moved his target to 100yds and fired a few more. He cased his rifle, thanked us for our patience and left. I didn't think much about it, as it seemed a normal zero check to me. As I was putting my target stand back in the house I could not help but notice the grouping on his big black circle target. I have never hog hunted, so Ill ask those of you who do. Would you head to the field with this?

Nope