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I am glad you ran the elk down and managed to collect it. Started off pretty nasty with a 'lousy' not good, leg hit.

Here, at 2,000ft. ASL, I find most bullets shoot flatter than the 'books' show - for the same bullet.

If you hold the gun on the bags, both hands' as if you were shotong offhand, resting the front hand on the bags for steadiness only, the zero' will usually translate to field postions, where the gun is held in both hands.

Shooting of the bags as I see 'non-shooters' often do at the range, with one hand on top of the scope to supposedly steady the gun, will usually show different point of impact than when shooting in 'field' postitions - especially a rifle that kicks a bit. This difference in point of impact can amount to 3", or even more at 100 meters. This means that the bullet is at least 9" different at 300 meters, so the 'book's 15" drop is actually closer to 24". That's just vertical difference - most guns shoot to one side or the other when shot 'bouncing' on the bags, as opposed to 'held' on the bags by both hands. My own .375H&H prints 3" right and 1 1/2" higher if allowed to bounce on the bags as opposed to holding it in both hands as if shooting offhand. Depending on which way the animal is facing, that could produce a gut shot, leg hit or miss on a deer at 150 yards, let alone further out.

We owe it to the animals we hunt to do a good job of it. That means practise out to the maximum range we are going to shoot an animal at. It also means using a range finder to know exactly what the range is and NOT shoot when the animal is beyond the range we practise. When an animal is 200 or more yards away, there is always time to 'range' it.

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Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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