eldeguello

Old COL Townsend Whelen used to talk about what he called the sniper's zero. This entails zeroing in your rifle so that the first shot from a COLD, CLEAN, UN-FOULED BARREL hits exactly where you want it to strike at whatever range you will be most likely to encounter your target. The reason for this is that the first shot is the most important one, for both the hunter and for the sniper, as often you will not get more than one shot.

I find this to be true (for me, at least), and zero my rifles accordingly. But this does not mean that it is not necessary to shoot a group withthe rifle as well, because IF you do get or need an additonal shot or two, you must know where they are going to hit as well. For example, I once had a .308 BARthat would put the first two shots throught the same hole at 100 yards, but the third and subsequent rounds would hit 3"-4" below the first two. This would not be a real problem if the deer were 100 yards or less away, but at 200+ yards, it could become quite significant.

CZ2506

James, I'm guessing your typical rate of fire in the field is kinda like this;

1) Spot target
2) Aquire target in sights
3) Take first shot
4) Walk over and start skinning