krombig

Hello everyone. New to the board, and new to hunting. I just decided to start hunting, but I' ve been a gun owner for years. Mostly just a recreational plinker...nothing requiring too much accuracy. I just bought a scope, and I' m trying to sight it in at 100 yards. I' ve heard good things about Buds Bulls Bags, and also shooting sticks. Which do you guys prefer? In my opinion, sticks would be more versatile as you can take it into the bush with you. But how steady will they hold the gun? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

strut

For sighting in a rifle its hard to beat old shot bags full of sand and the price is right too.

krombig

I tried using some home-made sandbags when I went shooting yesterday. I only had them at the front of the rifle and it was hard to keep it steady. I barely had enough for the front, so I couldn' t stick any in the rear. If i make more and go with front/rear, do you think that would be good enough? The range is about 35 miles from here, so I wanna make sure I' m prepared...lol

oldelkhunter

I really like Bullsbags for initial sighting in of a gun...not real crazy about their weight but they will surely help you sight in a gun and provide a more secure rest then any shooting stick combo could ever hope for .

strut

Yeah Krombig, I usually use 4, 3 for the front and 1 for the back, most of all be comfortable when shooting, don' t sit in an awkard postion, bring your rifle to your comfort don' t be hunching down to low or stretched out to high. Don' t fill the bags to full, you will need some room for the rifle to settle into them, I like for my sand bags to be about 3/4 full. I usually just twist a small wire around the top of them real tight after filling them and then snip it off pretty close so it won' t be getting into your gun. Once you get the rifle settled down in the bags on a good bench the only movement you will have will be from your heartbeat, and that is really hard to see with a small scope but when you go to getting above a 12 power or so you can pick it up pretty easy. I just got out of a match yesterday, I shoot a model 700 bull barrel in a 243 caliber with a 24 power scope and at a hundred yards its hard to hold on the 1" red dot without your heartbeat moving your crosshairs off of it.

krombig

Thanks for the replies guys I guess I' ll try using more bags and see how that goes for me. If for some reason I still can' t get it to a decent steady, then I' ll fork out the bucks for the Bulls Bag. At least now I know what part of my problem was. I was hunching when I was trying to sight it in. Not anything near to being comfortable. Dang, from the way it sounds, it' s hard to get marksmen type accuracy. I use a 3-9 scope, so I might get something like the 24 you use, just so I can see/learn about the heartbeat issue. Just out of curiosity, how accurate do you need to get in order to deer hunt? I pretty much decided to pass this years deer season because I don' t think it' s fair to wound one just so I can say I tried. I figure I' ll start with squirrels, and try some coyote to get some experience. If I wound a yote, I won' t feel so bad. But yea, how accurate should I be considering the kill zone is bigger than 1 inch?

strut

Depends on how far you will be shooting, but most deer are killed within a 100 yards or less, If you can get it to shooting a 2 or 3 in group at a hundred yards that will be pretty good, remember most rifles will shoot and group alot better than the off handed shooter can shoot it.