Zero a rifle for 100 with only a 30 yard range?

[papal]

so did you kill one yet?

folks go on about minute of angle....
real world shots are more like minute of deer...

Amen to that. Don't matter what kind of rig you got or how accurate it is on paper....if you can't use it to actually make a clean kill, it's worthless.

 

[ez bake]

Yeah, but lots of hunters take less-than-desirable shots in the first place. Not saying the OP is one of those guys, but I'd almost say that more than half of the deer-gun hunters I've known have made at least one bad shot in their lifetime. Several have made more than that.

If you're barely on the edge of the kill-zone due to a shaky shot (which is only the size of the lungs/heart - and you've got factors like the deer moving at the same time as the shot, shoulder-blades being at the perfect angle to deflect the bullet to a slightly different angle, cold-weather-shivers, etc...), then why take a chance with another 2-5" of being off?

Its not about making groups on paper (to me anyways), its about an ethical kill and my laziness and not wanting to have to track down a deer for miles after I missed its vitals (and I know, you can double-lung and hit the heart and still have to track them) but if you miss the vitals altogether, it makes for a long night of tracking them back down.

 

[bigfug]

I wont make a kill I consider un-ethical. I havent got a deer this season, and if I do, it will be my first deer. I have shot beaver, squirrels, coyote, etc, so it wont be my first kill. Matter of fact, guy on deadhorse was talkin about an 800 yard doe, and how he was hoping to get one at 1k. I think thats unethical.