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Old January 9, 2012, 11:56 AM   #25
jimbob86
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Join Date: October 4, 2007
Location: All the way to NEBRASKA
Posts: 8,722
Quote:
then I can use that rifle to take a shot behind the ear at normal hunting ranges well under 400. Or so goes my theory
Shooting game (especially deer) in the head at any distance greater than contact range is foolish*: It is a small, round and hard target. It is nearly constantly moving...... if you are off by as little as 2" ( or the animal moves that much, or a combination of the two!), then you have done worse than miss: you have maimed the animal and it will did a slow death by starvation or infection, because your bullet broke it's jaw, or blinded it, or damaged the muscle on the back of the neck that allows it to hold it's head up ..... none of these are immediately fatal, but are pretty much fatal, eventually.

Couple that with the fact that the skull is hard and round ..... if your bullet strikes at a shallow angle .... it may not enter, but instead glance off.....

One more thing to consider: time of flight: a 165 gr .308 WIN bullet with a MV of 2700 f/sec will take 1/3 of a second to reach it's target..... EVEN IF YOUR GUN WILL SHOOT INTO 2" AT 300 YARDS, AND YOU ARE UP TO IT, can you guarantee the animal will not move it's he that much in .3 seconds? No.

There were some pretty graphic game-cam pics on here recently of a couple of deer that had broken jaws ..... not nice.

*.... and, as I learned at the age of 15, shooting them in the head at contact range with a high-powered rifle is foolish, as well: you'll be wearing their brains.
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