shooting on high magnification

[Curtis67]

On my last hunting trip, i missed the same doe 3 times. It was
250 yds and she was standing still side on to me. I
Had the scope cranked to 10. I've heard having scope
on 10 could be why i missed but have never heard anything
Like this before. I think it was operator error. Ideas?

[jmr40]

If you zero your scope at 3X, then attempt to shoot at a higher magnification you could possibly have a small POI change. This is not a problem with quality scopes and is usually only a minor difference with cheap scopes.

I always zero at the longest range I anticipate with my scope at the highest setting. This way i know that even if my scope changes POI at lower powers it will be at close range rather than long range where small errors are magnified.

I also shoot at closer ranges with my scope at lower settngs just to be sure. I've never noted any difference. Of course I don't use cheap scopes either.

I also never use anything but the lowest, and highest magnifications when hunting. I keep mine on the lowest setting almost all the time and almost all my shots are on that setting. If i need more magnification then I have time to adjust. At close range you don't have time to go to a lower power. I can easily take the time to verify zero at 2 settings and not have to worry about any differences in between.

[od green]

I can give you two possible answers that accually happened last Thurs. First what rifle are you shooting ? The reason my friend and I were fox hunting from a double ground blind, he was using his 243 and i was using my 22 Mag. He was sighted in 1 1/2 high at 100 and i'm dead on at 100 yrds. Called first fox in from 175 yrds tree line got spotted and fox made to the woods approx 100 yrds out, waited approx 3 min and re appeared at approx 50 yards, my friend shot under it. He had his scope set on 8 or 9. Second fox called came from same tree line and stopped at approx 117 yards out, I shot under it scope set on 9. I think the magnification made me not to take in drop at that range as it looks close and also for my friend that at close range he would be shooting low sighted in high at 100 yrds. Normally i try to stay in the 4 or 5 range for my scope so i know when to compensate, I'm pretty sure I was either holding low because of the magnification made it look closer than it was.

[Double Naught Spy]

Since a buddy of mine had a POA change with a $1500 Nightforce scope when changing between magnification levels (so it isn't always just the cheap scopes, unfortunately), I checked my variable magnification scopes to see if there were any issues and found none.

It goes to reason that if you are going to attempt to humanely take an animal under given parameters, you should first check to see if the equipment will perform accordingly before the hunt.

Curtis, you can easily verify if you have a problem by going to the range. If you think your POA shifts when you zoom the scope (which will result in a perceived POI change to you since altering the scope doesn't change the POI, only the POA), then you may have a bad scope. If you aren't certain how much of the problem is being caused by the scope or you, or if you can't consistently produce a result, then get an experienced shooter to work with your scope as well. It will help to rule out YOU as the problem. After all, once in a while, everyone has a bad day where they can't get things to work correctly.

[brmfan]

It goes to reason that if you are going to attempt to humanely keep an animal under given parameters, you should first check to see if the equipment will perform accordingly before the hunt.

Amen! I am always amazed how folks will hit the hunting field without bothering to zero their rifles first let alone understand how to use their gear! Not saying this was the case with the OP but it applies to a good number of folks I see every year! That's how you end up losing wounded animals or causing needless suffering.