Alright - fired up for my 2nd ever rifle season.

I didn't shoot anything last year but did get hooked. I feel 100 times more comfortable with my rifle this year (Rem 700 .270) and have purchased a rangefinder to scope out around my stands and get an idea on distances around the feeders, trees, etc.

What I'm not sure about, and really over-thinking, is being 15-20ft up in my stand, scope zero'd at 25yards, 2" high @ 100yards and a deer walks in at 65, 140, etc. what do I do/adjust/think?? If I ask him/her politely to please stand at 25 or 100 will they? (kidding!)

Range shooting is one thing and I missed a hog high this summer from a blind. Just trying to figure out what to do with all this new information in my brain. Ignorance was bliss last year but I want to take something this season and get on the board.

Thanks for any advice!

Use a shooting stick. You should be just fine from 25-100 yards if you have practiced and your gun is sighted in. Use landmarks to set you distances. With a rifle, you don't have to be spot on, at least not out to a couple of hundred yards if you are 2" high at a 100 yds.

All of my rifles are 100 yard zeros, put the cross hairs where your want the bullet to hit and you will be fine. Remember as long as you hit within the pie plate it's a dead deer.

Forgot a good shooting stick will help too, get some practice with it though.

Haven't shot with a shooting stick before - will have to give that a try. Am guessing there are some that work better than others when up in a stand.

Thx!

A 270 is such a fast shooting gun you do not need to worry about bullet drop until you are shooting out 250+ yds. If you are 1-2 inches high at 100, you will be fine from 10yds to 200, just aim for the spot.

Personally my shots don't stretch out forever, most of the time I think 250 would be pushing it for what I can even see and 99% of my deer are shot from 50-125 yards. I sight in at 100 and im good from point blank to around 200 yards with no point of aim correction.

If you have the opportunity to shoot 3oo to 400 yards the 2 inches hi at 100 makes since, but if you are going to be taking the majority of your shots at a closer range I think it makes more sense to sight in for something closer to your average and it will better prepare you for what is coming.

As for shooting angles, I try to do as a once read and see the trajectory of the bullet as it will pass through the deer, wanting it to pass through the heart and lungs. While some might suggest using the opposite shoulder as a reference point, I can see that creating trajectories where the heart and lung area would be missed. I always want the bullet to pass through the heart and lungs, even if it means missing the opposite shoulder. Such would be the case for a deer facing me in a quartering away position. My aim point at the front of the nearest shoulder and almost at the chest would miss the distant shoulder entirely. A shoulder shot alone will not create a clean and ethical kill.

That all makes sense - I see now its much less about the gun and how its sited in and more about my comfort level of shooting from elevation.

Only a few days away now!

Get a ballistic calculator on your smart phone and put your round and zeroing distance in it. It will OPEN your eyes to what your bullet actually does in flight.

This ^^^ You're not shooting down a mountainside (are you?) so actually the further out the target is the better off you'll be, within reason. The angle isn't nearly as sharp and pretty much negates the need for applying any trig to the shot. Zero as above and hold where you want it to go. Good luck and be safe!

This/\ Get a ballistics table and spend some time getting to know your rifle WITH the ammo that you plan to hunt with. I do a 200 yard zero because the POI and POA are close enough that I dont have to make any elevation corrections unless I'm shooting past 200+ yards. No need for a rangefinder.

More good advice here

Has anyone heard of this?

Indiana hunter's death
puts tree stand safety in spotlight