As Malc said above - 400 yards is one heck of a range to be shooting deer at!
I'm pretty new to the sport myself and, having been lucky enough to pick the brains of some pretty experienced stalkers, have been told that even on the hill most folks are probably looking at an absolute max range of 200m to ensure accurate shot placement and a humane kill.
Thats not to say it cant (or hasnt) been done at ranges longer than that, but thats what the experienced guys told me they are looking for. And thats on red/sika deer which are a much bigger target than roe!
Just walk 200m and you'll probably be surprised how far it actually is.
What I can add here from my own long standing experience as a target rifle shooter (iron sights out to 1000x) is that 400 yards is easily enough distance for even a reasonably mild wind to start blowing rounds about by a factor of several inches and over a foot if the wind is strong or gusting. You're going to need to dial in 2-3 minutes of windage at 300x to allow for a medium/strong cross wind, which is 6" - 9" easily and that could take you outside of the kill zone on a roe deer.
County Deer Stalking did a video a while back on just this topic and its worth a watch.
You're also going to run into zeroing difficulties with bullet drop. Zeroing 1" high at 100x might give you MPBR to 220-250x or thereabouts, but there is no one zero thats going to allow you to accurately shoot deer at all ranges out to 400x, and I wouldnt want to be guesstimating ranges in the heat of battle (so to speak!) to know where to aim with a ballistic reticle.
As I say, none of this is to say it cant be done but should it be done? I'd say not and I'd personally be worried about wounding the animal taking a 400x shot so its not something I would do.
I'm pretty new to the sport myself and, having been lucky enough to pick the brains of some pretty experienced stalkers, have been told that even on the hill most folks are probably looking at an absolute max range of 200m to ensure accurate shot placement and a humane kill.
Thats not to say it cant (or hasnt) been done at ranges longer than that, but thats what the experienced guys told me they are looking for. And thats on red/sika deer which are a much bigger target than roe!
Just walk 200m and you'll probably be surprised how far it actually is.
What I can add here from my own long standing experience as a target rifle shooter (iron sights out to 1000x) is that 400 yards is easily enough distance for even a reasonably mild wind to start blowing rounds about by a factor of several inches and over a foot if the wind is strong or gusting. You're going to need to dial in 2-3 minutes of windage at 300x to allow for a medium/strong cross wind, which is 6" - 9" easily and that could take you outside of the kill zone on a roe deer.
County Deer Stalking did a video a while back on just this topic and its worth a watch.
You're also going to run into zeroing difficulties with bullet drop. Zeroing 1" high at 100x might give you MPBR to 220-250x or thereabouts, but there is no one zero thats going to allow you to accurately shoot deer at all ranges out to 400x, and I wouldnt want to be guesstimating ranges in the heat of battle (so to speak!) to know where to aim with a ballistic reticle.
As I say, none of this is to say it cant be done but should it be done? I'd say not and I'd personally be worried about wounding the animal taking a 400x shot so its not something I would do.
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