Dialing In. Knowing where your chosen bullet, firearm and scope or sights are lining up ahead of firearms opener provides a confident start to any deer season and the time expended in doing so is an important element of respect for the quarry we pursue. Simonson Photo.
By Nick Simonson
I squinted through the puff of gray smoke at the orange target as it slowly came back into view behind the neon green post at the end of my muzzleloader. It reminded me of the picture from an old broadcast TV program filtering into focus through the static as the rabbit ears of an old antenna got adjusted. Unable to see the point of impact, I looked through my spotting scope and found the hole dead center in the black bullseye of the blaze circle and felt good about the first salvo from my gun during the sight-in session. With the second and third shots fired from the quickly-dirtied barrel being within two inches of the initial point of impact, I was confident everything was in line for the late season of deer hunting, as I went without a license for the main firearms lottery in North Dakota this fall, and awaited my opening day later in November.
Ahead of any firearms season, one last sight-in session is always in order, and perhaps for many, a first-and-only trip to the gun range should be considered a must before they head out into November’s chill on opening day to fill their deer tag. Doing so provides not only the confidence that scopes and sights are aligned with the barrel of the chosen gun, but also the reassurance that a quick and humane kill can be made on one’s quarry. The investment of time and a few rounds of ammunition in establishing the surety that all is in order with a person’s equipment is also the first act of respect paid to the animals we hunt.
Whether at a range of 100, 200 or some longer yardage, knowing how a rifle or muzzleloader is performing ahead of the season helps set the stage for a successful hunt. Seeing where the bullets are hitting and comparing them to a ballistics chart offered for a particular ammo is a good way to gauge a quality shot and can be necessary as the years go by. At one point, I was heavily invested in a bullet that is no longer made. When I came down to my last six cartridges, I was forced to find a new option, so I went with one in the same caliber and grain by the same manufacturer a couple of summers back. While it was pretty close to my previous go-to bullet, I found my gun consistently put the new option an inch or two lower than what I had used prior. Sighting in a couple of times in August and September helped me eliminate any concerns and make all the necessary fine-tuning to my scope when paired with the new cartridge. By my final sight-in session just before Halloween, I was good to go.
In the spirit of that spooky season, strange things can happen with firearms, even when they’re not used for almost a year. Scopes get bumped, safes get nudged, residue can pile up in a barrel and the everyday gremlins can mess with scope-to-firearm alignment. I can’t recall when or where the cause occurred, but one season I found my scope and barrel were disconnected by about six inches on a paper target, even with that go-to ammunition and not having used the gun for 10 months. I was happy to have found the divergence well ahead of the opener by sighting-in a few weeks in advance. With another confirmatory trip to the range the week before opener, I was able to reset and be ready for the season, when I harvested a nice 4×4 whitetail buck at 100 yards on the second-to-last day. Had I not done so, it’s likely my tag would have remained unpunched, or an even less desirable outcome would have occurred.
With the days crossing off on the calendar, and the firearms season for deer across the region fast approaching take the time now – whether you’ve been shooting all summer and fall or just pulling that rifle or slug gun out of the cabinet – to sight in your chosen firearm. While it won’t take buck fever away, knowing that user error is the only possible flaw, and that the firearm is capable of a clean shot will help improve your odds in the field as late autumn and all its deer hunting tradition lines up…in our outdoors.