How to Sight In a Hunting Rifle Before Season

How This Affects Your Sight Picture

Proper zeroing ensures your rifle hits where you aim at hunting distances, which is critical for ethical shots. A poorly zeroed rifle wastes ammunition, spooks game, and can result in wounded animals that escape to suffer.

The Detail

Begin the process by bore sighting your rifle to get you on paper quickly. Remove the bolt and look down the barrel at a target 25 yards away, then adjust your scope so the crosshairs align with the same point. This saves ammunition and gets you close before live fire.

Start shooting at 25 yards from a solid bench rest with sandbags or a bipod. Fire three-shot groups and measure the distance between the center of your group and your point of aim. Adjust your scope turrets accordingly, remembering that you move the turrets in the direction you want the bullet impact to move. Most scopes adjust in quarter-minute increments, meaning each click moves impact about a quarter inch at 100 yards.

Once you're hitting center at 25 yards, move back to 100 yards for your final zero. The 100-yard zero is standard for most hunting situations because it provides a useful trajectory for shots from close range out to 200-300 yards depending on your cartridge. Fire multiple three-shot groups to confirm consistency, allowing your barrel to cool between groups.

Consider your hunting conditions when establishing your zero. If you typically hunt in cold weather but are zeroing in warm conditions, your point of impact may shift slightly. Similarly, if you plan to hunt with a cold, clean barrel but are zeroing with a fouled, warm barrel, expect some variation in performance.

Build Impact

Your scope choice affects zeroing ease, with target turrets being more precise than hunting turrets for initial setup. Quality rings and bases are essential because any movement during the zeroing process means starting over completely.