WE HAVE all heard those dreadful words and many of us have, in an attempt to save face, blamed the miss on our equipment. “The scope must have shifted its zero,” a hunter will complain or he will blame the silencer, a warped stock, the scope mounts or the ammunition.
The fact is, most misses are caused by pulled shots and it is important for hunters to accept that none of us are infallible. If you make excuses often enough, you will start believing them, instead of taking steps to correct the real reason for those misses.
There are many reasons for pulled shots of which buck fever is one (we will come back to this later), but I think the lack of practice at realistic shooting distances, under field conditions, is reason number one. Once you have decided on an accurate bullet/load combination and have properly zeroed your rifle, you must stop pursuing those MOA or half-MOA groups. Professionals who cull animals and take headshots only will need a rifle capable of competition-grade accuracy but, the average hunter, who limits
