The "stuff old folks say" thread got me thinking about this. How many wounded/unrecovered (not to mention flat out missed) deer are a result of this mindset? Makes we want to punch someone when they say it.

thats my dads train of thought but hes only missed one deer in his life and hes never lost one

I don’t necessarily want to punch people but my standard is sub-MOA groups on target. I went to the range at Bullet and Barrel before rifle season to ensure I was dialed in. There were guys down there getting help from the instructor they keep on the range. I put the first round down range and he said “your windage is perfect and you’re 2 inches high” ..... I asked him if he was sure it was 2 or 1.75 because I like to be 1.75 high at 100 yards. He thought I was crazy

In reality it works because most hunters are going to kill a deer less than 100 yards anyway. I couldn't imagine getting a couple in a pie plate "somewhere" at 100 and being satisfied though.

Now on the other hand,how about shooting off hand? I can't tell you how many bad shots I've seen when someone tried to shoot their tack driver off hand. Being able to hit that pie plate every time at 100 standing without a rest is another story all together.

My dad used to walk out on the porch of our cabin and make one shot at a deer sized rock across the pond. If he saw dust he called it good


Now I check his rifle for him every year. With all of my stuff, if it doesn't shoot an inch group or better at 100 it gets sold or traded.

Lot of truth here.... folks don't practice.... they feel like those crosshairs will aim for them

A lot goes into a good shot, especially of any distance..... breathing, trigger pull, rest/support, etc. If you don't have control of those aspects you're going to miss, doesn't matter how good you think you are.

It annoys me because everyone I've ever heard say it thinks that all of their shots will be in that pie plate, when if their actual zero is say the outer right edge of the plate, a small flinch will be a gut shot.

This^^^
Range time on the bags or vise is to make certain your sights or optics are zeroed appropriately and seeing what kinds of groups you are getting with x ammo. It confirms that the gun shoots where you point it. Spend the rest of your time ensuring you can point it right when the time comes.

Dads 62 and he still goes by this. I shoot his guns every year to check after he says he has them set. He hasn’t bloodied one up in years he just clean misses. I don’t fuss at him either I just shake my head and smile.

Pie plate accuracy at the range becomes pizza pan accuracy in the field. Some of the shucks I see at public ranges is laughable. It's amazing how many people are in the woods who have no frikin clue how to sight in a rifle.

Every rifle I carry in the woods, with a couple of exceptions, will shoot 1" or better off the bench. I hold no illusions about being a great or even good off hand rifle shot. But part of hunting is learning how to use it make an improvised rest to aid in shooting. it has been many years since I have shot a deer without a rest or brace as way to steady my rifle.

This is the way I was taught growing up from my grandpa. Now I sight in all of our rifles and all are within 1 inch. He says I waste bullets but I just tell him I need to know that if I had to hit the deer in the eye, I’d be able to.

I used to hunt with a pie-plate guy. We lost permission on a very nice Bullock County property after the landowner witnessed him mangle up a nice buck and fail to recover it. After I have sighted in, I make some life-sized cardboard deer silhouettes and place them at varying distances out to 300 yards, then shoot them off my sticks or a shooting rail. The results can be an eye-opener or a confidence builder.

Thats a pretty cool idea, definitely could provide a confidence boost it seems like compared to just shooting targets.

You could probably take most hunters and off hand couldnt hit a plate at 200 yards. Give them a good rest and 300+ most couldnt hit it. Add the adrenaline of if it was a real deer and it would be worse.
I hunted at a club once where the president suggested that members should have to take a shooting test to figure out what stands they could hunt. We used to joke about it back then but over the years watching people miss or mangle deer id say he was just about right.

I need to able to consistently shoot quarter size groups at 100+ yards. If I can’t do this I will not take that gun to the woods.

I bet this saying came from old dog hunters vs. still hunters. You'd need to be able to put a buckshot load in the area of a pie plate on a running deer.

Yeah Getting in range time is great, but I know guys that shoot good on paper and still get tangled up when it comes to shooting an animal, same for archers, know several that can burn up a course, then smooth miss a deer at 30...

I shot a 30-30 iron sights during my pre teen years. If I could keep it on a pie plate @100 iz good. I'm in my late 30's now but if I could still keep em all on a pie plate now I'd fell pretty good about it.

Alot of it has to do with your rest in a hunting situation. I have hunted out of some boxes that absolutely zero thought was given to, "hey I need to be able to shoot a rifle out of this thing" when it was built. I always try to use the front window for the gun, and the right side window for my arm and shoulder if possible.

Being able to hit a pie plate is a great way to tell how far you should be shooting for deer sized targets. I've never found any fault in it.