Tikka T3x Rifle: Hunting tactic.

[Dan_g]

Purchased a rifle for Spring Bear Hunting in Oregon.
Never shot a rifle before.

I have a 4-12X44 Copper Head Scope mounted on a Tikka T3x Rifle.

I was planning on going to some random range, to set rifle at 200 yards, and approach bear as necessary to get accuracy at 200 yds.
Is this a good plan?
Or should I take settings for 150, 200, 300 and approach as necessary?

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[Nosferatu]

Your rifle doesn't matter as much as you want it to.

By all means, practice, shoot as much as you can and get good with it. But the majority of your work needs to be out in the field learning how to spot sign, patterning and scouting animals, being mindful of the wind, your scent and the amount of noise you make.

 

[TTSX]

Never shot a rifle and you want to start with shooting a bear...

 

[DirectDrive]

Never shot a rifle and you want to start with shooting a bear...

Just watched that Jeremiah Johnson movie ?

 

[dangerranger60]

If I had never owned a rifle before, I would borrow or buy a 22 rifle, and practice the 4 "Basic " positions. Prone, sitting , kneeling, and standing.
You can practice at home with your hunting rifle, but without the feed back of hitting or missing the target , You won't really know if you have it right.
Once you can hit a fixed target at a fixed range start setting targets at 25, 50, 75,and 100 yds. and you will get used to adjusting your scope for distance.
At this point take along the hunting rifle and zero it at 100 yds. fire a couple good shots at 25, 50, 100, 150, and 200 yds. and make good notes about how much elevation changes at each point. this will eventually be the points on your range card. At some point you will want to move those on out to 350 yds or so.
If you are going to get this by spring , Start now. Good Luck DR

 

[bionic knees]

Purchased a rifle for Spring Bear Hunting in Oregon.
Never shot a rifle before.

I have a 4-12X44 Copper Head Scope mounted on a Tikka T3x Rifle.

I was planning on going to some random range, to set rifle at 200 yards, and approach bear as necessary to get accuracy at 200 yds.
Is this a good plan?
Or should I take settings for 150, 200, 300 and approach as necessary?

so, do tell, what caliber did you buy?

 

[Gonzales]

It's only a Black bear. They are just like teddy bears with teeth. I've seen more youtube Bambi attacks, than black bears.

But there are lots of folks willing to help you out. Some may disagree, but you need to be able to shoot a 6' plate at 200 yards reliably, and from multiple positions to be successful. Now with my eyes, I prefer 150 and closer.

I also agree with "But the majority of your work needs to be out in the field learning how to spot sign, patterning and scouting animals, being mindful of the wind, your scent and the amount of noise you make."

Are you totally new to "hunting"? Have you ever gone with anyone? My brother and I tromped around what seemed like hundreds of miles, over the years with our father before I ever took a shot.

 

[Koda]

I was planning on going to some random range, to set rifle at 200 yards, and approach bear as necessary to get accuracy at 200 yds.
Is this a good plan?
Or should I take settings for 150, 200, 300 and approach as necessary?

Is it possible you mean you want to go to a gun clubs rifle range to zero your new rifle at 200 yards before you go bear hunting?

Theres a few ways people zero at and it depends on how far they want to shoot, but I will get this out of the way since Im not certain what you mean by "take settings" but it would be very unethical to take a shot at game at any distance you have not practiced on paper targets first at a rifle range or wherever.

I would start with zeroing at 100yds to see what your rifle and ammo and you group at first before deciding anything.

 

[Member 34319]

Never shot a rifle and you want to start with shooting a bear...

Maybe he has a grudge against bears!?!?

 

[Koda]

Maybe he has a grudge against bears!?!?

If thats the case its gonna get worse taking a shot first time shooting the rifle.

 

[Nosferatu]

Maybe he has a grudge against bears!?!?

Or the bears have a grudge against him.

 

[cameron25]

Purchased a rifle for Spring Bear Hunting in Oregon.
Never shot a rifle before.

I have a 4-12X44 Copper Head Scope mounted on a Tikka T3x Rifle.

I was planning on going to some random range, to set rifle at 200 yards, and approach bear as necessary to get accuracy at 200 yds.
Is this a good plan?
Or should I take settings for 150, 200, 300 and approach as necessary?

Did you put in for a spring bear tag yet? You only have 4 days left to do so if not. What caliber rifle and which type of terrain do you plan to hunt?

 

[OldBroad44]

Purchased a rifle for Spring Bear Hunting in Oregon.
Never shot a rifle before.

I have a 4-12X44 Copper Head Scope mounted on a Tikka T3x Rifle.

I was planning on going to some random range, to set rifle at 200 yards, and approach bear as necessary to get accuracy at 200 yds.
Is this a good plan?
Or should I take settings for 150, 200, 300 and approach as necessary?

Good choice on the Tikka T3x, @Dan_g . What caliber?

What you outline isn't a good approach to sighting in the rifle and getting your bear. First, I'd get both a deer and bear tag. Fact is, without using dogs or baits--both now illegal in Oregon--it is very difficult to find a bear. There are plenty around. But most are shot by hunters after deer or elk. So unless you have a grudge against some particular bear and know where to find it, I'd suggest focusing on deer but just choosing ammo suitable for bear in case you sooner or later get a shot at a bear. If your bullet will take a bear it will take a deer. And you should probably figure on fall bear, not spring. Its likely to take many dozens of sessions on the range before you're accurate enough with your rifle to ethically shoot at deer or bear at distances up to 300 yards.

Assuming a relatively flat shooting caliber and cartridge, and a desire to be able to take a deer or black bear at any range up to 300 yards using a Tools T3x, I would sight in for 200 yards. With a relatively flat shooting caliber and load, that would be close enough for shooting at desired point of aim when firing from 0 to about 225 yards. Beyond that, depending on caliber and ammo, there's likely to be enough bullet drop so that you need to aim a bit high. How high? Depends on caliber and ammo. You need to figure out how high you have to shoot at 300 yards to compensate for bullet drop. You will likely need a range finder so you can figure out how far away the animal is. Some calibers and loads are flat enough shooting so you can shoot to point of aim over the entire 300 yards and forget about bulletbdrop. Note that most of the very expert long range hunters on this forum who can regularly hit the vitals of a target on the range at 600 yards normally do not shoot at game at much more than 300 yards.

People sometimes stalk to get close enough to shoot a deer or bear. But not because they don't know the trajectory of the ammo they are shooting and need to get to some single distance from the animal. Stalking isn't so easy. And bear aren't inclined to linger and wait for you. If its within range for your gun and load you need to know the trajectory of your bullet so you can shoot the animal from any distance.

The Tikka will likely have a precision of 1" groups or less at 100 yards. If you can shoot it from field positions to get groups of 3" at 100 yards, that would be 6" at 200 yards. That would be good enough to just shoot to point of aim if you are sighted in at 200 yards. I think most old timers would suggest you limit shots at game to 200 yards initially, and don't shoot at game at 200 yards until you can reliable keep groups on a six inch target at that range. If for your first year you can only get groups of six inches at 100 yards, just limit your distance to 100 yards. Most deer and bear are shot at well under 100 yards. In fact, most deer in the Oregon coastal mountains where I used to handgun hunt were taken in the morning when it was so foggy the visibility was usually only about 50 yards.

 

[cameron25]

Good choice on the Tikka T3x, @Dan_g . What caliber?

What you outline isn't a good approach to sighting in the rifle and getting your bear. First, I'd get both a deer and bear tag. Fact is, without using dogs or baits--both now illegal in Oregon--it is very difficult to find a bear. There are plenty around. But most are shot by hunters after deer or elk. So unless you have a grudge against some particular bear and know where to find it, I'd suggest focusing on deer but just choosing ammo suitable for bear in case you sooner or later get a shot at a bear. If your bullet will take a bear it will take a deer. And you should probably figure on fall bear, not spring. Its likely to take many dozens of sessions on the range before you're accurate enough with your rifle to ethically shoot at deer or bear at distances up to 300 yards.

Assuming a relatively flat shooting caliber and cartridge, and a desire to be able to take a deer or black bear at any range up to 300 yards using a Tools T3x, I would sight in for 200 yards. With a relatively flat shooting caliber and load, that would be close enough for shooting at desired point of aim when firing from 0 to about 225 yards. Beyond that, depending on caliber and ammo, there's likely to be enough bullet drop so that you need to aim a bit high. How high? Depends on caliber and ammo. You need to figure out how high you have to shoot at 300 yards to compensate for bullet drop. You will likely need a range finder so you can figure out how far away the animal is. Some calibers and loads are flat enough shooting so you can shoot to point of aim over the entire 300 yards and forget about bulletbdrop. Note that most of the very expert long range hunters on this forum who can regularly hit the vitals of a target on the range at 600 yards normally do not shoot at game at much more than 300 yards.

People sometimes stalk to get close enough to shoot a deer or bear. But not because they don't know the trajectory of the ammo they are shooting and need to get to some single distance from the animal. Stalking isn't so easy. And bear aren't inclined to linger and wait for you. If its within range for your gun and load you need to know the trajectory of your bullet so you can shoot the animal from any distance.

The Tikka will likely have a precision of 1" groups or less at 100 yards. If you can shoot it from field positions to get groups of 3" at 100 yards, that would be 6" at 200 yards. That would be good enough to just shoot to point of aim if you are sighted in at 200 yards. I think most old timers would suggest you limit shots at game to 200 yards initially, and don't shoot at game at 200 yards until you can reliable keep groups on a six inch target at that range. If for your first year you can only get groups of six inches at 100 yards, just limit your distance to 100 yards. Most deer and bear are shot at well under 100 yards. In fact, most deer in the Oregon coastal mountains where I used to handgun hunt were taken in the morning when it was so foggy the visibility was usually only about 50 yards.

Cant get a deer tag during spring bear lol.. good time to scout them tho

 

[Koda]

Good choice on the Tikka T3x, @Dan_g . What caliber?

Im gonna guess a 6.5 Creedmore...

 

[bionic knees]

Im gonna guess a 6.5 Creedmore...

oh, come on everybody needs a .300 win mag for their first-ever rifle.

 

[Dan_g]

Yeah, 300 win mag. First rifle. First hunt.
Have a serious life commitment that I'm accepting in 7 months, so trying to get my bucket list checked off.
Don't have much time, so jumping right in.
Otherwise, yeah, I'd get a rifle with cheaper and easier to find ammo.


I crunched some numbers, and as a resident, the best places for obtaining a Spring bear tag are:
-South Central (Hunt #731A): 93% chance of being drawn
-NW Oregon (Hunt #710A): 76%
-SW Oregon (Hunt #722A): 83%

A friend and I chose SW, because it's units have the best bike access/clear cut locations. I have a surgery February, so planning on mid-April for the hunt.
Stoked. But still need to practice with the rifle.
Never shot before.

Applied for bear tag, but no deer... Not even sure if its legal to hunt deer on public land in spring (antlerless deer spring, only possible with last years tags, on private lands??)// again, not sure.

 

[Koda]

Never shot before.

zero at 100yds, then practice at 50, 100, 150 and then 200... in that order. You should be able to hit a paper plate every shot or pass on the bear. Nice rifle, good luck finding or affording ammo to practice so heres a lead with a quality bullet.

High Grade Ammunition

Swift Bullet Company offers tough, high-performance hunting bullets with excellent accuracy & terminal performance. Don't settle for less, trust in the best.

www.swiftbullets.com

 

[cameron25]

No deer hunting in spring that im aware of. If you have never shot a rifle, before thats gonna be one hell of an introduction to recoil haha.. yikes. It sounds like you have a lot of research left to do, i don't think you would need to set your scope zero further than 100 yards for that area. You need to get out and shoot for sure. Also, this probably goes without saying but i wouldn't expect to be successful since its your first hunt. Unless you get very lucky or have someone experienced showing you their area. Bears are tough to hunt, i would consider getting an electronic caller. Thats how i killed my first bear, can take a long time for them to show up tho, took 40 mins for me

 

[OldBroad44]

oh, come on everybody needs a .300 win mag for their first-ever rifle.

I've got dreams of getting a Tikka myself and taking it out after deer and bear. In my dreams my tikka is a .300 win mag and I magically don't mind the recoil. It's set up like a bean field rifle. In bean fields in the American Southeast you use your bean field rifle to shoot deer after at distances up to a thousand yards. nice unimpeded shots. You set up a raised covered platform. Rifle has huge scope, bipod, etc. It's in some state where on your own property taking the deer of either sex is okay year round. My watch tower platform is nicely covered and protected from rain. There's a comfy mat and sleeping bag. I can just roll over and be in prone position on the Tikka. I have my scoped Ruger 9 1/2" .44 mag along too for shots below 100 yards. Most nights in fall I sleep in the watch tower. I love listening to all the night noises. In the dream I also have first rate night vision binoculars so I can loll in skeeping bag and just watch the night critters . As first rays of dawn break I wake up and start scoping for deer. I'm so content and comfy that I may not take the deer unless it comes within handgun range. when I take a deer I just leave the offal to bait in bears, which is legal in the state of my dreams. And the useful part of the deer carcass is picked up and driven to the butcher shed by pickup truck. No laborious hauling by hand. Then one of the farm hands butchers it.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?