Afternoon Out, not exactly as planned.

[Big Jim101 29]

Im pretty new to the whole air rifle hunting thing so still getting the hang of things, but ive got a bit of permission now so off i went this afternoon to check it out in the day time, having only shot it on the lamp before. Im shooting with an s200 .177 with RWS superdomes. So im laying down in a hedge facing a warren in a rough field with full camo on and its an easy 25 yards. after a cold 40mins out bounces the first rabbit nicely into the open. so i think, oh here we go, perfect way to start the day off, guns on the bipod, i couldn't ask for an easier shot! take aim, breath out anddddd squeeze. click but no thwack. rabbits back down the hole! Im there thinking, what happened there then?? now ive done a fair bit of target shooting and the guns sighted in at 30 yards, and i aimed low enough to allow for trajectory so must of been a bad pellet. 30 mins later out bounces rabbit number 2, perfect, time for redemption! squeeze and miss! pellet goes over the rabbits head by a good few inches! whats going on here then?? 30 mins later and im thinking about packing it in for the day as its getting dark and out bounces rabbit number 3. this time im not bloody making the same mistake, i aim a good 3 inches bellow his head, squeeze and (thank god) THWACK, the unmistakable sound of a headshot. so off i go home and on the way stop off at the range to see whats up with the gun/scope and put 5 pellets through a target at 30yards, all perfect and dead centre! so can any of you guys explain this too me?! the guns shooting very close to 12lb/ft so why are the pellets going so bloody high when im in the field?! surely 5 yards can need 3 inches to allow for trajectory?! well either way, its still good to be out and at least i got 1 for the pot!

[Baghdadnights 150]

When you checked your zero were you laying down in the same position as in the field if not try zeroing laying down you might have parallax error

[Big Jim101 29]

yeah, laying down when zeroed and when out shooting

[zini 1,939]

Your correct pal, 3 inches in .177 at a 5 metre difference is not right.

 

According to what Chairgun says, you should never be outside more that about 3/4 of inch across most of your trajectory out to around 43 yards from a 30 yard zero.

 

Could it be adrenalin as your new to hunting and you wobbled with excitement?

 

I still do it myself (get excited) when a rabbit appears when static hunting.

 

If i had a £ for ever rabbit i have missed by going over the top of it (especially at night) i would be pretty rich now.

 

Si

[Big Jim101 29]

thats what i mean, ive done enough target shooting to know how much to adjust for trajectory. and i wish it was just excitement but i was on the bipod and that gun was as steady as it could be! i cannot think of any reason for this to be happening!