shooting help cant kill paper

[camsdaddy]

I have a problem I bought a 243 handi and scoped it with a 3x9x40 mueller and am pleased with both. The problem I have is I cannot shoot paper (I know paper is like antlers no matter how long you boil it it makes poor eating) I have tried to shoot to develop a load and find one that shoots the best. I have aproblem getting them to group after trying all the tricks I am pretty sure its the shooter not the setup. I had a friend shooting with me the other day and he was shooting coke bottles and I could not miss them  I realize I am aiming at the target instead of the dot on the target and the smaller bottle forces me to aim small  hit small. What I am worried about is hunting season thought I have spent lots of this year choosing where I would aim on deer in magazines and pictures and tv to focus on proper shot placement I am affraid that when judgement day gets here I may get brown blind instead of aiming at a point. I appologize for the lengthy post but wondering if anyone has suggestions to block out the outer areas of the target

[PA-Joe]

This did happen to me on my first deer with a scope. Looked in scope with too high a power and saw nothing but brown. Couldn't tell where on the deer I was. Since then I only hunt with the scope set on 3x. Cross hairs go above and behind the front leg joint.

[Buckskin]

Just relax, you will do fine.  When your shooting at paper, tell yourself to pick a spot, pick a spot over and over and over.  Same thing with game.  Make yourself pick a spot.  You are probably flinching more than anything.  Squeeze that trigger slowly,  the report should startle you when it goes off.

[Glanceblamm]

I like the Bench Rest targets. They are squares of contrasting colors that make it much easier for myself to hold the crosshair in the center. If you cannot find any of these in your area......

You can easily make these yourself starting with a straight edge and drawling say a 1" square with pen or pencil in the center of your paper.
Draw another square (2") outside of the first and shade the area inside the 2" but outside of the 1" and you are on your way.
A Copying Machine Comes In Very Handy needless to say.

After a bit of Breathing/Squeezing exercise, you will find that you can keep those crosshairs within that 1" white square.

[slide-flipper]

on some of the life size target... don't know who makes them for sure but they are available.  Look like a deer/turkey/bear/whatever you buy with the vital sort of "x-rayed" on them.  Should help with shot placement.  On regular targets, buy a roll of pasties and put them on your targets.  The orange dots give a good aiming point.

slide-flipper

[beemanbeme]

The more you practice, regardless of what sort of target you use, the better off you will be.  You want the handling of the rifle to be automatic.  As posted, avoid too much magnification.  2.5 or 3 should be plenty.  If you use life sized targets, use the ones that don't have an aiming point on them.

[AK Fireman]

Its common to get excited when your shooting at the real thing. It sounds as if you are already doing a huge step in the right direction by looking at every picture of deer or elk and picking that exact shadow or out of place hair that is just behind the front leg.  I would suggest you take this rifle out and get comfortable looking at some deer through the scope and practice holding the cross hairs on the animal.
Ive spent many hours looking at animals before the hunt, and to this day I cant help but look for the sweet spot when glassing a animal.

 PS.  I worked in a taxidermy shop and we would joke about how the only time a person really looked at the animal was after he blasted it and that he wouldn't be able to tell if we had done a less than stellar job because he's used to looking at a dead animal.

[32WINSPL]

I undertstand you trouble, now try this. Using your scope cross hairs, focus on the point where the vertical and horizontal lines intersect. Now place the intersection point on target and shoot when you have settled in using the correct breathing technique and trigger squeeze technique. Try this and see if it can make a difference...........I missed the first 2 deer I shot at, broadside and not moving either. That was year 1 and year 2 of deer hunting for me. The third year I had a shot and employeed this technique, focus on the cross hairs and bring cross hairs on target and killed my first deer. I has another success in the M/L season that year, last year to be exact. It took a painful 2 years before I found somryhing that worked. Try it out and see what it does for you. Good luck. Let me know if you have any results.......BC