Where to 'Zero' a Youth Rifle

[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

Recently won a Tika .243 youth model rifle with a luepold scope for my daughter who is 9 and would like to start hunting. My question is this....I have numerous rifles and I 'zero' them all at 200 yards. With hers however, knowing that long shots are probably not going to be taken until she is a little older and more confident, should I still zero at 200 or would 100 be better. Does the .243 caliber make a huge difference with were the zero is set on the crosshairs or am I overthinking this? Just getting some thoughts before we go through the motions of getting sighted in.
Thank you!
Joel

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

following...

my quick ballistics check on google did show a hell of an arc for that round but was "high" somewhere around 1.5" if zero'd at 200yds....

so to shoot past 200 you are not over thinking it but for shooting under 200 you maybe are?

eager to here what the others think though

[jrebel]

We sighted ours in at 200 with the kids and called it good.  1.5 inches high at 100 and there is no worries out to 250.   

[Dan-o]

If you zero's at 200 yards, you'd be about 1 to 1.5 inches high at 100 yards.

She'd be good out to 200 yards if you get her proficient.

Enjoy!!!

[Iveexcaped3]

Question is what range do you think she would be proficient at. If you zero at 200 and she’s comfortable at 100 then I’d say you zeroed it wrong for her. My max comfort is 300-350 but I don’t have a lot of time behind long guns. I’d zero at 100 let her get comfortable with the gun and build confidence to want to go farther.

[NRA4LIFE]

I've shot a .243 for 35 years and do exactly what Jrebel mentioned.  Why not?

[D-Rock425]

I had my daughter's both zero at 100yds when they started.  Both have become pretty good shots and killed deer at over 300 yards this past season.  I'd start at 100 see how she does.

[fishngamereaper]

I would keep it simple with kids.
Zero to 200 or like what I did 1.5-2" high at 100.
That way they are in the kill zone out to 250-300.
You don't want to have to deal with the whole hold high conversation when kids are freaking out as it is .

[Pathfinder101]

We sighted ours in at 200 with the kids and called it good.  1.5 inches high at 100 and there is no worries out to 250.

   Same here.  Always zeroed the kids guns at 200 (and made them practice out to 300).  My 9 year old's first buck was 324 yards.  I know that's a long poke for a 9 year old, but had the dope and he was confident, so I let him take the shot.  DRT.     Couldn't have done that with a rifle zeroed at 100...

[BlackRiverTaxidermy]

Awesome...a majority of the feedback is what I was thinking. Thank you all for the input...daughter is pretty stoked about 'going hunting with dad', and I was super stoked about winning the gun for her as it was the pretty close to the same gun I would have purchased anyway.

Thanks again.....now to find some ammo cause no luck so far!!

[Alan K]

Yep... Why not 200?

If you zero all your other rifles at 200, it would be good for consistency too. Years down the road you don't want to be staring at an animal on the outskirts of your daughter's range and wrongly assume it was zeroed like the rest of your rifles.

Kids vary greatly in their 'buck fever' and maturity, but we've had 7-8 year old kids ringing steel at 500-600 yards so it's not like they can't extend the range if needed. Buddies boy killed his first buck at 9 from 550 yards. With plenty of practice bwtween now and hunting season, prone and with a bipod I'm sure you could get your daughter comfortable out to 300-400 in no time.  Odds are you'll find a shorter shot anyway, but just in case it's good to be practiced up further.

[Pathfinder101]

Awesome...a majority of the feedback is what I was thinking. Thank you all for the input...daughter is pretty stoked about 'going hunting with dad', and I was super stoked about winning the gun for her as it was the pretty close to the same gun I would have purchased anyway.

Thanks again.....now to find some ammo cause no luck so far!!

Good luck with the ammo thing.  If you can find it, just FYI, that Hornandy "reduced recoil" stuff shoots great.   

[NRA4LIFE]

If you can't find ammo, let me know.  I have quite a bit of factory ammo.

[Bob33]

1.5 inches high at 100 yards or zero at 200 yards are pretty much the same.

Starting a brand new shooter target shooting at longer distances might not be the best thing for her confidence. I would suggest starting at distances where she will see the hits close to where she is aiming, and work out from there. As for live game, 200 yards is a pretty long poke for a new hunter. The last thing you want is a crippled animal to get away. Practice should tell you the distance limits.

Good luck.

[jasnt]

I zero everything at 100 but that’s just me. I like a zero I know wind did not effect.  Jmo