Not a very good rest, it's a blind we made out of plywood so I was shooting out of a window we cut in it. I should make sure I'm squeezing real slow.

Cool thank you

You just need practice, IMO. Most people aren't born natural shooters. Heck, you're shooting better than some on here that have a lot more experience than you do. But you gotta make sure you do put the practice in, as you owe it to the critters that you're hunting to be sure you are efficient enough to make a clean kill. Just keep shooting.

Thanks. I'm gonna go out and shoot some more right now. The WI youth deer season is tomorrow and Sunday so I guess I'll just make sure to only shoot within 50 yards

Cowboy, I would highly recommend shooting some rimfire at same distance until you are able to tighten up that group and have it centered. I am not trying to deter you but I would not let my kids go hunting when they were starting if they shot groups like that.

If resting on window sill put something soft between it and rifle,
like your hand or rolled up jacket etc.
You're going to be fine.

Wow um okay I guess. Kind of crazy to think that I shot my first deer 5 years ago when I was 10 and at least one deer every year after that and didn't even think about my groups. I always knew my dad wasn't the best shot but he's been hunting deer (and shooting deer) since he was 14 (he's 60 now). So I guess I just figured that if he said I was good to go, I was good to go. I never really asked anybody else's opinion about hunting/shooting until I joined Tman. My parents are getting divorced so dad's only here on the weekends now, but I guess that doesn't matter anyway since he would assume that's a good group. I appreciate you all being honest so thank you. I just don't really know what to think right now...

You didn't say whether you're shooting off hand, kneeling or off a solid bench. Also didn't say if shooting open sights or with a scope. Shooting left could be a lot of things from not being zeroed to trigger control. Previous posters have given you great information.
For group size we also need to know if that included first shot out of a clean cold barrel and which hole it was. All out of a clean and cold barrel?
You really need to spend some time developing muscle memory to tighten that group up or maybe your rifle just doesn't like that particular load. Shooting at 25 yards is fine as long as it's consistent. Math will provide you answers at other distances. With that group size, I would limit the range to animal to 100 yards or less.

The Winchester 95gr Deer Season XP load
with a 25 yd zero, is:
1-1/4 inches high at 50 yards
2-3/4 inches high at 100 yds
3-3/8 inches high at 150 yds ( maximum rise )
0 at 265 yds
2-3/8 inches low at 300 yds
Winchester deer season xp 95gr

Best of luck with your practice and hunting

we have some foam-ish stuff on the sill

Sorry I forgot to mention that. We bought the gun with a Weaver scope so that's what I was using. I'm going to shoot another few rounds and then fill you in

thanks

Use this ballistic calculator.
https://sagecalculator.com/nosler-ballistic-calculator/

I ran some numbers using a typical 95 grain bullet out of a 243. You will be nowhere near zero'd at 300 yards.

I may be sounding like a arse and don’t mean to be, but that is the way I see it. We need to hold each other accountable and help when we can. A sound scoped firearm should produce groups much less than what you showing. This tells me your skills are not yet honed to deliver a humane kill every time. This can easily be fixed be trigger time using inexpensive 22lr. This is what I recommended.

Your ability to kill a deer in the past has no relevance to your future success. You mentioned you never cared about your groups in the past is very telling. I would love to discuss ways to improve, just PM.

Did you have the stock or the barrel resting on the window opening when you took those shots?
Just curious

if you are shooting from an elevated blind run a target out to the max distance you could shoot a deer from that blind safely and shoot that target , sight in for that max , provided it is at or under 200 yards you are golden once you can shoot it well at that distance for everything inside of that.

I ran your numbers on the deer season XP 95gr 243win

I used a 2 inch height over bore , measure yours center of scope bell to center of barrel and let me know what you have and I can adjust

a 1/10 under 200 yards won't matter much but 5/10 will

2 inch height over bore
200 yard zero
.363 bc
3100fps muzzle velocity , that was what the box claimed , often that is out of a 26 inch barrel and you would loose 100fps out of say a 22 inch barrel but close enough for now and under 200 yards.



if I was going to set up to go shoot 200 yards at the 25 yard range I would sight in for 3/4 to 1 inch low at 25 yards I would want to be cutting bullet holes 25 yards but that is me. you want your group centered around the point 7/8 low of where you aim and centered perfect left right

then go to 100 yards take a few you would want to be 1.2 inches high at 100 that should put you zero at 200 and make you solidly on to 250 yards if you are zero at 200 and have a nice group I would shoot 250 without confirming it and expect to be 2.5 inches low which is minute of deer heart

but that means you shoot a 3 inch or smaller group at 200 yards from a rested position before you try for 250

Im curious on your thinking of being good out to a 100yds? The group looks to be bigger than 1.5" at 25 yds so I'm calling it 1.75. Thats a 7 inch group at a 100. By your dope hes 2 3/3 high at 100 so likely chance some shots could be off poa by almost 10". Then figure in his center of group is left what? 1.5? That going to be 6" at a hundred.
My guess if he shot 3 just like that at a hundred he'd be likely to miss a paper plate with at least 2 of those shoots. And hes talking about his max range being 200 yds. Im not beating the kid up as hes young and inexperienced as we all were at some point but we do have a responsibility to ethically harvest animals. A seven inch group at 100yds off a front rest something is bad wrong.

this is why I don't like 25 yard zero other than to put you on paper at 100

a tiny bit off at 25 is inches at 100

and a 1 1/2 inch group at 25 is 6 inches at 100 if it is also 1 1/2 left now it is a 6 inch group 4 inches left that means you could be 7 inches off point of aim.

No you sounded just fine, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make my reply sound so dumb. I am glad you said what you said, and I just was frustrated with myself and it came out in my post so I'm sorry. It wouldn't help anyone if everyone just "sugarcoated" things. I was mad at myself for not thinking about my groups before. And when I mentioned the deer I've killed I was just saying that I can't believe I always thought my shooting was all right when obviously it needs work

Thats a mature take and response cc

OP, disregard the earlier ballistic calculator that I linked to. Use this one. There is some sort of glitch in the earlier one I posted.
https://www.federalpremium.com/Ballistics-Calculator

BTW, most high powered modern rifles when sighted in to be 2 inches high at 100 yards, will be zero'd at 200 yards, and around 10 inches+- at 300. This is a pretty good rule-of-thumb for sighting in a hunting rifle.

These calculations are based on 100 grain zero'd at 100 yards.

We all need work.
Don't let your confidence get blown up.
You know how to shoot deer.
Perfect paper is deferent.