Those advocating a 200yd zero might find that a Point Blank Range (PBR) calculation is a more efficient way to zero for hunting.
I think we all agree that the ultimate goal of hunting is to land a hit within a critical circle on an animal. If you work back from there using the ballistics of your gun and ammunition you can find the zeroing range where the dangerous space is maximised. This zeroing range is unlikely to be exactly 200yds. By maximising, I mean maximising the possible ranges that a point-and-shoot will result in a deadly/humane shot.
For example, using;
a 120NBT @ 2,460fps to hit a 6" diameter circle on say, a deer.
PBR Zero.
Plugging these number into JBM Ballistics online give us a PBR zero of 219yds. With this zero we can shoot out to 255yds and hit within that 6" circle.
For ease of zeroing JBM tells us if we zero 2.7" high at 100yds then this is the same as a 219yd zero.
200yd Zero.
JBM tells us we can shoot out to 240yds before the bullet drops below 3" (3" is the radius of our 6" diameter kill-circle on an animal).
Result.
With a calculated PBR zero you get 15 more yards of dangerous space than an arbitrary 200yd zero. It's not much but it's still undeniably better and depending on your gun, ammo and kill-circle it can be a lot more. Sure, if you don't have 15 minutes to plug your gun's data into JBM, or are in a place where the internet doesn't exist, go with the convenient 200 zero... but most people on this forum are a lot more particular about precision, so you may as well be precise about your zeroing as well.
I think we all agree that the ultimate goal of hunting is to land a hit within a critical circle on an animal. If you work back from there using the ballistics of your gun and ammunition you can find the zeroing range where the dangerous space is maximised. This zeroing range is unlikely to be exactly 200yds. By maximising, I mean maximising the possible ranges that a point-and-shoot will result in a deadly/humane shot.
For example, using;
a 120NBT @ 2,460fps to hit a 6" diameter circle on say, a deer.
PBR Zero.
Plugging these number into JBM Ballistics online give us a PBR zero of 219yds. With this zero we can shoot out to 255yds and hit within that 6" circle.
For ease of zeroing JBM tells us if we zero 2.7" high at 100yds then this is the same as a 219yd zero.
200yd Zero.
JBM tells us we can shoot out to 240yds before the bullet drops below 3" (3" is the radius of our 6" diameter kill-circle on an animal).
Result.
With a calculated PBR zero you get 15 more yards of dangerous space than an arbitrary 200yd zero. It's not much but it's still undeniably better and depending on your gun, ammo and kill-circle it can be a lot more. Sure, if you don't have 15 minutes to plug your gun's data into JBM, or are in a place where the internet doesn't exist, go with the convenient 200 zero... but most people on this forum are a lot more particular about precision, so you may as well be precise about your zeroing as well.