Choosing The Perfect Sniper Rifle For Hunting Season

The start of hunting season is a time of year that many individuals relish. It’s a time to test out new gear and equipment, it’s a time-honored tradition to be on the hunt, and it’s also an avenue to harvest uniquely fresh meat that will keep you and your loved ones satiated for months to come.

However, you might be wondering, as a hunter, what are the best tools and techniques in order to ensure that you consistently bring back delicious results after each and every hunt?


Below, we go over how to choose and purchase the perfect sniper rifle for the upcoming hunting season, which will help ensure that you achieve the results you’re looking for this year and in years to come.

There Are Benefits to Hunting…

When you decide to be a hunter, whether it be for sport to to harvest your own meat, you’re actually doing a good thing for the ecosystem. Did you know that hundreds of millions of dollars are donated to wildlife management efforts, maintenance, not to mention rehabilitation efforts.

Contrary to anti-hunting beliefs, hunters are vital proponents of wildlife population management. Overpopulation of animal species can often lead to food shortages that can end up depleting healthy prey populations that ultimately overwhelm the ecosystem. 

Hunters are huge contributors to respective local businesses, whether it’s small mom-and-pop hunting and sportsmen shops to big box retailers.

The act of hunting also helps curb the spread of disease as hunters help eliminate predators that could be ill or acquire an illness that will result in disease spread.

Practical Uses for Sniper Rifles

Sniper rifles are generally more sophisticated options for those who need high-quality accuracy from long range. The term “Sniper” is more used to define a position/person, as snipers are not really types of firearms but more a term used to describe a role an individual has in a military outfit/operation.

Just as with any other hobby/pursuit/endeavor, gun enthusiasts and purists are real nitpickers when it comes to terminology. Defining a “rifle”, a “hunting rifle”, and a “sniper rifle” it’s super cut and dry. If we’re being literal, the term “Sniper”, again, more refers to a role than it does to a kind of rifle. As a matter of fact, any rifle can be either a sniper rifle or a hunting rifle — it just depends on how the rifle is used. In a lot of cases, the best sniper rifles are going to be used at long ranges, while a typical hunting rifle is used at shorter ranges. 

Why is a hunting rifle used at shorter ranges? It has to do with ethics. The farther away a hunter is from the subject, the less ethical the shot is going to be. A “Good” shot is a shot taken that hits the mark and limits the amount of suffering an animal has to endure during a successful hunting endeavor.

From a military standpoint, any shot that hits the mark in any fashion is going to be considered a good shot, while hunting is far more particular.

Conversely, the farther a hunter is from the animal in question, the more useful a sniper-style rifle would be during a hunt. There are actually a lot of hunters out there who use a 338 Lapua, for example, which is a type of sniper caliber used for extremely long ranges. Police will often use a sniper rifle based off of the Remington 700, which is categorized by some experts as a classic hunting rifle. 

At the end of the day, though, most hunters out there don’t exactly need a rifle that can execute an 800-yard shot when it comes to hunting an animal — hunters are usually far closer to the target. The average hunter will generally take their game at 300 yards, this way the shot is ethical and getting to the animal (and taking it back) is more easily-executed.

Choosing the Right Sniper Rifle for the Hunt

At the end of the day you’ll want to purchase a sniper rifle or a hunting rifle (whatever you decide to think of your rifle as) that is going to be accurate, trustworthy, easy to use, and will last a long time.

The type of rifle that you choose for the hunt is dependent upon the game that you plan to hunt as well. If you plan to be moving around a lot, then you’re going to need a more portable option that is lightweight and easy to maneuver around. Hunting licenses will cost anywhere around $50 for residents and $150 dollars for nonresidents. 

Read on for some quick tips for maximizing your hunting experience.

First, make sure that you have all the required gear you will need to have a comfortable and safe hunting experience. Bring plenty of warm clothes, bring a first aid kit, and bring all the ammunition and amenities you will need over the course of the hunt.

Make sure that your sniper scope is secure on your rifle and that it does not obscure your field of vision during use.

It’s generally best to keep your gun clean, but the great thing about sniper rifles is that a good one will only need to be cleaned after 200-300 shots. Many snipers in the military like to use “Dirty Rifles” which mean a rifle that hasn’t been cleaned in a while. You will want to ensure that your rifle works well under both scenarios.

Breathe easy when shooting and make sure that you take your shot in between the in and out breath — at the perfect moment of pause in between the two. The reason behind this method is to ensure that your rifle is steady and on point.

When firing, make sure to follow through. Pull the trigger all the way back to the rear before releasing — be sure not to jerk the trigger as this will compromise the accuracy of your shot.

At the end of the day each hunter is different and will require a unique set of specifications in order to find the perfect sniper rifle this hunting season. Know what you need, do your research, and ask around before you make your ultimate decision.