Today's scope reticles make long-range shooting simpler by providing real aiming points--as opposed to holding over an animal with a regular crosshair.

So high initial velocity is good for long-range shooting because it provides so many advantages, including trajectory. What many hunters fail to realize, though, is that having a flat trajectory is not the most important thing--knowing your trajectory is. And in order to know how your gun/load combo performs at various distances, you have to actually shoot it. Ballistics charts and computer programs are great, but these are only a starting point.

Just the other day I was shooting with some fellow writers, and we tried our hand at a life-size deer target at 400 yards. I was shooting my .300 H&H with 150-grain Sierras pushed really fast. Certain I was gonna show these boys something, I dug in my pocket and pulled out a chart. With my 300-yard zero, I needed to hold just 81?2 inches high. I held right on the backline, watched the wind carefully, and squeezed off three shots between gusts.

Yep, I showed 'em--I showed 'em what an idiot I am. I shot a 11?2-inch group, plenty fancy for a hunting rifle at 400 yards. But my group printed neatly where the foreleg joins the body, about four inches below where it should have been. I hadn't shot this new batch of ammo, and it was obviously slower than I had expected. On the range it was a good lesson; in the field, I would have wounded a buck.

I have read a number of times that a fixed 4X scope offers all the magnification you really need for big game hunting. Maybe in the purest sense. I have made some long shots with 4X and 5X scopes. But if you really think you might need to take a long-range poke one of these days, I can't tell you how much easier it is with more magnification.

How much more magnification you really need depends on you. I am not in favor of the 6.5-20X and even 6-24X scopes that many of my long-range shooting friends have gone to. The low range is a bit too high for close work when needed, and in the field there's often too much mirage to use the higher magnifications.

Perhaps most importantly, the majority of "big" scopes in this power range have fairly narrow fields of view and are finicky about eye relief. Still, image size is a great confidence booster at long range and simplifies a difficult shot. For serious long-range shooting I like something on the order of a 4.5-14X, 5-15X or 4-16X.

That said, on big game (especially on really big game like elk) the good ol' 3-9X or 3.5-10X probably offers as large an image size as anyone really needs--and these popular power ranges beat the pants off a good ol' fixed 4X or 6X.

And there is one other argument in favor of higher magnification. When judging wind you need all the clues you can get, and sometimes the more powerful scopes will allow you to see how the leaves and grass are moving.

Like most of us who have indulged in long shots, I have generally "guesstimated" the holdover. I knew the trajectory, yes, but with a standard reticle it is terribly difficult to judge whether the vertical wire is four, six or eight inches or more over the backline.

Ballistics tables and computer trajectory programs are all well and good, but there is no substitute for spending a lot of time at the firing range. It's imperative to know how your gun/load combination actually performs at given distances.

I'm convinced that additional aiming points on the reticle are the only way to go. There are other options, such as dialing in the range with the elevation knob, but my testing has convinced me that few scopes (including the best) have adjustments precise enough and consistent enough to make this work. I believe additional aiming points on the vertical crosswire are the best answer.

There are many systems out there today. Some are extremely complicated and some are simple. Some that I have used and liked are the Burris Ballistic Plex, Swarovski's T.D.S. (designed by shooting great T.D. Smith) and Leupold's new Boone and Crockett reticle. All of these incorporate additional stadia lines that translate to additional aiming points at longer ranges, all set for more or less "standard" trajectory curves.

Standard mil dot reticles also work well, and you can even get a custom reticle (from Premier and other firms) calibrated to the trajectory of your specific load.

Whatever system you choose, it's imperative to test it at the range with the load you're going to use. The instruction manual may say a certain aiming point should work at 400 yards, but in truth a bullet may strike that aiming point at 425 yards--or 375 yards--with your rifle and load.