5 Rifle Must-Haves for Western Hunting
June 23, 2025
Get Your AllTerra In Time for Fall! Average Build Time 10 Weeks. Shop Rifles
Get Your AllTerra In Time for Fall! Average Build Time 10 Weeks. Shop Rifles
By AllTerra Arms
Hunting the western U.S. (or any other expansive region around the world) presents us with the awe of vast landscapes and seemingly endless natural beauty. Naturally, western hunting draws sportsmen in search of adventure from far and wide. We talk to these outdoorsmen often as they make up a significant portion of our customer base. Many live in regions that are highly populated, dense in small parcels of private land, or as flat as a pancake. With that, hunting close to home for many folks – maybe even you since you’re reading this – doesn’t present the need or opportunity to shoot as far as we do out west.
We hear from many hunters who have quickly realized that their rifle setups are lacking as soon as they step into big, western country where the further one can accurately shoot, the better the odds are of filling a tag. This article isn’t about convincing people to come west with plans to pull and pray at long range beyond their comfort limits, but rather to share a handful of must-haves for your rifle setup that will undoubtedly improve the odds of a good shot when hunting at further distances than one might be used to.
While high-end rifles and gear will always hold a performance advantage, the beauty of these recommendations is that they are applicable to virtually any rifle and any budget.
Read before coming west, folks!
Technology and riflescope selection on the market is far too good to not be taking advantage of elevation turrets that can dial to a known shot distance. The hit probability difference between guessing how high to hold a crosshair at distance versus adjusting the crosshair to the distance is huge. Even at 400 yards, which in this day and age should be a layup for most shooters with proper equipment, holding the reticle above an animal’s back by an estimated amount makes a shot much more difficult than it needs to be.
If an additional aiming point adjustment needs to take place to account for wind drift, then suddenly the shooter is compounding guesses and further reducing quality hit probability in the heat of the moment. On the contrary, with a riflescope turret spun to the correct yardage or MOA/MIL adjustment, the shooter can confidently aim at an animal with focus on where he or she actually wants to hit it.
There are various configurations and options available when it comes to turrets. Turrets can be custom-made with lasered yardages to match ballistics out to distance, or they can be utilized in universal MOA or MIL adjustments to be used in conjunction with a ballistics chart or program.
Any adjustable turret configuration is far better than none at all, and even the most budget-friendly riflescopes can be had with an adjustable turret these days. Get one and learn how to use it before hunting the west for an enormous leg up compared to Kentucky windage.
A quality bipod setup could make a strong case for being the number 1 recommendation, but here it is at number 2. Aiming stability may well be more important than rifle accuracy (having both together is definitely best). If a hunting rifle setup is capable of 4” accuracy at 400 yards but the shooter is drawing figure-eights on an animal that are 12” or worse wide, then stability is the biggest limiting factor for rifle system accuracy. In other words you can’t “aim small, miss small” without aiming small.
Shooting in the prone position from a bipod should always be the goal when the time and terrain allows – which tends to be more often than not in western hunting. When you’re half out of breath and full of adrenaline trying to aim and shoot at an animal that you’ve likely invested a whole bunch of time, energy, and money into pursuing, stability becomes extremely important to executing a good shot. Shooting from a rigid bipod setup also allows the shooter to more easily re-acquire their target for potential follow-up shots, or (ideally) to watch their animal expire for confirmation of a good hit and recovery location. Bipods are another thing to carry around, but it’s only a matter of time before having one or not makes the difference between a good shot or not.
There are many types available, go for one that allows easy independent adjustment of the leg lengths and angles. It will help with faster setup and target acquisition, as well as leveling the rifle in uneven terrain… which leads us to number 3.
A level mounted to or integrated with your riflescope is more important than many seem to realize when it comes to western hunting. Shooting from side-hills or other types of uneven terrain has a way of tricking our eyes and minds into thinking our rifles are level (actually ‘plumb’ is the more technically correct term), if we’re even thinking about that when setting up for a shot. A plumb rifle becomes more important the further the shot.
At 500 yards, a rifle canted too far to one side or the other could easily mean the difference between a kill shot or a wounded critter. Firing a shot with a severely canted reticle presents the same issue as purposely holding too far left or right of where you want to hit… why would anybody want to risk that?
Installing a level onto a scope is relatively inexpensive and easy, doesn’t add significant weight or bulk, and is a super easy thing to check and adjust when setting up to take an important shot. There’s zero downside to installing a riflescope level and using it.
Here at AllTerra Arms we take the quality of our ammunition as seriously as the quality of our rifles. Like a race car and race fuel, they go hand-in-hand when it comes to system performance. At further shooting distances shot-to-shot velocity spreads become very important, perhaps even more important than group size accuracy. If you’re shooting ammo where one shot might come out at 2,820 fps and the next could be 2,910 fps, it’s nearly impossible to trust that your dialed elevation hold in your riflescope is actually going to be correct. A slow round will hit too low and a fast round will hit too high, and until the trigger is pulled you have no idea which end of the spread a given round is going to land on.
Before hunting at extended western distances, invest a little time chronographing your ammo to make sure that you’re not up against an ammunition inconsistency error. Even an extreme spread of ~50 fps or less should be achievable with most rifles and some type of readily factory ammo. Sometimes it takes sampling numerous brands and types to find a good consistent ammo in your rifle, but when you do it’s worth it.
Confidence in every category of equipment goes a long way. As mentioned earlier, going on a western hunt is an investment in adventure and memories. If there’s any lack of confidence in your rifle setup before go time, do whatever it takes to resolve it. Just as importantly is self-confidence.
Someone could have the most accurate rifle in the world, but if they aren’t confident in their ability to utilize it then what’s the point? The last thing you want to happen is to experience a failed opportunity due to a lack of practice, knowledge, preparation, or quality in your equipment or yourself. Knowing and working to improve the limitations of your gear and abilities is a powerful thing. Confidence is looking at an animal at XXX yards and just knowing that you’re going to make a great shot before it even happens. Confidence takes time and effort to achieve, and it’s worth it.
If you’re lacking confidence in your rifle setup, follow the steps recommended in this article as a great starting point. Talk to some professionals for further assistance – we’d be happy to help. If your rifle setup is dialed but your self-confidence is lacking, sign up for a shooting school to learn and practice more. Confidence will grow and so will your success in the field. There are so many quality resources available these days; how could anyone regret utilizing them?
If you’d rather leave your rifle setup to the pros, we specialize in that. And we’ll put our product quality and rifle system setup detail up against anybody’s. If we build and set up your rifle, optic, ammunition, and ballistic solution for you, all that’s left to do is go out and use it. It will do what it’s supposed to do every time, anywhere.
We’re fully aware that the cost of our rifle system is a barrier of entry for many, and that’s okay. Any budget can still work through numbers 1-5 above.
Thank you for reading and best of luck from AllTerra on your next western hunting adventure!
Todd Harney
AllTerra Arms
208-608-5179
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