Hi Kalani ....
Drop... Drop is going to be measured in several ways by different people. Ballisticians look at drop as how far does the bullet fall over a distance. This doesn't help us much because for our purpose, it dismisses the line of sight to the target.
In the example I gave above, I used a 175 yard zero. The total drop to 175, in that example, is 56"... and if we were aiming horizontally to the ground, would have to have a target sitting about 2" above ground to be a useful number for us. Total drop DOES represent the effects of DRAG over DISTANCE... because essentially, bullets are all going to fall (drop) the same amount over time... with some modifications for the aerodynamics of some bullets.
Trajectory, on the other hand, represents the rise and fall of the bullet above and below our line of sight. This is useful stuff. In the example given above, the "drop" from zero to 200 yards (25 yards), is 7.70 inches. From a 100 yard zero, the drop to 200 yards is 29".
So... let’s consider... 29" of drop from a 100 yard zero. That would mean that you would have to hold your crosshairs possibly a foot over the back of a deer to hit it. If you know your gun, have a scope with them little ticks to accommodate such shooting.... no problem if you know your gun.
Open sights.... SHEER FOLLY.
However, when you consider the alternative, which is sighting in at say 175 yards, the total drop from 175 to 200 being only about 8"... means that holding on the back or slightly below the back is more feasible than say a foot.
The ultimate rise of your bullet on its way to 175 is about 11" and makes for a much easier adjustment for hunting at long range... which I would then ask you is how far do you normally hunt now?
Aloha...
