Long Range - 400yds + hunting ????

[ElmerThud]

Is shooting live quarry at these extended ranges really to be considered hunting?

Of course we know many people do shoot live quarry at some very extended ranges, but isn't this really sniping & just to prove it can be done?

I have taken occasional 300 /320yds shots on red hinds while culling deer numbers and where the ground has been so 'open' that no cover was available to get closer, but in truth, I'd rather get in as close as possible - 60-200yds being the usual norm.

Personally, for me hunting is getting as close to your quarry so that 'field' skills are honed and to ensure the most humane kill possible is successfully made. Even stalking in to off season game, to get the crosshairs on the quarry and then to leave having not disturbed the beast is great fun.

Just a Christmas question for all to respond as they best feel.
Merry Christmas all. Cheers, ET

 

[DrMike]

My average shot on moose and elk is in the vicinity of 120 yards or so. I've shot mule deer and white tail as close as 15 to 20 yards and as far as 320 yards. Moose have been shot as close as 10 yards and as far as 225 yards. Elk have been tagged between forty and 300 yards. Black bears have been taken at distances between 15 and 220 yards. I don't want to shoot at a grizzly at much over 150 yards if I can help it. I've been quite close to several of these big boys without pulling the trigger. Still, the average shot on game has been very close to 120 yards. I consider myself a hunter and not a shooter. I practice at longer ranges, but I'm most comfortable taking game as close as possible.

 

[Anonymous]

That kind of long range shooting just isn't my thing. I hunt open tundra and mountainous country exclusively. Can't say I've had trouble closing to 400yds and under. I've made some 350yd shots but those are pretty unusual, the average is more like 200ish.

At some point (no idea where that actually is) it goes from hunting to an exhibition.

 

[ElmerThud]

At some point (no idea where that actually is) it goes from hunting to an exhibition.

Absolutely...agree & put my guesstimate of change at approx 320yds, but hey, that's just me (Also incidentally, the longest shot I have ever taken on a red deer hind).
Others will have a different view though & I accept that completely.

But, like you, Dr Mike& many others, much shorter ranges are the norm, especially on big stags in the rut.
Cheers, ET

 

[Kodiak]

I have hunted the US western states most of my life. Many areas offer open vistas of 600 yards and more. For my own use, I like shots under 400, but have taken two record-book animals at over that yardage.

My rifles of choice were the .300 Win. Mag., or the 7MM Rem. Mag. Although I did drop a bull elk at 400 with the .340 Wea. Mag rifle. That's another story,

 

[IdahoCTD]

I think most people try to close the range but it's not always possible. For example: This year 3 of us snuck up on a group of about 50 elk that were bedded across a saddle. The closest branched bull being 260yds, the middle 434yds, and the furthest 533yds. There wasn't anything higher than 12" tall between us and any of the elk. If we would have moved any closer we would have exposed ourselves to every elk there. We shot 3 bulls and I shot the furthest at 533yds. The other two guys with me weren't near as experienced at shooting long range so they shot the closer bulls.

I think the terrain dictates the yardage a person will have to shoot in many cases. In our case, if we would have limited ourselves to 400yds we probably wouldn't have shot more than 1 branched antlered bull. There was a spike or two under 400yds we could have shot. Where they decided to lay down wasn't a easy spot to sneak up on them in general. When we hiked to the ridge they were on we could see them from nearly a mile away. Between us and the elk there was literally nothing taller than 12" to try and hide behind. We used the back side of the ridge to sneak up on them but we had to expose ourselves many times during the sneak since there was no other way to get close.

I've shot the vast majority of the game I've shot under 200yds but that doesn't mean I would give up a opportunity to shoot something further if that is the only chance I had. There are so many places here in the western US where getting closer isn't a option without literally hours and hours of stalking. And those hours might not even be possible if the wind is wrong or there isn't enough daylight. I shot my deer this year at 425yds. The deer knew we were there and there was nothing between us and the deer to sneak up closer. In the case of the elk we shot, we were about 4 miles and 3+ hours into the stalk when we got to them and it was another 3 miles just to get to the closest road. We shot them at about 2:30pm and it took until 5:30pm to get one of them boned out and the other two quartered. We hit the truck at 8:30pm after walking for 3 hours in the dark with a quarter each. That was 12 hours from when we spotted them and over 9 hours of hiking, shooting, butchering, and packing the meat out. We had to do that trip the next two days also to get the rest of the meat out. I guess in many instances shooting longer ranges comes down to weather or not you want to be success.

I shot a cow earlier in the year at 100yds so I didn't need the meat but I did give a large portion of the meat to some people we met up hunting and helped feed them through the year. So I don't regret shooting the elk at 533yds at all and would do it again in a heartbeat. I practice a lot to 700yds and a few times a year to 950yds so I'm fully confident in my abilities to shoot longer ranges. Most of the guns I hunt with are capable of pretty small groups even at long ranges. So accuracy isn't a issue if I do my part. A person that practices to extended ranges is better shooting something 500+yds than someone that puts a box up at 25yds to shoot their guns once a year and takes a shot at 200yds IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

This is something I've thought about quite a lot lately actually. With all the newer, better equipment shots over 300 seem far more practical than ever before. At the same time, we're seeing folks in the truly long range game shooting animals at 1000yds+.

No idea where the line is...it's probably further than most of us routinely shoot, probably not as far as what we see commonly portrayed. With good equipment and practice, those 450,500, 550yd shots don't seem as outlandish as they did several years ago. 1100yds still seems unreasonable.

 

[Charlie-NY]

I take game animals as they tend to present themselves. I am usually prepared to take long(er) shots when that is what the situation demands
This past Nov I hunted deer exclusively in elevated box blinds. 3 out of the 4 deer I took entered a soy bean field at 400+. They eventually got closer as they browsed the field. The closest they came was 340-360yds which is where they were taken.
On the opposite side of the equation - I practiced all spring and summer shooting longrange with my 338RUM. I was getting ready for a Newfoundland moose hunt. A few days into the hunt I spotted a good bull at a lasered 1,000 yds. Using a cow call I got his attention and he headed off the opposite ridge and in my direction. A few hours later he popped out of a dense woodlot and presented a shot at 54 yds. Bang flop. I'll take em' where I can. lol

 

[lefty315]

I'm in the same frame of mind that most guys in this forum are. I like to hunt the animal and that means getting close. That being said there are times when it's tough to get close. I think the biggest problem are hunters that won't actually practice shooting at distance from field positions or shoot a few rounds from the bench at 100-200 and assume the ballistic charts will work way beyond that.

There are also times when a hunter can try to get closer but they don't. Given the opportunity I will always try to close the distance to something more manageable and where I feel totally confident in the shot. And that's not a gaurentee everything will go as planned.

This year my buddies and I located a mule deer buck in Montana at around 330 yards. Using some terrain and sagebrush I shaved 80 yards off and shot from prone. The buck dropped but eventually regained his feet and required a second shot to put him down. My first shot went high. I consider myself a pretty fair shot but things like this shake my confidence a bit.

Lastly, animals react differently when shot. I've shot deer at 30 yards that I thought I missed and then fell over dead 5 steps later. If you shoot at something really far away, you have to travel really far to confirm a hit or miss....and that, my friends, is something some hunters won't do. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!!

 

[FOTIS]

My first 2 big game kills when I was young and silly were at bull elk with my 378 WBY Mag at 778 and 510 yards. Both one shot kills. I no longer shoot at anything over 500 yards. My last kill was an antelope buck at about 400 yards with my 264 Win mag #1

Here is my first elk at 778

 

[truck driver]

For me a long range shot is somewhere around 300yds since that is the longest I can safely shoot on most farms in my area without worrying about a house in the back round so I rarely take a shot much over 200yds and most deer are shot under that.

 

[sask boy]

Here in the flat lands I have seen and made a number of shots over 400 yards. If you trust your rifle, have good optics along with confidence & practise lots ranges out to 600 are quite doable.
I would say that my average would be around the 250 mark.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Ridgerunner665]

If I'm hunting.... And I see what I'm hunting...range doesn't matter, within the limits of my equipment and ability.

Long range is simply a different tactic... It requires a skill set just like archery...

Mountain lions kill with stealth.... Cheetahs kill with speed... Snakes kill with poison.

I say use the skills God gave you...

I've taken game past 1,000 yards many times... And will likely do it some more.

We're all hunters....one method no more ethical than the other... Just different means to the same end.

 

[diverdown]

I would agree with the "get as close as you can before you shoot" crowd as I consider that hunting. The stalking and careful shot is what I look for. My furthest shot was 326 yards on a nice 5X5 Bull but my average on Elk is between 60-150 yards. When I enter the woods and I post I set myself up for the longest comfortable shot I want to take.

 

[Elkman]

I also believe in getting as close as one can. However topography and vegetation designates the distance one must shoot. I have taken animals where the distance could be measured in feet. However the majority of my animals have been taken at beyond 200 yards. I have stated here, that in the recent past, 15 years or so, my average shot distance on an elk is 300 yards. I feel as confident at 300 yards as I do at 100 and my two most hunted rifles are zeroed at 300. In the last 5 years I have had one elk at 80 or so and the others at 300+, the longest at 540. None of which I could have be stalked closer, and in several cases there was no time. I also missed one at 680 in those years due to an inaccurate reading from my range finder. Shooting pron with a bipod i practice primarily at 300, 425, and 625, because those are the distances, the easiest for me to access from my lawn. Both rifle shoot sub 1 MOA at those distances.

 

[jimbires]

I think everyone has their own limit , and everyone could extend this limit with practice . you should not shoot past your ability or your equipments ability , whatever distance that would be . here is an article on this topic that I feel is well written .


http://www.scout.com/outdoors/hunting/s ... nting?s=77

 

[DrMike]

An excellent summation, Jim. Richard Mann has performed yeoman service for all hunters in this challenge.

 

[Wyo7200]

I do believe LRS factors and influences are multifaceted. Like Jim stated, practice and ability I think trump a lot of other factors that may make us attempt longer shots.

One of those factors is seeing LR hunting being driven by the industry trying to cater to the newer impatient technological generation... Sponsors of hunting shows need to demonstrate their products capability and those LR kills sell. Why wait for a few hours for the game to move into a better spot that may be closer when you can nail em and be done? Why close the gap and risk spooking the game when you can reach out and drop em? When you are crunched for vacation time or opportunities to go, paying a lot of cash for access or guides, the season ending, etc., patience takes a back seat. The "hunt" is just becoming the "harvest".

The guys I go hunting with are twice my age and have four or ten times the experience. I'm still learning patience. Sitting in a blind for a day and half watching 30-40 bucks come into the waterhole before getting a shot at one... Putting a stalk on an Elk for 1200 some yards to make a 200 yard shot... Seeing a lot of coyotes while hunting Elk... Looking back on those times the story would be over pretty fast if I had nailed them when I first saw them.

300 yards for deer, 400 yards for elk as a last resort. If it doesn't happen, I'll come back next year. Though I'd go for a prairie dog or coyote out to 500.

 

[super-7]

We have enough anti hunters/ anti gun weirdos to deal with I don't wanna judge how other people decide to Legally hunt. From Traditional archery gear, atilia/ spears, muzzle loaders to crossbows , and now long range hunting . They get put in the spot light and ripped apart by fellow hunters.
The dedicated long range guys that put in thier time and money with bullets down range , range charts , and the best of equipment . The ones I do not appreciate are the guys putting stuff on you tube that quite obviously haven't put the time in they give all hunting a bad rap ( well worse then normal)
I have invested into one long range rigg and have yet to harvest an animal with it. I have shot big game out to 450 yrds with my trusty ol 7mmRM quite consistently . I have also shot yotes out to 600 yrds with a 243 win not the norm but sometimes the shot presents itself if things are right I ll take it .
So while I'm not a Fan of 1000yrd shots on animals , if a guy has put in the time , who am I to question him.

 

[cloverleaf]

If you go back and read my posts about "when they don't go down..." you will see that I have learned the hard way that an important factor for me is feeling that the game is close enough that I can judge the hit. I have failed, much to my dissatisfaction a couple of times. That said, at whatever range, follow up is key. I would suspect that this is tougher at 600 yards across a canyon, but if you do it, and can make the shot, that is up to you. Personal responsibility is part of hunting, or it should be. If you pull the trigger there is an obligation to be certain as you can where that bullet went. AS I said, I have not always done that to my satisfaction. My Longest shot on big game for me was 264 yards. I had time, a pickup window for a rest and three other sets of eyes to watch the animal, the bullet strike and do the follow up. If I had to put a limit on things I would say 200yds is where I feel comfortable with my knowledge of what wind drift will do. Drop is a constant, wind is not. I think there are probably guys who can go well beyond that. CL