So I just finished watching a series on a YouTube channel(I am not naming) Where they were out hunting and taking some long shots on small deer and not very successfully, missed, wounded and lost, wounded and recovered. At first I just shook my head and thought WTF. But it gives you a lot to think about, and wonder why they even uploaded the videos.
You read the comments to their videos and you can just image the variety of responses; chastising, supportive, defensive.

I will say it is great in that you can use so much of it to help educate other hunters. First off they were not under gunned and I am sure they have had plenty of trigger time, and know their equipment(and still miss). They showed that hunting isn't just physically demanding but also emotionally draining and how hard it can be to come to terms with a lost animal and not wanting to give up on the search. Long range hunting is not easy and technology isn't fool proof. You need to be ready for a followup shot(every time, they weren't).
My Rant (Why not try and get a closer shot, spot n' stalk not spot n' snipe, be a hunter not a shooter. You may loose that one opportunity, but the game lives to give that opportunity to someone else, it's all part of hunting. Do not give the non-hunting public/voters the opportunity to criticize and impose new more restrictive regulations!)

I will say also the guys on the channel do a fantastic job promoting fair chase, conservation, ethics, education, public access, and the outdoor way of life. They could have chosen to edit or not even upload this hunt, and not sure why they did other then to show the reality.

Why aren't you naming?
If it's in the public domain there isn't an issue naming.
Name it and then we can give an opinion.

Well your rant simply makes the observation that folks today think they are WAY more talented than they actually are,after watching a few episodes of "best of the west" or similar program. After watching folks blunder shots at game for the last 45 years it has become very obvious that fancy rifles, premium bullets, and scopes with custom cut turrets, are only part of the overconfident attitude.
The part most of them never get after the 600yd shot , and the animal limps off; Is the simple fact that unless the game is hit "EXACTLY" where it needs
to be ( which is highly unlikely) you have now just wounded an animal, with a bullet that has arrived at the 600yd distance pretty much " out of gas" with barely enough grunt to have got it done correctly, had the hit been perfect. Having watched hundreds of head of game been fired at over my lifetime, I can tell you that "one shot kills" on shots over 350yds are
rare indeed................these movies showing instant kills on Big Bull Elk and Moose at distances in excess of 1000 yds from calibers that have diminished to about the energy of a 32/20 or 38/40.
Is a fantasy in reality......
Long range hunting is cool, and takes ALOT more skills than most actually have. The shows you have watched are the absolute truth, to the reality of most hunters" taking a poke" at one at 6/800 yds. Them documenting wounded animals draging themselfs off is exactly what really happens 80/90% of the time.............
E

Gosh, I have a friend like that.
'who gets the longest kill in Africa?'
I am close to quitting loading for him.
If you want to go long range, shoot steel.
We all know what can go wrong on close ranges.
At 1000y, there is much more that can an will. One step in the 1,x seconds the bullet flies. Wind. ...
And than not even being allowed to track with a dog.
Getting close is the challenge.
Hitting for?
Well...

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Well - at least they showed it all. For me 300 yards is a long shot and I grew up and learned to shoot out on the plains. All I will say... CL

I agree with the general consensus. I don’t video or take pictures of animals that I kill unless they are appropriate because I know where they can end up. Problem with showing everything including failed hunts is perspective. You never know who is viewing it once it’s out there and what they’re doing with it. There’s no control. My hay day of long range hunting is over as far as I can tell. It was before all the good equipment we have now. I simply loaded a 165 gr Ballistic Tip as hard as I could in my Browning Abolt BOSS 300 WM, sighted in for 300 yards and knew where to hold in my old 4X12 Leupold. Things mostly worked out and when they didn’t I followed up as quick as possible. Hunting can be ugly and when it is I certainly don’t show it off. Getting older brings wisdom and with wisdom comes sensible decisions. I don’t shoot over 300 yards on game anymore and it doesn’t bother me to make tag soup. I’ll punch paper and bang steel at distance to sharpen my skills but animals deserve more respect. It takes a tremendous amount of skill and patience to make long shots on game and to do it humanely. I’ve done it proficiently in the past but I don’t now because I don’t have the free time to master the skill and stay sharp. But, for those that can and are proficient you have my respect. I know how much time and effort it takes and it’s almost a full time job.

Personally I am amazed at these people who hunt on these shows. They are AWESOME shooters!!!!! ALL of them ALL the time!

I have never seen one wound or miss an animal at 1200 yards or more.

LOL You crack me up Fotis

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I don´t know about anyone else here, but I was raised being taught that you should get close to your animal because you owe it to the animal to anchor it quickly.
Now, to me, 400 yards is a long shot, and if I think I´m going to take an animal at that distance, I want as much energy possible to be on target as possible, without being beat to hell in the process.
Would I be tempted to shoot at a longer distance, I won´t say no, because, I have been tempted. Now, I have passed up a lot of shots because I know that the farther the shot, the more things can go wrong.
Shooting steel at 1000 yds is way different than actual field experience hunting. Shooting steel, you get multiple chances to hit your target. Hunting, you most likely get one shot, and you should make that count as much as possible, and this is after you've slogged up and down hills, or mountains, and you don´t get the chance to set everything up perfectly. Sometimes you'll shoot off your backpack, or a nook of a tree limb and tree.
I have seen videos on YouTube, where the hunter states that their quarry is farther away than it actually is. Well, I think they say that to puff themselves up to their audience.
For me, if a hunter wants to shoot long range hunting, then I think they should think hard about what they are doing, and they should have a setup that will get their quarry with one shot.


Hawk

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