Who will be honest.

Newsflash....

Some of us can hunt. Some of us can shoot too.

Sometimes ya get closer, sometimes you dont. Often it is a choice.

As long as you put the bullet where you are supposed to, its good enough.

People flub close stuff a lot. And my guess is those that do dont work at perfecting their skills at longer ranges.

Bet they run see through rings too. LMBO

bassjam said:

No joke, being completely honest here, my longest whitetail kill was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400.

No not yards, inches! And that 40 yard show was the furthest, most of them have been inside of 30 yards.

I did once take a groundhog at 160 yards with a .22lr. First shot hit way in front of him. Second shot was just past. I somehow connected with the 3rd shot and ran to close the distance to about 50 yards to finish him off as he was frantically dragging his paralyzed hind legs to try to get into his hole. Then dropped another groundhog at my local range at 100 yards, I happened to just finish sighting in my .22lr at that distance and he was dumb enough to start crawling around on the 100 yard backstop mound of dirt! I'm pretty sure those are the only animal I've shot further away than 40 yards too. Squirrel, rabbit, varmints have all been fairly close.

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Those opportunities present themselves at my range all the time, but to take them would mean never being able to shoot there again, so I pass. I often use the deer out behind the Trap house as a starting aiming point before I say "Pull".

In my neck of the woods there are not a lot of long range hunting shots to be taken. The bulk of my white tail shots have been between 35 and 70 yards. I do practice out to 300 yards that is the max distance at my local shooting range . That being said conditions would have to be dang near perfect for me take that 300 yard shot. I have never had an issue with letting a deer walk if I didn’t think the shot would be dead right there.

I have taken a few shots at over 200 , but only at coyotes even then conditions were great and I had a steady rest. On a side note since my eyes have gotten old my range finder has been money very well spent.

This season I saw what looked to be a really nice wide mature 8pt at 750 yards. Watched him for about 40 min. Wind was calm. I had a good, stable supported shooting position. I had my DOPE for the load I was shooting out to 800 yards

There was never a point where I was tempted to take the shot. Too high of a risk that I’d be looking for it all night if I missed or wounded it. Just not worth it to me

I always thought the whole idea of hunting was to get as close as you can to ensure the most ethical shot possible. Bragging about the distance of a shot seems, to me, to almost be like confessing. But I'm getting old and I don't have any flat-brimmed hats, so take that for what it's worth.

taliv said:

IMHO big difference between 700 and 900 yards. Remember 308 falls out of sky at 800. Seriously though most hunting bullets are really losing a lot of energy and taking a lot of time to get from 500-1000. And around here usually you’re just going to have one wind condition out to 500 or so but with the hills the wind from 500-1000 could easily and often be going a completely different direction than 0-500. So imho a lot of people who can hold tiny groups at 100 can do reasonably well to 500-600 but past that can easily flub a shot because of wind they can’t see or feel.
Also the ToF matters because even if someone takes a perfect shot at 900, the animal could decide to take a step or turn and now it’s just injured. That’s much more rare inside 500

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^^ this sums me up perfectly and the reason I’m not taking long shots on deer

It is really pretty simple. Know your prey know your equipment know your abilities. I think for the most part those that lack integrity standards morals respect and are reckless are not just that way with hunting but are probably that way in other aspects of life and eventually they weed themselves out for the most part. Know when to let em walk. If you shoot or shoot at everything you see pretty soon your in a ghost town. We as hunters play a huge role in preservation and management when we do things the right way and take time to instill proper ethics in our children it helps carry the tradition. Hunting comes in so many forms and has so many variables that time in the field with future hunters is priceless. Teach them it’s ok to pass one up or that it’s ok to watch them instead of shooting. Teach them to take the old over the young the weak over the healthy and to enjoy all aspects of our natural resources. Even the critters we value the least have a place and there is always a balance. A nuisance for one might be a months worth of food for another.

Bill Raby said:

Yes. Wyoming Pronghorns. Indians managed to shoot them with arrows for about 1000 years. Back in the old west days people managed to shoot them even before scopes were invented. They did not even have $80 pants that they bought at a big sporting goods store. Now nobody can get within 500 yards of them. Instead of learning how to hunt, people just learn how to spend $1500 on a big scope. They learn how to shoot things that are really far away, but know nothing at all about hunting. Got all these guys here bragging about how far away they shot something from. That is not something to brag about. It is something to be embarrassed of.

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The last two antelope I shot in WY were at around 40 yards. They started out at around 300, ran east into S.
Dakota turned around and looked at me. I learned to stay really still. Their curiosity got the best of them. They came straight to where I was and were bagged. Neither were "trophy" quality though and on our last day.

Smiles,

I hunt early bow w a freakin recurve.
Come boom time it just is what it is.
Normally run a 35 remington. I consider it a 150 yard rig. Maybe its good past that. Have no interest in finding out. Have other stuff that is.

Buds dads place could go 500 or so. A heavy bbl 7mm mag would be cool.

Laser range finder and no wind, I could lay in the ditch and have rifle on bipods up top.
Its 550 ditch to ditch and 700 the other way.

Usually windy though ( why be down in ditch ). Figure thatd mandate way shorter shootin.

Of course Id have to spend time on windy days at the range to see what does what.

Everything done afield practiced before.

FWIW i have never understood people shooting AT game.

Maybe just doesnt cut it IMHO.

People differ in ability.

And a lot of folks get upset by that.... If they can't they think you can't.

Got two guys at work, long time deer hunters.... never shot past 50 yards without a rest and never over 100.

They think a 150 yard shot a myth LOL.
Tell em ya shot one like that offhand and they think youre full of it.

They just dont know/ understand.

for me it all comes down to how far I feel like packing something out of the woods, usually its not too far, I try my hardest to keep shots within 150 yards just for ease of recovering and packing out, I practice regulary at 500 meters with a bowling pin and am confident I could if it came down to taking a shot that far, but honestly I am too lazy to hike that far and pack it out that far.

most of my shots are around100 yards, thats right where I like them. I am patient and have no problem hunting for a few more days if need be.

Well the little devil has been gone awhile, so I think I’m safe to reply.

I honestly don’t know how far I have killed game. I have stated this before, but I suffer from a condition called “familial tremors”. Basically my hands shake all the time. My arch rival in life is a flat tip screwdriver. And any moderate to heavy muscle strain causes that limb to shake....a lot. So, while I have rifles that I’m am positive can make 800-900 yard shots, this guy isn’t capable. 98% of my kills are 50 yards or less. 50% are under 30.

Bill Raby said:

Indians managed to shoot them with arrows for about 1000 years.

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To be fair, it's kind of a different scenario when you 'have' to kill them with arrows in order to survive and it's the only thing you have to worry about. When it's your job. I'd probably be a lot better at hunting too if I did it every day and out of necessity.

Hookeye said:

Bet they run see through rings too. LMBO

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And dont check for zero besides a over the hood shot at a paper plate where one in 3 or 4 (what ever the magazine holds, normally 4 since its a 74/7600 and still loaded from last year) is good nuff!

Ive hunted with my fair share of those......in fact shot one a couple trips ago.

LoonWulf said:

Ive hunted with my fair share of those......in fact shot one a couple trips ago.

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Did he survive?!

The longest shot I've ever taken on game was around 225-250 yards, a big mule deer across a draw. Most of my shots have been inside 100 yards. While I like shooter longer ranges (eg metallic silhouettes) when it comes to game I was raised to be a hunter, not a sniper. Getting close to the animal is part of hunting. Tell a bowhunter that it's necessary to shoot at 500 yards!

BigBore44 said:

Did he survive?!

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welp I called for help, and I sayd I thought he was ded...they asked me to check and make sure he really WAS ded.......


sorry, i cant remember that joke all that well....



It should have said, shot WITH one.....

I know of A LOT of people who aren't proficient enough to even sight in a rifle properly that go hunting every year. Like seriously... cannot sight one in at 100 because the shots differ by anywhere from 2 inches to 1.5 feet in their point of impact. These are people who also see a deer at 220 and think that it is well within their abilities. There are many people out there who don't understand enough to understand that they do not understand if you catch my drift. One of these people i took hunting with me once to shoot their first deer and they were successful. Kicker is they shot one at 35 yards... I don't let him shoot any further than that until he buckles down and gets better.

A bullet through the vitals is ethical.
Distance doesnt mean much.
If you can do it out yonder, good for you.
I really got tired of the supposed purists w trad gear on another forum that wouldnt shoot past 19 yards, only before noon, on Saturdays, w deer broadside w head behind tree, and only if the ol lady made meatloaf the night before.

Anybody doing anything different wasnt a hunter.

Of course when season came around these guys talked about missing...........

SMDH

I told some folks on a forum i shot a 100" 8 pt w my bow, on the run.

Acted like they were gonna burn a cross in my yard LOL

Of course one says you dont shoot unless you practice that shot.

Told him I did. Made a fool of him after eventually relaying this was a containment area, untethered regular arrows, and fish pushed by drivers. Trotting deer or spooked carp at back edge going as fast as he can....
About the same IMHO

Yeah, it was a practiced shot. Like I freakin said.

FWIW back in the old days many an archery range had a running deer target. I always did well on em, but of course there are tricks to it.

If you do well on doves you should do well on other moving stuff IMHO

Wait a minute....

You mean to be a hunter they gotta be close AND standing still?

Aint no sin to let em walk.
Tag soup tastes fine if not regularly on the menu.

Didnt fire an arrow or bullet last deer season. Didnt even draw my bow on a deer.
No big deal.

All of my whitetail hunting was West Virginia so bunnies and pheasant aside here in Ohio my longest kill shot was likely 100 yards and most were likely about 50 yards or less. All were with a Ruger 44 Carbine and the 100 yard kill was a matter of luck combined with holding high. The areas we hunted in Wests Virginia were pretty dense around Webster Springs.

I have killed plenty of paper targets at 500 meters with 308 Win and 30-06 Spring.

Ron

Lol. This was my first year to bow hunt. Got a nice buck at 20 yards. Sure has been better eating that the tag soup