775yd moose

[Hugger-4641]

What's everyone think about this?
Is it un-ethical to take a shot at that distance if you know your skill is up to it?
Personally, I commend him.

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/giant-moose-775-yards/

 

[WrongHanded]

Interesting question. Given I don't shoot nearly that far, I feel unqualified to comment on taking such a shot.

But I will say, whilst in the lower 48 there are places animals can easily be stalked inside of 100 yards, I'm not confident that's always true in Alaska.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

That was quite the shot.

 

[stringnut]

I am more against long range shooting than in agreement with it. I do know for a fact that anything past maximum point blank range is too far for me. I simply do not have any place to practice such shooting.

The farther away the target is increases the amount of things that can go wrong. The ability to take long range shots also requires the shooter to use exceptional judgment about the conditions as well as having the technical skills.

When I was shooting archery competition a 50 yard shot on a whitetail was perfectly ethical under favorable conditions. However , most of the time , conditions were not right. Never lost one that was 50 yards plus, so , that kind of shows how fussy I was. Now 30 yards is my limit.

Killed a hog at 68 yards by laser. However it had been previously wounded. There was no way to approach without it spooking. A quick conversation with the guide, and the hunter that had made the initial hit, and it was decided that my taking the shot was the best option. The considerations that went into this were, there was no wind, I had pins out to 70 yards, I was in my shooting prime, the hog had no idea we were there. If any of those had not been an affirmative a different option would have been chosen.

From talking to some people that think they are long range shooters they do not take enough time to consider all the variables. Those that have all the shooting and judgement skills are legitimate in taking such shots.

 

[Patocazador]

IMO, he is a great shot .. or lucky. However, he is not a hunter. If you can't get closer than 775 yards, you ain't trying.

If he couldn't get closer, how would he retrieve the carcass???

 

[jmr40]

If someone has the skills and tools to do that it isn't unethical. For some people a 75 yard shot would be unethical.

 

[Chuck R.]

Personally I'm not a fan of the whole long range hunting thing.

There are IMHO too many variables. I've competed in Silhouette and 800-900-1000 matches and even with wind flags lining the range it's relatively easy to miss a wind call and at that kind of distance it doesn't take much of a wrong estimate to move a bullet out of the kill zone. Then there's also time of flight combined with reaction time to consider, a lot can happen in a 1.something time of flight. How much can an animal move in 1.something?

I've got a couple of steel plates off my back deck and another target at 760 yds. With a Kestrel, Strelock Pro, solid bipod, rear bag etc. I'm fairly decent at making 1st round hits on an 11.5x19" silhouette. But there's times I miss, or I'm using every inch of that plate. The wind at my deck often isn't the same as the wind along the trajectory, just as I've seen range flags counter each other during matches.

So, nope not for me. My personal limit is 500 when things are perfect, great rest etc. and when possible I'm getting closer.

 

[Patocazador]

That guy managed to film himself while packing it out but it appears that his arm isn't extended holding one of those "look-at- me" camera sticks. I think that he is spouting a bit of BS with his story also. Besides, he has to be related to John Goodman, Roseanne's husband on TV.

If it were me, I'd pop the small bull that walked by.

 

[Electrod47]

That was a Luck Shot, plain and simple. Skill had nothing to do with it. Sorry......

 

[Hugger-4641]

I don't even know know big the kill zone on a Moose is, but I'm guessing 11"x19" is probably close, likely more horizontal than vertical. So if I'm hitting that target on cold bore shots eight out of ten times at 800yds, I'm probably comfortable taking that shot. But I also can't imagine that I wouldn't be able to get closer and have a near 100% chance of hitting vitals.

 

[Hugger-4641]

That was a Luck Shot, plain and simple. Skill had nothing to do with it. Sorry......

I have to disagree with that statement.
Some luck always helps, I'll take all I can get, but you don't hit targets at 775yds on luck.

 

[.45Coltguy]

My opinion only on this, but, that's sniping, not hunting. I was taught to get as close as possible on game like that. Even when I hunted pronghorn antelope, my furthest shot was MAYBE 300 yards. More like 270-280 yards. Just me, but, I'll do my best to get closer.

 

[earplug]

The angle of the bullet falling out of the sky would effect the actual bullet path inside the animal. How does a ethical hunter manage that at 775 yards.
Unless you have worked pulling targets at 600 yards or farther you don't have much of a clue.

 

[Aletheia]

I understand and enjoy the challenges of long range shooting. I do not understand taking long range shots at game animals. It misses the whole point of "hunting" as I have come to love the activity, and there are way too many uncontrollable variables for it to be ethical to attempt the shot on an unwounded living animal, even if you can make it on targets most of the time - at the range - from a bench - with lots of time. Long range shooting and hunting are two different hobbies in my world. I'm just glad the animal didn't wander off wounded.

 

[LoonWulf]

It could be argued that killing anything that dosent want to be dead (edit: outside of a defensive situation...and even then folks still argue it) is unethical......
Guy made the choice to do what he did, everybody has a choice.....just my opinion.

 

[BreechFace]

If one has the skill more power to them. I think it’s awesome that people have developed the skill on targets and can utilize those skills in hunting.

The big question of ethics is whether one has developed the skills for the shot ahead of the hunt.

 

[Armored farmer]

Nah, not a fan.

 

[jmorris]

I thought the whispering next to the plane was funny but that’s as far as I got before I noticed it was 10 min long.

Using the plane to locate your wild game seems less “fair chase” than having the capability to make a successful long range shot. IMO.

 

[thirty-eight]

My opinion only on this, but, that's sniping, not hunting.

My opinion too.

 

[Laphroaig]

The trouble is that only film of the successful shots are shown. Maybe the shooter is 100% at that range, maybe not. We'll never know. I'd like to see the effort that is taken if the animal doesn't go down. Do they search diligently for evidence of a hit and track it until all options run out?

OTOH, there are people who consistently miss or wound animals at 75 yards.

Using the plane to locate your wild game seems less “fair chase” than having the capability to make a successful long range shot. IMO.

I suspect that is generally illegal and certainly unethical. I know that in Alaska you can't hunt on the same day as you fly.

 

[Buzznrose]

I am more against long range shooting than in agreement with it. I do know for a fact that anything past maximum point blank range is too far for me. I simply do not have any place to practice such shooting.

The farther away the target is increases the amount of things that can go wrong. The ability to take long range shots also requires the shooter to use exceptional judgment about the conditions as well as having the technical skills.

When I was shooting archery competition a 50 yard shot on a whitetail was perfectly ethical under favorable conditions. However , most of the time , conditions were not right. Never lost one that was 50 yards plus, so , that kind of shows how fussy I was. Now 30 yards is my limit.

Killed a hog at 68 yards by laser. However it had been previously wounded. There was no way to approach without it spooking. A quick conversation with the guide, and the hunter that had made the initial hit, and it was decided that my taking the shot was the best option. The considerations that went into this were, there was no wind, I had pins out to 70 yards, I was in my shooting prime, the hog had no idea we were there. If any of those had not been an affirmative a different option would have been chosen.

From talking to some people that think they are long range shooters they do not take enough time to consider all the variables. Those that have all the shooting and judgement skills are legitimate in taking such shots.

I 100% agree with this post. I won’t argue with the hunter’s success, but had the moose taken a step or two when that shot was broke, the results would have been different, and he’d likely end up wolf food.

As mentioned, lots of other factors to consider. But thankfully all turned out okay. But how many shots like that don’t end up working out? Doubt you’d see many of those events where the animal is lost on an internet video.

 

[shoobe01]

Then there's also time of flight combined with reaction time to consider, a lot can happen in a 1.something time of flight. How much can an animal move in 1.something?

I get that terrain doesn't always offer the ability to hide or stalk for closer shots (been in scrubby mountains plenty) but this is the part that always worries me. I've been pretty good on steel and paper at long ranges, so when all is good, no problem with the target size, but animals move around a lot.

That's 1.18 seconds time of flight out of my most-likely gun for this (which is also a little small for a moose, but it's what I have for exterior ballistic comparison). That's... a long time where you can't take it back.

Hell, I have missed at least one shot on the range because the target blew over between breaking the shot and the bullet getting there.

I always fear (assume) these great stories/videos are cherrypicked and they don't show us the regrettable ones.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I get that terrain doesn't always offer the ability to hide or stalk for closer shots (been in scrubby mountains plenty) but this is the part that always worries me. I've been pretty good on steel and paper at long ranges, so when all is good, no problem with the target size, but animals move around a lot.

That's 1.18 seconds time of flight out of my most-likely gun for this (which is also a little small for a moose, but it's what I have for exterior ballistic comparison). That's... a long time where you can't take it back.

Hell, I have missed at least one shot on the range because the target blew over between breaking the shot and the bullet getting there.

I always fear (assume) these great stories/videos are cherrypicked and they don't show us the regrettable ones.

He was using a .338, so MV probably around 3000fps, so I'm saying possibly a little less than 1sec flight time.
And it appears he did not hunt on the same day he flew in, but did locate a group while flying in so he had an idea where to go.

 

[Electrod47]

That was a Luck Shot, plain and simple. Skill had nothing to do with it. Sorry......

You know what, I'm gonna back off a little bit on my comment earlier above. This guy is a bush pilot. That's generally an exceptional breed to begin with. To survive for many years in that trade I would imagine his vision, depth perception, and coordination is far superior than the Average Joe or even a highly trained marksman. I'm gonna give him that. Interesting accomplishment. But, don't hold it up as some goal we should all try.

 

[.38 Special]

In my opinion, there is simply too much that can go wrong with that kind of shot, regardless of how talented the shooter might be. The best sniper in the world can't do anything about time of flight, nor about an unseen gust of wind through a valley or over a ridge. I will never congratulate anyone for making that kind of shot on an unwounded game animal.