Disturbing trend...

Status
Not open for further replies.
I've always liked sneaky-snaking around in the brush, getting up close and personal with Bambi. Doesn't mean I won't take a longish shot, but I have my "druthers". :)

The closest I ever got was when I eased up on a buck. Wet day, drizzle, wet leaves, quiet walking. Hit him in the butt with a pebble from maybe ten feet. My raucous laughter was probably quite upsetting to him. :D
 
One fall while turkey hunting,a buck came up the hill at sunrise.I was in camo and he was walking along a small brook.He looked tired,like he had a big night.The brook was noisy and he wasn't alert.I hid behind a large tree and when he passed on the other side I jumped out and yelled "boo".He went vertical (white belly up in the air).What a hoot!
 
Last edited:
My closest kill was on a whitetail doe at 8 steps so probably 6-7 yards during archery season. I was on the ground using a low hanging branch as my blind expecting the deer to walk along the edge of the field so naturally she walked up from behind me and stopped at the edge to survey the field. I think the shock of the arrow killed her as she was DRT.

The closest encounter ever with a wild whitetail was in turkey season when a yearling actually sniffed my boot while I was sitting stretched out against the base of an oak. That was cool!
Both of these encounters with doe were more exciting than any buck encounter I have ever had including the ones on the wall.
 
I really don't think this long range stuff will catch on with whitetail hunters. It, I'm sure, is more of a western thing out where mulies can be seen WAY out there on the other side of a canyon and the fun part, stalking them, is tough because they have ears like radar dishes. If I ever make it out to New Mexico again, however, it'll be with my .50 caliber Hawken. The stalk is what makes the hunting fun IMHO and black powder season is longer out there and earlier in the year before the snows. Temps are comfy and the deer are less spooky.

I guess there are places like Montana where whitetail can be spotted WAY out over open ground, but most whitetail habitat in the country is pretty thick with either woods or brush. There's always the bean field or sendero hunters, though. Still, I think the trend with whitetail is more toward archery at danger close than it is long range rifles.
 
Last edited:
I have heard of people making long shots in difficult terrain for many years. The issue I have with these shots is how do they find an animal 1000 yards away unless it is laying in a plowed or mowed field. When I shoot a deer in the woods 75 yards away I keep my eye on the spot where I last saw the animal. If it runs off I have a good chance of finding a blood trail and recovering the animal. Exactly what are these people doing to recover the deer? Do they employ a helicopter to mark the spot?
 
The issue I have with these shots is how do they find an animal 1000 yards away unless it is laying in a plowed or mowed field.
If I can find dead p-dogs at 800-1200 yards, finding an elk shouldn't be much of a problem. It's pretty obvious a bunch of you folks have never hunted in the west where the terrain is like a pool table with an occasional wrinkle and the tallest piece of vegetation only comes to the top af an 8 inch boot. :D
 
I know of at least two clubs in Alabama that have shooting lanes of close to 1,000 yards designed specifically to make those long shots. I have been in one stand sitting on a slight ridge looking down over a very narrow food plot that was several hundred yards long and have a female friend that shot a doe at 700+ yards out of that stand.
The difference with these guys is that they have measurable distances and the money and equipment to do the job right. The field is marked so they can narrow down the distance and they do not hunt it if conditions are windy at all. I would say that this is about as safe as you can get with these long shots here since you can tell exactly where the deer was standing when you took the shot.

It's pretty obvious a bunch of you folks have never hunted in the west where the terrain is like a pool table with an occasional wrinkle and the tallest piece of vegetation only comes to the top af an 8 inch boot.

I have definitely hunted this terrain. When the guide tells you to look at the deer standing by "the tree" and you know exactly which tree because it's the only one in sight then you know you are on the prairie. Judging exactly where an animal was standing when you took the shot is a definite challenge in that terrain.
 
Yeah,this seems to be basically a debate between open country and woodland/brush hunters.
 
Yeah,this seems to be basically a debate between open country and woodland/brush hunters.

Admittedly, I've never been lucky enough to hunt out west. I'm still inclined to wonder, though, if the ability to make 500+ yard shots is really necessary. Is it that difficult to close to within a more reasonable distance, say 300 yards? Also, didn't the early settlers of the west manage to bring in game with close range rounds such as the .44-40?

I'm sure there are some people out there who can regularly make 1000 yard shots on big game, but it seems like at that distance, there are just a ton of variables that could mess up even the best long distance marksman.
 
Admittedly, I've never been lucky enough to hunt out west. I'm still inclined to wonder, though, if the ability to make 500+ yard shots is really necessary. Is it that difficult to close to within a more reasonable distance, say 300 yards? Also, didn't the early settlers of the west manage to bring in game with close range rounds such as the .44-40?

Early settlers and mountain men took game with .50 caliber or more front stuffers. No, it's not necessary at all. I think it's tempting to some, but not necessary. The fun part is trying to get close, was for me, anyway, when I hunted New Mexico. It's tough and you don't get the job done quite often, but it's all the more satisfying when you DO. :D

People hunt whitetail on the Montana grasslands. I ain't sayin' they have a 100 percent success rate, but they do kill deer with bows out there. It's a lot easier with a rifle, of course.
 
To each his own. I guess everyone should hunt the way you see fit? Some guys can and if its legal then why should the ethics police be trying to stop another guys way of hunting. I shoot long range toys and like to do so. A 168gr VLD at 1700fps and 1100ft lbs is still more killing power than a handgun hunter with a 357 mag at point blank so should we not be hunting with a very capable pistol round that has taken deer and bear? Quit pounding your chest and let people do what is legal and what they want its none of your buisness.
 
Early settlers and mountain men took game with .50 caliber or more front stuffers.

if your family is hungry and you have the ammo, take whatever shot you get. shoot at it from a mile and maybe you'll get lucky and get some protein for dinner.

but if you're doing it for sport and bragging rights, and if you think I'll be impressed that you shot a deer in the ass from the magic "1000 yards", it would really only cause me to call your education and upbringing into question.
 
I'm still inclined to wonder, though, if the ability to make 500+ yard shots is really necessary.
Not if you don't mindgoing home empty handed or watch a trophy of a lifetime walk away. FWIW, I have spent hours stalking elk by walking crouched down, then crawling on my hands and knees, only to prone out on the top of the "rise" to discover the distance is still 400 yards with no hope of closing the distance. If the conditions are good, I'll take a 400 yard shot with absolute confidence of a quick, humane kill. If I even suspect there is an off chance of crippling an animal, I won't take the shot, period.

I guess there are a lot of definitions of "long range" hunting. A 1000 yd shot is nuts with the gear I own. A 700 yard shot is a long poke and "iffy". A 600 yard shot is something not to take lightly, but I have made hundreds of them on p-dogs and steel. A 500 yard shot under perfect conditions isn't an issue, and 400 yards is just so simple I can not even fathom messing up.
 
I had an opportunity at an elk at 500 yards this year. It was 16 below zero. I had just climbed down several hundred yards at 7000 feet or so in two feet of snow. I put my coat on a tree limb which was the best I could come up with at the time. Hard to make much of a rest on a 45 degree angle. I couldn't even keep the cross hairs on the elk much less make a precise shot. Somebody with more talent than me needs to buy these super rifles. Not much use to me.
 
We all have our druthers and we vary in our skill levels and our "want to". The problem seems to be the influence of TV and gunzines on people who don't really know what they're doing.

Too much of the attitude, "If he can, I can." But "he can" because of years of training and practice.

Ownership does not create expertise, in and of itself. A guy may buy a top-end Corvette, but that doesn't make him a winning racer.
 
Art,I agree.I see this in other areas of life.The idea that money substitutes for actual experience.
 
It completely depends on your hunting area. Where I hunt moose[wooded but with some open swamps] I call them and look for a 50 yard shot. Now I have seen legal bulls on the other side of a swamp 300 yards away. do I shoot? No. Sure I can hit him but unless it's a instant kill he's going to run into that swamp. A moose in 8 ft of muck is no fun.
 
It completely depends on your hunting area.


It also completely depends on your capabilities and skill level. There are folks out there that are better @ 600 yards than many hunters are @ 100. There's a big difference between seriously practicing at a extended range and knowing where your shots are landing and just throwin' lead at something a long ways away by guessing distance and trajectory.

Unfortunately, with the newer, faster compound bows, I see more and more folks throwin' arrows at distances many of us never thought possible, even 20 years ago. Same principle applies tho. Comes down to your skill level, self imposed limitations and your respect for your quarry.
 
long range?

I hunt as far out west as you can get, Washington Coastal Blacktails,
shots less than a 100 yards is the norm, I did hunt a 100 x 500 yard
clear-cut last fall, but my shot was only 60 yards, however the "drag"
was over 350 yards, mostly downhill but around tree fall-downs and hips & valleys.
That was so exhausting, it took over an hour to get to the truck, I couldn't imagine
a 1000 yards (shooting or dragging):what:
 
The difference with these guys is that they have measurable distances and the money and equipment to do the job right.
Measured lanes and good equipment are still no substitute for rounds put downrange. I don't care what kind of equipment you have, if you are planning on shooting deer at 400 yards or more, you need hours of rangetime and hundreds of rounds downrange, IMO. The best equipment will never be a substitute for skills earned from practicing. Combined, they can be EXTREMELY effective...but on their own, are but part of the equation.
 
I am a stalker personally , and in Africa we usually boast about how close we could get .
One old teller of tall tales once mentioned that he crept so close to the Kudu he was stalking that when he wanted to take aim he realized that he would have to move back slightly because the barrel would touch the Kudu before he could get a shot off :D
 
now this got me thinking , another tall tale tells of a guy who stalked a buck and came to within 20 paces :D yeah it's a pretty tall tale and just as he was about to take the shot a lion that happened to be stalking the same animal jumped out of the grass just a few paces from the hunter and made the kill :D
I just thought of a new topic
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top