Hunting?...shooting game at long range....I have a few questions

[~z]

Good job deerhunter. I guess you have learned the wind IS the great equalizer. Per you previous question, the rifle is a 300WM, basically just a Rem 700 Sendero outfitted with a 33” Shilen barrel. Tell me about your setup.
And Ankeny, good job!
~z

 

[deerhunter61]

~z,

Thanks I was shooting a Remington 700 BDL 300 Mag with a Meopta 3x12x56 sitting on top. It is just a standard hunting rifle but it has always been pretty accurate.

I will say that the place where we shot, a cow pasture, was not all that much fun. The ground to and from beat the crap out of us. There were 4 of us there and we were all riding on one four wheeler to the targets and back to check them out. We do not have a good spotting scope that is good enough to see the 300 target much less the 500 targets so we were making quite a few trips.

I want to practice more at this range but in order to do so I have to find a better place.

Also all the shots I fired I used hold over to accomplish. I only have one scope with turrents on it. After yesterday I have decided to make that I priority on the next scope I buy. Not being able to adjust the scope for the distance made it a lot more difficult to hold on the right spot.

 

[deerhunter61]

Oh I forgot to mention that I had a couple of life size deer targets that we set up at 500 yards to shoot at.

I fired one round and using hold over and trying to adjust for the wind I missed the shot...I had the correct hold over...the bullet was on the same level as the heart but I allowed to much for the wind and the bullet hit about 4 inches in front of the deer. My nephew totally missed the second deer target.

After seeing where my bullet landed my Father-in-law and my wife's cousin both shot at the two targets. Both hit the target but both missed the deer...

We learned quite a bit yesterday and I think we all agreed afterward that shooting at live animals at that distance for us was out of the question. We simply are not good enough.

It was a very educational experience!

 

[pbearperry]

Long distance shot

I hunt the Maine and Mass. woods for deer.When I see a deer,they are usually in such dense woods that 50 yds is a long shot.The longest shot so far for me in 42 yrs of deer hunting is 100 yds.lol

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Ankeny, where you at?

 

[~z]

See if you can get ahold of some cheap steel plates and drill (or shoot) some holes in them. (We usually just shoot the holes in them from 100-200yds) Drive some t-posts in the ground and hang the plate with wire. At 500yds you may shoot through (or pock the hell out of) anything under ¼”. Paint the targets and your 12X will easily pick up your hits. If you decide you really enjoy this kinda shooting, I’d advise moving up to a scope with higher magnification and target turrets. At 500yds, I’d guess your hold over was about 32-38”, not that difficult to estimate, double the distance to 1K and your hold over becomes closer to 275-300” (22-25’), not an easy task and it becomes “luck shooting”.
If you get serious about this and have questions, let me know, I’ll do my best to help. There is no witchcraft involved in making the long shot, it is just math.
~z

 

[deerhunter61]

~z,

What part of Texas is the high plains?

 

[~z]

Guess I should update that, I'm actually closer to the low plains now. I was up around the Amarillo area. Now I'm about 500mi SE of there
~z

 

[Ankeny]

Ankeny, where you at?

Central Wyoming. Wide open spaces.

 

[no.5enfield]

Y'all make me sick! I'm stuck here in the most boring part of Texas E. Central! We can't find a good longrange spot anywhere around here. The hills aren't big enough to give you a good view, but they are too numerous to have many spots that open. I need to move out West and leave this place to the Aggies that like it so much! Good shootin' ~Z!

 

[~z]

Plenty of hunting up around Hearn, I have taken quite a few long shots on pigs out around Normangee and Anderson. Heck we used shoot an old washing machine at a mile in the field north of Snook. You are right in the thick of it brother!
~z

 

[no.5enfield]

I guess I need to meet some people that own bigger ranches, heh heh. You're right, there are places around here, but nothing like what y'all got. I really need to get up that way one of these days, it's pretty country. Whose place do you hunt around Hearne, if you don't mind me asking, I live there.

Brad

 

[~z]

It has been about 5 years back when I was in college. We worked cows and built fence on some land out that way (OSR & Jackrabbit rd) and also out in Gause. Cant remember who the land owners were. But they allowed us to trap and hunt out there.
~z

 

[deerhunter61]

Here is a view of the range we shot at while shooting at 300 yards and 500 yards. Just thought I would share.

 

[no.5enfield]

That's a nice set-up, I would like to try my hand at something like that one of these days.

 

[~z]

Nice, all you need is some steel targets!
~z

 

[jacob.elliott]

here in south central OK it is hard to find flat/clear enough land to do much long range. we have one fence row that we can shoot 1/4 mile. and we used to have a hayfield that would do about 1/2 mile. i think that was the flattest spot in 4 counties. the wa****a river is pretty good when there is a road to get to it and the water is way down (dry summertime)

 

[~z]

deerhunter, been back out there lately?
~z

 

[AKElroy]

My longest "clean kill" was just shy of 450 yrds on a south Texas exotic cull hunt. The little pronghorn I was asked to shoot would not allow a closer shot. (might have had something to do with us chasing it in a Jeap) That shot was not clean at all, ruined meat, and a followup shot w/ a .38 when we got to the gut-shot antelope. I have been hunting all my life, always taught not to take shots that far on living game, but I was excited by the challenge & being pressured by the owner to take the shot. Given my skillset, I am back to limiting shots to within 300-350 yrds. ( LH Mod 70 7mag, 165 gr sierra, Leupold VXII 3x9)

 

[T.R.]

I've taken several dozen 'lopes with this older Remington slide action rifle chambered for .243 cartridge. It shoots amazing accuracy with 95 grain Ballistic Tip as made by Black Hills Ammo.

Most animals have been taken at approx 275 yards but a few have been toppled much farther than this figure. The .243 is right for me because the low recoil helped me become proficient with much shooting. But 25-06, 270, and .308 are also good choices.

In my opinion, the so-called average hunter who rarely shoots his rifle from make shift field positions should never shoot at a live animal farther than 150 yards or so. It takes practice, practice, practice to develop the skills to hit small targets way out there on the open prairie. Guys who want to purchase ballistics of a heavy recoiling magnum rifle but won't buy hundreds of rounds of practice ammo are on the wrong path regarding long distance shooting.

TR

 

[sscoyote]

Great pic TR. Great info so far too.

I'm also into the "long-range" game (maybe intermediate-range would be better really). But we do it in a slightly different way. We use the specialty pistols--mostly XP-100's, Savage Strikers and MOA's.

Going out to ranges beyond point blank, is really sort of a college course in practical mathematics. It's really simple math, just rarely applied in the field. This is especially true with applying optics, and understanding the intracies of reticle/turret applications for downrange zeroing and rangefinding.

My limit on big game is 500 yds. and only under the most ideal of conditions. 400 yds. under some wind, but it would have to be consisitent (as possible). Almost all the factors (to intermediate range) can be accounted for except wind as Z has already said.

My go-to elk rig is a 7-270 WSM XP-100/17" 7-twist Pac-Nor/McMillan stock/Ken Farrell base (for a different reason than normally used for)/Burris 3-12x Ball. Plex reticle and turrets. Reticle is calibrated to true MOA drop. The optic is now back in Maine also for a BullzEye Pro power booster which will shorten the too-long eye relief (the reason for the KF base) of the Burris LER, and add some magnification. The rig shoots the 200 gr. ULD Wildcat bullet @ 2525 mv. with a G1 BC of .770.

My antelope/varmint rig is a Savage Striker 243 WSSM/8-twist 18" Broughton
barrel/4.5-14x Leup. VX-III with Varmint Hunters reticle, turrets. I've taken one coyote in a 10 mph wind at 530 yds. and 4 antelope between 295 yds. and 425 with it. It shoots the 117 gr. DTAC bullet at 2525 once again, and reticle is cald. for true drop vs. MOA subtension.

My other rig that i'm currently using for coyotes post-fur season is a 6.5-270 WSM XP and i have Darrell Holland's Leup. Mk 4 6.5-20x FFP Ultimate Mil Reticle installation. I love that reticle ( www.hollandguns.com ) and just killed a coyote last week at 435 yds. in avg. 5 mph 9 o'clock wind.

For steel shooting here's the cheapest most portable system we could ever think of-- call the local brickyard and see if they have any cinder block molds. Often they get out of spec and they trash them. They'll take a bullet strike with the best of AR-10/50 (close to it at least) and keep on ticking. U have to burn holes in it as a carbon bit won't touch it. Get 3 pieces of rebar and 2 copper or galvanized plumbing T's. Pound 2 rebar into the ground and slide the T's on top, lift slightly and slide the 3rd rebar through parallel to the ground. Hang steel with the rubber bungee cord S-hooks that r always found on the road. Get the $1 white paint from K/Wal-Mart and your set. U can also use the heavier S-hooks on tie-downs that r closed on one end--found on the road too.

Here is an on-line article i wrote several years ago for basic ballistic and rangefinding reticle applications--
www.ottllc.com/specialtypistols/sp20.pdf

"Thanks I was shooting a Remington 700 BDL 300 Mag with a Meopta 3x12x56 sitting on top. It is just a standard hunting rifle but it has always been pretty accurate."

By applying a sort of tactical system (assuming it has a plex-style reticle in it), u may be surprised what could be accomplished with that optic at ranges out to 500+/-.

Reticle applications for downrange zeroing and rangefinding is some of the most fascinating aspects of longer-range shooting. By applying a modification of the mil-ranging formula, i was able to calculate the size of a steel tgt. at 1000 yds. recently to almost .25" of it's true dimension--amazing stuff really. That's probably the driving force behind my research into longer ranges is the mathematics involved--for me it's intriguing.