The "best" shot you've ever taken?

[coloradokevin]

We've all done different types of shooting, with different equipment, at different types of targets, in a variety of different environments.

With all of that said, what is YOUR most memorable rifle shot? What was the "best" shot you ever took? Luck or skill, it doesn't really matter for this thread… just your opinion on one or more of your "best" shots.

I'll start with three of my shots that I can think of:

1) A prairie dog at over 700 yards with my Tikka (.308 Win). I believe the exact distance was 717 yards. It was real tough to get a good range on that little bugger.

2) A first round cold bore / cold shooter hit at 1,000 yards on my first time shooting at that distance.

3) A match shot I had to take at 875 yards. Time was running out for the stage, and my bipod wasn't long enough to get the elevation for this last target, high on a hill. I quickly threw the bipod (extended) on top of my backpack and lobbed a hail-mary shot at this target, in winds sufficient enough to require more than a 2 MIL windage hold. Hit the target dead center. (Luck)

 

[Cee Zee]

Does it have to be a rifle shot? My most memorable shot was my very first. I dusted a clay with dad's 16 ga. shotgun when I was 7 years old. It was the first time I ever fired any firearm. We only had a hand launcher at the time and dad had thrown the clay for me. I blasted it before it got 10 yards in front of me. I saw it line up and I pulled the trigger. My uncle, who was crazy for clays, about lost his mind. He dropped to the ground and started screaming, "Oh my god, oh my god" and other such stuff most of which can't be repeated here. Dad was screaming too because I had shot too quick. I couldn't make out what he was saying for a minute because my uncle was drowning him out. The upshot of that was I figured I had shot my uncle for sure. Yeah he was behind me and I saw that clay bust open but all that screaming must have meant something really bad. I seriously thought I had shot him some way. What can I say. I was 7 and had just fired a shotgun. Dad was big on teaching us to shoot with shotguns because there were no bullets to leave the farm and find a neighbor's house somewhere.

I still laugh every time I think of that. It wasn't such a great shot and luck certainly had something to do with it. But I did what a person is supposed to do. I just did it too quick. My uncle must have rolled on the ground screaming for 5 minutes at least. Dad was mad as a hornet and I was scared to death I was going to prison. You just had to be there I guess.

 

[Ibmikey]

My best RECENT shot came while making one of my trips from the Great Northwest to Texas where I sponge off my best buddy a few times a year--you know show up and stay until they throw ya out or the snow starts flying at home and you do not want to be snowed out. Anyway on one of our hunts to lower the hog population on one of his properties me and my AAC 300 Blackout Handi Rifle (that is a one shooter) came face to face with 350 # of Texas Stinky Boar. One quick shot to the boiler room and the confrontation was over. What a monster, to me anyway as he was over twice my weight. I now love that rifle, given me by the same friend, and hope to make many more Texas trips and maybe another "Super Hog". At least until he throws me out again

 

[Normandy]

I had bought a Mosin 91/59 from a local gun store, unfired since factory rework in 1959. A blonde stock, BTW. After cleaning it and grabbing a handful of ammo, I headed for my 50 yard bench, set the sight for the closest possible setting, and took careful aim. The first round centered the X in the bull's eye. I couldn't have placed a pencil eraser any more perfectly centered on that X.

When I became too tender-shouldered to shoot the high powered rifles any more, the 91/59 was the very last one to go. And, I sold it to the guy I admire most on surplusrifle forum. A very VERY sweet rifle!

 

[Stony]

IBMikey's Texas Hog....it was a memorable hunt

 

[HOOfan_1]

350 yards on a groundhog through one ear. Using a 9x scope. Took me one ranging shot to figure out the drop

 

[KansasSasquatch]

Shooting clays on a buddy's property, we had 6 shooters lined up. The first person on the line gets to shoot first, if the first person misses the second person gets to shoot. If the second person hits the clay(s) the first person is done shooting. Well I started 5th on the line but 2 in front of me had been knocked out. The person operating the thrower had to step away or a few minutes. It wasnt my turn so i put my pistol gripped Mossberg 500 (very few of the others shooting are skilled with shotguns, so they handi-capped me by taking away my Benelli) on safe and went over to pull the cord on the thrower since it was already "armed" with 2 clays. Three people all missed in quick order. So I bring the pistol gripped 500 up one handed, knock the safety off with my left hand, and the two clays were lined up just right and I dusted them both with one shot. Its the only time I've ever seen two clays line up so perfectly.

 

[GBExpat]

Not the best, more the most satisfying ... taken in the same field 20+ years apart.

1968: I can still visualize my cousin & I lying in the field grass on the fenceline overlooking a saddle between two hills of fallow field on the east side of the barn. Between us on the ground is the Bringback K98k that my grandfather gifted to me that year.

The field is a sea of gold liberally spotted with dark brown spots of scrub. We lay there for a long while wondering if we would be able to spot in the knee-high grass any of those groundhogs that our grandfather wanted us to eradicate.

I had been trying to map the brown spots in my mind, because that is how a groundhog head would look if one popped up ... but there were a LOT of brown spots in that field ...

... and then my brain told me that THAT brown spot was a 'chuck. My cousin could not confirm but told me to take the 125-150yd shot. I rested the rifle on the bottom fencewire, got my breathing under control, carefully aimed and squeezed off the shot. A BIG PLUME of red clay erupted and when the wind blew that away, the brown spot was gone.

The little guy had been staring east when I fired ... and I hit him in the center of his head.

~1992: Walking around the farm (great, relaxing exercise) on a very HOT&HUMID summer day. I always carry a longgun on these walks and this day I had my Marlin 1894 .44mag loaded with (probably) American Eagle 240gr JSP ... generic, nothing-special ammo, yes, but I had found my Marlin to be very accurate with it.

As I stood in the meager shade offered by the lone, wizened tree on the east side of the stockyard beside the barn, I gazed eastward over the same "saddle" field ... and noticed a spot in the distance, perhaps 100yds thru the waving grass. I knew that there was a complex of groundhog holes in that direction. My brain told me that it was probably a 'chuck's head. Freestanding, sling-steadied shot, dripping with sweat over irons (I had added a Williams 5D aperture rear) ... low probability of a hit for me, I figured, but I "gave it a shot".

This time there was a small burst of material, some of it appearing to be red clay ... and the spot was gone. I walked over and found that the 'chuck had, apparently, been staring at me while I was staring at him ... with his head resting on the built-up entrance mound. I had hit him dead center.

Alas, that is about the time that my presbyopia started up and I lost my over-irons ability ... but while I could shoot accurately over irons, I really enjoyed it!

 

[Conelrad]

About 30 years back, at an organized MG shoot outside Phoenix.

Hosing a hillside of 2-stick Dynamite targets from the hip with a heavy barrel FAL on full.

Hit two with a single mag. Too much fun like Hollywood.

D.

 

[Comrade Mike]

In front of witnesses I was bet I couldn't hit a 200 yard Ram with my browning hi power. I hit it on my first shot.

The next week I did the same thing with my two inch model 36.

 

[Art Eatman]

Memorable shots:

A triple on doves. A snapshot at a gobbler at 125 yards with my '06--and ruined no meat. A quick shot at a buck at 350 yards; DRT.

 

[Gordon]

A walking Oryx at over 400 yards with my .270 WSM rested on a termite mound = DRN. Had something to do where it was and the bravos from the trackers and PH !

 

[H&Hhunter]

Thumped a Cape buffalo inside of about 20 feet that was trying to thump me. Popped a Texas hog once that was trying escape at full speed at over 250 yards. Those are a couple that stick in my memory.

This one....

 

[49willys]

Hit the 400 yrd gong 3 times in a row with a ruger redhawk 44 mag.And at a local shoot one time,I hit about a half inch below the bull offhand at 200 yards with my 338 wm.pretty lucky shots on both occasions.

 

[coloradokevin]

Great stories, everyone! Keep them coming

 

[MachIVshooter]

Not best, but most memorable..........

I surgically removed the brain of a praire dog with a .17 Rem from about 200 yards. I squeezed the trigger and saw the rat go down, thought I missed. When we got to the hole, there was the rat, lying just inside, virtually no blood, and with the very top of his dome removed. A few feet away was a pristine little brain, just slightly larger than a walnut. Couldn't do that again if I tried!

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

I was in a stand with my wife during the early weekend doe season, overlooking a formerly flooded corn field that was filled with patchy grass and stalks that were a little taller than my waist. We had been in that stand almost the entire weekend with only some breaks for lunch and sleeping. We saw a crazy number of bucks, and the only does were way out at 450 yards darting in and out of grass.

Finally, as the rain started again on the last hunt in the last half hour of shooting light, I caught sight of a group of does come into the field at about 300 yards. Most of them couldn't be seen well enough to shoot in the grass, but there was one doe who stood up tall at 275yds , with only her head visible. The other does kept moving and shifting between visible and invisible in the field, but that one girl kept her head up looking our direction. We watched them for almost 15 minutes, and I decided I was going to give it a try. I settled my cross hairs on the stationary doe's forehead, then came up the appropriate hold. As I settled through a couple deep breaths, I broke the shot.

I thought I missed, as I saw what I thought was that doe take a jump left. I racked the bolt and sent one more round after her at about 300yds, and she stumbled and fell in the open. I was very happy that I got her on my second shot. Then I scanned the field and found a hint of brown and white at the feet of the grass where that first doe stood; she had dropped into her own shadow and was hard to pick out in the commotion.

I was happy about that one. A cold bore head shot at 275, and a one shot on a running deer at 300, both in the same hunt. Both shots were quite a bit further than i had attempted on a live target before, and it felt good. Of course a couple weeks later I missed a coyote twice from the same stand, so maybe it was all luck, but I won't forget that hunt regardless.

 

[taliv]

Two of my most memorable were both know your limits racks. One in a PRS match I shot 4 and stopped then somebody called me chicken so I shot the last one which was 1/2 moa. Then the target got hung and after the stage was over the RO asked me if I could hit the rebar cross beam which I did and the target reset
I think it was between 500-600 yards.

The second one was at a friend (who happened to win the PRS that year) farm. 600 yards in the dark with pvs27 off a tower. The small plate was 2" x 4". He gets half the credit though. I couldn't have made the hits without his spotting and corrections

 

[FiveInADime]

When I was about six years old I was taking a walk in the woods with my dad down an old power line road and I noticed a humming bird on a branch off of the road about 30 yards. I asked my dad if I could shoot at it with my Daisy multi-pump pellet rifle and he said, "Sure, but you won't be able to hit it."

One puff of tiny feathers later and my dad told me I can never shoot at a hummingbird again.

 

[thewillweeks]

My best (luck) shot ever was out of a Winchester Model 270 at a little over 800yds. We were chasing coyotes, and much to my dismay they were getting away. In anger and frustration I decided to take a pot shot at the tailing one, and using good ole' kentucky windage popped one after it. Much to my surprise, I sent the coyote rolling.

My best skill shot most likely...well it's boring to the other one's y'all are telling. But it was 450yds on a buck with a 6mm custom Mauser, about 6:25 in the morning and barely any visibility.

 

[wojownik]

In college, a friend introduced me to the varsity rifle team during their "turkey shoot" which was just a paper target shoot on an indoor range. Caught some snarky intros and attitude from the team members. The asked if I brought my own rifle (I did not), so the team captain smirked and handed me this dirty vintage .22 target rifle, iron sights, moldy stock (no kidding). Pretty sure it was a Savage. The put me at the end lane, with a flickering florescent light overhead, and lined up the target for me at 25 yards.

I recall saying "that's kind of ya," and then reeled the target out to the end of the range. I picked some fuzz or lint out of the rear peep, then proceeded to put all three shots through the tightest of clovers, just inside the 10 ring, from a standing position. Not sure who had last used that rifle (or when it was used), but proved the adage that appearances can be deceiving.

That felt good. But that was many years, and many changes of prescription ago.

 

[ScrapMetalSlug]

Swiss k31, headshot on a chipmunk on a log at 50 yards. Through the ear, took the head off. the chipmunk was moving around fast like they always do, my buddy didn't think I could hit it, I was a little surprised as well.

 

[jmorris]

Some where between 13 and 15, I used to ride from pond to pond during the summer on 3 wheelers, shooting turtles. Let off the throttle and pull in the clutch, draw from my cross draw hoster and get them before they can get into the water as you coast into their view.

Smallest one I ever hit was the size of a silver dollar. More like playing the odds than skill. If you do that long enough (actually would not recomend it at all now that I am smarter) you eventually will hit one because there are no more places to miss to.

That one shot though, would have made a good video.

 

[VINTAGE-SLOTCARS]

Two guys shooting a Winchester '94 with open sights on the bench next to me. They couldn't hit paper at 100 yards. Well I was shooting my scoped 7mm rem mag. They thought their rifle had a bent barrel. I put one in their x-ring for them without them knowing. The next break they began to argue which of them hit the x ring. They bet each other $100 dollars that they would each fire 5 shots and see who did better. Well I shot 3 rounds to the right and 3 rounds to the left of the x-ring. They were so happy with their groups the didn't even realize that there were missing 2 shots each. I left the range with a smile.

 

[bikemutt]

A triple with a double: a Chukar came up hauling right and away, fast, I dropped it. Another bird came up into the same shot pattern a bit late and fell. A new bird came up to the left, I dropped it too. Three witnesses, a once in a lifetime triple-double, luck involved of course.

The gun gets credit too, Browning Citori O/U 28 gauge