What Is The Maximum Distance That You Would Attempt A Shot

[Win75]

I shoot a .243 with 100 gr. Nosler Partitions. I have and will shoot deer out to 200 yards with some sort of improvised rest. Offhand I want to be in the 100 yard range. Thankfully, where I hunt most shots are 100 yards or less.

 

[garyhan]

I hope I would resist shots over 300yds. Too many variables in the hunting field to risk wounding.

gary

 

[livebythegun]

These threads are useless, all they do is promote lying.

 

[woof]

What these threads do is remind us that on the internet we have to remember that many of the voices chiming in are in the 13-15 age range.

 

[livebythegun]

"I head shot a groundhog at 1000yds"

 

[jonboynumba1]

assuming calm wind a decent broadside shot ect and a good rest or prone I'd say 600 yards. Now my NORMAL limit would be HALF that. However I've done some shooting at that distance (it happens to be a crossing) the one area I'd have that shot on our hunting club and I know the exact holdover and have refference points for range there so I would be guessing distance very closely. I think 200-300 yards is a more reasonable self imposed limit for most hunters...and if you haven't actually shot much at 300+ yards with some wind I think most hunters would be better off limiting to 200 yards. Around here there are a LOT of hunters that don't seem to be able to judge animals and shot placement well enough at 100 yards to suit me! ....but then judgment is probably more at fault than marksmanship in most instances. Ultimately it's the conditions shots offered and hunters skill level and familiarity with his rifle that should make that decision obvious I guess.

That said the average shot in AL. and most taken on our hunting club are more like 40-80 yards. Almost makes you feel silly handloading for sub 1" accuracy doesn't it? -LOL I'm actually starting to like handgun hunting more these days...I guess you can see why that's more fun/rewarding around here-LOL

PS- It still wouldn't be a wise shot...but for the right rack I have to admit I'd probably take it-LOL I'm sure I'd be a might more shook up then when we were shooting tide jugs filled with water after all. I'd probably get it right or miss so far the deer would be safe anyway-LOL

 

[livebythegun]

blah blah blah

Around here there are a LOT of hunters that don't seem to be able to judge animals and shot placement well enough at 100 yards to suit me!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I always get in trouble on these threads because I have, IRL, met a lot of people who claim to be long range experts, but turn out to be FOS. In fact, that defines pretty much all of long range experts I have met. So while I have no doubt, at least intellectually, that the person capable of 500+ yard first shot hits exists, I have never met him, and my personal experience indicates that odds are anyone who claims to be that guy is a first class liar.

Essentially, the folks I have met who claim to be capable of long range hunting are, in actuality, capable of sometimes being able to hit long range targets from a bench rest, at known distances, after a few ranging shots. When we add a touch of reality to the exercise -- unknown range, a bit of wind, a hastily assumed field position, first shot from a cold clean barrel, poorly defined aiming point, and a bit of buck fever -- something like a 50% first shot hit percentage beyond 300 yards is being generous. And few things in this world make me as angry as three-legged deer.

So forgive me or not, but I have a serious bone to pick with people who casually talk about 500, 600, 800+ yard shots.

+1. Bravo; thank you .38 special - this thread was in serious need of an infusion of truth.

"I head shot a groundhog at 1000yds"

Pffft! Head shot is the best you can do? I go for the *eye* on g-hogs at 1,500 yards. At 1,000, I aim for the bottom-rear quadrant of the pupil of the eye.

 

[Matt-J2]

Right now? Roughly 3,600".

 

[jonboynumba1]

(blah blah blah back at you bud-LOL)

also worth noting is that there is a member of our club that has taken probably HALF of his shots in the last 4 years at 300+ yards when he could have WAITED and LIKELY have had a 75-120 yard shot in 5 or 10 minutes (never any guarantees and it's hard to let a good animal wander out of sight and trust you know where they are going to...but STILL!) He's lost or missed (who knows for sure?) several good animals that way with his .300 win mag and rediculously expensive scope (and yes laser range finder...which is pretty funny in AL)

The longest shot I've made on a deer the last few years is I believe about 120 yards. I did miss one 4 years ago at about 425 yards (thought it was 300-ish and shot under it...embarrassing but true...I hadn't hunted that stand/area before and it's just harder to judge up and down hilly distances like flat land. For the record had it been 300 I'd have nailed it clean-LOL (hence my nominal 300 yard limit)

This thread would be better served IMHO being turned towards the hunting angle rather than the shooting angle...because even that one spot with a 610 yard shot on our club has shooting house that would only be 300-350 yards from that crossing. So the more sensible thing would be to setup right for the spot you are hunting. The real question is not can someone make a 500-600 yard shot...or even can they make it on an animal vs a target. But rather what can you do to avoid NEEDING a 500-600 yard shot on an animal? Anyone can shoot well off a bench to 200 yards....at 300 yards it becomes a whole different ball of wax. Shoot a CMP match and you'll see when the bench is gone it's also a whole different ball of wax. And if you don't do it much or haven't done it you ought to stick to as far inside that 300 yards as you can get away with...and ideally you ought to anyway. Nobody carries a spotting scope in AL. how are you going to accurately judge an animal at 500-600 yards? (unless it's a flat out monster!...which is what it would take to tempt me into it-LOL)

 

[jimbob86]

"What rifle would have the whomp to KILL deer at that range ???"


"Energy at 200-300-400 yards for one shot kills, is your max distance.
Deer need 1,200. Elk-1,600."

Are deer in your area armored? You don't have to destroy the animal, just KILL it. Poke a 1/2" hole in both lungs and or the heart, and they WILL die in less than a minute. Most modern expanding hunting bullets will do that at ranges further than most people can hit the heart/lungs........... hell, an ARROW will do the trick, at close range. I know for a fact that a 150 gr .277 Sierra BTSP starting at about 2,950 f/sec will go through both sides of a deer's chest at 460 yards.

Shooting off sticks, with no wind to factor for, and a range finder, I have no problem taking a 500 yard shot on a stationary animal.

 

[Art Eatman]

Four pages of this is enough...