Why the yardage exaggeration

[Nature Boy]

On a calm day, a bullseye at 400 is a bullseye at 100 just held a little higher
Some folks seem to forget that

I had a nice buck last year that I had ranged at 400 yards. I practice a lot at 500 yards so feel I know my limits and those of my equipment. I was sitting on the ground leaning against a mesquite bush. It was very windy. I watched this buck for a good hour or two. He kept acting like he was going to move closer to me but never did.

Every time I would contemplate taking the shot there would be a gust of wind and it would push the mesquite bush and take my crosshairs off the target.

Never did take the shot. Never could get comfortable with it. That was the last hunt of the season and I went home empty handed.

There’s only one thing I hate worse than getting shut out and that’s spending hours trailing a wounded deer

 

[Picher]

I'm normally also shooting a .270, 130 Noslet BT @ 3100, so a little under 7" drop at 300 when sighted at 200, which is just a bit under the 'hairline'.

That's pretty close to how mine is sighted-in and I've used Nosler BTs in the past, but had one "blow-up" on a small deer, broadside, at about 70 yards and don't trust them. Damage was spectacular and the deer fell sideways with all four hooves in the air. It was a messy scene.

 

[Texas10mm]

Yes sir. I've just heard the one step is one yard from a lot of people who estimate range that way.
I was bad at judging distance until I sat in a tree stand for hours guessing distance then lasering it.

Most people over age 50 can't take a 36" step. I'm 6'3" and 58 years old. If my back cooperates I can still take that 36" step but it's a stretch. I still try to keep up the 120 steps a minute, 30" step though.

 

[RugerOldArmy]

The best hunting stories I've heard were from a writer called Peter Hathaway Capstick.

They involved much shorter ranges, and game with an attitude, but I find them more credible than the long shot stories you see on the internet.

 

[Caplock]

Shot at about 100 yards.
There was no time for backing up.

 

[Chuck R.]

That's pretty close to how mine is sighted-in and I've used Nosler BTs in the past, but had one "blow-up" on a small deer, broadside, at about 70 yards and don't trust them. Damage was spectacular and the deer fell sideways with all four hooves in the air. It was a messy scene.

I had that issue when they 1st came out, to the point I had the 130 BT load for expected longer shots and a 130 Partition load for when I was stand hunting. Since they changed them, I've yet to have a blow-up. One thing I can say is I've yet to lose an animal hit with a BT and they've proven accurate in everything I've shot them in, so I'm still using them. Could be because I avoid shoulder type shots when possible. Since I'm in the process of working up a load for my new Nosler M48 (also a .270), I'm going to try the Accubonds. Probably use them for hunting and the 130BTs for practice.

Luckily I can get quite a bit of practice in practicing 1st rd hits:

420 off the back deck:


547 off the back deck:

 

[coloradokevin]

I have shot and hunted all over my home state of Arizona. Hunted UT, WY and KS. Either my 06 or 243 are the rifle I use. I've bagged most varmint critters that are able to be hunted. I've taken Whitetail, Mule deer. Pronghorn, Elk and Black bear. In my 40 years of hunting, my longest shot at game has been 360 yards. I'd say over 70% of all game I have taken is between 130 to 210 yards.
But I hear a vast majority of shooters and hunters declare they take this animal or that animal at 500 + yards all the time. Or they are bagging game while shooting off hand at running game 400 yards away and bowl em over with one shot. I find these stories quite unbelievable. Seems no one gets the deer at 100 yards, or shoots ole Wile unless there half mile away.
Am I wrong?

Why is the fish 'THIS BIG'?

People like to tell stories.

Honestly, some folks really do hunt at long range. My primary interest in shooting is long range shooting, and long range competition. That's the crowd I run with most frequently, and some of those guys are true-to-life extreme long range hunters, too. So, when one of my friends from that group reported that he shot a mule deer at 1,187 yards last fall, I know he did... I've watched him shoot targets at over 1 mile before, and I know he's not BSing his distance because that's not how he is.

On the other hand, it's pretty easy to pick out who the braggers are who haven't really done what they claimed they did. I have one coworker who claims he has an off-hand kill shot on a coyote (who was running laterally to his position) at 900 yards using his hunting rifle. Naturally, I knew that boast was a lie from the moment it was told. But, when asked for more information about the shot (elevation and windage, lead on the animal, atmospherics, etc.) he just gave the old "Oh I just held a foot or two above it, and a foot or two ahead of it". Yeah, right, guy... you never made a shot anywhere close to that.

Sometimes I'll even take these types of braggers out to the range to give them a chance to humble themselves. You can setup a man-sized target at 600 yards on a calm day, and watch them miss it all day long.

But, I can tell you that I've personally taken a prairie dog at 776 yards before. I have taken a number of them at over 700 yards, in fact. The shots have been witnessed. But, it doesn't really matter, and isn't even that impressive to me (I was using a long range rifle that I compete with beyond 1,000 yards, and taking "risky" shots at a p-dog is different than taking a risky shot at a bull elk). I'm just pointing out that long range shots can and do happen, and they aren't impossible for people who practice that discipline.

I think the other thing that drives some of the nonsensical claims is just plain naivety. I was shooting on some public lands a while ago, where the "range" consisted of open prairie and some sloping terrain as a backstop. There wasn't any real designated backstop, and people just put targets out on the hill pretty much wherever. I was watching this group of young guys shoot at a target they placed out in the field, and they were pretty excited to be hitting it. They kept cheering about how they were hitting this target at "400 or 500 yards". Knowing that their target was a whole lot closer than that, I pulled out my laser rangefinder and checked their target myself. As I recall it was right at about 123 yards.

 

[morcey2]

View attachment 843522
Shot at about 100 yards.
There was no time for backing up.

There's always time for backing up. You just don't have the dedication it takes.


Matt

 

[Garandimal]

Go on Google Maps:

- Find your front porch.
- Go to "satellite" view.
- Right-click/select "Measure distance".
- Find landmarks at 200, 250, 300, and 350 yds.

Study them Every Time you are on your porch - until you can feel them.

Then, pick "shoots" through your day that you can go back and range check on Google Maps.

"Be the ball."
- Ty Webb -




GR

 

[Picher]

I had that issue when they 1st came out, to the point I had the 130 BT load for expected longer shots and a 130 Partition load for when I was stand hunting. Since they changed them, I've yet to have a blow-up. One thing I can say is I've yet to lose an animal hit with a BT and they've proven accurate in everything I've shot them in, so I'm still using them. Could be because I avoid shoulder type shots when possible. Since I'm in the process of working up a load for my new Nosler M48 (also a .270), I'm going to try the Accubonds. Probably use them for hunting and the 130BTs for practice.

Luckily I can get quite a bit of practice in practicing 1st rd hits:

420 off the back deck:
View attachment 843526

547 off the back deck:

View attachment 843527

That's really great, provided you get 1-shot clean kills at distances you're practicing.

 

[Picher]

I killed a woodchuck and a skunk at 450 yards with a 2.5x scoped .30-06 but the woodchuck was the second shot, after correcting on the first one. We were pretty good with our .30-06 deer rifles in those late teen years and young eyes.

 

[cdb1]

The best hunting stories I've heard were from a writer called Peter Hathaway Capstick.

They involved much shorter ranges, and game with an attitude, but I find them more credible than the long shot stories you see on the internet.

I’ve read everything by Capstick and really liked his writing. He was pretty much universally held in low regard by other writers and PH’s who said he was totally full of it.

 

[PWC]

I can offer a little help to those that have a little trouble with distance determination. I make and sale what the Army calls Ranger beads and the Marine Corps calls a pace counter.
I will send the first five forum members that PM me a free pace counter. I’ll even cover the shipping.
View attachment 843376

I have several different colors. (Pace counters on the left)
View attachment 843377

First, at home, have someone else measure your "pace" while walking normally; then go to the local hi school and count your paces for the 100 yd football field. Do it 4 or 5 times to verify consistent pace. THEN get yourself a pace counter from Gunny.

BTW, while you are at the hi school, stand at one end in the middle of the endzone. Blindfold yourself and start walking toward the other end, just closing your eyes will not work because you will cheat, remember, there's nothing to bump into. After 50 or 60 steps stop and take off the blindfold. You will be surprised where you end up; and will understand why lost people walk in circles.

Edit: walking up hill you will have a shorter pace to get 100, and going downhill will have longer pace for 100 yds.

 

[Hookeye]

And if you're walking really uphill or downhill........your steps don't mean squat
You shoot for the horizontal leg of your triangle.
We had some up and down shots on our archery courses, even my home range.
Learned how to stretch going up and shorten going down to get pretty darn close to actual.
Not hard to learn IMHO.

 

[Pat Riot]

I am pretty good at estimating distances out to 300 yards in open country. About 200 in forests / woods. Any further than that and all bets are off. I wear glasses and still cannot see 20/20. I have always had bad eyesight. I know my limitations.

I have also helped family members track deer that they wounded. Tracking a deer because someone did not know their limitations or couldn’t estimate distance, or in the case of my in-laws, because they are idiots, is no fun and it’s inhumane for the animal.

Taking a long shot at a target is one thing. Taking a long shot on an animal is entirely another. If you are not sure on a hunt, you shouldn’t take the shot, in my opinion.

I remember as a kid in Pennsylvania how guys would show up at the local restaurant after the morning deer hunt and brag about the shots they took at the gut shot or wounded now deceased deer draped across the hoods of their trucks. I had no respect for the whiskey soaked morons that claimed 500 and 600 yard shots at deer in cornfields that were 200-300 yards wide.

Perhaps because of these “nimrods” I became a much more ethical shooter. I don’t call myself a hunter any longer. I no longer hunt.

“A man has got to know his limitations” - Dirty Harry Callahan

 

[Hookeye]

Don't shoot or hunt like I used to.
My kids older now, but job change and other has me too tired to go gangbuster like before.
Hunted 6 times total last yr.
Dove twice, bow for deer once and gun deer three times. No coyote hunting (weather sucked).
No 3 d bow shooting either last yr.
Hit my local shooting range 6 times.

Have been to the range 4 times so far this year.
I used to hit the range twice a week when member of diff club.

Hunting spot now is pretty much 75 yards and in, woods, can only shoot in zones for safety.
My old spot, mature woods...........could shoot to 150.

I grew up shooting, member of a club. Burned a ton of ammo.
Blasted a lot of chucks too.
May be rusty but could get in the groove pretty quick.

Even so, proly buy a rangefinder.

 

[FL-NC]

My observations: 1- Most big game animals are taken at 100 yards and closer 2- Most hunters have no business shooting further than 100 yards, though there are exceptions.

 

[Hookeye]

Seen plenty of bad shooting, with rigs supposedly good to go.
From the bench.
If it's bad there it aint gonna become magic afield.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

There was a survey done on Texas Hunting Forum several years ago asking people about their longest shot, shortest shot, and typical shot distance. I want to say that something like 92% typically shoot under 100 yards and 97% under 200 yards. These aren't Rocky Mountain long range hunters shooting ridge to ridge, but your generic every day hunters with a smattering who have made trips to hunt out west or up north sometime for one of those bucket list hunts for a bighorn or whatever.

Echoing some previous sentiments, it has been my experience that folks are terrible at range estimation as a general rule (me included), almost as notoriously bad as they are at estimating weights of dead animals by visual or lift assessments. I think somewhere in folks' psyche (particularly guys), that there is some sort of machismo associated with shots at greater distances and killing animals of greater size. When folks err, they almost always err in a manner that tends to make them look favorable.

I have used a variety of means to assess the range of my shots. I started using Google Earth when I discovered pacing could have up to a 20% error. I still use Google Earth if I have good landmarks. However, more often than not, I will use GPS to measure the distance. Occasionally, I will use a laser rangefinder.

I hunt at night and usually hunt alone doing hog and predator control. I do a lot of spot and stalk and use shooting sticks. I don't like to get close to hogs at night. 75 yards is my minimum desired distance and most of my shots are in the 75-150 yard range. I take a bunch from 150-225 as well, but after that, I start getting out of point-blank range. I have made only a few shots over 300 yards and none over 400.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Two schools of thought here. LRP (long range precision) and MPBR (maximum point blank range). When I hunted MPBR was popular and most everyone knew what it was and used it as a guide. The military taught it for a long time so some of that bled into the civilian population.

New cartridges, more accurate rifles and better bullets are available now which has extended the practical range of hunting. It hasn't extended a shooters ability to use the new gear though. A good LRP shooter spends a lot of time at the range or possibly on public land honing their skills. Most of the hunters I know make it to the range once a year to check their gear before the season starts. Our private range is just a zoo around deer season. We dedicate 3 weekends to the public so they can check their gear plus every Thursday which is normally open to the public. I believe a good number of hunters live in the cities where ranges are scarce so the opportunity just isn't there to shoot a lot. If it is it's expensive.

Like anything else, if you're an ethical hunter you'll limit your range to your ability. If you can't make the 500 yd shot consistently you shouldn't attempt it on a hunt. MPBR is probably still most hunters ethical limits even with better gear.

Here's a good article that explains MPBR.

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2017/7/17/learn-your-maximum-point-blank-range/

 

[40-82]

Used to lie... but then, I stopped.



Also, Most people couldn't tell the difference b/t 200 and 300 yds for cash money.




GR

You do know yardage for a shot isn't a stable thing? When I was a teenager, I used to hunt groundhogs with another boy. Cache existed in making a really long shot. I might ask him of a hog, "How far?"

I quickly figured out if it was my shot, it was seventy-five yards at most. His shot, three hundred yards minimum.

Another hunter I met, describing his western elk hunting exploits told me of his five hundred yard cross canyon shots. I asked him how he judged the wind over the empty void.

His response, "What's wind got to do with it?"

 

[CoalTrain49]

Most people over age 50 can't take a 36" step. I'm 6'3" and 58 years old. If my back cooperates I can still take that 36" step but it's a stretch. I still try to keep up the 120 steps a minute, 30" step though.

I worked as a surveyor for 40 years. Distance was my stock and trade. I measured distance almost everyday, all day long. I got pretty good at judging distance. The only problem I had was judging distance over water. It takes a seasoned sailor to do that. Not me.

Anyway, my normal pace is 2.63' on level ground. I'm 5'11" tall, or I was when I was working. Anyone can figure out the distance of your pace. Buy a 50" fiberglass tape from home depot, about $15. Lay it out in your driveway and count the number of your paces end to end. In my case it's 19 paces. 50'/19=2.63' or 38 paces = 100' or 114 paces = 100 yds. One number to remember, your choice. If you believe your pace is a yard and it isn't like mine, you will be long by 12 yards for every 100 paces. No wonder everyone shoots deer at 400 yards.

 

[Jim Watson]

Jeff Cooper once wrote a humor piece (Yes, THAT Jeff Cooper.) for Guns & Ammo on "Duck Yards." He concluded that different venues had different definitions of a yard. The target shooters' yard was 35 7/8" because of nitpickers bringing surveying equipment to the range. The duck yard was 24" due to the steep angles of the shots. The plinkers' yard was 11"; likely because the casual shooter measures in feet but knows target distance is given in yards.

There was an actual study done with waterfowlers and range estimation. The conclusion was that the average duck hunter's idea of a yard was 28". Ol Jeff was pretty close even in jest.

In my youth, my stride was right around 2.7 ft; 0.9 yard but as I started to get a bit arthritic, it slid down to 2.5 ft. About like a Roman, a pace (two steps) of five feet.

 

[Hookeye]

Im pretty good at estimating deer weight 100# - 215# dressed.....am not kidding....usually within 5#. And my guess to the light side. So close my hunting bud just shakes his head. Took one to check in...no scale. Bud goes " dont need one- got him". Doubt I ever break 100. But have killed enough....been w others...,and liked to hang out on the opener at the check in ( w accurate scales )....if paying only half attention youll get decent at it. BTW i guess racks to the light side too. If I say its a 130" it could be 140. Told guys at work i saw a 165 one night. Maybe bigger. Was after legal light. They told me i was FOS. Shot it later in gun.....177 gross....but had 5.5 extra split on brow i didnt see. Guessed it at 200# dressed. Was 199#. So sue me.

 

[Hookeye]

Anything non typical or over 220# im lost. Have zero experience with that stuff. Exciteable guy at work said he saw a 180. Had video and stills of it at LGS. I said nope....its 140. Good natured discussion. followed..several participants.
Not kidding a week later ( maybe two ) a reg comes into LGS telling of a lady smashing car up on nice buck. She didnt want it so deputy let him have rack. He brings rack and i go " thats the video deer". Shop calls mr video.....he comea in all wound up.....as he was gonna hunt that buck......and it measures 140. He measured it right there. Nice deer....bummer it got run over......but some solace in that it not a legit 180 as he thought