500 yd shots more common these days

Z

zeisloft

New member
Have any of you realized how common reports of 500+ yds shots are these days? I wonder if it is the technology (mag calibers, high end optics, laser range finders, butter bullet design...) or old fasioned BS. I find it to be a true challange shooting at these distances and for me, 3 1/2" and 4 1/2" groups are excelent from a non BR rifle. But I have been reading of alot of people shooting "sub 1 inchers" at these ranges...any comment?
~z
 
It took me 38 years to make a voluntary shot at over 500 yds at a big game animal - all that time to get my skill level up to snuff and find the right conditions which could not be improved upon by a good stalk. Made it cleanly, but I also know the difficulty of such through all the work to get there. I've missed 'em at that range too - having taken "desperation finishing" shots at wounded game, but will not shoot willingly at such ranges if I can help it... One time in a lifetime of hunting and shooting on the open praries. (Now varmits are another class altogether and I can site several extremely long range hits, but oh the misses that go unremembered or reported!)

So whenever I hear of such a story given with a feeling of routine, my BS detecter starts squealing and if the guy notes several such "Clean" stories it shifts gears into wail. Hear it a lot lately.
 
yah 500 yards is a long ways. I thought about making a shot on a doe at 297 yards but didn't. Last year I made a shot just under 400 yards and missed a doe. I was mad at myself for even trying. I pretty much keep my shots at 200 yards and less. Now if I played more at the 300 and 400 yard range I might try to make a shot like that.

Just for the heck of it I shot my 45-70 at the 600 yard range with open sights. I never did hit the target:) . My Marlin with a med hand load had about 25 feet of drop:) . I was able to shoot the and real quick look in the spotting scope and see the bullet hit the berm:)
 
Only 500 yards? Those kinds of shots became boring for me years ago. I don't even need a scope for that kind of a simple shot. These days, I shoot deer in other Counties. I keep getting better and better! I figure that in a couple of years, I'll be hunting interstate: I plan on shooting from the top of a water tower in Nebraska, and killing deer located in Iowa, Kansas, S. Dakota, or Colorado. Well, I usually hunt in Eastern Nebraska, so the Colorado deer might take a little bit more practice.....

:D

But seriously, for those of you who can competently kill deer 500 yards away (without breaking a shoulder), I say: bravo! Wish I had your talent.
 
My guess is that a lot of the so called 500 yard shots were probably a lot less. 500 yards just sounds better.
 
I will not bore you....

or brag about all the different types of hunting I have done..BUT 500 yards for me is way out of the question. I have stalked lots of game to get closer and happiness is at least thinking when you squeeeeeez the trigger it is already over....sometimes it hasnt been. :o I am sure there are lots of guys who can pull off that shot......but I want to watch with my range finder.;) Besides....wounding an animal and not getting it is in my opinion the worst feeling in the world and makes me want to :barf:
 
For me, woods ranges is typically 30 - 50 yards. 100 yards is considered a long shot where I hunt. If you're telling stories of 300 yard shots in these woods it means one thing--you're lying! :)
However I've heard of 300+ yard shots on prairies and farms. I've got a lot of respect for the guys who can consistently do it.
But 500 yards (over 1/4 mile?) is a lot less of a hunt/stalk and more of a shot, right?...Well that brings to mind a question: at what point do you go from having a hunting buddy or guide to having a 'spotter?'
 
chemist308 down south there are what we call "Senderos". It's a long path cut through the heavy brush. A 500 yard shot is not uncommon. Hence the Remington Sendero. But still I'm not going to make that kind of a shot without time at the range.
 
The 500 yard shot !!!!!

If you are zeroed for say 400 and know how much drop you have at 500 then its not to hard, on a calm day. The 1000 yard boys would just love to practice on a deer at 500,but could kill one at 1000. I know of a guy that shoots Egrets on catfish ponds at 800+ yards,and deer on out to 1000. He has been doing it for 40 years or so and has a computer program on a lap top to put the conditions in and get the trajectory out. Has a Swarovski $2500 range finder. Shoots a 300 win mag or 30x378 and a Sheppard scope. It's just everyday to him but,awesome to me. Some folks can do it on a regular basis.;) ;) :D
 
But 500 yards (over 1/4 mile?) is a lot less of a hunt/stalk and more of a shot, right?...
Click to expand...
You have a point, but it's not always true. Out here, you might (every once in a while) have to stalk to get to the 500 yrd shot, depending on where you are.
 
Hey Chemist, where are you at in the poconos? Anywhere near Tannersville? I know that there are long fields on top of Mount Camelback that are probably about 300-400 yards. Of course, their not natural fields, but they're still there.
 
I have a 500-yard range here at my house. A shooting table, and three hanging steel plates of 22" diameter. With the nekkid eyebone, they're on the tiny side. With 10X magnification, they're doable.

The thing is, you either do the Kentucky windage thing if you're sighted in at 200 or so, or you have troubles inside of 450 yards if you sight in for Way Out There. Or you better have a scope with superb adjustments and a chart for distance/clicks and for wind.

And there is always the wind, laser or no. Charts and hints/tips help, but they're not Gospel.

Anytime somebody unknown to me starts talking about anything over around 300 yards, I may stay quiet as to opinion, but my salt shaker is real handy.

:), Art
 
A 270 with a 150 grain bullet @500 yds looks something like this:

100 = ZERO
200 = -3.81
300 = -14.13
400 = -32.06
500 = -60.01
Total drop from muzzle to impact =77.83"

In a hunting situation it would be hard for me to believe I could'nt GIVE
a $100.00 a shot for a hit, and GET $100.00 for a miss, and come out with more money in my pocket than I started with.
I'm sure somewhere there are guys who can do it, but here in Oklahoma
this would be one of those stories that starts out " YOU AIN'T GONNA BELIEVE THIS S**T"
 
I've heard stories around here about people hunting with a Barret M81A1A, but thats just it... they are only stories. I would absolutly love it if one of the guys that could drop a deer at 500 yards would video tape it, though. I think my personal record for a distance shot was a squirrel at 100 yards.
 
Re: Chris Phelps

Was your hundred yards shot with an air powered or standard firearm. I find those hundred yard shots a bit tricky with my Red Ryder.:D
 
Judging an animal at 500 yards itself (unless it is an elephant or killer whale) is a pretty difficult task. Here is what my feelings on it are. I shoot from an elevated stand, that I build a bench/ledge all the way around, in order to allow me to put pea gravel filled sandbags, to give me a good rest. The longest shot I have ever pulled off and hit where I was aiming, with a .243, was on a javalina at 225 yards.

Mind you, I had a totally solid rest, with my gun sandbagged at the trigger guard. (Probably a better rest than most S.W.A.T. guys use) I made a clean head shot with a 3X9 Leupold set on 9X, right behind the head of this hog.

I can't truly believe anyone, beside maybe someone like Carlos Hathcock, could pull off a 500 yard shot on a deer. (Down here in Texas brush, just finding him if you did hit him, at 500 yards, is an absolute miracle I think.

But that is just my thoughts on it.
 
not saying he could make the shot on a deer, but a buddy of mine just went through parris island and put 8 of 10 in the black (human sized target) at 500 yards open sights. He's got the accuracy medal to prove it and was top marine of his training class. I've seen this kid make some damn fine shots on deer with a 7mm, and with a good scope I would think he could make the shot. then again there are a million other factors to take into consideration.
 
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