500 yd shots more common these days

while I dont think its always the best choice to take a shot at this distance I also dont think its as hard as some of you are making it out to be. I have taken deer out to and past 500yrds. I took an elk last month at just over 400yrds.
IMO its all about how much shooting time you have in and how confident you are with the given condisions of the shot. if the wind is blowing strong I wouldnt try it but if it was calm and it was a nice sized animal I just might. it is a long way but still very much possible to make a clean shot.
 
I'll repeat the story of my nine-shot, one-shot kill on a Way Over Yonder buck. I guesstimated 400 yards or a bit more. I sight in my '06 to zero at 200 yards, which means two feet of drop at 400 and four feet at 500. 150-grain Sierra SPBT, per their book.

Hokay. So there's Bambi. I'm all snuggly-comfy in some boulders, with a good rest. I hold about roughly two feet above his mid-chest, and out by his nose for wind. Bang. Nothing. Repeat. Same result. Somewhere around the fifth shot he picked up his left hind foot and sniffed. That told me I was way off on both wind and distance. A deer-length of wind drift, and some five + feet of drop.

Being young, stupid and ambitious, I kept on keeping on, finally hollering calfrope at the eighth miss.

Deer ain't the brightest critters. He turned and came down the hill toward me. After maybe 150 yards or so, he stopped. Faced me. Posed with his head up. Beautiful photo opportunity. I held just above the tips of his horns, praised the Lord that the breeze had momentarily stopped, and pulled trigger.

Centered his brisket. DRT. Roughly 2.5 to 3 feet of drop. A tad over 400.

The foot-sniff? The bullet had dropped down between the toes, barely grazing the inner toe and not breaking the skin.

So: Lessons were indeed learned. Nowadays I've more experience in gauging the wind. I'm smart enough to not go to whanging and banging unless I'm pretty sure of the distance. I'm a bit better at ranging, also. And today's world has laser range-finders. :)

You'll never learn that stuff at a 100-yard benchrest.

Art
 
Hey Raktrak.....

if your buddy is shooting egrets you might not want to advertise it for him.:eek: He might send you out to hold a coke can on your head or something!!!;)
 
Egrets in my neck of the woods

Is big fine, and maybe some jail time. Why would you want to shoot an Egret anyway. They are like beautiful and protected.

Harley
 
Here goes

I have a friend in Montana who according to him shoots 500 to 1000+ yards at deer. This is with a wildcat rifle of which there is only 2 in existance, (something like a 300 H&H Mag necked down to a .22 bullet) off a benchrest table mounted on a mountain and using a spotter with very expensive glass. Says he can get a hit in 3 shots.
I didn't make it up, I just repeated what I was told.
 
Ducking Rifle

I am looking forward to hearing about the ducking rifle.

I mean a rifle that shoots so far that it actually orbits the Earth. Thus as it comes around, the shooter needs to duck to avoid being hit by the bullet in back of the head. This of course, assume that the bullets isn't stopped by an obstacle like Mount Everest, an icebrug, or countless obstacles that the projectile may encounter on its path.
 
I am looking forward to hearing about the ducking rifle.

I mean a rifle that shoots so far that it actually orbits the Earth. Thus as it comes around, the shooter needs to duck to avoid being hit by the bullet in back of the head. This of course, assume that the bullets isn't stopped by an obstacle like Mount Everest, an icebrug, or countless obstacles that the projectile may encounter on its path.
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:) :) :) :)
 
I'm in agreement with several of the other posters. Where I hunt it's next to impossible to see a deer over about 200 yards. I don't think that I would even try shooting at that range due to the brush. In the last 3 years I've taken 4 deer with the distances (in yards) being 120, 75, 25, 25 and my father has taken 2 both under 30 yards. One he had to shoot at twice (he thinks the first shot was deflected by brush). As long as I'm hunting in the same area I just can't see myself taking a shot at something over 150 yards.

Mavrik
 
Egrets are protected most places, but...it sounds like they may be a "nuisance" to the catfish pond. I have a friend with a fishery, and he has a "permit" to shoot these birds while they are "actively engaged in the activity of depredating ‘crops’ (ie fish stock)” So if that is the case, no problem, other wise…Shhhhhhh.

As far as 500+yds goes, I practice at this range alot, A LOT. I have taken one animal, (varmints excluded) a feral hog, at a range in excess of 500yds. However, I had plenty of time, a good rest, laser range finder, a calm day, and a lot of practice at this distance. I felt confident I could place my bullet where I wanted it to go, and it did (+/- 2 inches). But this takes A LOT of practice
~z
 
500 yards of pure B.S.

500 yard shot = common = i don't think so.

While hunting any game, ethics to the game pursuited - with a clean kill are paramount. At 500 yards - maybe 1 in 1000 hunters could make a shot like that with any confidence - whatsoever.

I have a friend in Montana that shoots AT deer at 500 to 1000 yards
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Correct - wonder what his % of clean kills are? But he has a magical rifle [of which only two exist] and this makes it ok. I wonder if the other owner of this particular rifle has more sense then this slob hunter.

Weather conditions? How many days have you been rifle shooting and had perfect conditions? where i live that may be around 5 at most.

As far as shooting an egret - why? - malicious, stuiped + illegal. Nuff said.

12-34hom.
 
12-34hom, I agree with the distance part of your post, but must disagree with the last part.

As far as shooting an egret - why? - malicious, stuiped + illegal. Nuff said.

It is not illeagle if you are doing it legally. Just the same as shooting shooting a varmit that has become a nuisance. Sorry, I just disagree.
~z
 
Half A Mile Away?

So you can see an egret at over 800 yards away taking fish out of a pond?

Now tell me that the gender of the fish can also be noted from that distance.
 
Odds are, shooting at an egret is likely to be illegal, anywhere. Even cattle egrets are protected in Texas.

You ain't really shootin' at long range until ya gotta put salt on the bullet so the meat won't spoil before you get to the critter. :D

Art
 
12-34hom: "While hunting any game, ethics to the game pursuited - with a clean kill are paramount. At 500 yards - maybe 1 in 1000 hunters could make a shot like that with any confidence - whatsoever"

+1

Few exceptions withstanding, attempting a 500-1000y. shot is something to be ashamed of rather than something to brag about. It's because of folks like that so many animals end up wounded rather then being treated to humane death. Your friend himself admits that his ratio of success is 1 out of 3... sheesh :(
 
I wonder if it is the technology (mag calibers, high end optics, laser range finders, butter bullet design...) or old fasioned BS.
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I would bet my last dime it's 10% the former, 90% the latter. The technology makes a higher portion of people on the receiving end of their stories believe them, which emboldens them to tell more and better stories, and so on. This guy on my hunting lease likes to brag that he doesn't like to shoot at a deer with his 'seven mag' unless they're 600 yards or farther - not enough of a challenge for him, it would seem. This from the same guy who tells me that "dem turkeys can smell ya."
 
Some of it is people who just flat out don't know how to estimate distances out in the boonies.

Years ago, my uncle mounted a scope on a rifle for a guy, and sighted it in for him. The guy takes off deer hunting. He comes back to my uncle, griping. The gripe was that the gun wasn't sighted in right. He'd missed a deer at 300 yards, even though he held a bit high.

So, off to the benchrest to check it out. They get to the bencrest, and the guy looks at the target: "Yeah, that's 300 yards! That's how far away that deer was!"

"It's 100 yards," says my uncle. A bit of argument.

My uncle shoots; 2" high, just like it oughta be.

The problem is worse in the west, with the wide-open country that a lot of folks aren't used to. And, to be truthful, a lot of them underestimate the distances, as well...

Art
 
Egrets And Such

My friend kills them for the catfish farmers who have permits to do so and here they are everywhere by the hundreds(they eat the small fish). He was an army exhibition shooter and later shot competition on the Army Rifle Team. I've seen him kill Hawks in the old days before they were protected out to 500 yards off the hood of a 1962 Scout 4wd.with a pre 64 Winchester in 264 win mag. I can tell you he has a panel truck with a bench, wind velocity meters, thermometers, range finders and computers and printers as well as digital cameras. Reloads in the truck also. He's very well equipped. I will zero my 7-STW for 400 yards and all I have to do is hold the lower 1/3 of the deers chest cavity from 0-400 yards. At 500 I would hold over about 12 inches. Like some have said your mid range is critical so I concentrate on the low hold. My range at the camp is 400 max but out of the towers its up to 600. I passed up a nice Buck 2 days ago at 400 with my 6.5x55 Bruno Custom because the wind was blowing hard and I don't chance wounding game. On a still, cold morning my 25-06,6.5-06 7-stw or the 6.5x55 will handle a 500 yard shot. Those shots are 1 percent of our shots and most are300 yards or less since our towers are about 300 yards apart. Personally at 60 years old I don't think half the hunters realize their rifles capability. My dad said many years ago that if ya don't shoot at long range you will never know what you can hit. We used to shoot a steel deer at a friends range at 500 yards and once you saw the dust kick up and adjusted a little it was not so difficult as one might think. The flat Delta here allows one to test his rifle easily. Handloads and determination with practice will make you a shooter.:)
 
I have a friend in Montana who according to him shoots 500 to 1000+ yards at deer. This is with a wildcat rifle of which there is only 2 in existance, (something like a 300 H&H Mag necked down to a .22 bullet) off a benchrest table mounted on a mountain and using a spotter with very expensive glass. Says he can get a hit in 3 shots.
I didn't make it up, I just repeated what I was told.
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Sorry, that doesn't sound incredibly impressive to me... LOL But I don't hunt.

How do these snipers do it? They regularly make over 600 yard hits. Isn't that generally like the range you're supposed to start employing snipers for?

Maybe its because they measure the wind, calculate in humidity and temperature and air pressure and adjust for range instead of holding over and using Kentucky windage.

Then again the closest I've gotten to being a sniper is ringing the 400 yard gong with my old Mauser a few times.
 
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