500 yd shots more common these days

Takes practice to shoot that far.

Or luck and BS. I would rather have to run three miles in the hot sun with my gun at port arms, then kill an elk at that distance and haul it back.

Maybe all they are after is the antlers? Or be like the indians, cut it up and dry it in place, an have plenty of jerky.:D

A nice cape would weigh a lot.;)

HQ
 
I've been hunting old strip mines in PA for 25 years and long shots are pretty common. Since I hunt the same long fields and hillsides year after year, I have the yardages memorized (I laser everything and sometimes post markers on places I'm unfamiliar with). With better optics and target knobs you just dial it up and hold dead on. I've been shooting my 7STW since '88 so those clicks of adjustment are also memorized. At 3400fps the arc isn't hard to adjust for and I use a lot of magnification (40x). Since the advent of the point restrictions in PA, a lot of scope is mandatory in field work.

My limit is about 600 normally and windy conditions will bring that in to 300 in a hurry, but precision shots aren't that hard if you have a consistent load/rifle and you can range.....which, in turn, takes a lot of practice.

Generally though, in calm conditions with that rifle anything inside 400 is a freebie.
 
It seems to me that there is a great deal of difference in the shooting of a target at 500 yds with a modern magnum or a 300 yards with a ML and the shooting of a game animal at that range. I am fully aware that all hunters capable of a 500 yarder have ice water for blood and will not have any extra adrenaline messing with pulse or breathing rate. But you need to tell me who holds the deer so it will not take a step in the half second or more that it takes for the bullet to get there. I am sure that you know one step will mean the difference between a heart/lung and a stomach/intestine hit. I hear alot about the successful kills, buy no one own claims a wounded and lost animal. In my not so humble opinion you should do better than this.
 
Long rane shooting isn't unethical. It just takes some planning and restraint.

.5 seconds........

When I hunt with a muzzleloader and a deer is facing me how long is the difference from the flash in the pan to the bullet strike at 100 yards? About that much, I'd wager. No one questions the ethics of that.......

What about the deer I see flinch at the sound of a bow string? Not much difference IMHO.

If you are going to define "better than that" then please quantify what is an ethical shot and under what conditions.
 
Ah yes, ethics. The philisophy of ethics generally prove there are no firm answers, just hard questions.

By the nature of primitive hunting systems, bows and flintlocks, increase the level of difficulty involved in making a humane kill. Long range gunning accomplishes the same thing. It would logically follow that would also increase the occurance of less than lethally hit animals escaping.

I cannot dictate ethics to you or anyone else. Let me leave you with a few questions. How long do you search for a wounded animal? Does wounding an animal haunt you? If you were hunting in South Africa and that animal had a 2000 dollar price on it would you shoot at 500 yards, knowing a lost animal would cost you two grand? If you were hunting in Southern Michigan and only allowed one shot on this farm, would you take that 250 yard shot with your 12 gage slug gun?
 
I'm sorry but taking a 500 yrd shot under absolutely, positively the PERFECT conditions is asking, at best for a wounded animal. I suspect 98% of the people that claim to make 400-500 yrd. shots are exagerating or misjudging the distance, by a WIDE margin.

With an accurate gun I can shoot 6-8" groups at 500 yards..But that's from a bench rest, with no wind, and no time limit. But, I know that in the field, even with a decent rest, and hopefully no wind, those groups are gonna open signifcantly. I can't imagine trying a shot over 250-300 yrds. under most field conditions, and usually less than that.
 
I think there are a lot of shooters that exagerrate, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a hard shot to make. In calm conditions, it's just physics.

Have a gun that shoots .5 moa and know your ranges and ballistics. Most importantly, you need to "hunt" for the right conditions and setup. My gun has a Jewell trigger that breaks at 1lb and magnification that allows me to see the animal easily. It's designed for that shot.

I have an adjustable bipod and sometimes I use a full sized bean bag on uneven terrain (like loose slag piles).

There are several over 500 yard kills on video here. Shooting hillside to hillside was a valid way of hunting when I was growing up in PA.

http://www.huntchat.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=71
 
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