Long Range Hunt....uh-oh.

[Fremmer]

I think your .30-06 will have enough velocity and energy to kill at 500 yards.
If you make a killing shot. Thing is, at that distance, if I misjudge the drop (or wind) even a little, I might end up watching a wounded animal trot into the bush. So I won't take that long shot. But if I had better shooting skills.....

You might want to try a scope with a reticle (like the Leupold BC reticle) that could help with that kind of shot. And I think I recently read an article in the American Rifleman about a new Kahles scope that had separate settings for various ranges, and it was supposedly much faster and easier to adjust than a regular scope.

Practice those long range shots. Good luck!

 

[swampdog]

Seems like you had a well thought out answer ready. If you re-read my post, you'll see that I didn't say I couldn't do a bear like that, I said I wouldn't. We do run them with dogs around here, through some of the thickest swamps imaginable. When you crawl through a thicket to the sound of dogs howling and the bear going crazy and take him at 20 or 30 yards, it really gets the blood pumping. I have never shot one out of a tree, either. Not to sound corny, but I guess I have too much "respect" for bears to snipe one at long range or bust one out of a tree. That's just me. I have friends that have taken bears out of stands. They are just as proud of their's as I am of mine. To each their own.

As far as the rifle you've chosen, I'm sure it will do the job. We also hunt clear cuts and beanfields here. Some of the fields go from horizon to horizon. I said "I just choose not to hunt like that anymore", although I used to. Looking out my back window, I have a treeline to the left that starts at 300 yards and angles away. The treeline to the right runs off at an angle and finally makes a 90 degree turn at 1200 yards. On any given evening, during season, I can sit on my back deck and shoot a deer (and have). That's not hunting in my book. If it was the "only" way to get a deer around here, I probably wouldn't deer hunt. Boring.

It's not a regional or ethical difference, it's a matter of mindset. As I said, I've changed with age. I just find it to be more of a challenge to still hunt, spot and stalk and take my game up close.
You said in your first post that you were new to hunting but not to shooting. Maybe after you've hunted a few years, you'll understand what I'm talking about.
I'm not putting you down and I wish you the best of luck. I bet that after you've dropped your umpteenth bear, deer or elk at long range, you'll start looking for another, more challenging, way. That's usually how bow and handgun hunters get started.
For me, it's not about the shot or the kill anymore, it's about the hunt.

Have fun and good luck.

 

[mikejonestkd]

Swampdog: For me, it's not about the shot or the kill anymore, it's about the hunt.

Exactly!!!!!

Geographical differences can put you in a postion where you are forced to take longer shots at game than you may be used to, and that's fine if you have no way to get closer.
If you are comfortable making 400 and 500 yard shots and can hit a 10" circle almost all of the time at that range then have fun and have a great hunt.

I prefer to hunt where I can enjoy the stalk, or to sit on stand till they come within a few feet of the stand. That's hunting!!!

 

[itgoesboom]

Geographical differences can put you in a postion where you are forced to take longer shots at game than you may be used to, and that's fine if you have no way to get closer.
If you are comfortable making 400 and 500 yard shots and can hit a 10" circle almost all of the time at that range then have fun and have a great hunt.

I prefer to hunt where I can enjoy the stalk, or to sit on stand till they come within a few feet of the stand. That's hunting!!!

That is exactly it. I would much prefer to stalk my prey, and get close. And considering my experience level, it isn't about the shot to me either.

I honestly hope that I never have to a shot beyond 300 yards. If I went my entire hunting life, and never have a situation where I can't stalk within any closer and take a closer shot, I will be a happy man.

But I know that realistically, at some point, I am either going to have to pass up a shot, or take a shot, at an extended range.

If I am eventually going to be in that position, I want to have the capability to do it, and to do it ethically.

Just another tool in the toolbox, that's all.

Seems like you had a well thought out answer ready.

I hope so, I have put quite a bit of thought into this situation, and that is the reason for the questions on here.

BTW, I didn't mean to imply that there is anything wrong with hunting with hounds, just pointing out a difference between hunting styles in different areas.

I.G.B.

 

[Art Eatman]

I guess I'm sorta philosophical about how the hunting is done in different places. I've hunted the "jungles" of the Appalachicola River bottoms near Blountstown, Florida. Most shots are pretty much Up Close And Personal.

I used to hunt a ranch just north of Uvalde, Texas, as well as my own place outside of Austin. Ranges varied from danged little to way over yonder.

I've hunted country where you either sat in a blind or did without. Not my favored style, but there ya go...

Terlingua? An awful lot of way over yonder. 200 and more is common. (Except when you almost step on one.) The Davis Mountain area was mostly sorta close; 50 yards, average, in the trees and small clearings.

So if folks told me that most shots were likely to be out at 400, and I really wanted to go hunting, well, I'd just fall in with the program.

Huntin's huntin'. Some ways I like better than other ways, but it's still "Mostly Huntin'". If I gotta work on extra skill to do it right, fine by me.

, Art