What's the max range you'll shoot at game?

On most big game I won't really try anything past 350yds.
Here in Montana, those plains antelope sometimes don't cooperate. A few days into the season, a running 300 yd shot is sometimes all you get. I have taken a nice antelope at 563 yds, but the conditions were perfect and I was trying out my Remington 700 hvy bbl 308 with a mk4 mil-dot fixed 10 power scope. So I new the exact range and do alot of practice out to 800yds.
I think there are too many variables to list. Just be honest with your skill, weapon, and above all a clean kill.
 
Most people have absolutely no idea as to the range they are shooting at.

Most people do not know the ballistics of the cartridge they are shooting.

In Texas, almost all hunting is done from blinds and I start the hunt by laser rangefinding outstanding features all around me. I know exactly how much the bullet will drop at all reasonable distances and can quickly calculate the holdover.

Most shots occur between 200 and 300 yards and I will take a shot out to (about) 400 yards if I feel it is doable and that depends on a lot of things. I am proud to say that the first round always has done the job.

There may be marksmen out there capable of precision accuracy at extremely long range, and my hat is off to them, but most hunters overestimate distance and have a tendency to exaggerate their own prowess.
 
SodaPop, ain't "flat" a sort of relative term? :) After all, that bullet has right at two feet of drop at 400 yards and about four feet of drop at 500, if you're zeroed at 200...

I once thought a 550-yard deer was at 400. Luckily, he was not only patient, but very, very stoopid. After eight misses didn't particularly bother him, he turned and ambled a bit over 100 yards directly toward me and posed.

Holding the crosshairs just at the top of his horns, I gave him a serious heart attack. A nine-shot, one-hit kill.

That particular rodeo was a case where I could see no way to "get closer". He was across a valley, with generally sparse brush. And I ain't crawling through cactus! I might have been able to retreat from my sittin'-spot, circle around downwind, across the valley and up his side of the hill--About 20 to 30 minutes, probably...No tellin' where he would have been by then.

This was long before the days of laser range finders and all that. Maybeso 30 years back, mas o menos...

:), Art
 
Shooting ability--- an easy self test:

The road to improved shooting starts with and honest self-evaluation. Let's try a hypothetical situation. The circumstances are: You take your favorite hunting rifle from its case. This is the first time the rifle has been out of the case today --- it's in whatever condition it would normally be at the start of a day's hunting.

You have one cartridge. The target is a paper plate, 10 inches in diameter. There's not a benchrest or vehicle hood in sight over which to take a rest, and grass and brush preclude the prone position. Other than that, you can use any position you want; offhand, kneeling, sitting, using a sling of shooting sticks for support. You commence with rifle at "port arms," loaded with safety on.

The bet is this: If you miss the plate, you give me your rifle and scope. If you hit, I give you the cash equivalent. You have 10 seconds from the start signal to get in position and break the shot.

The question is: What is the maximum range at which you consider the bet a mortal lock; the maximum range at which you are totally confident of taking my money? Whatever that maximum range is, that's about the maximum range at which you should be shooting at an unwounded game animal from that position. I bet it's a lot less than 300 yards.

The ability to shoot tiny groups from a benchrest is certainly one test of shooting ability. But before you take to the field, you must make an honest assessment of your ability to hit a given target, on demand and under time and psychological pressure. It's the responsible thing to do.

This was an excerpt from an article in the "Rifleman"
 
With my iron sighted .30-'06 I'll take a shot to about 175 yards. Part of the reasoning being that outdoors I have *no clue* if mr bambi is 175 yards or 200. Is he 200 or 250? Beats me.

Sure, on the rifle range I can hit paper a whole lot better - but I realize I'm not that good a field shot and I'm not that good a rangefinder!!
 
10" offhand? What I said before. But on game, if it doesn't "feel right", I won't take the shot at all. Doesn't matter what the distance is, what's important is a clean kill. Everything else to me is just BSin' around about woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Those who have followed any of my few "advice"* posts know I've long been an advocate of getting away from a bench and practicing just a whole bunch from the offhand position. You get halfway good at the coordination-thing, offhand, and all the rest of it is a lot easier.

Sittiing and a hasty rest? Well, I made a one-shot DRT kill on a 350-yard buck. I've rarely been off more than two or three inches on rocks and such out to 400 and sometimes a bit more, shooting for fun. Doesn't really mean anything, though, since I've been doing it for a fair while.

:), Art

* I rarely say, "You oughta..." or "My advice is..." Don't believe in it. I'm more prone to say, "I found that thus and such has worked." or some equivalent.
 
Woops! I wasn't responding to maze51's post, I was responding to the original - this assuming I have plenty of time to get prone or what have you.

To maze51's test - 10 seconds to get in any position and you HAVE to shoot? Let's call it 75 yards. 100 if I'm feeling cocky. I like my rifle :D
 
400 Yards with Heavy Boat tail Spitzers in 7MM and .300 Magnum in a Savage M - 10.

I CAN hit at 500 with those but I limit holdover to level with the spine.

I also use the Jack O' Conner 3 inches high at 100 yards method.
 
Sitting, no rest, my old '06 and pet handloads - - -

250 for dead-bang sure. If everything feels right, I'll go out a little beyond 300. Only times I've gone much beyond that, things got complicated . . . .

It all depends.:p

Best,
Johnny Guest
 
That really depends on the game and conditions such as light, wind, is the game moving, and a stable rest. All my longer range shots came from my Remington 700 in 300 WM, 4.5x14 Leupold, shooting prone with a bipod. Distances were rangefinder confirmed.

My longest shot was 612 yards on a Wyoming antelope. I used
a 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip in a handload. I am the first to admit a lot of luck was with me on this one. I know I underestimated the range and had I not had such a flat shooter, I would have probably missed. I didn't laser it until after the shot. DUH!!!

Next was a Mulie in the NM Gila at 483yards across a canyon. Used a factory Winchester 180gr. Fail Safe here.

Then came a Missouri whitetail at 305 yards with a factory 178 gr Remington Extended Range. This one I shot after a 100 yard sprint to cut the deer off as it was crossing a field. I had to shoot sitting as the grass was too tall for the bipod.

Everything I have taken other than these have been 250 yards and in with the majority of them under 100 yards.

With my 300 WM or my Win M70 in 30.06, I am comfortable out to 300 yards for most conditions. Both guns are sighted to aim dead on out to that range. I practice at longer ranges and in field positions. But I don't usually try for the longer range shots. Too many variables come in to play.
 
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