Long range hunting ???

Good Topic Alex. I personally won't shoot at game past 500yds because that's my comfort zone, past that too many things can go wrong. I don't mind wounding steel at a 1000 though LOL

6MM06AI said:

Good Topic Alex. I personally won't shoot at game past 500yds because that's my comfort zone, past that too many things can go wrong. I don't mind wounding steel at a 1000 though LOL

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Same boat but I'm at 300 yards!

Just got to keep practicing.

mikea5232 said:

I posted this on the 7STW sub form as instructed by another member earlier.

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Hey brother you have no idea the crowd you've just joined.... ha,ha ha ha ha..... .

There are more decades long STW guys on this forum than you will ever meet on the rest of the web and we're proud of it.

I'm the proud father of three the first born in 1990.

Alex Wheeler said:

Ethics and facts are separate things. A fact would be what is the max distance you are 100% sure you can connect the first time, every time. Thats a great topic for discussion. Ballistics and accuracy get discussed, but rarely to I see discussions of wind reading or the finer points of accuracy that come into play at longer ranges. Sorting bullets by ogive shape, sorting cases, primers, ext all start to really show up at 1k and beyond. The only real ethical discussion when it come to LR hunting is whether a hunter is willing to take shots at a distances farther than he is 100% confidant in. If a guy is willing to walk in shots and wound game before killing it, thats ethics and I dont want to talk about that. So lets talk about what it takes to hit a small target every time at 1300 yards, because it takes a lot! Mainly I want to know how to make cold bore wind calls at that range. What kind of vertical is your load holding at 1300 for 5 shots? How did those sierras sort? Been wanting to try them. The only time there is a ban on a discussion, I have a feeling someone wants to hide something.

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Indeed they are. Facts flow aplenty here but the discussion of eithics is a banned subject because of all of the problems it creates.

Tyler Kee said:

Awesome shot!

Minimum expansion velocity is always my hard and fast limit. Inside of that, I practice field positions and know what I can reliably hit every time. If it's outside of that, then they walk.

Unless it's pigs. At which point, I will walk them in.

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When it comes to eradicating predators and hogs all bets are off. Kill them anyway you can.

I have farmers and ranchers insist that I shoot hogs in the gut or lungs only if they are in cultivated fields so they can leave the field before dying and I don't blame them.

Alex Wheeler said:

Ethics and facts are separate things. A fact would be what is the max distance you are 100% sure you can connect the first time, every time. Thats a great topic for discussion. Ballistics and accuracy get discussed, but rarely to I see discussions of wind reading or the finer points of accuracy that come into play at longer ranges. Sorting bullets by ogive shape, sorting cases, primers, ext all start to really show up at 1k and beyond. The only real ethical discussion when it come to LR hunting is whether a hunter is willing to take shots at a distances farther than he is 100% confidant in. If a guy is willing to walk in shots and wound game before killing it, thats ethics and I dont want to talk about that. So lets talk about what it takes to hit a small target every time at 1300 yards, because it takes a lot! Mainly I want to know how to make cold bore wind calls at that range. What kind of vertical is your load holding at 1300 for 5 shots? How did those sierras sort? Been wanting to try them. The only time there is a ban on a discussion, I have a feeling someone wants to hide something.

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I don't have any range that I'm 100% confident in.

Personal choices in ones ability need to remain just that. 100% can become a discussion that ends bad.
Every decision, and every shot requires calculated risk. Those risks are personal choices that are easy to criticize.

nmbarta said:

I don't have any range that I'm 100% confident in.

Personal choices in ones ability need to remain just that. 100% can become a discussion that ends bad.
Every decision, and every shot requires calculated risk. Those risks are personal choices that are easy to criticize.

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I think Alex realizes we're all human and that sooner or later we all blow it, some of us more frequently than others.

If I remember right, he's like me in saying that any shot he's gong to take is one that if he pulls the trigger and misses he's going to blat out surprised and immediatly start looking first for an equipment or calculation error and next at human error.

Me, I know myself pretty well. If I blew it, odds are it wasn't the equipment.

That is the 100% level of confidence he's talking about if I remember right.

Congrats on a nice shot. It's a great feeling when everything you have worked for comes together. Sounds to me like you did all your homework to make this happen. Awesome job keep up the good work

To me long range hunting ends at about 650 yards. That's because my rangefinder sucks. That's the farthest I can range a animal.
Been to a mile on fixed targets.
As far as what it takes for cold bore, and wind etc, takes practice lots of practice. You can study wind speed estimates looking out your window from the couch, but getting out and shooting long range in wind, is the only way to get better.
For sorting bullets and the technical stuff, successful long range shooting demands it, and you'll quickly learn that by shooting long, practice! It's all about practice!!

First Congrads!
It's a great feeling when all the had work , preparation and loads of practice all come to the final moment!
Second ..I guess it's time to get the Atacar for my Edge and I better use the 7stw barrel I have setting in the corner.
Thanks for sharing ! After all this is the Long Range Hunting forum !!

Congrats. Great shot.

nmbarta said:

I don't have any range that I'm 100% confident in.

Personal choices in ones ability need to remain just that. 100% can become a discussion that ends bad.
Every decision, and every shot requires calculated risk. Those risks are personal choices that are easy to criticize.

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Im not a lawyer. I think you get the idea of what Im saying. Antelope have a very small target at 1300 yards. I have to assume that the OP has made many cold bore shots and load testing at ranges like this on targets to build his confidence level to the point that he'd be surprised to miss at that range. Id like to hear how he got to that point of confidence. Its quite impressive.

mikea5232 said:

1311 yrds View attachment 108274

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I surely could not make that shot. I know there was a tremendous amount of work done B4 that shot. Congratulations!

This doesn't have to be that complicated. Will your bullet expand and have enough energy to kill what you're shooting at. Have you shot simulating field conditions (not off a bench, same rest/ shooting position, similar environmental conditions) enough that you are confident you can make a cold bore first shot hit on a vitals size target at a certain range. That's your limit. For me it depends on the gun and load I'm shooting. If I haven't practiced enough with that combo at a certain distance I pass the shot.

That's it, don't deviate or talk yourself into more. I watched a hunting show the other day and a guy had a monster whitetail show up with a hot doe on a corner of their property. They had never seen it on camera so they figured once he was done with the doe he'd go home and they'd never see him again. They admitted the 60yd bow shot they took was marginal but rationalized that it was ok bc it wasn't one of "their deer" and that was the only chance they had. I wanted to crawl through the TV screen and strangle them for promoting this type of rationale. Thankfully the deer looked like it was going to survive the encounter. They definitely didn't deserve it.

I don't this type of conversation should be off limits. It's a discussion of general guidelines/ philosophy.