Long range hunting ???

Wow, congrats. I too believe that the ethics lies with each and every shooter/hunter. I truly have the confidence in my 7LRM from Gunwerks to take game well past the 1000 yard mark as I practice a lot and know what my equipment is capable of. Outside conditions are everything when shooting at that distance. Looks like you did your homework and did it well. Again Congrats!
 
Knowing
Wow, congrats. I too believe that the ethics lies with each and every shooter/hunter. I truly have the confidence in my 7LRM from Gunwerks to take game well past the 1000 yard mark as I practice a lot and know what my equipment is capable of. Outside conditions are everything when shooting at that distance. Looks like you did your homework and did it well. Again Congrats!
Knowing the ballistics, knowing the environmental conditions, and trusting my equipment and reloads. Tag that onto lots of practice in various shooting conditions during mornings, afternoons, and evenings.

I have my own shooting range so i can shoot when ever i have a few minutes to check, double and triple check my loads at various ranges. The wind is my biggest enemy as it probably is with many. I used my kestral to read my wind and my scope to read thermals at various distances. I made the shot in the early morning when the wind was almost non existent but still took the steps to check it out. I had a spotter to confirm the hit if i wouldn't have been able to see it in the scope or if she didn't drop on impact which she did. There is much more that went into this shot than a picture and a yardage number. I hoped people wouldn't get the wrong impression of what was a major goal and now accomplishment of mine ive had for a few years.
 
How far will I take a shot is a 'depends' question!
First -- if we do our job right -- it should only take one shot to harvest a game animal. I strongly feel we owe it to the animal to make sure we make a clean, one shot kill! Anything that would compromise that means we shouldn't take the shot!
Second -- I have 2 rifles in 270WSM. Both are hunting weight rifles but one is a little heavier than the other and from the bench at 100 yards -- they both will group 3 shots into about 3/4 inch. I've shot both at targets at 400 yards in the desert and in those conditions the heavier rifle is easier to keep on target for about a 4 inch group. I don't feel comfortable shooting at game animals much further than that -- depending on conditions. Guys talk about shooting in the wind but what they don't talk about is how the wind can affect blowing the actual rifle around while trying to take a shot! This is why I say "depending on conditions" because the heavier rifle is easier to hold steady in the wind while trying to take the shot.
Therefore -- in windy conditions (depending on what those conditions do the rifle and which rifle I'm hunting with) I will limit the distance of my shots. That might be to 100 yards if it's extremely windy and I'm hunting with the light rifle! If conditions are calm, I might stretch my shot to about 500 yards because that's not that much further from the 400 yards where I can get a 4 inch group -- and if I feel I can make the one shot kill -- I'll take it!
Third -- It also depends on the terrain. I use shooting sticks from a sitting position and won't take a shot in any position less than the solid position I can get using the sticks and that sitting position. Where I hunt, it's impossible to shoot prone -- not only because of the height of the sagebrush but because of how much it hurts to lay on stickers and sharp rocks. My *** can handle the stickers and sharp rocks but my elbows and chest can't! So -- if I can get to a good solid shooting position, I can take a longer shot than if I can't get a solid shooting position!
Simple as that!
 
awesome thread; i live in maryland but have the very good fortune of having a good friend in wibaux, mt; we go out each october for birds but on multiple occasions i have drawn an antelope tag and add this to the trip, so far have gotten 4 of the "goats", longest shot 800 yds at a 20 degree declination, cosine .94; i use a swarovski z3, 4-12, on a custom .280 ackley; the scope is in mildots; i ranged the antelope thru the scope and it was exactly half a mildot thru the chest; knowing an adult is 14-15 " inches deep just aft of the withers gave me pretty much 800 yds on the dot; compensating for the cosine figured to be about 750 yds; the lowest detente on the reticle was 733yds for a 160 gr nosler accubond; placed the reticle on the animal and down it went; just love that math
 
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.
Wow, that's pretty pathetic. Someone should slap the snot out of him.
 
This whole thread is about ethics. Basically the original post was asking if this was an ethical shot... without actually using the word "ethical". If ethics are banned. This entire thread should be removed, but because it isn't removed yet, I will give my opinion. A 0-5 mph wind is what I've found to be the most inconsistant. It comes in gusts. At least from my own observation, I would rather shoit far with a fast, consistant wind, than a wind you can't predict. I believe that unless you are shooting a 375 chey-tec, 416 Barret, 50 BMG, or some other ultra high BC very heavy bullet, everything past 1200 yards has a certain degree of luck. Even the best shooter in the world, with a perfect wind call, has to pray that the wind doesn't change during the multiple second bullet flight. Don't get me wrong, I love shooting steel at 1400, 1600, and a mile. But sometimes I feel that it is wasted ammo because I could make an absolutely PERFECT wind call, have PERFECT dope, make a PERFECT trigger press and follow through.... and while the bullet is half way to the target, mother nature says "eh, I don't think so" and there goes your shot. Even just a light 2 mph gust can make for a 12 inch miss at 1300 depending on the bullet and velocity. I can usually put three shots consecutive into a 10" by 14" steel plate at 1200. But I won't shoot an animal pat 700. Partly because I can only GUARANTEE 100%, a clean kill at 700 and under. And partially because stalking an animal is the fun part, not shooting. I can shoot at steel for fun.
 
You did the job and will feed your family I say push your self and don't hurt the animals. Do what you can improve every chance perseverance and determination will always shine threw
 
That is fantastic!!

I had the opportunity to take a shot on a bull elk the other day, the herd was ranging from 1215 to 1378, I have shot many, many rounds at this range with this rifle, and in the current conditions I was in I was very confident I could make a vital zone hit, but I wasn't going to do it with my particular set up, because it was around under 1000 ft. lbs and getting within 50fps or so of my minimum for this bullet, plus in testing I wasn't fully confident in the bullets performance at that range, so I spent the entire morning sipping on coffee and eating a breakfast burrito watching a herd of 120+ elk graze and walk around a mountain top across a canyon from me, and quite enjoyed it. During the middle of the day, I confirmed my morning confidence by making a cold bore impact on a rock slightly over 1 MOA at 1389 yards. I was rewarded that evening by the same herd moving across the middle of the mountain, and harvested the bull I picked out of the herd that morning at 816 yards. It was well worth it, I only had to hike myself up half that mountain, not all the way ha ha!!

It's all about knowing your equipment, which you obviously do. Fantastic job!!
 
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top