How far can you connect?

My longest shot on deer and elk is 350ish and 332 yds respectively. 402 yds on a coyote this year. I practice at 600yds on steel and hunting yotes in the off season. Where I hunt I could take longer shots on game but there is usually enough terrain to close that distance to 300 yds. I have learned a lot from the guys on this forum about precision shooting and reloading. It's definitely upping my game.

Average wise I can constantly hold the 10-ring at 1k on paper and on a KD range, yeah there are a few 9's in there, hunting? I'd say 550 to 650 yards with about the same percentage of accuracy in the field on a Coyote to Deer size target, perhaps better on a good day.

My longest shot on a game animal was 1237 yards on an elk with my 300RUM. I spent over 2 hours waiting for the elk to get into a unimpeded clearing for the shot. I had practiced shooting hundreds of rounds out to 1400 yards and felt comfortable making the shot, as long as I didn't have any limbs or objects in the path of my bullet. This kill was so difficult and hard to get to and retrieve, I decided I would never shoot any game animal that far again, unless I saw a road beneath it as we couldn't get our horses close to it. The second longest elk I shot was a little over 800 yards and another at 742 yards. The other 23 elk I have taken were between 8 and 325 yards. I'm not going to tell you about the biggest bull elk I have ever seen in my life while hunting. Why? Because I still cry every time I think about missing him with my arrow at 17 yards. Enough said!

You guys are very humbling. I live in Illinois and deer hunt with a slug gun. My club range is limited to 200 yards so that is about as far as I can normally practice.
Too many years ago ( two was too many) I was in Wyoming for Antelope. I passed on a couple of 300 to 400 yard shots. I took a good slightly above average buck quartering toward me, at 250. That was my longest shot. 270WSM 140 Accubond. DRT.
Shortest miss. 25 yards with a 22 RF on a 3 lined ground squirrel.

Gone Ballistic said:

I'm not going to tell you about the biggest bull elk I have ever seen in my life while hunting. Why? Because I still cry every time I think about missing him with my arrow at 17 yards. Enough said!

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I know how you feel. I rattled an arrow off the rack of the biggest mulie I have ever shot at in my life. 22 yards. Don't care discussing that too often. Missed a big drop tine whitetail at 420 yards. Shot over him with a 243 wssm. Technology has came a long ways and my wallet has gotten a lot lighter since rangefinding binos and super magnum rifles and these new unbelievable riflescopes.

Longest shot for me was a first shot cold bore marmot at 1402 yards. Furthest elk 1098. Furthest prairie dog 1134. I can shoot out to 1360 on a ranch I manage. I spend as much time as I can shooting prairie dogs winter and spring, and marmots in the fall. This years long marmot was 968 yards.
first elk I ever shot at I missed at maybe 50 yards. I missed one just standing there at about 75 yards several years ago got her on the second shot though. Got all excited and missed two grouse at about 10 yards with a .22 pistol last month.

The question you have to ask yourself, how far would you bet your rifle on? Meaning a cold bore hit on a 10" plate or you loose your rifle. How far would you make that bet with someone? I would bet many will take a shot on live game much farther than the distance they would bet their rifle on.

pig ranch deadeye said:

I have never actually killed a deer or a pig at over 180 yards. My typical shot is 75 to 120 yards. I have missed at ranges longer than 180, to be honest, several times. So my question is to my fellow bloggers here is, what is your longest successful shot? What is your shortest miss? What is your longest attempted shot on game? I have missed at 400 yards, I must confess, way more than once. In a sitting position I can hit a grapefruit at 200 yards four times out of five, if I take my time, with my trusty 27 inch custom-barreled .270. I have missed a sitting rabbit at six yards with my .338. Everyone on this site is, if you believe their comments, a superb shot, and that is great. That just does not apply to me, so this post is to confess my limitations honestly. Tell me if I have flunked!

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Lots of good stuff here. Longest shot on game is 1129 antelope. A shot we did not expect to take but were prepared for it if the conditions were right. It was the perfect combination of gun, load, bullet and environmental conditions that have us the confidence to attempt it. Ended up about 3" low and heart shot the buck breaking the far shoulder. Which was a fantastic result. We had connected on a coyote the previous evening at 480 and practiced A lot, with this rifle and load out to a mile. As stated before shooting from a dead solid prone, kneeling or sitting position is critical to making longer shots. The shot for my antelope was 109 yards and I may have felt ok to try and unsupported kneeling or sitting but I had time to deploy a tripod and table with a shooting bag we compete in long range matches with. Something we practice and have I good level of proficiency with. We can shoot sub MOA groups from this supported position so that is what I did for even a closer range shot to ensure I well placed impact. Start with knowing your rifle and load, find a good system to support you and your rifle besides the prone as many times we need to be higher to have a line of site, and take time to practice your fundamentals of shooting. Also there are some great one or two day courses offered around the country that will set you up for success and are a lot of fun too.

Alex Wheeler said:

The question you have to ask yourself, how far would you bet your rifle on? Meaning a cold bore hit on a 10" plate or you loose your rifle. How far would you make that bet with someone? I would bet many will take a shot on live game much farther than the distance they would bet their rifle on.

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depends on the rifle and the upside of making the hit? Do I get your rifle with an impact?? just kidding. That's a good litmus test.

I shot a deer at 2000 yards with a .223. Hit him in the eye, DRT.

PNWdude67 said:

depends on the rifle and the upside of making the hit? Do I get your rifle with an impact?? just kidding. That's a good litmus test.

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I think you get my point, I think that too many people are willing to take shots they are not 100% confident in. I know a bunch of guys that will take a 1000yd shot on an elk, but they would not bet me $500 bucks on that same shot.

Longest successful shot on deer was 475 yards on the move w borrowed 3006 w/3x9 hunting scope. using ballistic data on the box! Holdover was Guesstimate crazy. That lucky shot got me hooked on getting proficient at long range shooting. Today 400+ yard shots on deer are routine. Shortest miss on deer was last week, 40 yards! Sensitive trigger and I shot before ready! Racked a second round and DRT on second shot! 2 seconds later... good dope and lots of practice are best medicine

Worst miss was on a doe about 40yd I exploded a cedar limb that I couldn't see through the scope. Missed a nice buck with a 30-30 the next year I'm talking 50yd max I just blew the shot still not sure how. Longest shot was a doe at 525yd with my 308, I had been shooting all year and knew my drop. I've missed a few coyotes and ground hogs at 600yd just could help but fling one at them.

Longest is 500 on the nose. Hunting gas line place a stake at 500 and fed rt at stake ( legal in my state). Shortest was 15 yds. Same gas line same stake. Vastly different circumstances. Actually shot twice and missed both times. Got caught in the open walking back to stake to put out more feed. Had 50 pound sack on my back when buck stepped out. It was a big six point. I squatted behind a small bush just to watch him. Wasn't gonna shoot him. He bolted after bout 5 min. I thought I spooked him but a huge twelve point stepped out rt behind him. I'd been in a squat with corn over my shoulder holding it with one hand for 5 minutes. Had to raise gun and try to shoot one handed. From the squat. Worst was the 475 yard walk back with thighs burning.