Long range???

[captdavid]

I have been hunting for over forty years and a 300yd shot is my longest to date. I have some questions for you guys.Using Rifles, what do you consider the minimum amount of energy that you would want to have to kill a whitetail deer? At what ranges do you practice? How much farther will you shoot than you practice? How do you practice at long rang using hunting conditions. What is the group size that you think is the maximum that you should have at your maximum range? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif capt david

 

[Ian M]

May I suggest that you use the SEARCH function for some of those questions since we have covered most of them extensively in the past. Long range is an individual thing, we do not quantify it here, we just shoot to the limitations of our ability to place a lethal first shot. If you do the searches you will find info from many individuals, some of whom may or may not still be around.
Good luck in your info-gathering.

 

[Kenster-Boy]

I totally agree with what Ian said. I have heard it said a time or two that a person needs to have about 800 ft. pounds of energy at the target to consistently expire animals at extended ranges. Now take into consideration that all of these are relative to where you hit the animal and various other things such as bullet performance. I have also been told that UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS you need to be able to make consistent first shot hits on a milk jug sized target. The only real time to use a bench is for load development and to make sure your rifle can prove itself worthy of long range hunting. But other than that it is best in my opinion to practice under field conditions.

Practicing under field conditions would be simply using anything that you would have with you while hunting. ie. have a bipod on your rifle and use a jacket or hunting pack under the but of your gun and then just pick a rock on a distant hillside, range it, have your spotter confirm that they are on it, dial in the elevation/windage, and let er fly.

Other than that just practice makes perfect and a sub MOA gun is plenty good enough for LONG range hunting.

 

[RBrowning]

"How much farther will you shoot than you practice?"
Actually I prefer the other way around. I try to find a place to practice that is at least as long as what I expect to hunt. That really helps your confidence when you have already shot longer than what you are likely to have on a hunt.

Also, from personal experience, shooting skills degrade with time. The more you have practiced the longer you can go without it, but if you are a beginner your skills degrade pretty rapidly. Don't think that you can go to the range a couple of times a month before season and have much long range luck on opening day.