So winter is starting to wear on me a little and in my boredom, I got hooked on watching hunting videos. 99% of what I watched was fair-chase public land hunting with blaze orange, competition with other hunters, and bad weather. I was surprised to see some of the poor shooting, botched drop calculations, and I guess to their credit, lack of editing. Wind appeared to be a factor in a small percentage of cases, but elevation and in particular shooting high was often the issue. I don't recall a shot being past 550 yards except one and that was a famous Robert shooting at a Mule Buck and a first shot clean miss to my utter surprise.
Now, back in the day I was a speed freak and huge Weatherby fan. Before rangefinders (and chronographs in my budget) my theory was tighten the string to 400, calculate to 5 and don't shoot past that. Let speed extend PBR and call it good. I grew older and slower and my cartridge selection grew newer and slower and I sharpened my math skills to keep up with my new rangefinder. With a lot of practice and a range table laminated to my stock I could do amazing things. Then came the 6.5 Creedmoor and the world is killing split hoofed critters to a K. I still struggle to keep perfect tabs on animals as they add and delete distance and change the angle to the wind as they move about. I thought I must be the only one unable to master 100% lethality past 400 yards, but it appears I am not.
The last couple of years I have spent more time back with the .257 and 300 Weatherby. Oh, I still carry the 260 and 6.5PRC too, but shooting a sturdy bullet Really, Really fast to 500 minus has simplified my life. I don't worry near as much about math, my wind guess doesn't crease my brow with worry. With ol Roy along and 3700FPS in the chamber I feel like I can relax and enjoy the day.
The question I have is, Is there still a place in the world for screaming hi 3 - low 4 BC bullets and would more shooters be better served to get off the calculator and back on the tail of the comet?
Now, back in the day I was a speed freak and huge Weatherby fan. Before rangefinders (and chronographs in my budget) my theory was tighten the string to 400, calculate to 5 and don't shoot past that. Let speed extend PBR and call it good. I grew older and slower and my cartridge selection grew newer and slower and I sharpened my math skills to keep up with my new rangefinder. With a lot of practice and a range table laminated to my stock I could do amazing things. Then came the 6.5 Creedmoor and the world is killing split hoofed critters to a K. I still struggle to keep perfect tabs on animals as they add and delete distance and change the angle to the wind as they move about. I thought I must be the only one unable to master 100% lethality past 400 yards, but it appears I am not.
The last couple of years I have spent more time back with the .257 and 300 Weatherby. Oh, I still carry the 260 and 6.5PRC too, but shooting a sturdy bullet Really, Really fast to 500 minus has simplified my life. I don't worry near as much about math, my wind guess doesn't crease my brow with worry. With ol Roy along and 3700FPS in the chamber I feel like I can relax and enjoy the day.
The question I have is, Is there still a place in the world for screaming hi 3 - low 4 BC bullets and would more shooters be better served to get off the calculator and back on the tail of the comet?
