What constitutes “long range hunting”?

[cornshank]

Or a 14 yr old with his peep-sighted Benjamin pellet gun in 1960, shooting his first blackbird out of a tree...

The gun he bought with his own morning paper route money.

And he was the most up to date 8th grader on current events because he read the daily paper as he walked his route before school every day.

Wish I still had that gun to give to my grandkids.

Perfect!

 

[cornshank]

Since on the subject. As a kid, I shot a wrist rocket alot. So much that I became very proficient with it. Birds and I mean sparrows at 15 yards were no trouble. That got me into archery. The pellet gun comparison is really good tho. Many young kids at 8-14 shoot them and killing at 25-30 yards is fairly easy. Best part about it is, it's the start for the young and stepping into this world is next

Yes been there , when my brothers and I ran out of pellets for the crossman ,we would use anything we could find in the barn that would fit down the barrel , keeping it pointed up so the ammo wouldn't roll out.

 

[cornshank]

Yes been there , when my brothers and I ran out of pellets for the crossman ,we would use anything we could find in the barn that would fit down the barrel , keeping it pointed up so the ammo wouldn't roll out.

We even put chicken scratch down the barrel for a scattergun.

 

[WildRose]

Another question for everyone; when does the quarry come into play? A longrange shot on something small like a javelina can be a lot closer than a longrange shot on an elk. I mean the size of the elk's vital zone is almost the same size as the whole body of a javelina. Now, taking long shots on javelin is at least a little unnecessary as they're pretty easy to get close to, but the question still remains.

Size definitely matters.

MOE, Minute of Elk is a much bigger target than MOPD, Minute of Prairie Dog.

Ballistically though anything from 600-1,000yds is definitely "long range" because of bullet drop and wind effects.

In practical terms though trying to shoot PD's when you have 20mph wind gusting to 40 or 45mph is a huge challenge even at 250yds where shooting an elk under the same conditions really isn't. Your kill zone on an elk is about 18" vertically and 24-30" horizontally. On a PD that same KZ is about 4" horizontally and about 10" vertically on an adult.

Shooting predators and hogs most people consider any hit a "good shot" as long as it's eventually fatal.

Point being, what you are hunting and the conditions you are hunting in as well as what you are shooting really matters.

On calm days I love shooting the .204 Ruger or .220 Swift for varmints and predators but as soon as the wind kicks up I'm going to up my game to one of the 6.5's or 7mm's to take advantage of the higher BC's.

 

[WildRose]

Can anybody here actually claim to have a one shot kill at any range beyond 500 yards? If so please let me know and fill me in on the circumstances. As once said in a nationwide news rag, "Inquiring minds want to know."

Yes, lots of us can and have.

 

[WildRose]

Ok, this Russian chick was a chick. Period. Your post is missing the mark.

He she whatever pronoun wanted to bring up their disapproval and so there was my response.

My point was that are things with absolute definitions. Long range is long range, a Apple is a Apple, purple is purple, the earth is round. These are definite and quantifiable things. You simply posted about a Russian sniper who got recently popular because she's basically a character on call of duty, yet no one is talking about women…

No gender confusion here either.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Well I for one don't particularly care for the man/woman comparison but since i am definitely in the minority here it probably won't matter to anyone. I have shot long range, between 600 and 1000 yards. All of my shots at those distances have been at paper since I do not subscribe to shooting at animals (other than prairie dogs and vermin) at that range. I know my capabilities as well as my rifle/load's probably as well and maybe better than anyone on this site. I also know that the 1 MOA rifle under perfect circumstances which seldom present themselves when hunting at 500 yards means a perfect shot is only likely to hit within 5 inches of where the rifle was aimed when it discharged, hopefully the aiming point and all of the other things in-between worked out to make the bullet hit where you were pointing, but that seldom happen either. As ranges increases so does the errors. at 700 yards the perfect shot means that the bullet will hit within 7 inches, and at 1000 yards the bullet will hit within 10 inches of where you were aiming when the rifle sent it's message of death when the round broke, barring any atmospheric abnormalities in between. I hear a lot of people bragging about their magnificent shots when trying to execute animals at long range, but my question is, How many of those magnificent shots were first round hits at those ranges? Can anybody here actually claim to have a one shot kill at any range beyond 500 yards? If so please let me know and fill me in on the circumstances. As once said in a nationwide news rag, "Inquiring minds want to know."

Your question of " Can anybody claim a one shot kill at any range beyond 500 yards" is really unusual seeing it asked on a LR hunting forum. 500 yards is a chip shot honestly. I have a 500 yard range and every gun I literally own including a couple 22 rimfire's hit the bull on cold bore shots. It's kinda like anything, practice makes perfect literally. In January during the late doe season my son and I killed 4 does (freezer meat) at 440/515/670/690 yards with single shot kills dropped on impact. Some wind but readable and fairly easy kills. 2-3 minutes at 670/690. 1-2 minutes at the shorter shots. We shoot ground hogs in Ohio and 1200 yard cold bore shots are common. Most are 500-900 yards. When lots of wind is present, we don't take those longest shots but still make 500-800 yards shots CB. Target size can causes misses more often in gassing winds at longer ranges but a ground hog is about the size of a deers vitals. These shots and kills have been made with .264 caliber rifles. I'm no Tony Boyer for certain but practice behind the gun at those ranges makes anyone capable of this.

 

[ButterBean]

Your question of " Can anybody claim a one shot kill at any range beyond 500 yards" is really unusual seeing it asked on a LR hunting forum. 500 yards is a chip shot honestly. I have a 500 yard range and every gun I literally own including a couple 22 rimfire's hit the bull on cold bore shots. It's kinda like anything, practice makes perfect literally. In January during the late doe season my son and I killed 4 does (freezer meat) at 440/515/670/690 yards with single shot kills dropped on impact. Some wind but readable and fairly easy kills. 2-3 minutes at 670/690. 1-2 minutes at the shorter shots. We shoot ground hogs in Ohio and 1200 yard cold bore shots are common. Most are 500-900 yards. When lots of wind is present, we don't take those longest shots but still make 500-800 yards shots CB. Target size can causes misses more often in gassing winds at longer ranges but a ground hog is about the size of a deers vitals. These shots and kills have been made with .264 caliber rifles. I'm no Tony Boyer for certain but practice behind the gun at those ranges makes anyone capable of this.

Sir I have the utmost respect for you but 22 rimfires at 500 and cold bore PD's at 1200, I'm just about over this place

 

[VLD Pilot]

Sir I have the utmost respect for you but 22 rimfires at 500 and cold bore PD's at 1200, I'm just about over this place

Haha don't be over it. It's not Prairie dogs it's ground hogs. There's about a 10-12 lb difference in the two. Trust me, 500 yards shooting a .22 rimfire and hitting a 18" steel plate is not a tough feat. I'm not shooting groups with it. This is very doable Everytime once the rifles drop is figured out on calm days. Not 5" groups but hitting steel plates CB is pretty easy. I shoot my 10mm with RMR sights at 300 yards hitting steel every shot CB. Unbelievable as well but very doable.

 

[ButterBean]

Haha don't be over it. It's not Prairie dogs it's ground hogs. There's about a 10-12 lb difference in the two. Trust me, 500 yards shooting a .22 rimfire and hitting a 18" steel plate is not a tough feat. I'm not shooting groups with it. This is very doable Everytime once the rifles drop is figured out on calm days. Not 5" groups but hitting steel plates CB is pretty easy. I shoot my 10mm with RMR sights at 300 yards hitting steel every shot CB. Unbelievable as well but very doable.

Yep I agree anything is doable and I understand once you set a 22LR up for 35 feet of drop you can hit a plate at 500 And I apologize as I said PD not GH but at 8" tall and 20" long 1200 yards cold bore. I mean no offense but if you and your compadres can shoot like that you would be in every record book and shooting magazine in the world, No one makes cold bore "Common" shots like that and not be recognizes somewhere other than Joe's Pub, once again I mean no offense and yeah I'm over it

 

[chav0_12]

I also know that the 1 MOA rifle under perfect circumstances which seldom present themselves when hunting at 500 yards means a perfect shot is only likely to hit within 5 inches of where the rifle was aimed when it discharged, hopefully the aiming point and all of the other things in-between worked out to make the bullet hit where you were pointing, but that seldom happen either.

I totally agree with this, and I know there are a lot of rifles that won't shoot sub-MOA, more so there are a lot of people that can't shoot sub-MOA. I think that's why most of us strive for building or buying rifles that shoot 1/2 MOA or better, and practice so we can shoot 1/2 MOA or better. Turning that weary 600+ yard shot into something a little more predictable than hitting within the 6"-10" circle around our point of aim, trying to shrink that to the 3"-5" circle is the joy(IMO) of long range shooting and hunting.

 

[VLD Pilot]

I will say it's been a few years but I could pull my 541 from the safe and still accomplish it today on a good day.

Yep I agree anything is doable and I understand once you set a 22LR up for 35 feet of drop you can hit a plate at 500 And I apologize as I said PD not GH but at 8" tall and 20" long 1200 yards cold bore. I mean no offense but if you and your compadres can shoot like that you would be in every record book and shooting magazine in the world, No one makes cold bore "Common" shots like that and not be recognizes somewhere other than Joe's Pub, once again I mean no offense and yeah I'm over it

Correct I and we don't make the 22 CB shots Everytime and the same with GH shots as we do take shots in some wind where they are very challenging. The point I'm making is one shot cold bore deer kills at 800 yards is very doable every time. The 22 RF and 10mm are extreme but having the range to play at helps. Most of our LR hog shooting is out to around 800-890 in same fields we've killed them in for years so it's been successfully done over and over. Still it's CB one shot kills on numerous animals. Nothing is guaranteed every single time repeatedly at the longest ranges or yes I'd imagine they'd be record book accomplishments. The question in point is are one shot cold bore shots at 500 yards and beyond possible? Answer is absolutely without a doubt YES. 1000 yard competitors shoot 2-5" groups regularly. That's no surprise. Nobody is asking any hunter to take an unethical shot on windy bad environmentally poor days. When a responsible shooter sets up in great conditions and has shot that hundreds of times before, it's a fairly easy accomplishment. To put a shooter out in a field regardless of conditions and say make that shot just won't happen very often. This subject isn't new to this forum. Misses happen. Just forgetting to redial for additional range causes a miss. Does this factor in to a poor shot or a technical error ?

 

[VLD Pilot]

Yep I agree anything is doable and I understand once you set a 22LR up for 35 feet of drop you can hit a plate at 500 And I apologize as I said PD not GH but at 8" tall and 20" long 1200 yards cold bore. I mean no offense but if you and your compadres can shoot like that you would be in every record book and shooting magazine in the world, No one makes cold bore "Common" shots like that and not be recognizes somewhere other than Joe's Pub, once again I mean no offense and yeah I'm over it

BB,
I will say this. The difference in 500-1200 yards and 1500+ is night and day. Literally. We tried alot of the same shots out west in SD/WY during hunting trips at 1500-1800 yards and same cold bore hits were so rare that it wasn't worth even trying to make them after so many missed shots. Targets must be much larger for sure. Groups are not staying one MOA and most times 2MOA is tough to achieve unless wind is extinct. Range matters most definitely and there is a point lost return in this shooting game. I'm no competition shooter and only hunt and pop steel plates alot but understanding range is the limiting factor. Beyond comfort zone ranges for shooters, environmental elements become huge every 100 yards beyond that 1200+ range. Many comp shooters conquer much of it but it's not a condition that can be beat completely.

 

[cornshank]

Size definitely matters.

MOE, Minute of Elk is a much bigger target than MOPD, Minute of Prairie Dog.

Ballistically though anything from 600-1,000yds is definitely "long range" because of bullet drop and wind effects.

In practical terms though trying to shoot PD's when you have 20mph wind gusting to 40 or 45mph is a huge challenge even at 250yds where shooting an elk under the same conditions really isn't. Your kill zone on an elk is about 18" vertically and 24-30" horizontally. On a PD that same KZ is about 4" horizontally and about 10" vertically on an adult.

Shooting predators and hogs most people consider any hit a "good shot" as long as it's eventually fatal.

Point being, what you are hunting and the conditions you are hunting in as well as what you are shooting really matters.

On calm days I love shooting the .204 Ruger or .220 Swift for varmints and predators but as soon as the wind kicks up I'm going to up my game to one of the 6.5's or 7mm's to take advantage of the higher BC's.

So to sum it up long range is in the eye of the beholder.
So many factors , I won't try list them .