I just can't get my head around this kind of thinking. The challenge of hunting should be the hunting rather than the shooting; Hail Mary shots have no place in my world, which seems very different than yours.
If you want a shooting challenge, then shoot targets. If you are pointing a rifle at a living animal with the intention of killing it, there should be no doubt in your mind that you can make that shot. If the shot itself is going to be a challenge, don't whine about it being "boring"...just challenge yourself to get closer...i.e. to hunt.
I won't go so far as hoyt does in stating that he won't consider shooting an animal with irons. I still enjoy using iron sights (apertures) when I can...meaning that the lighting conditions are excellent, the range is short and i can get the sight picture I want. I know full well that i probably will not get a critter when using irons, but that will be because I pass up an imperfect shot...and the vast majority of them will be imperfect.
Most of the time, when you hear a guy say "I had to take the shot...it was the only opportunity I had!" you can rest assured that he didn't have an opportunity...but he simply had to pull that trigger, because he simply had to kill something, without regard for his personal limitations and those of his equipment.
Well, that turned out poorly...poorly worded on my part most likely.
I'm not advocating Hail Mary shots; my style is rather the opposite, my longest shot made while hunting
( Glass or no glass) is 344 yds. Hence the 350 yds number.
Last fall I glassed a wounded Elk
( someone else's F**k up) with a range finder
( wanna rock Iron's better get a rangefinder or not bother); and couldn't in good conscience let the coyotes get him, I had a tag and burned it on someone else's f**k up. Ross rifle; and I'm proud that I could make it
( front quarter on a side on shot), lots of practice to do that. It was beyond what should have been attempted in good conscience... but walking on a wounded animal is conscienceless, so which is the greater evil?
When I say shooting as a challenge...well, I'm lucky in that I've 100 yd range 2 mins from my deck. It's said
'over and over' that you have top be able to
'hit a pie plate offhand at 100 yds' or you need more practice. I practice
shooting offhand; less than some and more than others, but I've got a piece of track plate that is all pitted from the bullets at the 100 yd mark. That is where the scope gets boring IMO, not hunting with it. I want to be able to make a hunting shot with iron's...better burn lots of rounds on practice.
I've got some guns with good glass; Kahles, Weaver, Bushnell. It's just not my thing; I bow hunt too, so I know about
hunting vs
shooting.
I
shoot the sh*t out of track plate offhand at 100 yds, so I can
hunt better. Got a 325 yd rock out at my parents that loses weight every visit too...but that's not offhand lol. Rest it on a fencepost for that distance.
But your reply doesn't offend me; more likely dismayed is a better word...dismayed that I put the wrong message forth.
I abhor guys talking of 500+ yd shots, just seems to remove all sporting challenge from it. Removes an animals primary line of defense IMO. You know that's not an
Iron's brag; that's big magnums with big glass territory.
Just not my style; I'm a meat hunter, I don't get all
freaky-deaky need to take a Hail Mary shot to prove my manhood. It's not a big deal...the big rack... horn's make thin soup in my world.
Stay Safe
