Does anyone hunt deer under 600 yards anymore?

I think the issue here is that some shooters are stuck in the 60's and cannot accept that things progress and improve over time.

"Yeah, I never would shoot past 200 yards!!!" This may have been 40 years ago and they never tried to improve or advance and it has to be this way because that is the way WE did it.

The rifles, they have changed even if someone doesn't think they have.

The optics we have now are amazing, the bullet and powder technology is a marvel, the measuring tools are now available.

Even look at the knowledge available through the web and other shooters and changes in software

Now take all of that and the quest for some to always improve or challenge themselves, well then you have progress ,and you may even have someone that can take a 600 yard one shot kill on a game animal.

Times are changing , if you only shoot at animals under 100 yards so be it, don't condemn others for doing something that you wouldn't.The Wright brothers tried something that most thought was stupid and useless.
 
the area I hunt deer is on manitoulin island, we have and open field distance of approx. 600 yards. the first deer I took was at 300 yards with my 300WSM. the furthest shot taken was at 377yards. mostly I get mine archery at 12-20 yards though. shortest rifle shot for me was about 25 yards. average shot taken on the property is probably around 50 yards.

for moose the longest area available is about 300 yards.
 
Dogleg said:
I'm so lazy that that I can barely drag a half dozen rifles to my range and rotate through them all day. Maybe if I took a nap part way through and had an air stapler I might be able make it? This hunting and shooting year around #### is way too hard, I better put a stop to that as well. Maybe I could just pay someone to do it for me? That would be the easiest.
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Just for the record I never paid anyone, I conned them into it............;):redface:

I was going to stay out of this fiasco as I almost never hunt deer. Now sheep at 600 yds is another matter. I find my comfort zone starts at about 75-100 yds and carries out to about 6-700 in the right conditions. I tend to get too excited up real close and just throw lead, thinking they will escape any second.........bowhunting has helped me a lot with this affliction........whereas at 75 yds and beyond I'm able to contain my exuberance and concentrate on making the shot, and the further out it gets the more comfortable I am with the shot to about 400 mtrs after that I really have to kick in all the thought processes and concentrate on breathing, trigger control, sight alignment and follow through, but I'm never rushed at those shots so I'm able to get a position where I'm rock steady, range the critter precisely and settle in for the shot. It's not difficult if you are familiar with your firearm and cartridge and have enough practice. The other plus about 6-700 mtrs is the animal almost never darts off if you miss. If you have a good spotter friend with you, you can almost always assure success on the second shot if you miss the first. I have also found sheep to be extremely fragile to bullet hits anywhere in the body. They will fold up camp from a "way too far back gut shot" in about 30 mtrs of running. I have seen this personally with 2 sheep taken in 10 seconds by my sheep partner and myself. We didn't recognize the wind that was light from left to right and the 500 mtr shots were both about 2 feet back of point of aim. Neither sheep made 30 mtrs before folding up dead, his with a 160 gn 7 mag and mine with a 180 gn Part from my 300 WM. I have never lost a sheep from any hit from the vitals to the hams.
Someone on here said it before........I will take animals, preferably within my very comfortable zone out to 400 mtrs, without thinking about it, but it is nice to have the equipment and skill and practice to make that odd 6-700 mtr shot when all other options have been exhausted. I am a skilled and successful sheep and goat hunter and know how to stalk animals in the wide open spaces they inhabit, I also know when there is no way in hell to get closer. And for those who think I'm a poor hunter because I will take a 600 yd shot rather than getting closer, I have only to say I have taken animals with a bow at 15 yds as well so I know how to hunt, and I guided my son to a new #4 all time Dall sheep with a bow, taken at 50 mtrs so yes I do know how to hunt.
 
I recently started hunting with only a knife. That makes 600 yards a long reach.
My thought is that if I can get them to walk up to me, I don’t have to pack them out so far.
I’m sitting on my deck waiting (hunting) as I type this. Barbecue is warming up, beer is chilling, knife in hand....waiting (hunting)
 
I hunt from the same stand every year and it's a 30 yards shot..... so now the house rule is 8pts & up. If the situation came up, I would shoot to 300-400yds but with a different gun and a different practice routine. Get the right gun and hone your skills... know your limits.
 
I have hunted continuously since 1958 or so. In that time, I have been privileged to harvest a large number of game animals.

Also in that time, I have shot exactly one animal at 600 yards. The large majority of these animals have been taken at under
150 yards. [This year my yardages on 3 animals were: 120, 110 & 355]

I always prepare and practice for the long shot, but very, very seldom have to take it. Dave.
 
My best shot to date is an previously wounded Elk at 344 yards. Past my 'fair' range. I can shoot alright, I just find the past 400 yds to be unsporting.
Usually I shoot firearms that run out of steam past 200; 38-55, 9.3 x 57 or 30-40 Krag...I share living on a marvellous creek with other folks. Firearms with 'Legs' in tight bush...not cool. Can't see past the bush and it's so tight that one loses their compass somewhat on occasion.
I have a garage window with a bullet hole from hunters in the willows, really not cool. A slow medium bore...that likely would not have happened. They hit the dirt quite rapidly.
My world anyhow.
 
When I hunt deer and other animals in open country I sometimes spot them a mile away or so. With decent glass they are easy to see at a distance.

Then I attempt to get closer, much closer.

Most of my shots and kills of big game were not much more then a 100yds, though I have shot and killed up to 300 yds.

There is a huge difference between hunting vs shooting at animals at long distance.

357
 
Wild TV has made everyone think they can shoot game at ridiculous ranges.The shows are edited to not show missed shots and wounded lost animals.Guides have said as much.Shooting game and hunting game are two completely different things.It irritates me to no end to see the animal go down in broad daylight on camera and have the bozo say,"we'll come back and find him in the morning". It builds drama and they could care less about the meat just the horns.Almost exclusively in the States.
 
jeepguy1 said:
I recently started hunting with only a knife. That makes 600 yards a long reach.
My thought is that if I can get them to walk up to me, I don’t have to pack them out so far.
I’m sitting on my deck waiting (hunting) as I type this. Barbecue is warming up, beer is chilling, knife in hand....waiting (hunting)
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You bumped a 6 year old thread to say that???
 
Trinimon said:
LOL, this is CGN... everyone is capable of hitting a 6" size target at 1000yrds cold bore, barefeet in shorts standing on one leg in 4 feet of snow. :)
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Well, yeah. I do it all the time - on here. In real life, the absolute longest shot at a whitetail in over 50 years might have been 250 yards. I had lots of time, got down on one knee, aimed over his back, and squeezed one off with my old 8mm-06 and it's $10 scope. All the rest were less than 100 yards, some at 20 yards.
 
kjohn said:
Well, yeah. I do it all the time - on here. In real life, the absolute longest shot at a whitetail in over 50 years might have been 250 yards. I had lots of time, got down on one knee, aimed over his back, and squeezed one off with my old 8mm-06 and it's $10 scope. All the rest were less than 100 yards, some at 20 yards.
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:)Sounds like some of my 'real life' shots here on the Island on the 'wet coast' for Blacktail. There've been a variety of rifles in a number of calibres but the 'designate' now is a Ruger M77 Hawkeye RSI Lipsey model in 7x57mm. Hard to define long shots here when compared to long shots in the past few years on Mule Deer and Antelope on hunts in Alberta. A lot of wide open country out there.
 
Hunted the interior rainforest for many years. Now i live coastal, bayonet range.

Longest shot i have ever taken is 275yds. I'm a decent shot, would still prefer to limit myself to 300. Ethics over ego.

Just read that this is a 6yr old thread. Went back and read to that time. One comment....miss cfbmi. Good guy, somewhat easy to troll by know nothing wannabes and lieberals, his undoing.
 
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