I wouldn't take a shot at long distance on an "eating" game animal. I reserve my "big game" shots to under 300 (although I regularly shoot at 300 on our range and feel comfortable at that distance and beyond with a couple of my rifles) . Deer, Moose, Bear, Elk, etc deserve me getting off my big fat ass and STALKING them until its a shot that is a sensible distance. The longer the distance, the more that can go wrong, such as wind deflection, sudden last split second animal movements, small visual target against a relatively big reticle, extreme corrections for bullet drop which can be mistaken, and so on. All these things conspire to rob us of a vital zone shot. Just because I CAN hit that moose at 500. doesn't mean I SHOULD. The bullets lose a lot of energy at long distance, which contributes to a less humane end for the animal.
For animals that are either PESTS such as prairie dogs or coyotes, or fur bearing animals such as wolves, I often only have long shots to choose from. I have seen around 250 wolves in my 15 years up here in the north, and only 2 of those 250 were seen at any distance closer than 275 yards. (2 crossed in front of my truck on a portage , while driving up the ice road to the diamond mines) I have shot my wolves at distances of 350 to 600 yards. It was always on a big frozen lake where the distances can stretch for several miles. I also took a wolverine at 250. (little bastard saw us, and made a B-line straight for us across the ice on the frozen snow. He was munching on a gut pile left from some #### hunter). I could see him coming "forever". I was going to wait until he was close, but being a fur bearing animal, I shot him at 250 which minimized the fur damage. I draw my own personal line of 300 yards on animals I eat.
That was good.
