bucking the long range trend

W

wolfhowlsatmoon

Member
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
kamloops BC
If you've read a hunting magazine lately or seen any hunting shows you've probably seen the trend of long range hunting. I was mainly a bow hunter until my bow got stolen a week before deer season this year. I liked bow hunting because of the up close and personal nature of the game. saying that I did take a a mule deer with a rifle this year but I felt like the hunt was lacking something as I could shoot any deer I saw basically from where I saw it as soon as I saw it, as long as it was under 400 yards which you rarely get a chance to see that far. so recently I purchased a Rossi mares leg 44 and I will be hunting with it next season, I call it my bow gun, it has limitations that force me to get close, really close and do it without the animal knowing I was there. I just want to see if there are any guys or girls out there like me who want to add more to hunting then just making a good shot at something that could be a deer or steel gong, with a gun that has to be combined with a ballistics calculator and carried in a truck and takes more calculations than than traditional hunting skills to use. what I look for is the thrill of the chase the challenge of getting close and the risk of the animal busting me. and before you rage on me I certainly don't mean to offend the LR crowd as I know long range shooting takes tons of practice and lots of skill to do it well, but i see it as shooting at targets, not hunting animals. I think hunting has to involve the animal in the equation and from 500+ yards the animal isnt really part of it until the bullet says hello.

so my real question is, is your next hunting rifle going to be a fire breathing uber long range computer cannon or something that still makes you hunt the animals in the traditional sense, and not just shoot them from where you spot them?

CB
 
This picture was from my best/favorite day of hunting from the past fall. My first real serious attempt at mule deer bow hunting. Made two stalks passed a fork at 35 yards and got busted at 24 yards by a 3x4. Fun stuff in late October.

183B13F3-5900-4876-B165-6837FAA05FBC-760-0000006077DB7F10.jpg


In the end close or far it doesn't matter to me. If I want I an animal ill use the tools I have to try and get it.
 
I love hunting. Shooting is just OK. My feelings about killing are the same as my feelings about gutting and butchering my own game. I have a feeling of satisfaction that I can do it, but it's not really much fun. I kill in order to have hunted.

I will continue to have shoot them in their beds as my goal.
 
Some places where the rifle seasons are too crowded are going to primative seasons to provide more opportunity. I know some US states have only a 2 week rifle season for deer and that 90% of the deer are shot on the first day. These places have usually have a 4-6 week archery only season and a 4 week primative black powder only that is restricted to flintlock and round ball. I hunted archery for many years and hunted in places didn't allow compound bows so it was recurve or long bow only.

I grew up watching the Cisco Kid and Hop-a-long Cassidy so I'm old school and not into long shots and the latest high tech gear.
 
The most important thing is to hunt in the way that makes you happy and kill the animals cleanly. If that means close range, long range, in a tree stands, brush busting with dogs, whatever- Do what makes you happy and do it well.
 
hillman said:
Some places where the rifle seasons are too crowded are going to primative seasons to provide more opportunity. I know some US states have only a 2 week rifle season for deer and that 90% of the deer are shot on the first day. These places have usually have a 4-6 week archery only season and a 4 week primative black powder only that is restricted to flintlock and round ball. I hunted archery for many years and hunted in places didn't allow compound bows so it was recurve or long bow only.

I grew up watching the Cisco Kid and Hop-a-long Cassidy so I'm old school and not into long shots and the latest high tech gear.
Click to expand...

I really respect this post ... There is an obvious need to respect a bow hunter for trying to get close enough to take an animal with a compound bow. However i dont really think that a guy deserves as much credit as he might think he does for sitting in a $500 tree stand with the latest $2000 compound bow and $500 range finder with arc and has chased deer with a new digital automated trail cam thats bin tell him the deer he's going to shoot exsact movment patters through out the preseason on his computer at home. There is probably as much practicing that goes into a long range shot as a guy that has to stay sharp on his bow hunting skills all year to make that 50 or 75 yard shot with his compound bow. A local guide outfit had a hunter take a rosavelt elk last year at 100 yards on TV with his compound bow... Great shot but ... im sure the 2 or $3000 carbon fiber bow and the laser range finder had something to do with it ... Hardly primative ! In my opinion it depends on what satisfaction you want from hunting ... do you want to sit for days to get that big buck with your bow ? or do you want to go out one day spend $20 in fuel and $20 on a box of ammo with your rifle your grandfather handed down to you and put 200 pounds of meat in the freezer and go on with the rest of your year.

If you really want to be the great white hunter grab your recurve and spot and stock your Bucks or sit on the ground and use nothing more than a set of antler sheds you found earlier that year to rattle in your bucks. Thats primitive hunting ! Im not dismissing your quote i caught that you wrote your not trying to offend anyone but lots of bow hunter seem to think they can look down there nose at longrange shooters ... forget it ! most bow hunters hunt in bow only where there is a far higher population of deer with 2k worth fo gear. Its 6 in one half dozen in the other.

I personally hunt bow early season and i really enjoy it its up close and personal. I love it ! birds are chirping forest starts moving and once and a while you bag a nice buck ! i find it very relaxing. But im from the island and the mountain Bucks here are just as nimble as sheep. My personal favorite way to hunt is to hike the timber in steep terrain where you can never see mor than 100 yards usually its only 50 and you shoot your big bucks sneaking away. sometimes you'll come to an opening and take a shot at 300 yards. Its an extremely physical way to hunt. Then once in awhile every other year i pull out my $2500 spotting scope and my $2000 range finder and my $6000 MAGNUM FIRE STICK ! and HAMMER someting at 700 yards with the same satisfaction as any other way i hunt, welcome to the 2 thumbs club ! However you want to do it im down, as long as its an ethical leagal kill ill high five you any day !

But dont tell me your the great white hunter untill you get your recurve and your sheds out ! I tip my hat to the old timer !
 
Last edited:
Hunting is hunting, weather you prefer club, spear or a LR rig each have their own set of skills and challenges to master.
It's disingenuous to get on a forum, imply people who hunt at longer range are non-traditional, then cover yourself with a catch all "I don't mean to offend" knowing full well that's what you're doing.

Pilots post pretty much captures it all, if you really consider yourself "traditional" reach for the recurve, better yet get a spear now that will tickle your taste for up close and personal! Have a friend in Texas that has a little ranch and I've discussed taking a hog with a spear, he's offered to sit in his tree stand and watch, then help patch me up :)!
 
I enjoy all kinds of hunting , but don't usually shoot at big game at long range because too much can go wrong in the real world, and the result of a long range shot gone wrong is a wounded and lost animal, suffering and wasted. I think long range shooting is OK in some situations, but it is being marketed very heavily by companies wanting to sell stuff - whether it is precision gear or TV shows.
Long range shooting at game appeals on many levels to people who have limited time or opportunity to be in the outdoors, a whole lot of time spent at a computer, with time and money to shop for gear but not so much time to hunt. I'm the first to admit that I'm a techno geek for hunting stuff. But I am also a very committed hunter who prefers to brag about how close he stalked / called / lay in wait versus how far he shot.
Good for you that you prefer to stalk close and get the most out of your hunting experience. Good for those long range shooters who practise and develop their gear and skills to take game cleanly at long range. Too bad that the majority of long range shots are taken by people without the requisite skills - not only shooting skills, but spotting the shot and tracking the game and making sure all hit game is brought to bag.
 
I don't have a problem with anyone who participates in long range big game hunting provided they do it in a manner which provides a reasonable expectation of success. I've posted several times on the difficulties of engaging a live target at long range, and those concerns are legitimate, but with good equipment, an experienced individual can do amazing things. But that degree of experience and the cost of the necessary equipment is staggering to someone who is less than a dedicated long range marksman. An inch at 100 doesn't equate to 10" at 1000, not that game is killed with groups, but you must be good enough to put the bullet within a few inches of your intended point of impact. When I read about a fellow who purchases his rifle based solely on price, who lives in an urban center, who relies solely on his $500 mil-dot scope to estimate, then dial in the range, and wants to participate in half mile game shooting, because he's did well on paper on paper out to 500 the previous weekend, I'm less than impressed. I have the expensive match rifle equipped with excellent optics, I have a laser rangefinder, and due to where I live, I have the opportunity to frequently shoot under a broad range of conditions. On an overcast, still day, at long range, I can pretty much hit a pop can sized target at 500 on demand, and a skeet at a half mile on demand, from bi-pod prone, but I don't consider myself anywhere near good enough to shoot big game at extreme ranges. If big game hunting isn't challenging enough with shots out to a quarter mile, in broken country, you've got me beat. But then I don't want to hunt with a 20 pound rifle, and I'd sooner still hunt than sit on a cold stand for hours, and I have confidence in good quality game bullet terminal performance, and little in match bullet terminal performance, so the personality thing comes into play as well.

One of coolest stalks I made was actually at work. On a boundary check we spotted a caribou laying in a dry pond, maybe 75 yards distant, and I said I wanted to see how close I could get. He was alert to the truck and watched it intently. I got out of the passenger side, and belly crawled across the road and out onto the tundra. I fully expected him to hear as I moved through the bordering willows or smell me as I approached, and take off. But he kept his eyes glued to the truck, and I continued to slither forward in a circular route that would keep me out of his direct line of sight. I was getting crazy close; 30', 20', 15'! When I stood up 10 feet from him, he sure looked surprised, and once he regained his wits he bolted. I've messed around with bears like that too, but a bear isn't a prey species, and he's often happy to play that game, then close the distance well beyond your comfort zone once you're too close. I've managed to sneak up on seals on the sea ice too, but never as close. I recall seeing a grainy piece of video, where an old Inuk dressed in traditional fur clothing, lies on the ice, then rolls toward a seal while its head was down, when it lifts its head he'd hold his arm close to his side and raise his forearm to mimic a flipper. Using that technique, he got close enough to harpoon the seal. I gotta try that, even though I'm a gun guy, not a pointy stick kind of guy.
 
I like the idea of having a precision long range hunting rig, and of going out and getting all sorts of practice with it in all sorts of situations, but I have a harder time figuring out where I would actually hunt with it, unless I changed up my hunts significantly. Unlike some other places in the country, I think I'd have a much HARDER time finding a moose standing still and broadside at 600 yards, as opposed to finding one at 200 yards.
 
i agree with all of you, and i respect any hunter who dedicates time to make sure they can use their gear properly and responsibly. i know a guy who took a whitetail at 1500 yards with a 338 lapua, I respect him because that is something that most would consider close to impossible but he puts his time in all year long. im just wondering what everyone else thinks about the trend of pushing the limits of the guns and equipment, rather than fooling the animals wide range of very acute senses that it has developed to survive in the wild. so what's your next hunting rig going to be, a stick and string or a cannon?

gatehouse said it perfectly
The most important thing is to hunt in the way that makes you happy and kill the animals cleanly. If that means close range, long range, in a tree stands, brush busting with dogs, whatever- Do what makes you happy and do it well.
Click to expand...
 
Even when I hunt with rifles I still wanna be up close and personal. The group I bear hunt are all for the 100 yard shot. I want to be 20 yards max. Coyotes and groundhogs/crows are the only animals I hunt from any distance. I'm comfortable to 300 yards slight guessing at 400 yards. I like big heavy slow bullets and up close and personal hunting and stalking
 
I wish the long range guys would walk out to where the animal was and diligently look for blood and hair when they asume the animal was missed.Far to often an animal is hit and does not flop down, or even show signs of a hit.
If you shoot , you need to do a proper search for blood and hair, and follow up as indicated. This rarely happens.
 
Yep!! I love gettin up in to em close range, general stalking Ranges, under 100ms...
Not 'Bow Close' but definatly not long range!

I also like using the Lever, open sighted .375winchester .... because it requires alot more patience, shot placement

IMG_20121109_081542.jpg


In saying that, i shoot 300m often an would pick up a big stag at that range if i had the 300WSM.
but thats more a summer affair only.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom