Long Range Hunting - see Page 16 for Riflechair addition

[rollie100]

In the 6 years I have been hunting this Island I have seen a dramatic change in the attitude towards hunters...with each gong show move by a few slobs adding more locks to the gates every season, along with no hunting signs.

yeah around my area here, a guy i used to go hunting with, who owned a 100 acre stretch of land where we were hunting told me PEOPLE would just post "no hunting and private land keep out signs", they would do this ON HIS LAND. so where else is this happening...

 

[horseman2]

I have told this story before . . .
While at the Nanaimo Range a number of years ago, a man fired one shot with his 300 Winchester Magnum at 100 yards. I spotted for him and said he missed the target. That was not good enough, he had to walk to the 100 yard line and check for himself. He fired a second shot, and it was one inch high. I then asked if he was going to shoot at 200 yards, and was informed, "This is the 300 Winchester Magnum, the flattest shooting gun ever. It is one inch high at 100, 1 inch high at 200 and dead on at 300. Last year I shot a deer in the head at 500 yards. I held on the tip of the nose, raised up to the top of his head, and fired".

Even longer ago I heard the saying . . . you don't have to be a veterinary surgeon to recognize horse manure. Maybe more applicable would be . . . he was not a lion tamer but the lying son of a female dog.

This man's testimonial has nothing to do with me owning a 300 WM!!!

 

[Johnn Peterson]

I have told this story before . . .
While at the Nanaimo Range a number of years ago, a man fired one shot with his 300 Winchester Magnum at 100 yards. I spotted for him and said he missed the target. That was not good enough, he had to walk to the 100 yard line and check for himself. He fired a second shot, and it was one inch high. I then asked if he was going to shoot at 200 yards, and was informed, "This is the 300 Winchester Magnum, the flattest shooting gun ever. It is one inch high at 100, 1 inch high at 200 and dead on at 300. Last year I shot a deer in the head at 500 yards. I held on the tip of the nose, raised up to the top of his head, and fired".
Even longer ago I heard the saying . . . you don't have to be a veterinary surgeon to recognize horse manure. Maybe more applicable would be . . . he was not a lion tamer but the lying son of a female dog.

This man's testimonial has nothing to do with me owning a 300 WM!!!

If I knew the 300WM was that flat shooting I never would've sold mine.

 

[phreddy]

I think a lot of the problems can be remedied by good instruction at the CORE program level.
I indicate to those who are taking the course from me that Long Range is anything up to about 300 yds. Anything over that is not really all that ethical. I also point out that it is very uncool to shoot at something then track the blood trail for as long as it takes if you find any trace at the site the animal was standing in when you shot.
If the elk are spooky, I might go for up to a 450-500 yd shot, but will make sure that I'm in good enough shape to spend the time that it might take to track it down.
One thing that my dad and grandfather told me in the 50's was that if you shoot something that wanders off after the shot, take the amount of time it would take to smoke a cigarette before you start to track it. If it was hit, and is not being chased it will likely lie down and stiffen up in the amount of time it takes to get to where it wandered off to.
I love long range shooting, and spend a lot of time at the range doing it, but the range is the best place for it. As mentioned earlier, it's a good idea to try all the various positions (standing, sitting, lying down) and using shooting sticks while at the range. This really increases your odds of making the first shot count.

 

[rsp1761]

Like most things there are those competent enough to do it properly....the trick is being able to admit to yourself weather you are one of those people or not...

For the record I am routinely surrounded by the most hardcore LR shooting gear imaginable and I do not consider myself to be up to the task however I certainly do not begrudge those who are...

 

[zimbu]

Instead of the negative energy of this dialogue being directed at me I'd appreciate it if we could come up with positive solutions, as a group, that could be sent to the Ministry of Environment - Conservation Service to place importance on the type of hunter activity that I am attempting (unsuccessfully to this point) to define. Feel a chunk of me hammered off every time I see it.

Conservation Officers are so few, stretched resources and massive territories to manage that they might as well not even exist as a field prescence.

Ever heard of RAPP? It's up to ethical hunters like us to report wounded or unrecovered game or illegal hunting activity. The only thing we should be sending the Ministry of Enviroment is tips, not proposals for new laws. You said yourself that the COs can't keep up on enforcing the laws that exist now. I realize no one wants to be a rat, but anyone with good ethics and half a backbone will do the right thing. There are already laws in place to promote ethical hunting and no new law is going to change anything for the better. If the bad eggs get the idea that other hunters are on the lookout for irresponsible and illegal behaviour, it will be a far bigger deterrent than the lonesome CO who is spread way too thin. If we don't, the bad eggs will ruin it for us. Your choice. Better education and/or a ban on irresponsible people may also help.

 

[Riflechair]

Ever heard of RAPP? It's up to ethical hunters like us to report wounded or unrecovered game or illegal hunting activity. The only thing we should be sending the Ministry of Enviroment is tips, not proposals for new laws. You said yourself that the COs can't keep up on enforcing the laws that exist now. I realize no one wants to be a rat, but anyone with good ethics and half a backbone will do the right thing. There are already laws in place to promote ethical hunting and no new law is going to change anything for the better. If the bad eggs get the idea that other hunters are on the lookout for irresponsible and illegal behaviour, it will be a far bigger deterrent than the lonesome CO who is spread way too thin. If we don't, the bad eggs will ruin it for us. Your choice. Better education and/or a ban on irresponsible people may also help.

Oh yes.
I don't think its called RAPP but there is a 1-800 number we can call to alert the CO's of this type of thing. However it is almost impossible to link people to an injured, dying or dead animal once it has occured. I'm more interested in education and avoiding these circumstances. I don't think the CORE program is effectively addressing this issue.

OK I'll be quiet now.

 

[the keepa]

Oh yes.
I don't think its called RAPP but there is a 1-800 number we can call to alert the CO's of this type of thing.

I cannot and will not , in good conscience, report any poaching infractions or game violations while our so called "first nations" are allowed to get away with, practically, murder .Talk about lack of ethics, these (I hesitate to call them hunters) have them in spades .
As I told the CO, last winter, that questioned why was I still fishing when I already had my limit of Walleyes swimming in my live well .I told him that I was trying for a couple of Northerns .
"What happens if you catch another Walleye?"
"I put it back down the hole...unless it,'s bigger than any of the one's I already have...then I'll exchange them...put the smallest one back down the hole"
"But that's unethical" sez he .
"Until you preach ethics to the Indians, I won't give a s**t about ethics either.....as long as it's legal "
And that's the way I look at this whole ethical debate .

 

[zimbu]

Oh yes.
I don't think its called RAPP but there is a 1-800 number we can call to alert the CO's of this type of thing. However it is almost impossible to link people to an injured, dying or dead animal once it has occured. I'm more interested in education and avoiding these circumstances. I don't think the CORE program is effectively addressing this issue.

OK I'll be quiet now.

Report All Poachers & Polluters. Yes, I agree that education and awareness in various forms is probably the best approach.

BTW apologies accepted.

"Until you preach ethics to the Indians, I won't give a s**t about ethics either.....as long as it's legal "
And that's the way I look at this whole ethical debate .

 

[knockturnal]

One shot, one kill. Whitefeather said/did it best.

If you are comfortable with your rifle and shoot a lot with it, then I say go ahead And shoot. I have some friends that have zero confidence in their rifles. I recently asked them why and recieved the same excuse from all 3 of them. They don't shoot enough. They are the typical "go out a week before the season, take 1 shot to check their zero and they are done". I don't agree with that and told them they were wrong in their ways and THEY were the ones to look down on me like I was crazy for buying an expensive rifle and scope and took the time, effort and money to work up loads that would shoot 1/4moa at 100 yards. I still get a chuckle out of that. I admit. I shoot a cannon with a high power scope. I also enjoy doing so. I took a moose at 546yards last year. Dropped like a sack of hammers. I was laying prone with a bipod. Very comfortable and high in confidence because I knew exactly where my bullet was going. Not 2 weeks later, I passed up on a doozy whitetail buck because I didn't like the conditions I was faced with. Range was only 304 yards. Clear cold day. Something just didn't feel right so I didn't squeeze one off. I still get sh!t on by my friends for not taking that shot. Their motto is "lead is cheap, send one". I think it's funny how all these regular hunters can sit there and preach to me about takin long shots. In all reality, those of us who practice long range shooting out in the elements, are and always will be a better shot then regular hunters. Practice makes perfect. But so does respect for mother nature.


On another note. I also bowhunt and I'm only 25.

 

[X-fan]

I think long range shooting is just another aspect of our sport to be enjoyed.
After months or even years of practice a shooter may decide to take his long rang rifle hunting.
No one better understands what might go wrong than a long range shooter and he will fully understand that it is always a cautious judgment call as to whether to let the animal walk or to pull the trigger.

Given the choice between a 400yd shot with our long range shooter and a 200yd shot with a one box a year hunter I will place my money on the long range hunter.

The guy that buys a 300 Ultra, attaches a standard scope, then assumes he has a 700yd hunting rig, is at best doomed to failure.

 

[Brutus]

Besides good planning and plenty of practice pre-season, I find two books on hunting very motivating for myself:

'Meditations On Hunting' by Ortega.

'Become the Arrow' by Byron Ferguson.
I highly recommend both tiltes.

 

[jwstewart]

Well, I read the whole thread and I don't think I agree with measuring ethics using meters, yards or any other form of distance.

In fact, I am unsure if measuring ethics is possible using a "likelihood of success" method either. If one hunter can shoot with 99% success at a particular distance, and another only 49%, is hunter #1 twice as ethical?

Futhermore, does the quickness of kill determine the quality of ethicalness? Wouldn't that suggest a heart/lung shot is far less ethical than say a headshot thru the medula ublongata?

At what point does one reach an acceptable level of ethicality?

(Not trying to stir the pot, just interested in a usale definition of Ethical hunting.)

 

[303carbine]

Using enough gun and putting the bullet in the vitals to ensure a humane and quick kill is ethical no matter the distance.
I don't believe that using an sks and trying to make an 06 out of it is ethical.....

 

[cdn1canhunt]

Won't this topic ever go away? All we get out of these threads is that alot of people have different ideas about what hunting is for them. 18 pages of back and forth and there could easily be 81. Lets all just agree to disagree on this one! The unwinable arguement that can always be argued about.
How is that for redundency.
Cdn1 ....OUT!

 

[blomme]

that bugs the hell out of me aswell , when people are talking about making these long range shot at the range , Good on for hitting a target 600 + yards away , 3 shot group at whatever moa. But like a few of u said sitting on yr sand bags, calm night , no rain snow or wind. nice temp . yah just set it on the bag, have all the time in the world to do yr clicks and look at yr papers or computer. and pull the trigger.. Now hike a couple miles up and down coulees when it either raining or freezing with lil buck fever in yah and make 500 yard shot plus shot on a moving or alive target. not the same traget u been shooting for a month . she a TOTALLY DIFFEREnt ball game. I seen many one shot kill out at the 5-700 yards range in my life as well as alot of misses. But i dont think it wrong to shoot that far if yr confident in yr equip and have the talent... But shooting 3 -4 inch group at the range on calm nice night at 5-600 yards doesnt cut it in the field.

 

[knockturnal]

I think long range shooting is just another aspect of our sport to be enjoyed.
After months or even years of practice a shooter may decide to take his long rang rifle hunting.
No one better understands what might go wrong than a long range shooter and he will fully understand that it is always a cautious judgment call as to whether to let the animal walk or to pull the trigger.

Given the choice between a 400yd shot with our long range shooter and a 200yd shot with a one box a year hunter I will place my money on the long range hunter.

The guy that buys a 300 Ultra, attaches a standard scope, then assumes he has a 700yd hunting rig, is at best doomed to failure.

Haha... thats kinda like me. but i dont assume that i have a 700yrd rifle. I know!! haha. but yes.... i totally agree with you on this one.