Long Range Hunting - see Page 16 for Riflechair addition

Riflechair

Riflechair

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I keep observing this Long Range Hunting mentallity and I just had to say something because its a real pet peeve for me. Leave your bench rest target shooting discipline at the range and don't take it into the bush. It doesn't belong there!

Hunting requires real world field conditions that you can't simulate on sandbags and perfect conditions. Whan was the last time you looked outside, realized it was pouring rain, then said to yourself, ahhh the perfect day to get my rifle wet and test the variation on my point of impact?

You should be doing that! Get your rifles wet and shoot them under the conditions you will likely find your self in the field. It really bugs me when I hear hunters boasting about the moose he slayed at 700 metres with a 7mm remington magnum. I Call Bullsheet!

After you shot it in the stomach it ran off and died 4 days later only to feed wolves, bears and eagles. A horrible and painful demise is what you gave that animal!

You really have to live where these "hunters" do their thing to appreciate the amount of wounded and crippled game is left behind because some guy who can hit a 12" gong at 600 yards off a benchrest thinks he can do it in real world field conditions.

Guys zero their rifles at 300 metres then go hunting in the Queen Charlottes when 90% of most shots are taken within 100 metres and wonder why the deer ran away with a chunk of hide, meat and bone blasted out of it. I see it way too often in the field and I'm really getting peeved at the hunting community over it.

Getting back to long range hunting...
I have yet to find an ungulate that I can't stalk within 300 metres of (a very long shot for me). Most of the game I have harvested has been well within 200 metres of me. Get your fat asses out of the truck, off the ATV and actually WALK & STALK. Don't shoot at an animal thats 600 metres off. You can't even see what it is your looking at properly.

Remember the ethics portion of your hunter training?

Long Range hunting is unethical, stupid, totally unnecessary and borders on criminal.

OK I said my piece I feel better now.
Rant Mode OFF.
 
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:agree:

practice using your shooting sticks in a seated (ground) position at the range. Practice shooting freehand, practice any reasonable shot that might be taken in the field.

And certainly don't think 1/2 MOA bench rest is going to compute anywhere near that in the field.

But I do disagree about long range hunting, it is a possibility for about 0.1% of the hunters out there. :p
 
Riflechair said:
I have yet to find an ungulate that I can't stalk within 300 metres of (a very long shot for me). Most of the game I have harvested has been well within 200 metres of me. Get your fat asses out of the truck, off the ATV and actually WALK & STALK. Don't shoot at an animal thats 600 metres off. You can't even see what it is your looking at properly.
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First of all. Get out more. I've been in a few situations where getting within 300 meters of game would have been extremely difficult. Secondly, your inability to hit something alive past 300 meters under field conditions doesn't mean someone else can't. Thirdly most chatter about 600 and 700 yd shots is just that. Chatter. Fourth, I'd bet money that there is more game wounded inside three hundred meters than outside that distance. Fifth, by a good set of binoculars, a spotting scope, and a rifle scope costing more than $50 if you can't see with what you've got.
 
All I'll say is that anyone who wounds an animal and is too damn lazy, or lacks the tracking ability, to track the beast down and put it down, shouldn't be hunting.
 
The problem isn't long range hunting, the problem is the hunters shooting beyond thier ability. This could be true for 50yards or 500 yards...
 
Couldn't agree more ..... Over here 300 feet is considered "too far for a 30-06" on deer (about 100 yds for those who are wondering). These are the same folks whom "zero" their rifles at 200+ yds (zero being defined as any holes on a 6 foot wide piece of paper being "good enough"). And then some people wonder why so many wounded deer end up running across highways and get hit by cars come hunting season ... Know your gear, know your limits, and stay within them, it's not rocket friggin' science !

Whatever range you can keep ALL rounds within a 6 inch radius, offhand, should be your max hunting range, full stop.
 
RobSmith said:
Couldn't agree more ..... Over here 300 feet is considered "too far for a 30-06" on deer (about 100 yds for those who are wondering). These are the same folks whom "zero" their rifles at 200+ yds (zero being defined as any holes on a 6 foot wide piece of paper being "good enough"). And then some people wonder why so many wounded deer end up running across highways and get hit by cars come hunting season ... Know your gear, know your limits, and stay within them, it's not rocket friggin' science !

Whatever range you can keep ALL rounds within a 6 inch radius, offhand, should be your max hunting range, full stop.
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Wounded deer running across highways?
 
I let my emotions get away on me
Doesn't happen very often but occaissonally I have a short rant.

I am not talking about the experienced and confident hunter that understands the relationship between his gear and the conditions. Its the macho yobbo's I'm talking to. It might be old age catching up to me, but it seems to be dominated by new young hunters with way too confidence in themselves and the absence of experience.

I see them at the range and in the gun store regularly and I hear their hunting stories.
It gives me great cause for concern.

Perhaps it generational but the young folks today seem to have a risk taking culture that is not appropriate in the hunting grounds. 700 metre shots! Bah...

chuck nelson said:
First of all. Get out more. I've been in a few situations where getting within 300 meters of game would have been extremely difficult.

I work in the bush. I don't need to get out more.

Secondly, your inability to hit something alive past 300 meters under field conditions doesn't mean someone else can't.

I shoot NSCC service rifle championships out to 500 metres which includes shooting from several shooting positions and running in between shooting stations. It doesn't mean I'm going to take a shot at a living creature that I'm not comfortable with.

Thirdly most chatter about 600 and 700 yd shots is just that. Chatter.

Maybe, but braggarts will start to believe what they say if they say it often enough.

Fourth, I'd bet money that there is more game wounded inside three hundred meters than outside that distance.

Might be true but if it is, its because people are shooting outside of their threshold of ability. Needless Risk Taking apparently belongs in the financial sector not the hunting grounds... Bit of sarcasm there :)

Fifth, buy a good set of binoculars, a spotting scope, and a rifle scope costing more than $50 if you can't see with what you've got.

Yes you gotta have the bino's even at short distances.
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For some reason, within days of hunting season beginning, so do accidents involving wildlife, at least in this area. Just this week, just up the road from me, dead deer by the side of the road (not sure if it was a deer or a doe, as it's too early for antlers) I do remember seeing bright orange paint around a huge chunk missing from it's side as I slowed down to see what kind of "roadkill" it was (probable out of season kill I guess).

If I had to guess I'd say the MNR folks were called in, marked it, took pictures, and called the city to pick it up, it was gone when I came home from work that night.

chuck nelson said:
Wounded deer running across highways?
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Riflechair makes a good point as long as reference is being made to the wanna-be braggarts who have no idea what real field conditions do to a projectile when it is sent toward a big-game animal. Long range hunters who practice, practice and practice under any and all possible conditions/ranges and also know when NOT to shoot are a different breed altogether. I have hunted in some areas where 350 yards would be considered a normal shot and 600 yard capability not out of place. Usually, though, getting closer is a great idea, if there is any way it may be done. Another problem with extreme long range shooting is the time of flight of the bullet. If the animal decides to take a step when the shooter touches one off, where will the bullet hit that animal? Definitely not where the shooter was hoping to hit it. Now the hard part starts....tracking a wounded animal. No ethical hunter will forego this important part of the mission. Find and dispatch this animal. Every consciencious hunter will limit his shots on game to be certain that a clean kill is made. Anything less is amoral. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Is shooting an unsuspecting animal from any range ethical. How about game birds shot with a shotgun can you ever be sure you hit vitals. I hunt and don't think you could be 100% ethical unless you kill it with your bare hands.
 
I have yet to hunt (although i'm licensed) however I have volunteered at my ranges hunter sight in day. My limited experience has led me to one conclusion: 75% of hunters shouldn't be taking shots past 150 yards. I'm a pistol shooter, not a rifle shooter, and not a particularly good pistol shooter at that:). Of the 20 or so non-club members i've helped sight in, most couldn't even equal my groupings with their own firearms. If an individual can't get quality hits on a rifle range i can only imagine what buck fever will do to them. On a side note, i respect my elders and all that good stuff but if you can't see your red dot when it's turned up to max maybee it's time to find a new hobby. Last thing people need is folks shooting at stuff they can't visually identify. Mini rant off.
 
Those that claim those 600 and 700 yard shots should probably buy a range finder. Then they'd realize that their ability to judge distances is not so great.
 
timmy204 said:
Is shooting an unsuspecting animal from any range ethical.
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If the shot is 'good' I would argue this is the most ethical. One minute the animal is in its natural state and the next its dead. I'd be happy to die that way.

timmy204 said:
I hunt and don't think you could be 100% ethical unless you kill it with your bare hands.
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After killing a few hundred animals with my bare hands my personal experience ranges from 'good idea' to 'very bad idea'. I suspect most people associate ethical hunting using techniques and gear that are legal and reduce the stress to the animal to a minimum. That would put well placed shots withing a range you are proficient at the top of my list.

A long shot is 1 inch longer than you are completely experienced and confidant. There is no magic distance and animals are not targets to practice on.
 
Hunt a field , drop whatever you want at your feet, for whatever range you wanna shoot, adjust/exchange equipment to match field conditions..
Know the ways of the whitetail, and enjoy...A must.:D
Hunt safe, bring home the Bacon.:D
 
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