how long of a shot rifle hunting?

[Kazekurt]

To make that shot involves lots of practice, an understanding of several variables and how to account for them, and the right set up.  My business partner is a long range shooter but he has a tactical Mcmillin rifle set up with a Nightforce scope, a rail that allows the necessary adjustments, a G7 rangefinder and ballistics programs programmed for his rifle.  He has chrono'd the gun and noted the drop at various distances down range.  He can pound a one foot plate at 1000 all day long.  He also reloads which allows for more consistency in his ammo.  You have to account for ballistics, wind,  temperature, humidity, and sometimes even the rotation of the earth as all those things can affect speed and trajectory at that range.  Wind is the toughest as it can swirl.  He carries a wind gauge but even that only tells him the wind where he is at and not down range.  He also has a military BORS system mounted on one of his rifles.  All that being said, even he is hesitant to shoot at an animal that far because of the wind.  On a plate, if he misses, he quickly makes the mil adjustment and drills the plate, but on an animal that could very well be an injured animal.  Remember this:  if you shoot that far you owe it to the animal as an ethical hunter to investigate every shot!  The problem is its often hard to identify exactly where your animal was standing after you cover that distance; especially if you hsve to hike across a canyon.  Another friend of mine dropped an elk dead in his tracks at 500 and it took him 3 trips across the ravine to find his elk.  He had to finally enlist another hunter to stand at the point he shot and basically hand signal him to the bull.  Anyway, lead will fly that far from virtually any rifle but its not an ethical shot for most people.

[Kazekurt]

I also forget that your scope has to be flawlessly mounted; especially for hunters who rely on ballistic dots rather than mil adjustments.  If your vertical post/dots are even minutely canted your shot will pull down rage.  I've seen this mainly affect people shooting between 300-500 yards as many hunters use mil dots rather than tactical scopes at these ranges.

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

I'm not sure what these 100 yard shots that you all are talking about are?

My shortest shot has been 274 yards, but then again, my longest shot was this last year 356.  I'm confident about to around 600, beyond that and I think I'm stretching my abilities and exponentially increasing the chance of wounding the animal.

I do have a friend who shot a very large elk at just over 1k yards.  He's also, a very good shot, reloads his own ammo, runs it through a chrono, and had from what I understand, perfect conditions.  1 shot.

Take that for what it's worth.  But these guys are right, 99% of people shouldn't really be shooting further then 200 yards.

[Mike450r]

1000 yards is so far that people who don't regularly practice shooting it don't even really know what it looks like.  Without superior optics forget it on the westside for deer, you won't even know what you are shooting at.

[coachcw]

there's a lot that goe's into a long shot , It can be done , but not with box ammo and a 3x9 bushenell . I'd say that the most important thing is wind factor , but it all plays , angle , and elivation being 2 and 3  so on and so on . when I got my 6.5 broke in and turretts built more it the first five shot group was at 405 yards with a 10 mph cross wind and all five shots where inside of a coffee cup . pretty much chip shots . but we are talking 5-7 k worth of equiptment and custum loads .
Your buddy like sounds like a bar chair sniper to me 

[coachcw]

1000 yards is so far that people who don't regularly practice shooting it don't even really know what it looks like.  Without superior optics forget it on the westside for deer, you won't even know what you are shooting at.

[Antlershed]

My longest is 575 yards on a blacktail. .300 RUM, hand loads and a mark 4. That year I shot a lot and could hit vital size targets (and knew the drop) out to 950.

[JohnVH]

My turrett doesnt even go up to 1000yds. haha.  Longest Ive shot on metal is 800, farthest kill is 400yds from the 7mm mag. Brother got his antelope around 550yds with his 7mm

[BULLBLASTER]

I also forget that your scope has to be flawlessly mounted; especially for hunters who rely on ballistic dots rather than mil adjustments.  If your vertical post/dots are even minutely canted your shot will pull down rage.  I've seen this mainly affect people shooting between 300-500 yards as many hunters use mil dots rather than tactical scopes at these ranges.

you can also use MOA adjustments to get that far... not only mil.
i agree that the ballistic retical or balistically match turrets are not the ideal platform for that kind of shooting. changes in conditions will affect the drop of the bullet greatly at 1k. its pretty fun to watch people get super excited when they hit the 1k target at the local range here then think that they can hunt that far... that target is 44 inch diameter.

[Wazukie]

Yup, ca not do it unless you have 5-10k worth of equipment!

[hunting4sanity]

Shooting long range is a personal challenge and very enjoyable.  I shoot long range very often, at steel and paper for enjoyment, some guys golf, I shoot.  Last two deer I shot had my heart pounding and the excitement level is much different than the shooting range, made me glad they were at 134 yards and the long one stretching it out to just past 200 yards.

[wilsongideon]

I got into shooting long range two years ago...my cousin builds rifles(gold creek rifles) and its a blast to go with him and shoot 500 to 1000 yards. Using all my own equipment the last time I shot with him, him spotting the wind for me I shot out to 1012 yards. I dont shoot enough to feel comfortable at 1000 yards hunting but it definitly makes you think a 500 yard shot is more doable. good gun,right scope, balistic caculator,range finder, wind/barometer, bipod, and a one lb bag of rice is all you need 

[merlo105]

My furthest shot on a deer is 708, Was shooting one of my customs in 7mm 168gr match king did the trick. But I also shoot 4 times a week and in them 4 times I shoot 3 times a day. Alot of practise goes into shooting long range and alot of math on the fly and having a good memory. Everything affects the bullet so alot of the time your bullet is taking different paths threw out a hunting season, One day it will be a hit the next day it could be a miss high or low. Elevation comes into play along with angles you also have wind drift, spin drift... Its alot but its also alot of fun. One thing to doit it at the range where its controlled and you have time to calculate everything in the field lol you better be good. And also making sure you have the right gun bullet selection and so on is a huge deal...   

[Huntbear]

My brother shot his bull this last season at 645 yards.  Hit it right between the eyes.   338 WM with my hand loaded 225 gr. Accubonds..  and a Leupy CDX scope zeroed at 200 yards.  But he spent a lot of time practicing shooting over 500 yards last summer.

[RifleRidge]

He has no business shooting at 1000 yards unless he regularly practices and is proficient at that distance. For the average person, 300 yards is a very long shot.