Long shot anybody?????

[MuleySniper]

I just like the big group hug in the picture
MS

[ICEMAN]

I think part of the problem with this discussion is the arrogance some feel they need to push, claiming one mans sport is not a sport. Snotty nosed attitude.

I know I am biting my tongue, avoiding saying something I do not want to.

I agree with alot of what Josh T has to say here. Longer shots within your ability may have a higher chance of success than pushing forward. All depends on the terrain and your ability. Not many guys gripe when a hunter tips a coyote at extreme range, why stress the shot on a deer?

[JoshT]

1.  If enough of a group dissaproves of an action, it often becomes a Law. Taken from the realm of 'ethics' and put in the code.

How about we all try not to shoot schitt in the arse? You think enough of us dissaprove of that? Agreed? Good, make it a law... now go do it however you want. Problem is... we're not talking about breaking any laws here... so lets get real.

Ethics is arbitrary... like fly guys vs. spin guys... bait vs. lures... row vs. wade (funny fishing pun)... drift boaters vs. sleds... 4-wheelers vs. hikers... the list goes on and on. There'll never be enough concensus to decide what's an "ethical legal range" inwhich to havest a particular animal... so again... COME ON MAN!

If you've practiced (and made) the shot ... with a bow, rifle, muzzle loader, blunderbus, boomerang, trained falcon, atlatl, wrist rocket, throwing stick, cannon, shotgun, crossbow, catipult, throwing knife, lance, pike, samurai sword, flying crecent-kick to heel-hook... whatever weapon you chose... you should be able to make that shot on a critter. The only person who really gets to decide if it's "ethical" or not... is you. Where ACTUAL LAWS are concerned... that's where somebody else gets to make the call. BUT..... since no laws (that we know of) were broken... no one's opinon on this guy's trophy or hunting methods should mean squat.

[Antlershed]

Josh, ethics is not just what you or I think but rather it also factors in what others think too.  Part of 'ethics' comes from the group as well as the individual.

I disagree with this. Everyone has their own set of ethics. There is no "universal" ethics unless somebody is forcing their ethics on you.

If enough of a group dissaproves of an action, it often becomes a Law. Taken from the realm of 'ethics' and put in the code.

That is true, but there is no law that says how far you can shoot game from. I fully understand what the long range guys, the ones who actually know what they are doing, have to do in order to make that shot. Can I? Nope, but I can recognize the skill it takes to make that shot.

[logger]

I am with the iceman on this one.

[Ryan]

Wow Thats a long shot!!    The longest I have shot is 566 yards at a animal and its on my wall.  I would shoot up to 650 yards IF I HAD TO.  But I will 100% of the time try to get closer IF I CAN. 

[Ghost1941]

Nice shot, nice buck. 

As to this...

"Leave the 1000+ yard shots for military snipers. They've accomplished their mission if they blow an arm or leg of their target. It's too far for the hunter that should be looking for the clean and humane kill."

Why take the shot if you're not going to get the red mist.  Theres no military objective achieved from crippling an individual.  Finish the job, or don't take the shot.

[MichaelJ]

Not many guys gripe when a hunter tips a coyote at extreme range, why stress the shot on a deer?

Thats my thought exactly!  Personally i'll take a shot at a yote at rediculous ranges...  Its fun trying to hit them suckers when they're on the move too!   

Michael

[Red Dawg]

I am with Iceman on this one. Although I may not take that particular shot I will not judge his reasoning for shooting that wonderful animal at that range. I am also growing tired of people making themselves sound higher than the rest because they think they are the only people in the world that can get within 50 yards of a deer.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

When it became all about the score (Rack inches) and length of shot it lost all meaning of hunting.

Everybody is so wrapped up in the size of deer/Elk. Just enjoy your days in the field.

How many posts are there on this 1 board alone about dissapointing seasons because they didn't fill there tag? It has been a few years since I myself have harvested an animal. I have had my chances, if i decided to take a questionable shot i am sure i might have harvested 1 or 2 of those shots but they were to questionable to me. I had a bull last sat at 10 feet but he was head on looking at me through a tree. I guess i could have tried some James Bond *censored* and shot at the bull while i was in the air, but to questionable to me...
If you want to take 1000 yard shot i guess that it is your deal. But you don't have to sell it to me to make yourself feel good about your shot. I could really care less about your shot, i would rather you tell me that it was a good clean shot and it dropped in its tracks. When you tell me it ws a 1000 yard shot it makes you sound like a braggert that is all about the shot and not the hunt.

[GEARHEAD]

an animal,  has the time to take a complete step, during the flight time of a bullet at that range, add on to that the almost a second that it takes for your finger to respond to the thought of pressing that trigger. lets not forget that ya gotta dope the wind, will that bullet glide left 5 feet or ten, and lets not forget that after all that, ya still gotta figure in the degrees of angle for drop compensation/hold under, and bullet spin drift, right or left. this kind of shooting is for targets and rocks, not Game.

ya know, anybody can take and make these shots, its not hard, all ya need is a range finder and bdc. i have a 7mm-08 set up for long shooting. so far shot very accurate out to 836 yards, its really very easy, so easy a cave man can do it, but that doesn't make it right. out of the group of us that took a shot at that target at 836. the two bullseyes, were a 12 year old and a 23 year old, that had never fired a center fire rifle in their life, go figure.

i hate the fact that we have these damn TV shows such as beyond belief and that ass tred barta. what fine examples of sportsmanship. i will give it to tred on one matter, at least he shows all the arrows hes flinging at deer beyond his range and in high winds, such as caribou at 65 yards in 20 plus winds, with a long bow, that he admittedly claims (for him) is good for 25 yards or less., it is amazing however with the thirty or so missed shots with arrows, that i have seen him make, they are always complete misses, wow, an amazing feat, i'm sure he never nicks 'em or worse.

Another pain for me to listen to, and this is actually common. the excuse that my mobility is limited, bad knee, etc etc. i always beg to ask the question, if you are so impaired, just how the fk, did ya plan on retrieving your animal. Sorry for my rant, go ahead, beat me up. i'll still love ya in the morning.

[boneaddict]

Interesting read gentleman.  Some dang good points and some real stupid ones as well.
I better just keep my mouth shut for once. LOL   As for stick slingers verus lead pumpers, it doesn't matter AOD.  An unethical shot is an unethical shot.  By the way, I don't use scent lock, sit in a tree stand or use bait blocks. 

Hey Michael, just remember when you are blasting away at 1000 yards a t a running coyote, its awefully hard to spot the guy or gal in snowcamo out there on the calling stand or photographing in teh heat of the moment.  Just a thought.
 
Another thought for the long range busters.  I wonder how many of you have been out hunting stalking an animal and have had some *censored* winging lead from the mountain across the way at you and or your game.  I wonder if they arrogantly thought they were skilled to make the shot as well.
   
Not jusging by the way because I have made some dandy long range shots.

 Its the ego and the arrogance that make bad things happen though.   

[Hoytstaffshooter83]

how is shooting at 700yrds the same as stalking to within 50? I dont see how you can associate the 2? and what situation would not allow anything closer then 700 yrds?

You must not hunt the same areas as me. In my canyon country you may be able to get closer, but you won't be able to see what you're looking for when you get there. Stuff is thick, and steep... you could be within 10 yards of a bear and never be able to see it. I'm looking for a good vantage point where I can see and shoot from, if that means 8 bills... so be it. You can call it "sniping", or "shooting" if you want... but I've never seen a "sniper" hauling a 100 pound pack of bear meat 5 miles off a mountain. Come to think of it... I don't think 99% of hunters out there are willing to haul their own a$$ up a mountain, hunt hard, freeze tail, sweat off 10 pounds,and risk hide/hair to actually earn a critter. Yet... somehow... they're (you're) the ones who get to decide that shooting a deer from the hood of a truck at 100 yards is Ethical... but me hammering a bear across a canyon at 600 isn't?

I think you're kind of being a ? Hoyt... this ain't a 3-D shoot here... this is hunting. This is dead critters in the freezer and bone on the wall. If you want to hunt from a tree stand over a food plot (bait), and limit yourself to whatever range is ethical... TO YOU...  then that's up to you... but quit acting like you're immune to the "questionable" shot. I hunt hard man... and I practice hard... and I'll be damned if I'll let some monkey with a sharp stick dictate what's ethical TO ME... or the guys I hunt with. Just because you'd have a better chance falling out of a tree stand and landing on a deer... than shooting one with a rifle at anything greater than sling-shot range... doesn't mean you should impose your inadequacies on others.

   


I love your comments here.... I never once said shooting 100yrds over the hood of a truck is ethical, and I also hunt super thick stuff with a bow no less for elk.... My idaho pack in hunt in the wilderness near the montana border was super thick, so thick infact I did not shoot the 2 well over 300+ bulls I had within bow range (40yrds) not 600.. I also rarely ever hunt out of a treestand, I have done it 3 times so far... I prefer to spot/stalk the game..... I also have no issue earning animal.. my first bull was a 9+ mile mountain bike trip with me and a buddy... I shot him in 6 hours, then packed all the meat back to camp, then took the 100+ lb hind quarters 3 miles to the end of a Ip trail and hung them over night.. then the next day on foot I hiked out the back way 6 miles down a river bottom, crossed the rivers 6 diff times with the cape,bow and pack on my back and then went back in for the rest.... that day was over 10hrs straight with over 100lbs on my back.. I weigh 180......... as far as the rifle goes, my father was a marine sniper in the early 70's. held the record at camp pendelton for awhile back in the day, I also enlisted in the marines after hs, and before I was discharged I qualified "expert" on the range.... im not a rifle sniper but I can hold my own just fine with one, I just like to really get close and "earn" my game so I hunt with a bow

[GEARHEAD]

Bone your read brought back a bad memory/ close call for me. one very cold december just east of Spangle, maybe 6 years ago or less,  i was out yote hunting. i was ontop of some snow covered stuble, appearantly skylined, and laying down, just surveying the great expanse and road infront of and below me. the road a dirt one, was maybe 7 or 800 yards away. infront of me was a large herd of deer. while watching them a pickup shows up. two guys get out and they are seemingly to me, scoping these deer. i figured i was going to witness a poaching event, so i hunckered as low as i could, masked and gloved up to observe. well one of these guys starts looking my way, with his rifle. he is intently watching me or at least looking in my direction through his scope. after about 5 minutes of this, he leaves the truck and begins walking to me. i could not determine his intent, as it was such a long walk, he keeps coming and coming until he pops up beside me to my left about 50 yards. i stand with my AR15, and say hello. he is shocked and stunned. he tells me he thought i was a coyote as he could only see a bump moving slightly on the skyline. he stated that he had shot at one early and figured i was it and wounded, he was coming to finish me off. he says he was convinced i may be that coyote as both he and his partner were scoping me , both with 7mm mags. he wasn't a 100 percent, so decided to walk the long distance to confirm.
i am so thankful of course that he did this, as i was not aware of what i was presenting to him. that could of been very tragic. he was an incredibly responsible hunter and good man. went that extra mile, where i believe most would have not, and if you are on this site, i want to Thank you again.

[boneaddict]

Wow, good story.