Safe Shooting Distance

[Wea300mag]

I was on the other board (MM) reading some threads and read through the one where the guy said his sister made a 731 yard shot with a 300 WSM to kill a trophy bull. First of all, I don't believe the distance part of the story. I also would not take a shot that is almost 1/2 mile no matter how big the elk was. I put my personal limit at 300-350 yards (300 Wea mag, of course) if the wind is not blowing too hard and the shot in not too inclined. Let's here some of your personal distance limits and long shots you have taken before. Make sure to mention what caliber you are shooting.

Here is a link to the MM thread:
 http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID12/8325.html

[jackelope]

my farthest shot to date is 280 yards with a 7mm rem mag. i felt pretty comfy with that shot, and i was prone shooting off a bipod..one shot kill.
my last deer i killed at 182 yards off hand, one shot kill. i had my scope on that deer at 312 yards and could hardly say that i had a good sight picture at that distance, did not feel comfortable and did not take the shot.(different rifle, scope and caliber from the first shot)
with my current rifle and caliber...i'm thinking 250 would be my long range max, and i don't feel people should be shooting over 300...just my opinion,  thats shooting, not hunting.
my .02 in the pot.

[arrowflinger]

My shot was at 365 yrds.............shooting a 270 Win., 130gr bullet. No wind, rifle rested on my fanny pack over a stump. I practice out to 400yrds and am comfortable shooting that far. My gun is sighted in at 3 inches high at 100yrds. MPBR about 285Yrds. I think I could take a shot a 400 yrds and feel good about it, but the conditions would have to be on my side.............or I'll stick to 200yrds.

[T-ROY]

2 deer and an elk in the low 400's. 411,418 and 435 to be exact. 3 for 3 in a pie plate at 500 at few weeks back. Its hard to find a spot that far to shoot on the west side. 7mm mag 150 grain corelokts.

[Ray]

No matter what - the type of rifle and scope combination and what the target is determines how far I will feel comfortable shooting at.

I don't have any range finder gadgets. I guess ranges on every shot and have my 100 yard zero about 1 inch high.

Example: I might shoot at a coyote at 400 yards with my large game rifle , but I would almost never think about shooting a deer that far away unless the conditions were really good.

[boneaddict]

Distance shooting or distances are like bear weights if you ask me.  Everyone always tacks on a bunch.  I'm with Huntwa for everything, except my zero is three inches high at 100 yards, zero at 300.  I shoot all handloads, no factory ammo.  90% of my shots are under 50 yards.  Almost every deer I have killed could have been done so with a bow, or 30-30 open sites.   This is different for coyotes obviously.  I have made two shots that were absolutely incredible.  One was a 500 yard shot on a bear.  Thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have taken it.  There was no way to get closer.  I stuck the cross hairs right at the top of his head between his ears and hit him centered in the chest.  30-06....150 grain bullet.   The other was an offhand shot in the Pasayten on the high hunt.  A buck about slipped me through the rocks. I pulled up took a breath and squeezed off a shot almost straight up hill.   Looking back, I shouldn't have taken it, but I was all instinct.  He faultered and started dropping down the hill, and I put another one in about an inch from the first. 
I SHOOT ALOT.  or at least I used too.  Offhand etc, not just bench.  This is going to sound arrogant, but I know where every bullet is going to hit.  CONFIDENCE is everything.  RESTRAINT  is the rest.

[GoldTip]

I've taken and completed 2 shots that were ranged at 505 and 511 respectively.  One was a elk and one was a deer.  Both animals dropped at the shot.  Have taken several others that were over 400 yards, some deer, some elk, one bear, one antelope.  Multiple kills in the 300+ range as well as multiple shots under 300 yards.  It depends on what rifle I'm holding and the conditions and whether or not I feel comfortable with the shot.  The 500 yard shots were taken with my 300 win mag, handloaded to 3150fps through a chrono with 180gr sciroccos sighted in for 3" high at 100 yards with a MPBR of 330 yards.  Any shot I believe to be over 300 yards always gets a check with my laser rangefinder.  They were taken from a prone position with reading the wind, which was non existant at the time of the shots.  I felt comfortable with the shot and made a one shot kill.  I have also killed many animals with a bow with ranges as short as 2 yards and as long as 62 yards. 

If you are comfortable with your weapon, and the conditions are right and you have practiced for the shot,  I will be the last person to judge you if you make that shot.  If on the other hand you have no idea where your gun hits at 200 yards, you have no business shooting over 150 yards in my opinion.  If you don't practice those ranges, you shouldn't be shooting those ranges.  Out in Mica we have a range with targets to 900+ yards, and I will always practice to 550yards every time I am there.  I also don't personally believe you should ever shoot past 300 yards with factory ammunition.  There is just too much variation in velocity in factory loaded rounds when you run them through a chronograph to make that a good situation.

[jackelope]

Here is a link to the MM thread:
 http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID12/8325.html

that is a classic monstermuleys thread too by the way.

[tlbradford]

I have not harvested a mule deer on the east side over 200 yards.  Almost all were around the 100 yard mark.  I would feel comfortable taking a shot out to 350 with my .25-06, 26 inch barrel, 117 hollow points.  Since that rifle was stolen I now use a .284 with not quite as flat a trajectory and would feel comfortable out to 300.  I don't have a range finder or ballistics tables taped to my stock.

My longest shot on a big game animal was my first elk.  It was steeply downhill, broadside standing shot on a feeding animal, right at dark.  I was sitting with the rifle resting over a stump.  I guesstimated the distance at a little over 200.  I hit him with a 120 grain .25-06 handload and he took to steps and dropped.  After running up to him and covering the distance in about 11 seconds I thought it was further away then I had guessed.  Pacing it off later the shot was closer to 375 yards.  The angle, amount of light, size of the animal, and lack of experience had made me misjudge the distance badly.

I do have a .338 that I would feel fine in taking a shot out to 500 yards.  I have a ballistics table taped to the stock.  One day soon I hope to add a range finder to my belt.

I will shoot at a coyote as long as I have ammo and can still see it. 800-1000 I memorized bullet performance out to 600 yards for my .204 shooting 35 gr bergers.  Beyond that it is kentucky windage and a prayer.

[boneaddict]

kentucky windage and a prayer.

Love it!

[jackelope]

i got thinking about this thread, and a question i have is what scopes are you guys using on your rifle that you can confidently put the crosshairs on a deer sized animal at 500+ yards and know where it's gonna hit?
i have trouble feeling confident 300+yards with a 3x9 lepold vari-x

[Lincoln4]

What he said...

[edmondshunter]

I shoot a base model, 700 rem. .270 win iron sights.  I hunt on the "WestSide" never had to take a shot over 85-90 yards.  I was breaking target clays @300 yrds, but would never think of taking a shot that long on a big game animal.  Lets not forget our sense of adventure and close the gap a little, make an ethical shot everytime.  The worst loss for a hunter is an animal not recovered.

[Coasthunterjay]

While i would like to agree with all of you, i do and i dont. I must say I feel overly confidant in my skills as a hunter and a good marksman and ability to shoot an animal at a long distance. Since i was really young i have been trained by my father, grandfather and some of my best friends that i have hunted together with for over 10 years. With that said i have had well over 100 plus years of hunting and shooting with military training from some of those and myself to back my training up instilled in me since i was born. As well as that in over 10 years of hunting by myself there has only been one year that i have not harvested a deer and that was not because of a bad shot or not being able to find a downed animal. It was because i was being selfish and wanted to shot a huge deer and passed up over 4 legal bucks with in 100yrds. Not to say that taking a long shot at over 700 yards is safe or unsafe but this is my view and experiance.......... Weather permitting and with an accurate weapon ( Properly cared for and well oiled and very clean, trusted) and with Cartridge rounds that have been custom made and measured for perfect accuracy and lots of practice and a steady hand. The last being one of the most important. This type of thing can be done with the right training, gear, and experiance. I hunt with a Winchester 270 and hunt with custom made Ballistic tip cartridges (Rounds). I have for several years and almost every year we tweek or do something different to our rounds or the way we sight in our Rifles or even the amount that we shoot them before we go hunting. And we shoot alot.

Here is my story......... About four years ago i was heading up this huge 4x4 WT, had been watching him for weeks scouting for opening day and i mean irregularly huge for a 4x4. Well opening night out walks this Buck and it wasnt the one i wanted and well in my head POPS the saying my dad had always told me about not being picky and just taking the first legal deer ever so as this deer was positioning himself out in the field i slowely layed down on my stomach. Got in my position and layed my sights down on this animal. While being comfortable in my shooting skills and taking long shoots before i figured that it was maybe 450- tops 500 yards. I pulled off One single shot watched the Buck drop, looked to the sky and thanked GOD, just as i had and do everytime a get an animal. I then called my dad on the radio to come over to get it and help me pull it out. later as my father and i stood over the deer he asked me where i had shot it from and i told him. He then out of Dis-belief asked me to point to it and then pulled out his range finder. Ranging the distance he said i had to be joking. I asked why he didnt believe me walked him back over to the spot and showed him the brass and imprint of my body lieing down that i had left on the ground. My Dad looked at me and shook my hand and said " Great shot son, You just shot a deer at over 650 yrds" This had been my farthest shot and the only reason i say this is because I had shot deer in the past at over 450 yards before with my father standing right beside me saying i would hit it. I have and do!!! This is all with my Grandfathers Old Winchester 270.
You can take a long shot with lots of experiance and training......

I didnt read the Post from MM but if she sucessfuly killed her animal at 700yards and killed it. Then good to her. we shouldnt be making Fun just because she did it. If no one got hurt then i say. AWESOME SHOT LADY!!!............................AJ

Just my  .02 Cents

[Wea300mag]

Coasthunter,

The problem with your thinking is the probability of having wounded animals running around that will never be found is very high. At 300 yards, using my 3.5-10x50mm VX-III with duplex reticle, the cross hairs take up a large percentage of a deer's body. At 4, 5, 6 hundred yards it's a crap shoot. If you are shooting at a coyote, yes, shoot until you run out of ammo, but not for game animals. I hear stories of these 400+ yard shots all the time but have a hard time believing them. They probably do happen on occasion but how many animals were wasted to get to that occasion.