How many of you are planning to shoot a deer over 300 yards?

[actionshooter]

   I have never been able to figure out where the line is?      Who gets to define "too far"??

[baldopepper]

Pretty easy to tell  the shooters from the hunters.  Big discussion at night is more about how far the shot was rather than how big the animal they shot is.

[brokentrail]

   I have never been able to figure out where the line is?      Who gets to define "too far"??

I think about as being an individual(s) decision, as long as you can humanely kill the animal you are shooting.  Like I said, too far for me is over 300 yards, at least currently.  Not sure at my age that will ever change but it has been a discussion topic with my sons.  They have lots of years to go, well at least hopefully, who knows in this state, and if they are going to change, may as well get started now and start practicing/shooting at those longer ranges.

[TimberMuleys]

I would shoot over 300, however, I spent the money to get a custom .280 Ackley with shoots 1/4MOA when shot by the right person. (I am around 1/2MOA). I am willing to shoot about 600yds in perfect conditions on a still deer currently and only about 300yds on a moving deer. I have practiced out to 1000 and shot elk out to 450yds.

Before I had my Ackley, my range was about 250 because I shot an old .270 savage with a cheap 3-9x scope and was not super efficient past that range.


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[huntnnw]

never even a thought to not shoot under 600. Like mentioned getting a rifle setup correctly is huge part of it.

[high_hunter]

Most hunts I plan to get closer but prepare to shoot longer if needed, provided good field conditions. Very much an individual thing that likely changes over ones lifetime, hunt locations, and weapon types but I believe it's all hunting. Long range changes for me every year depending which weapon I'm using and how much I've practiced leading up. 40yd archery used to be long but other years it's been 80 after hitting the 3D circuit hard. Most my rifle shots have been inside 200 with 400 as a max effective range. This year 600 was a chipshot on game after monthy outtings practicing on steel to 800+ along with the right equipment.  From the B&C article, the quote "If in doubt, stretch the stalk, not the shot" resonated with me. I think in this situation too many try to rely on the rifle. We owe it to the animals to make an ethical attempt. I certainly remember the close calls and ones that got away just as much as those harvested (plus learned valuable real world lessons not available at the range).

[BigGoonTuna]

Being on the west side I don’t get a lot of opportunity to practice longer range shooting, and it hasn’t particularly been a handicap in the areas I hunt, as I primarily “still hunt” the big timber.

I don’t really have an issue with people taking long shots as long as they’re capable, but the problem is people that think they’re better than they are taking those shots. I think most of us have witnessed some idiot slinging lead across a canyon or clear cut trying to “walk it in” on a buck at some point.

Personally I’m a little bummed that rifle hunting has become sort of “unlimited class” by a lot of measures, I think in the end it will end up hurting us as a whole. As others have said, after a certain point it just becomes shooting rather than hunting, but the tricky part is figuring out what that point is. Laser rangefinders being so cheap these days and some of the newer chamberings with ultra-high BC has taken a lot of the learning curve away. With all the social media influencers touting long range shooting, it seems that the challenge often has turned from who can get the closest to an animal, to who can take one from furthest away.

[zwickeyman]

Being on the west side I don’t get a lot of opportunity to practice longer range shooting, and it hasn’t particularly been a handicap in the areas I hunt, as I primarily “still hunt” the big timber.

I don’t really have an issue with people taking long shots as long as they’re capable, but the problem is people that think they’re better than they are taking those shots. I think most of us have witnessed some idiot slinging lead across a canyon or clear cut trying to “walk it in” on a buck at some point.

Personally I’m a little bummed that rifle hunting has become sort of “unlimited class” by a lot of measures, I think in the end it will end up hurting us as a whole. As others have said, after a certain point it just becomes shooting rather than hunting, but the tricky part is figuring out what that point is. Laser rangefinders being so cheap these days and some of the newer chamberings with ultra-high BC has taken a lot of the learning curve away. With all the social media influencers touting long range shooting, it seems that the challenge often has turned from who can get the closest to an animal, to who can take one from furthest away.

 

Im more proud of a 40 yard shot on a Mature Muley than a 500 yard shot

[fishngamereaper]

Same arguments can be made for any modern day weapon system.
Muzzy out to 200 plus
Compound bow out to 100
We as a hunting community probably should limit our judgement of others use of and ability to reach out just a little further with their weapon of choice...cause eventually the State will key into it and add further restrictions attempting to even the playing field.
Understand it's just a talking point...but it comes up allot.
And I'd bet just as many animals get missed or wounded sub 300.. people fling lead regardless of distance..


As for me
I draw the line when Coriolis comes into play...the math hurts my head..

[Magnum_Willys]

As Jim Shockey says, the sense of accomplishment is in direct proportion to the degree of difficulty. 

As a reloading hobbyist I fuss over preparing the best load possible - weighing powder to the single kernal, annealing brass everytime, sizing brass and seating bullets to a consistency of less than .001.   I practice at 1000 yards fine tuning the ammo and practicing form and spotting shots.   I expect to be able to cover 5 shots on target with my hand at 1000 yards.

This last fall we camped in a wall tent for 18 days hunting elk in idaho.  We had smoke and snow to contend with and a lot of other hunters.  We burned a ton of miles hiking and a ton more traveling between areas in a SXS.   On the 14th day 3 miles in on a hike we located a 5x7 bull a couple miles down the canyon and made our couple hour stalk to get within range.    The shot itself went as expected dropping the bull where it stood.  It took my son and I three days to get it back to camp.   The last day we logged 23 miles shuttling meat starting at 7am and getting back to camp at 1am.

It was an epic hunt.   The shot itself was a tiny part of the adventure.   Whether it was 100 yards or 500 yards or more wouldn’t have mattered. 


 

[baldopepper]

Same arguments can be made for any modern day weapon system.
Muzzy out to 200 plus
Compound bow out to 100
We as a hunting community probably should limit our judgement of others use of and ability to reach out just a little further with their weapon of choice...cause eventually the State will key into it and add further restrictions attempting to even the playing field.
Understand it's just a talking point...but it comes up allot.
And I'd bet just as many animals get missed or wounded sub 300.. people fling lead regardless of distance..


As for me
I draw the line when Coriolis comes into play...the math hurts my head..

Coriolis effect-lol, had to goggle it to see what you meant. Gave me a good laugh. Thanks.

[mountainman]

As Jim Shockey says, the sense of accomplishment is in direct proportion to the degree of difficulty. 

As a reloading hobbyist I fuss over preparing the best load possible - weighing powder to the single kernal, annealing brass everytime, sizing brass and seating bullets to a consistency of less than .001.   I practice at 1000 yards fine tuning the ammo and practicing form and spotting shots.   I expect to be able to cover 5 shots on target with my hand at 1000 yards.

This last fall we camped in a wall tent for 18 days hunting elk in idaho.  We had smoke and snow to contend with and a lot of other hunters.  We burned a ton of miles hiking and a ton more traveling between areas in a SXS.   On the 14th day 3 miles in on a hike we located a 5x7 bull a couple miles down the canyon and made our couple hour stalk to get within range.    The shot itself went as expected dropping the bull where it stood.  It took my son and I three days to get it back to camp.   The last day we logged 23 miles shuttling meat starting at 7am and getting back to camp at 1am.

It was an epic hunt.   The shot itself was a tiny part of the adventure.   Whether it was 100 yards or 500 yards or more wouldn’t have mattered. 


 

Good point. The hunt is so much more than the actual shot. I have shot my share of game over the years. Probably more than most. I have 9 mouths to feed in my household, and value any meat in the freezer as a precious commodity. Shots have been at a couple feet to, well, way out there…
Practice a lot, know what I can and can’t do. If the opportunity shows at 50 yards or 1000 yard, I know there will be another stack of steaks in the deep freeze. That’s the most memorable part of the hunt, the meals that come afterward👍

[HereDuckyDucky]

I am capable of shooting well over 300 yards and practice at distance often. But I never plan to shoot an animal anywhere near that distance. Most big game critters (for me) have been taken from 50-200 yards, with a handful between 200 and 300. For my hunting styles, getting closer than 300 is usually doable.

RW

[Mtnwalker]

Shoot what you're comfortable with, nobody can put a number on that for you. Every year the range fills up weekend before the opener with guys who walk up to the bench, throw down a wadded up sweatshirt and rapid fire a group the size of a soccer ball at the 100 yard target. Standing up, legs spread wide, hunched over the bench in the most awkward stance imaginable, death gripping the forend with index finger wrapped around the barrel. Flinching on every shot but hey, that soccer ball group is all around that bullseye so rock and roll buddy! Time to go huntin.

On the flip side, pick any guy out of the group I hunt with and stick a vital size target at 7-800. I would be 10x more confident in any one of them making a first round hit than I would soccer ball dude at 100. In fact I'd almost be shocked if they missed. But nobody calls soccer ball dude unethical when he puts one in the hind end of a walking buck at 250 because hey, that's huntin! Stuff happens, right? Only 3 more shots and he was DRT!

Shoot what you're comfortable with, practice as much as you can and quit worrying about what others are doing. And don't be soccer ball dude 

[pickardjw]

Planning on it? Not really.

Preparing to be capable if necessary? Absolutely. 

Offhand - 100 yards
Sitting/kneeling unsupported - 150 yards
Sitting/kneeling supported - 300 yards
Prone - 500 yards

Yardages determined by timed shooting a modified Kraft drill. Also shoot out to 1000 to practice wind reading among other aspects. MV’s determined via Xero chrono, ballistics with the Sig BDX, Maven RS1.2’s on the rifles for dialing, buy factory ammo in bulk same lot #. Works well for me. 

Off-season goal is to push my prone proficiency to 650 yards. Could have filled my WA tag if I was proficient at that distance this year. Will also work on the other shooting positions, offhand is so much tougher than most people think it is.