Confirmed 1800 yard kill on elk

[Steve Smith]

Ok, you guys will get a kick out of this, and perhaps get mad a little like I did.

I know a guy who made a 1800+ yard kill shot on an elk this past hunting season.

There were 9 witnesses, and I know 6 of them personally, and I know the shooter.

Cartridge was a .30-378.

Apparently, part of the party was on a ridge and located the elk lying down near a rock, approx 200 yards away but they couldn't get a good shot on it and couldn't move closer without spooking it. They radioed to the shooter (we'll call him Bob) about what they'd found. Bob offered to shoot in that direction to hopefully get the elk to stand up and move. He was a LONG ways away. Bob aimed very high and squeezed the trigger. Moments later, the guys on the ridge radioed "you killed it. " They had seen it jerk through their spotting scope. "I can't believe it." No one believed it, in fact. The party waited another half hour and the elk never moved, so they approached it. Sure enough, the elk was dead. The bullet had missed all bones and had passed through both lungs. It did not exit nor expand. The shot was verified with a rangefinder. Of course, that accuracy is somewhat up in the air, but several measurements were taken.

When I heard this story, I said, "BS" but once I understood that the kill was an accident, and that Bob wasn't actually trying to hit the elk, I believed it more easily.

It was a somewhat irresponsible thing to do, but I dont' believe that Bob would have taken the shot if he'd known that he might hit the elk. He was lucky that he didn't wind up stalking it all day.

 

[Quartus]

He was lucky he didn't kill some other hunter!


Okay, class, which basic safety rule did this idiot violate?

 

[Steve Smith]

You are exactly right, and THAT'S why I got mad.

 

[Kingcreek]

Ok, you guys will get a kick out of this,

Somebody needs to get kicked, but it aint us.
shooting at or even near a target a mile away?!?
irresponsible and foolish

 

[Steve Smith]

Maybe I should explain what I meant? I knew it would be a grenade thread when I posted it...but a decent topic nevertheless. They can't all smell like roses.

 

[Art Eatman]

If the other hunters' direction was lateral and 200 yards, there was no hazard to them. Wind or no wind. Since they apparently agreed to some possibly hazardous deal, if something went wrong, well, tough stuff. I'd imagine there were trees or rocks between them and the line of fire, though.

It's quite possible that a ricochet could have gone beyond the elk and maybeso found another guy who was totally unknown to any of the "players". To me, that's the dumbest part of the deal: The assumption that nobody is within another mile of them. That's why I never shoot unless I'm positive about where a missed shot's bullet would wind up.

As far as overall sportsmanship, how is putting a bullet on the ground to spook the elk any different from my throwing rocks down into a canyon to try and spook out a mule deer?

Right, wrong or indifferent, ya gotta give the shooter credit for having a pretty good handle on holdover for long ranges.

Question: Whose tag got used?

Art

 

[Steve Smith]

lol, Art...the shooter's, of course!

I dont' see a difference as far as the "spooking" part, but the possibility of wounding game was the "unsportsmanlike" part, in my eyes. Of course, this guy surely didn't think he had a chance of even touching the elk, so that's why it was judged ok.

 

[Quartus]

Art, you need to go back and read the post. He fired into the air. An unaimed shot. NOT firing into the ground, firing at a high angle into the air.

As for the other shooters agreeing to this hazardous action - fine. What about other hunters who might have been in the area? At that range, he had no way of knowing where that bullet was going and who might be there to catch it.


Ever had a round whiz by your ear when you were hunting? It's guaranteed to get your attention, if you are breathing.

 

[Kingcreek]

" Of course, this guy surely didn't think he had a chance of even touching the elk, so that's why it was judged ok."

IOW, he can't even guarantee a clean miss at 1 mile. For God's sake, somebody take his rifle away.
As for just spooking game, I would rather have Art bounce a rock off my head than some nitwit put a bullet in it. I also wouldn't feel obligated to track a rock-bruised muley.
I'll only give the guy credit for being dang lucky and nothing more.

 

[JohnDog]

hopefully get the elk to stand up and move

Gee - and calling somebody a mile away on the radio to launch bullets in it's direction is the best plan they could come up with at the time?!?! How about blowing a cow call! Or figuring which direction it might run if spooked, and stalking over to get a line on a broadside shot when it takes off. Or just waiting till it gets up to move to it's evening feeding area.

I guess it takes all kinds?

As for holdover, he must have a rambo scope to go with his rambo rifle. And dont even think about what the wind would do to his bullet in a 1800 yard trajectory.

JohnDog

PS - My foot slipped and caused them rocks to roll into that draw - I didn't think there'd be any deer down there

 

[M67]

My late grandfather had a story from just after WWII. A group of neighbours were out plinking when a guy whith a 1911 said: "Wanna see how you shoot a horse?" Then he aimed way, way, way high over another neighbour's horse (not Grandpa's) that was grazing more than 300 meters away. He did of course intend to shoot into the trees behind the horse as a stupid prank. Bang, long pause, thud. The horse dropped without even twitching, perfect head shot.

Sometimes people do incredibly stupid things. Even people who should know better.

BTW, this episode may be one of the reasons why Gramps always described the trajectory of the .45 acp as comparable to "a pig jumping a fence".

 

[WYO]

Now that sounds like a lot of fun. It must be great having a radio so you can call in a diversionary "mortar" shot from a mile away. It sure beats waiting for the elk to stand up by its own choice. But then old Murphy showed up and the elk got hit by a round that couldn't have had an ethical amount of energy left.

Memo to self: stay away from open areas and hunters talking on radios.

 

[dongun]

Steve,

What was that about a "grenade" thread?

 

[Art Eatman]

Kingcreek, I rather doubt anybody would actually expect a hit. I probably spend more time looking at stuff at one to three miles than most folks on this Board. From my house to the southeast corner of my pasture is over a mile, and anything there is readily visible with binoculars.

I could guesstimate holdover to get a bullet into the immediate vicinity--25 to 50 yards over or under, maybe--but I'd surely never expect to hit. If I wuz gonna try that sort of "spook shot", it's easy enough to line the vertical crosshair dead on and let the wind carry the bullet off to the side...

Lots of folks, nowadays, carry these little FM radios. Mostly in case somebody gets hurt or confused as to where they are. Heck, some even carry their cell phones! To actually use the radios to coordinate hunting, however, is generally illegal, as well as unethical...

So, yeah, there's a lot of this deal of which I disapprove, but since nothing bad happened I find it sorta funny. I'd have loved to have seen the expression on the shooter's face!

, Art

 

[cratz2]

Well, ethics aside, this thread is proof positive that the 30-378 is overkill... A clean kill at 1,800 yards with, regardless of organs hit, impossible shot placement and the elk is still dead.

Overkill, I tell ya!

 

[Sven]

He broke one of the rules.

 

[Cal4D4]

Hunting with forward observers? Anyone ever see the "hunting" scene in the movie "Magic Christian" with Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers ('70's vintage?)? Clean kill, my lad, clean kill.

 

[Dr.Who]

Gee, maybe that is why were not to shoot in the air on the fourth...

I though it was alright, Sadam Husain does it all the time... It seems every piece of news footage of him in uniform, has him with a gun shoot'n in the air....

Dumb, Dumb, and Dumber.....

Know your target...:banghead:

I can't enjoy this....

 

[Steve Smith]

dongun...Pull the pin, toss in the thread, walk away and watch it explode.

 

[Smoke]

Who said the guy didn't know what was beyond his target?

Guy sights up a long distance shot becuse he knows no one is around for several miles. Bullet falls within the limit he is aware of and accidentally hits the elk.

Biggest flaw I see is his round was within 200 yards of the other people.

 

[Quartus]

becuse he knows no one is around for several miles

And just how does he know that? Satellite reconnaissance? SR-71 maybe? Or was it an Apache chopper with thermal imaging capability flying cover for him?

Or is he just psychic?

 

[Smoke]

And just how does he know that? Satellite reconnaissance? SR-71 maybe? Or was it an Apache chopper with thermal imaging capability flying cover for him?

Ever hear of private property?

 

[muleshoe]

Ummm...not sure about this, but isn't using a two-way radio in the pursuit of game critters sorta illegal?

Oh, and what's wrong with chunkin' rocks down into bushy draws to booger deer out?

 

[Keith]

Using a radio is flatly illegal in my state. Shooting at an animal that far away may not be illegal, but it's certainly unethical. He was far more likely to injure the animal and drive it off to die later.

What state was this in?

Keith

 

[Quartus]

ever hear of private property?

Not in that post, I didn't.