gamestalker
member
Most of that hunt for big game in North America go out to the field hopeful to get an easy close shot. However, since my early beginnings and over whelming love for this shooting sport, I was intrigued by how far I could make an effective and accurately placed shot.
I can still remember my first long range shot when I was a young boy. Though it wasn't something that would have qualified as a typical 700 - 800 yd. shot, it was amazing none the less. I had a pump pellet rifle and was doing my usual weekend rabbit hunting when I spotted 2 rabbits sitting one in front of the other at probably 80-100 yds. away. I found a stable rest on a tre limb and carefully compensated for the drop. To my delight and surprise I hit the first rabbit square in the side of it's head and when the pellet exited it went into the second rabbits head thus dispatching both rabbits instantly. That was it, I was now hoked on long distance shooting, or hunting more specifically.
From their I grew into my first high powered rifle, a 700 ADL chambered in .270 Win.. My first season I drew a Cous deer tag in Northern Arizona and had prepared for the hunt by sighting in 3" high at 20 yds. with my own reloaded 130 gr. bullets. The opportunity presented it's self to me when I was glassing a hill side from a spotting scope and spotted a decent buck. Not having a range finder back then I had to estimate the distance by guessing of course and hoping I could catch a glimpse of where my rounds were hitting if I missed and then make appropriate adjustments to my holder over. My first and only shot, I held high at just about the tip of the ears over the back, so I was vertically in line with the heart & lungs.
After the first round I saw the deer hit the ground as though a sledge hammer had knocked him to the ground, and then I heard that smack sound in what seemed like 2 - 3 seconds later, I got him! I was excited as I was disappointed because that clearly meant I would have to wait another year before I could do it again. The distance was not conclusively ranged but the number of steps from my rest was 733 steps but it was not all level ground and included the hill the deer was standing on. Probably well over 500 yds. considering I could barely see the deer with my naked eye.
Next was an antelope hunt the following year. Again I spotted my quarry at such distance that was over near level ground. This time the steps across level ground was in excess of 700 steps and because I was so excited when I hit him I forgot to count my steps until I had walked a good distance, so I figure it was probably at least 750 yds.. That was amazing for me but what really shocked me was after the antelope hit the ground in the same exact manner as my first deer, this time the animal got up and ran full bore quartering away. My first thoughts were confusion, did I hit him, what happened?
I stood up from my prone position and rest and lead the goat to about the tip of his nose and held high, probably a foot or more high and let a second one go off hand. The goat flipped end over end and tumbled to the ground! When I reached him he had a hole through and through his heart lung region, and his heart was blow apart. Then I saw the second hit was jus behind his head through his neck. This confirmed the stories I had been told about antelope being capable of running dead.
I had to find some way to continue my love for long distance hunting because targets just weren't getting it done for me. So I bought coyote calls and then electric calls and started hunting them dogs at extended distances during the off seasons. I soon realized that glassing from a high point in the early morning hours and late afternoon hours offered me jack rabbits, coyote and everything else that was legal at incredible distances.
Years, actually decades later I now have an expensive laser range finder and programmable BDC tools so I can enjoy knowing just how far the shot was. More recently, last winter to be specific, I took a coyote I had glassed up from almost 900 yds. The BDC gave me a MOA compensation to make on my turret and was surprisingly dead on, literally.
There are some basic rule to keep in mind when shooting at long range and safety is the most important of these. When we are shooting at these distances we have to know what is beyond our live target, a farm house maybe, cattle, you never know if you don't pick the right shooting enviroment. Personally I do this type of hunting and shooting where I can be certain of what may be out there beyond my intended target. In this manner I perfer to hunt on the vast and uninhabited public lands of Arizona from an elevated position which allows me a good view well beyond my shooting lane.
I spent many days shooting at targets at long range but it just didn't satisfy me in the same way.
There are various tools for the long distance hunter these days, and not all are what they claim to be. One of the less reliable means of BDC is the common BDC feature that offers an interchangable disc for the scope. This tool is based only on the average ballistic property of a particular cartridge and not able to be specific to the true ballistics which will often be very different. Back in the days when the laser range finder wasn't available the BDC feature in high end optics was all the only option for most. I tried several but they were not very effective and still required me to do a lot of guessing. Now days though with so many advances in technology we have devices that will provide BDC in very precise increments and are reliable.
One of those tools is Leupold's RX-IV range finder that incorporates a ballistic technology currently being utilized by both NASA and the US military. Recently my oldest Son who just 2 yrs. ago returned from the action in Afghanistan, shared the expense of a Leupold RX-IV range finder with the built in TBR program. Once you know the velocity of your load and the B.C. of the bullet, the True Ballistic Range or TBR, will accurately provide the MOA compensation needed on the scope. It will deliver the MOA up or down for the actual ballistic conditions, not uncompensated line of sight or LOS, which is very different than TBR.
An example of the difference is shooting at something 500 yds away at an up hill angle of say 30 degreess LOS, is equivalent to something like 450 yds. TBR. Of course the further away the greater the variance between TBR and LOS which is where the TBR feature really begins to shine regarding the accurately compensated MOA it provides. I have been having more fun with this tool than can be imagined.
So for those of you who just can't seem to get enough of this type of shooting I strongly recommend the Leupold product. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg like many of the other simular devices but it is probably just as effective if you practice with it chrony your loads. The RX-Iv which has numerous other useful functions for both the hunter and paper puncher can be had for about $550 v.s. some of the other 1500 yd. RF's that are going for well over $1000 and don't have features such as the programmable B&C function that will help you to evaluate the score of your antlered quarry. And with Leupold's outstanding customer service and uncompromised warranty you just can't go wrong.
I can still remember my first long range shot when I was a young boy. Though it wasn't something that would have qualified as a typical 700 - 800 yd. shot, it was amazing none the less. I had a pump pellet rifle and was doing my usual weekend rabbit hunting when I spotted 2 rabbits sitting one in front of the other at probably 80-100 yds. away. I found a stable rest on a tre limb and carefully compensated for the drop. To my delight and surprise I hit the first rabbit square in the side of it's head and when the pellet exited it went into the second rabbits head thus dispatching both rabbits instantly. That was it, I was now hoked on long distance shooting, or hunting more specifically.
From their I grew into my first high powered rifle, a 700 ADL chambered in .270 Win.. My first season I drew a Cous deer tag in Northern Arizona and had prepared for the hunt by sighting in 3" high at 20 yds. with my own reloaded 130 gr. bullets. The opportunity presented it's self to me when I was glassing a hill side from a spotting scope and spotted a decent buck. Not having a range finder back then I had to estimate the distance by guessing of course and hoping I could catch a glimpse of where my rounds were hitting if I missed and then make appropriate adjustments to my holder over. My first and only shot, I held high at just about the tip of the ears over the back, so I was vertically in line with the heart & lungs.
After the first round I saw the deer hit the ground as though a sledge hammer had knocked him to the ground, and then I heard that smack sound in what seemed like 2 - 3 seconds later, I got him! I was excited as I was disappointed because that clearly meant I would have to wait another year before I could do it again. The distance was not conclusively ranged but the number of steps from my rest was 733 steps but it was not all level ground and included the hill the deer was standing on. Probably well over 500 yds. considering I could barely see the deer with my naked eye.
Next was an antelope hunt the following year. Again I spotted my quarry at such distance that was over near level ground. This time the steps across level ground was in excess of 700 steps and because I was so excited when I hit him I forgot to count my steps until I had walked a good distance, so I figure it was probably at least 750 yds.. That was amazing for me but what really shocked me was after the antelope hit the ground in the same exact manner as my first deer, this time the animal got up and ran full bore quartering away. My first thoughts were confusion, did I hit him, what happened?
I stood up from my prone position and rest and lead the goat to about the tip of his nose and held high, probably a foot or more high and let a second one go off hand. The goat flipped end over end and tumbled to the ground! When I reached him he had a hole through and through his heart lung region, and his heart was blow apart. Then I saw the second hit was jus behind his head through his neck. This confirmed the stories I had been told about antelope being capable of running dead.
I had to find some way to continue my love for long distance hunting because targets just weren't getting it done for me. So I bought coyote calls and then electric calls and started hunting them dogs at extended distances during the off seasons. I soon realized that glassing from a high point in the early morning hours and late afternoon hours offered me jack rabbits, coyote and everything else that was legal at incredible distances.
Years, actually decades later I now have an expensive laser range finder and programmable BDC tools so I can enjoy knowing just how far the shot was. More recently, last winter to be specific, I took a coyote I had glassed up from almost 900 yds. The BDC gave me a MOA compensation to make on my turret and was surprisingly dead on, literally.
There are some basic rule to keep in mind when shooting at long range and safety is the most important of these. When we are shooting at these distances we have to know what is beyond our live target, a farm house maybe, cattle, you never know if you don't pick the right shooting enviroment. Personally I do this type of hunting and shooting where I can be certain of what may be out there beyond my intended target. In this manner I perfer to hunt on the vast and uninhabited public lands of Arizona from an elevated position which allows me a good view well beyond my shooting lane.
I spent many days shooting at targets at long range but it just didn't satisfy me in the same way.
There are various tools for the long distance hunter these days, and not all are what they claim to be. One of the less reliable means of BDC is the common BDC feature that offers an interchangable disc for the scope. This tool is based only on the average ballistic property of a particular cartridge and not able to be specific to the true ballistics which will often be very different. Back in the days when the laser range finder wasn't available the BDC feature in high end optics was all the only option for most. I tried several but they were not very effective and still required me to do a lot of guessing. Now days though with so many advances in technology we have devices that will provide BDC in very precise increments and are reliable.
One of those tools is Leupold's RX-IV range finder that incorporates a ballistic technology currently being utilized by both NASA and the US military. Recently my oldest Son who just 2 yrs. ago returned from the action in Afghanistan, shared the expense of a Leupold RX-IV range finder with the built in TBR program. Once you know the velocity of your load and the B.C. of the bullet, the True Ballistic Range or TBR, will accurately provide the MOA compensation needed on the scope. It will deliver the MOA up or down for the actual ballistic conditions, not uncompensated line of sight or LOS, which is very different than TBR.
An example of the difference is shooting at something 500 yds away at an up hill angle of say 30 degreess LOS, is equivalent to something like 450 yds. TBR. Of course the further away the greater the variance between TBR and LOS which is where the TBR feature really begins to shine regarding the accurately compensated MOA it provides. I have been having more fun with this tool than can be imagined.
So for those of you who just can't seem to get enough of this type of shooting I strongly recommend the Leupold product. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg like many of the other simular devices but it is probably just as effective if you practice with it chrony your loads. The RX-Iv which has numerous other useful functions for both the hunter and paper puncher can be had for about $550 v.s. some of the other 1500 yd. RF's that are going for well over $1000 and don't have features such as the programmable B&C function that will help you to evaluate the score of your antlered quarry. And with Leupold's outstanding customer service and uncompromised warranty you just can't go wrong.
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