Who will be honest.

[Terry G]

Five years ago I bought my Son a Browning X Bolt in .30/06 topped with a 3X9 Nikon Pro Staff. Knocked me back $1300.00 and change, but he's a good shot and I wanted something with range, baby, range. So far he's nailed four Whitetail. Longest range was 84 yards.

 

[Bfh_auto]

I have been hunting for 45 years. I've hunted the West, Midwest and West TX. I've taken White Tail, Mule and Coues deer. Rocky Mtn Elk, Black Bear, Mt. Lion. All types of furbearer critters and varmints.
When I get with a group of hunters and even buddies of mine. Out come the stories of " I shoot my animal at 550-800 yards on average. And on and on they go how they are true snipers of the hunting world. I am sure every now and then a few do attempt to take an unethical shot that far.
Theses super hunters are shooting 243, 7mm-08, 270, 30- 06, 300 Savage, 25-06 and 7mag.
I do my small game / varmint hunting with my 243 and my big game with my 30-06. The longest shots I've ever taken were at varmint (whistle pig, badger, crow and coyote) all at about 420 yards.
I'd say 95% of all my kills have been 250 yards or less.
Took my 1st bull elk in 93 outside Flagstaff at 95 yards. A really nice 6x6 Do hunters now a days really shoot that far the majority of the time? I find it very hard to believe these fine people are being truthful on most of their hunting stories.

I have shot deer at 420. Most of the time I try to set up inside 100.
Varmints are usually 300 yards or more.

 

[HowieG]

I have noted that there are lots of people on the Highroad whose rifles shoot 0.3 inch groups. They always fail to say how many groups in a row and how many rounds in each group at what range on what kind of rest in what weather. My personal reaction to such claims is mostly the Missouri one, SHOW ME. Shooting one .3 inch group every once in a while doesn't count.

I never like to state what group sizes my rifles shoot. There are just too many variables including the big one, ME. I have a M77V that shoots good enough that it gets monotonous at times, but on any given day, I can shoot poorly with it. If I sit down with a rifle and shoot five groups of five and they are ALL MOA or better, I am REALLY happy with my day. Those days are rare.

 

[herrwalther]

I haven't taken hunting back up since deploying so my stories are about 10 years old. I still keep my hunting rifles "in shape" by taking them to the range and making sure the sights are where they should be. The 100yd public range is in the middle of nowhere about an hour from me. There I hear about the guys that shoot deer at 1000 yards with their top of the line rifle/optic/spotting scope etc. But those folks usually miss the 100 yd target by FEET, not inches. Most people who talk big are just that. I sight my stuff in and leave usually without saying a word.

 

[bassjam]

No joke, being completely honest here, my longest whitetail kill was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400.

No not yards, inches! And that 40 yard show was the furthest, most of them have been inside of 30 yards.

I did once take a groundhog at 160 yards with a .22lr. First shot hit way in front of him. Second shot was just past. I somehow connected with the 3rd shot and ran to close the distance to about 50 yards to finish him off as he was frantically dragging his paralyzed hind legs to try to get into his hole. Then dropped another groundhog at my local range at 100 yards, I happened to just finish sighting in my .22lr at that distance and he was dumb enough to start crawling around on the 100 yard backstop mound of dirt! I'm pretty sure those are the only animal I've shot further away than 40 yards too. Squirrel, rabbit, varmints have all been fairly close.

 

[.38 Special]

It does seem to me that the long range fad is passing, at least to some degree. I recall arguments on this site, ten or fifteen years ago, wherein the guys who boasted about 700 yard kills were complaining about the ethics of guys who claimed 900 yard kills.

My personal belief is that 300 yards is a pretty long chop for most of us, and I've met quite a few folks who have no business pointing a rifle at anything further than 100 yards away.

I've switched to a longbow, at least until reloading components become available again. My self imposed limit is twenty yards, and I prefer ten.

 

[HowieG]

I have heard tell of 850 plus yard prairie dog shots. The stories never say how many shots were fired before one connected. I will say flat out that 300 plus yards on any prairie dog that won't sit still for more than a few seconds is a lonnnnnnng wayyyyyyy!! I don't recall ever shooting one, or at one, farther away than 450 yards. Maybe it's different on those towns where you can set up a shooting bench. Wherever those are.

 

[v8stang289]

I've definitely heard my share of questionable tales. Such as:
" that deer was running wide open across the field, about 500 yards away, I pulled up the rifle and rolled him with 1 shot"

I tend to agree with CraigC, that many cant estimate range and are just throwing out random numbers.
I bet a lot of these "sharpshooters" would have trouble getting on paper at 500 yds off a bench.

Since I hunt smaller tracts of private land, I try to know the area and the distances of different landmarks on the property so I have an idea how far away an animal is.
300 yds would be the upper limit of my comfort zone, if the variables were perfect.

My farthest shot to date was 240yds on a whitetail. He was standing still, and I had a good rest, and a lot of time with the rifle shooting at different distances.
The vast majority of my shots have been at 100yds or less.

 

[Sniper66]

My favorite prairie dog rifle has become the 17HMR. I have two Anschutz 1517MPRs and they are wicked accurate, fun to shoot, and the round is deadly. It's become my favorite because it is good out to 150 yds and further on calm days AND I DO NOT HAVE TO RELOAD. I had one hunt (4 days) where my brother and I shot somewhere around 1500 rounds, mostly .204 and 223. That is a LOT of reloading. Since then I have steadily gravitated to the 17HMR. Last time out with a young friend I introduced to prairie dog shooting, we killed about 200 dogs, mostly with 17HMR. Shot maybe 20% of them with .204 and .223. Most of my dog shoots for the past few years have been dominated by the 17HMR. Now I've read postings from guys claiming to shoot 500 yd dogs "all day long". How many of you have looked thru a scope at a prairie dog 500 yds away? That is a very long shot at a small target. I have a 6-24X scope on my .204 and a 500 yd dog still looks really small even at max power and the .204 will drop a fair amount at that distance and with wind, the shot becomes very difficult. I know of course that my 6.5CM and .243 can challenge those distances more readily than the .204. But, 500 yards is still a looong shot. So, be honest guys. It will cleanse your soul.

 

[taliv]

IMHO big difference between 700 and 900 yards. Remember 308 falls out of sky at 800. Seriously though most hunting bullets are really losing a lot of energy and taking a lot of time to get from 500-1000. And around here usually you’re just going to have one wind condition out to 500 or so but with the hills the wind from 500-1000 could easily and often be going a completely different direction than 0-500. So imho a lot of people who can hold tiny groups at 100 can do reasonably well to 500-600 but past that can easily flub a shot because of wind they can’t see or feel.
Also the ToF matters because even if someone takes a perfect shot at 900, the animal could decide to take a step or turn and now it’s just injured. That’s much more rare inside 500

 

[Oldschool shooter]

I don't think I've ever had a shot at deer longer than 75 yards in northern Michigan, dropped a coyote at near 100 yards. Nothing at all longer than that. As to the closest, I had a doe walk right past me, reached out and smacked her in the hind end and never brought my gun up. When the get that close and don't know you're there, you're doing it right.

 

[WestKentucky]

I have said it several times on here. My furthest shot was an accident. Hunting over a standing soybean field with a gentle rise, things tend to blend together as the sun starts setting. I clearly saw movement and antlers and aimed top of the back on a whitetail. He fell. I went where I thought he was, and he wasn’t there. He was on the far side of a low spot and was more than twice as far as I had estimated since I thought he was on the near side of that low spot. Right at 700 yds. I knew I flinched when I shot and I heard the plop and saw the deer take a couple stumble and fall. I must have flinched and pulled the shot high, but the .270 did it’s job when it connected.

 

[jmorris]

I disagree. A 100 yard Pdog hunt can be a fascinating game of sneak and peek on brushy ground with a small bore, light rifle. I do it as often as I can with my K Hornet.

That does look like a great environment for that.

 

[bigmike45]

Longest Whitetail shot with my .308 was just over 200yards, many shot at lesser yardage. Longest whitetail shot with my scoped .41mag pistol just under 100yards, most shot between 50 and 75 yards. I killed a Fallow Deer at 115 yards with the same .41mag pistol. I have shot at feral hogs with my .308 out to 300 yards and killed all but two. I have shot at feral hogs out to 150 yards with the same .41mag 6 times and killed all but 1. Took my first whitetail 2 years ago with my .50cal muzzleloader at 90 yards.

 

[slicksleeve]

I’ve hunted my whole life in Alabama. I’ve always been a “woods hunter,” and shots were close. But now I’ve bought this land, with this 30 acre field on it. Half in cow pasture, half in cotton. In it I built this shooting house in one corner. The food plot is straight away 113 yards. The far corner is 410. The deer move all in it. I set up my .264 win mag to shoot mpbr of 353 yards. Trouble is, I haven’t practiced that far, so I’m not making a shot like that.
My farthest shot here so far was 161 yards. I bring the range finder every time I go there.

 

[slicksleeve]

A friend of mine took me to a lease in Jackson County. I sat in a field so long, it had three shooting houses in it. I shot a deer at 225 steps, so that is a nominal distance. That was my longest so far.
Said friend is an accomplished hunter, and has more big bucks mounted than I will ever see. One that scored 160, and so many 140 class, that I lost count. He hunts with a plain Jane old Ruger paddle stock 7mm rem mag, and has a dope chart taped to the stock. He told me he has no qualms at shooting out to 400 yards and has done it numerous times. I tend to believe him with all of the trophies he’s amassed.

 

[zdc1775]

A friend of mine took me to a lease in Jackson County. I sat in a field so long, it had three shooting houses in it. I shot a deer at 225 steps, so that is a nominal distance. That was my longest so far.
Said friend is an accomplished hunter, and has more big bucks mounted than I will ever see. One that scored 160, and so many 140 class, that I lost count. He hunts with a plain Jane old Ruger paddle stock 7mm rem mag, and has a dope chart taped to the stock. He told me he has no qualms at shooting out to 400 yards and has done it numerous times. I tend to believe him with all of the trophies he’s amassed.

My lease for the past several years is in Jackson County right on the Paint Rock river. It has several fields where it is possible to shoot 500+ yards and one where it's possible to shoot over a mile. We just set up tripods in the middle of the fields so we have a 360 field of fire and shots mostly stay within 300 yards, though we do have one person who routinely shoots at 400-450 but since 90% of them were DRT and the other 10% go about 25-50 yards I don't have a problem with that.

I will say that we did have a coyote decide to come inspect a target one day when we were setting up to shoot at 600 so he became a target of opportunity for one of our members but he made a bad wind call and missed.

 

[Boattale]

I'm nearly always honest. Honest answer.

 

[gotboostvr]

Two observations. First and foremost is that most people can't estimate range.

I knew I was bad at estimating range, I didn't know HOW bad until I got a rangefinder. Wholy worth the price of admission.

 

[Paul7]

I have hunted deer for 30+ years now. I have never shot a deer over about 100 yards. Most of them under 50 yards. My first deer was shot at about 20 yards with a 12 gauge slug gun. By biggest buck shot at 9 paces with a 410 slug-gun. Having moved out of a slug only state recently I still have yet to dial my scope off their lowest power to make a shot on a deer.

Not going to happen here in the West, still I try to limit my shots to 200 yards.

 

[.308 Norma]

Not going to happen here in the West, still I try to limit my shots to 200 yards.

My wife and I sight our rifles in to hit dead on at 250 yards. However, as I stated in another post just the other day, the longest shot I ever took on a mule deer was an honest (paced off afterwards) 460 yards. But that was with a solid rest - I was seated, and I had a tree limb to rest my rifle on.
Nevertheless, if we limited our shots on the mule deer around here to 100 yards, we'd go without venison a lot. I've said it before for crying out loud - only 1 in 3 Idaho deer hunters even get a deer, and that's in a good year! Limiting our shots on deer to 100 yards would be crazy. I like my wife's chicken fried venison steaks with biscuits and gravy way too much to do something like that.

 

[JeffG]

I have been hunting for 45 years. I've hunted the West, Midwest and West TX. I've taken White Tail, Mule and Coues deer. Rocky Mtn Elk, Black Bear, Mt. Lion. All types of furbearer critters and varmints.
When I get with a group of hunters and even buddies of mine. Out come the stories of " I shoot my animal at 550-800 yards on average. And on and on they go how they are true snipers of the hunting world. I am sure every now and then a few do attempt to take an unethical shot that far.
Theses super hunters are shooting 243, 7mm-08, 270, 30- 06, 300 Savage, 25-06 and 7mag.
I do my small game / varmint hunting with my 243 and my big game with my 30-06. The longest shots I've ever taken were at varmint (whistle pig, badger, crow and coyote) all at about 420 yards.
I'd say 95% of all my kills have been 250 yards or less.
Took my 1st bull elk in 93 outside Flagstaff at 95 yards. A really nice 6x6 Do hunters now a days really shoot that far the majority of the time? I find it very hard to believe these fine people are being truthful on most of their hunting stories.

The majority of my hunting has been in the Midwest, Great Lakes region. Sure, I have sat on some fence lines and field edges during deer season, and I have made 200 yard shots, with adequate terrain backstops, from a rested tree stand. Most of those shots were backed up by a lot of range time, practicing 200 yard shots. Beyond that, animal judging and knowing what is beyond the target is difficult.
Differences in terrain, geography and elevation not with standing, 300 yards is an awful long shot, on game. I have shot competition out to 600 yards with iron sights with M16 and M14. A big black bullseye on contrasting background is not going to suffer a lingering death if I fub the shot. There is no chance of another hunter, or cabin being beyond my target either.

To each his own, but I keep my shots within 100 yards on game, mostly on the basis of safety, and respect for the game animal.

 

[CraigC]

I knew I was bad at estimating range, I didn't know HOW bad until I got a rangefinder. Wholy worth the price of admission.

Me too. Years of hunting rabbits, I got pretty good at dealing with .22LR drop out to 150yds. Which is all but irrelevant with centerfires. Beyond that, might as well be a mile.

 

[Bill Raby]

Wyoming Pronghorns!!??

Smiles,

Yes. Wyoming Pronghorns. Indians managed to shoot them with arrows for about 1000 years. Back in the old west days people managed to shoot them even before scopes were invented. They did not even have $80 pants that they bought at a big sporting goods store. Now nobody can get within 500 yards of them. Instead of learning how to hunt, people just learn how to spend $1500 on a big scope. They learn how to shoot things that are really far away, but know nothing at all about hunting. Got all these guys here bragging about how far away they shot something from. That is not something to brag about. It is something to be embarrassed of.

 

[Hookeye]

Indiana now allows HP rifle on private land for deer and my farthest w the better stuff LOL, is 75 yards.

Groundhogs dont get interesting til 300 and my old spots got houses built and yotes have the chucks dang near extinct.

Have taken deer w MZ, SG and HG to 150 or a little farther. Offhand no big deal.

Funny, pops railed a chuck at 250 with one of them bragger guys watching. He started hopping up and down, claiming it a great shot......at 400.

I would bet most of the long shooter guys could have their stuff multiplied by .6



Of course this back before economical rangefinders.