800 yards deer hunting less work the better

[skyler1101]

Skyler1101 I can honestly say I think this is a 3 legged story

lol i purchased a nikon p 900 i have pics to prove it lol !

 

[Smokepoles]

I think you have the cart in front of the horse here but if your gonna do it a few things that might help-
As far as cartridge pick something fast that cheats the wind without too much recoil to keep flinching down, there's a lot of options. If you don't have time or know how either look into a rifle/scope system or send yours to someone to shoot it and verify drops and dope and make you a chart or a custom turret. Your going to have to make time to practice regardless to keep from shooting something's nuts or face off but that'll save you the initial setup time and let you spend your time at the range practicing rather than running numbers, etc. congrats on your deer but think how sick you'd feel if you sent it off with a bullet in its guts and lost it. For the sake of the animal and yourself you NEED to practice. Good luck.

 

[Wayne allen]

It depends on you budget.
I would pick the 300 win mag for the caliber.

 

[skyler1101]

Thank you Wayne as far as all I have researched it seems to be a tossup between the 300 win and the 300 rum

 

[NDF]

Skyler1101 you might check out the thread "looking for good reading material" if time is a issue with your business's, possibly this information might help you, me and a lot of others with shooting suggestions on all levels ...

 

[Ndfarmer]

All the previous people that mentioned the wind are 100% correct. It's a big deal here in nd we always have wind. I am still trying to better my wind reading abilities myself. I was curious if anyone would have a particular book or video to recommend to the op to help. Brian Litz?

 

[WildRose]

Thank you for the great suggestions and ammo suggestion as far as wind with the long range shot goes i will not take a shot like that unless its dead calm the day i took my 680 shot there was not one ounce of wind i understand that it plays a major role at the long distances thank you for the suggestions !

Skyler it's no problem taking shots on windy days once you understand how to compensate for it. There are days when the wind is so variable with both directions and gusts you just have to pass but when it's steady and you have both the experience and the data along with the time it's no problem. I grew up on the high plains myself so I know what kind of winds you have to deal with. I also used to spend a lot of time near Mobridge SD so I'm familiar with your conditions and terrain. Gotta get back up there some day if I can find a decent place to shoot a Mulie and/or Antelope.

 

[WildRose]

i can honestly say in 3 weekends of hunting i did not see a single wounded deer the only thing i seen was a 3 legged ram that looked like from the lower joint down it was ripped off...

Wounded deer tend not to last long in the wild even down here where our biggest predator problems are coyotes and hogs.

Get up there where you have a fair number of bears, big cats, and wolves and there odds of making it even a week would be pretty low.

 

[WildRose]

All the previous people that mentioned the wind are 100% correct. It's a big deal here in nd we always have wind. I am still trying to better my wind reading abilities myself. I was curious if anyone would have a particular book or video to recommend to the op to help. Brian Litz?

Check the thread listed above. I provided a link to Litz's book.

 

[WildRose]

Thank you Wayne as far as all I have researched it seems to be a tossup between the 300 win and the 300 rum

Unless you're recoil shy both are excellent choices. The 06 will do at 500 what the .308win does, at 300.

The 300wm will do at 750 what the 06 does at 550.

The Rum will do at a thousand what the wm does at 800.

I shoot both and honestly at some point I'll probably let my WM's go or use them as donor actions for other builds and just keep the Rum's and the .375's.

 

[graywolf]

Hey everyone i researched quite a few threads nothing was quite as specific as i wanted to see and if its not very possible feel free to tell me. I am going to purchase a gun within the next week and im wondering what brand and what caliber would be great to start with all i care about is being able to hit at 800 anything past that i feel requires a great amount of practice which i don't have time for so something that can accurately shoot to 800 is plenty for me. Group spacing i would like to be within 6 inches at 800 i hunt mule deer and whitetail has to have knock down power out to 800 for a clean kill shot i also plan to hunt elk in the near future if the caliber could kill elk to the same range or maybe less say 500 thats a major bonus for me an all in 1 gun would be perfect.

Do you have access to an 800 yd target range? Have you ever shot your Kimber 270WSM at paper or steel at that range to see how well you can get it to group at 100, 400, 800? That's where I'd start.

 

[skyler1101]

I do have access to long range shots on stew and I have shot out to 500 before just haven't had a gun I felt was capable of doing much further as far as recoil in a caliber recoil doesn't bother me at all doesn't matter to me if it kicks like a mule

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

If you've never shot a gun at 800 yards, I highly recommend doing LOTS of target practice (at non-living things) before taking a shot at a living thing, and risking maiming it. There is no such thing as instant gratification in the long range shooting world, despite what all the gun magazine articles will try to tell you. You have to work your way out to your distance goal. You have to learn the equipment, learn how to use it. Learn the basics of LR shooting. Build muscle memory. Start at 100, then go to 200, then once you're shooting consistent groups at that distance, move to 300, etc... And I don't mean all in the same day.

And in all honesty, once you get past about 500 yards, the wind really plays a factor. So, 800 is not a cake-walk.

You will need LOTS of practice that you don't want to spend the time or money on... My suggestion stick with 100-200 yard shots.

I've been in lr shooting for the past 5 years. I shoot 1000-1400yards 1-3 times a week in the summer when there's not 2ft of snow on the ground and I still only feel comfortable shooting 400-600 at a living critter. There's alot more to it than just buying the latest greatest LR cartridge/rifle and slapping a lr scope on it. It takes years and thousands of rounds of practice to be proficient at cold bore shots at long range.

 

[graywolf]

No disrespect, but your 270 WSM may or may not be what's limiting. What is your scope? What groups do you get at 100yds? As a lot of folks with experience have said, the ability to shoot game at 800 yds isn't something that you just buy at Cabela's.