POP,
I really do not have a dog in this fight either way, do what you want and I will do what I want, results speak much louder then words do in nearly any situation.
That said, you say long range hunting is not hunting but instead mearly shooting.
My friend, tell me the difference between that and sitting in a riverbottom treestand or ground blind next to a hot trail to and from feeding areas. I tell you what, its hard as hell to hit a whitetail at 40 yards with a modern bolt action rifle!!!!
Don;t get me wrong, I hunt this way alot but to be blunt, this is no more hunting then long range hunting. If you miss a buck from a tree stand as he walks calmy into view, something is wrong, either with your equipment or your shooting skill. When I say "your" I do not mean you in particular but the hunter.
I guess my comment is how can you say sitting in a stand is any more or less hunting then long range hunting is. I would say 80% of all the whitetails taken in the US are taken off a stand. I would say that 90% of B&C bucks are taken off fixed stands or ground blinds in the US.
Is this hunting or shooting?
I can tell you what, its far more of a challange to shoot a buck at 600 yards then it is 100, or 75 or 50 or 25 yards.
Hell with a good archery shot, shooting a deer at 40 yards is a piece of cake. 30 yards is even easier and 20 yards really gets easy as far as making the shot is concerned.
Is this hunting or shooting?
In my opinion, the definition of hunting is going into the field and outwitting your game to the point where you are able to make a shot to the vitals of that animal killing it cleanly as quick as possible.
Now you may say its far more of a challange to get close. In the right conditions its no harder to get within 50 yards of an animal then it is to get within 500 yards of an animal.
The "hunting" is no different if your hunting from a stand or ground blind. Again if you feel these are forms of hunting you are counterdicting yourself with your own words.
Another advantage to LRH is that you do not disturb the animals. If you go beating all over heck in the area where a big buck is you will possibly get one chance to harvest that buck and more then likely it will not be a good chance or a quality shot.
Hunting at long range allows you to observe the animals, learn the animals in the area, study them over many different days with no fear of pushing them out of the area and when the time is right making a surgical shot to cleanly harvest your animal, again with minimal disturbance to the surrounding area and game.
Now as to GGs buffalo hunt, this was a semi controled situation which could not have been better for this type of a shot. I am sure GG would tell you this is not really a hunt, don;t think I ever heard him say anything to the sort.
He made the shot at +1000 yards because he can and for him and many others I know on this sight, hitting a Buffalo in the vitals at 1K yards is not a difficult thing to do by any means.
If he had walked up to the animal at 15 yards and busted him between the eyes would you have called that hunting? I think not, whats the difference, a dead animal with one shot is a dead animal with one shot.
I do not mean to offend here but it looks pretty bad to go to another site and make these comments when you have pretty much been accepted here at LRH. You can certainly say what you want but I for one would rather read on LRH then I would hear about it on another site. Just looks bad in my opinion for you.
Again, the way we hunt should not be defined by others as far as if it is hunting or shooting. If it is legal in the hunting area, if it is safe and if the game is harvested cleanly and quickly, who is to say what hunting is and is not.
I hunt nearly 75% of the time with handguns, traditional revolvers as well as single shot specialty pistols. The rest is rifle hunting at any range a shot presents itself. I do not look for +600 yard shots but I know if one presents itself in the proper shooting conditions that I can make that shot.
Matters not if you think it is hunting or not, that will certainly not effect how my bullet flies nor the hundreds and even thousands of hours spent practicing for just that possibility that a long shot may present itself. More then likely it will not but we have invested the time and money into being capable of making the shot. Do not insult us by saying it is only shooting when we love hunting as much as you I am sure to that.
Have a good day,
Kirby Allen(50)
