How far can you connect?

[Far North Hunter]

In Wyoming I have the nickname of 'aspen killer'! I had a 50 yd shot at a bull elk who was in 5th gear. it was in a aspen patch with a 35 yd opening. I heard the elk coming and dismounted the horse. Got ready and the last animal through the opening was the bull. I shot and down he went, sliding out of the opening. I walked up hill into the opening..no elk! I looked around and saw the back of the ONLY aspen (14"dia) in the opening was blown out. Hit the tree dead center!
The bull was full of splinters and simply got up and ran off. No blood and after a full day of tracking there was no sign he was fatally wounded.
The longest shot with the same 338 win was 900yds off hand on a nice elk, shooting up hill.

 

[wv270wsm]

I missed a stud gobbler one beautiful morning at 17 feet with my turkey gun . That I can constantly kill birds at 40 yards with . I have killed deer at 700 yards with my 30-378 on a few occasions

 

[19 Badger]

502 yards on a mule deer last year. I practice out to 750 but 500 is about my comfort zone on game with low or no wind. I am still pretty green when it comes to judging wind, but am honest with myself about it and won't push it on live game (excepts yotes, lol).

 

[Wolf01]

I have never actually killed a deer or a pig at over 180 yards. My typical shot is 75 to 120 yards. I have missed at ranges longer than 180, to be honest, several times. So my question is to my fellow bloggers here is, what is your longest successful shot? What is your shortest miss? What is your longest attempted shot on game? I have missed at 400 yards, I must confess, way more than once. In a sitting position I can hit a grapefruit at 200 yards four times out of five, if I take my time, with my trusty 27 inch custom-barreled .270. I have missed a sitting rabbit at six yards with my .338. Everyone on this site is, if you believe their comments, a superb shot, and that is great. That just does not apply to me, so this post is to confess my limitations honestly. Tell me if I have flunked!

I've made shots to 1k with open sites on old military rifles. Kinda cut my teeth there. Scoped rifles out to 800 due to the scope budget. Mostly inside 400 yard. This is on game as well as paper, I'll say, I dont do that without some very regimented shooting at long distance before that season.

 

[window licker]

Shooting a precision rifle match, or any long range field type match will give you an indication as to what your ability, and hit percentage is going to be. Many a man has had the ego crushed in this experiment, but actual impacts or misses in a timed environment is going to be a good indicator as to where you should probably set the distance limits.

 

[Mach 1]

If you haven't missed some easy give me shots your either a liar or you don't hunt enough

 

[Savage 22-243 AI]

I have never actually killed a deer or a pig at over 180 yards. My typical shot is 75 to 120 yards. I have missed at ranges longer than 180, to be honest, several times. So my question is to my fellow bloggers here is, what is your longest successful shot? What is your shortest miss? What is your longest attempted shot on game? I have missed at 400 yards, I must confess, way more than once. In a sitting position I can hit a grapefruit at 200 yards four times out of five, if I take my time, with my trusty 27 inch custom-barreled .270. I have missed a sitting rabbit at six yards with my .338. Everyone on this site is, if you believe their comments, a superb shot, and that is great. That just does not apply to me, so this post is to confess my limitations honestly. Tell me if I have flunked!

You haven't flunked. Practice practice practice. I can hit Prairie Dogs at 500 to 600 yards 7 out of 10 shots when I am on. Longest kill is 1580 yards. Deer is another story. 75 yard miss and then a 513 yard kill. Who knows? Excited? Unsure? Need practice is all. At the range I can shoot 2.5" and less at 600 yds and 11" and less at 1000 yards with 3 different rifles. But during competition it never happened that way. 4.2" and 18", so pressure and stress and excited?. You didn't flunk.

 

[Barehandlineman11]

I missed a buck when I was 15 at 150 yards. Problem was I ran out of ammo shooting at him lol I had a box. Next day killed one at 497 yards first shot same gun

 

[freefloater59]

You're a hunter and will experiencing the good, bad, & embarrassing. Longest: 900 yds West Texas Muley with a 264 Win Mag, Pre'64 26" bbl, Sierra 140 BT. Most embarrassing misses (plural) ... Wyoming Antelope, was up high on hill tops, saw the hurd cut around the base of the hill below, so I jogged around two more hill tops, trying to come out at a point in front of them. I'm shooting my 257 AI and 120 gr Speer BT, and confidence in hitting anything up to 800 yds. But those speed goats were ahead and out of range of me by the time I was in position to see them. So I'm setting down, huffing & puffing, trying to get my breath back. and I hear rocks clattering about 25 yds to my left and a big buck comes up out of the gully and tops out next to me. The buck is huffing & puffing also and just stands there. I turn slowly try an offhand twisted to my left and miss, and miss #2, and miss #3, and the buck is just keeps walking, both of us still huffing and puffing. I laid down, put the my rifle across my forearm, set the butt on the ground so I'm not touching except the grip, sight down the bbl and #4 hits the buck. BUT... the shot I missed that I've regretted was when I was 18 years old, in West Texas, and a giant muley stood up at about 250 yds down hill from me. I had a bench-rest shot across the cab of the truck, and the shot went just over his shoulder. My heart was pounding and I guess I pulled up when I squeezed off. My dad warned me about buck fever but it's one of those things that you just have to experience to know.

 

[freak007]

I cannot remember ever *missing* a big game animal. Small game is another story... My shotgun skills are not what I would like them to be...

When I was 12, I wounded the largest whitetail buck I have ever had a shot at (even to this day), He was less than 40 yards, and I hit him low in the chest (sternum low). I waited 30 minutes before setting out after him, and then with the help of my mentor we tracked him for over 4 miles. We eventually lost the blood trail, but fortunately another member of our party crossed paths with him shortly afterwards and put him down. I don't remember that buck's exact measurements, but I do remember he was over 155." My mentor was (rightly) furious and told me that if I ever wounded another animal he would not take me hunting ever again. Lesson learned.

Fast forward another 20+ years, I have taken over 75 deer with 12 kills between 400 and 483 yards; every one taken with 1 shot. I do not shoot at a moving big game animal, I do not shoot unless I am 100% certain that I will connect and kill. Bad angle? Bad conditions? Poor position? Wait.

My longest 1st round hit (target) - 1476 meters.

Longest 1st round kill - 683 meters.

 

[D$tring]

I am not an expert and have missed plenty, but I am constantly trying to improve. First one shot hit at long range hit was 571 and started my addiction/obsession. Furthest one shot hit for me was 887 in perfect conditions. Furthest ever hit on game animal was this year at just over 1200. I had been practicing out to a mile frequently, was prone and had a solid rest, good wind reading (I thought), and my best shooting rifle with the best hand loads I have ever produced; first shot missed 2 minutes left, but the height was perfect. The buck picked up his head and then went right back to feeding. I made the wind correction and hit him perfectly. He jumped up and staggered a few steps, and I hit him again to put him down for good; he stumbled/tumbled into a tree patch. I will say that even though I knew the shots were good; I was sick to my stomach a bit as we hiked over to him. 1200 across a deep, rocky canyon takes a while traverse; I was playing every possible scenario in my head and regretting that shot a bit until we got to the buck—piled up right were we thought he was. I probably won't shoot at a deer that far again, just because I hated that feeling during the long hike, but it was cool to be able to have the skill and equipment to do it.

 

[D$tring]

You are starting on a fun and expensive journey. But also one that is very rewarding. Find a good mentor to help you with shooting technique; (attend classes or shoot some competitions) we have some clubs in my area full of people that know a lot more than I do. Spend time on this forum; there are so many knowledgeable people that have taught me so much; I read everything I could but never posted for years. Also, once you progress and want to shoot consistently at 800 or a 1000, you will find that you need to hand load—the random flier will begin to drive you crazy. Find someone that can mentor and teach you. The precision and control it will provide you is second to none, and there is nothing like a flier free 1/2 moa shot string at 1000 to give you confidence. A 5 inch group at 200-300 is what I used to settle for and used to think that it was crazy talk to shoot past 400. Now I try my hardest to get a 3-4 inch group at 1000-1200, and am always finding ways to stretch the limits and tighten the groups. Better/custom rifles, better glass, different powder/bullets etc. etc. and constant practice.

 

[1894C]

Longest white tail 1180
Longest coyote 858.
Longest bear 445

Steel out to a mile regularly. As previously stated shooting is a perishable skill but wind reading is where you really good up. Long absences do not go well for ones ability to read wind

 

[MajorSpittle]

On of the farthest I shot was around 700 yards with my 7RM and 4-12X standard scope. Mule deer on a side hill on a windy day. I aimed at a rock on a dirt trail about 10yrs from him and watched the impact location then applied that adjustment to hit the deer a couple seconds later as it stood staring in my direction from the gunshot. Dropped him in his tracks.

I once unloaded my rifle on a Mule deer about 350 yards away and missed every time. Shooting up a draw in some river breaks on a VERY windy day. My brother was spotting for me and my impacts were all over the place around the deer to the point it made no sense. There must have been huge down gusts and shifting winds blowing my rounds every which way. I never thought wind could effect a bullet so much in 350 yrds.