I'm with some of the more seasoned LR guys on here, depends on the particular rifle/load and the conditions at the time. My longest to date is 1425 yards on a whitetail buck. My longest bull elk was 1006. I have a rifle that has the performance (external ballistics and accuracy) to kill way past that. Had a cow elk standing perfect broadside for several minutes at 1600 with about as perfect conditions as you could ask for, I didn't shoot because it just didn't feel right as I had only shot that load to 1300 (with scary accuracy the day before). I also hadn't been training all year like I would want. Like I have posted in the past, I've passed on <50 yard shots because things didn't feel right. If I'm not confident that I have a dead animal when I pull the trigger then the trigger doesn't get pulled. This year I have been shooting quite a bit at work & on my own and feeling pretty good. However, I may have to come up with another load for my rifle over the proven one due to availability of the bullet I've used. If I can get this thing going right and then proof it past 2000 yards, and it feels good at the time, who knows.
How far will you shoot at an animal?
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500 for me. I lose resolution of the pronghorns after that.
Those >500 and consistent are the LR masters, IMO.
Those >500 and consistent are the LR masters, IMO.
Deezel
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Just because you can sit at a bench and ring steel all day long at 1,000 yards, doesn't mean you can accurately or take an animal at 1,000 yards. It's a real eye opener going from a solid bench to a not so solid position to shoot from.
My eye opener was shooting at an elk at 569 yards. I got 2 good chances to shoot and both shots were clean misses. First shot I blamed on my excitement, second shot I just flat out missed but why? I was devastated because I knew I could make that shot from a bench. Turns out I couldn't make that shot with only a sapling for a rest. That was 6 years ago and I've learnt a ton from that miss.
The best way to find out just how far you can make an shot is to practice that shot. My main hunting practice now consists of at least 1 shot every time I hit the range. This is the first, cold bore shot out of the rifle. Some like to call this the "fouler". I call it the "hunting" shot. The shot is taken from a multitude of different positions to mimic hunting scenarios. I've taken shots from trigger sticks, prone, leaning against a tree, off my knees, freehand and whatever else I can think of. Freehand I'm confident to 250 yards or so. Off a good rest or prone 600 yards or so, only because that's how far I had to shoot at home. I've just extended my home range to 725 yards so hopefully I can extend my confident hunting range to 700 yards. Again, a lot is going to depend on conditions and shooting rest. I do practice these different positions with a warm barrel but it's still the very first shot that counts. If I was presented with that same 569 yard shot today, I'm very confident that elk would be in the freezer.
My longest kill shot to date was a mule deer at just over 700 yards when I was 20. I know now that was a fluke.
My eye opener was shooting at an elk at 569 yards. I got 2 good chances to shoot and both shots were clean misses. First shot I blamed on my excitement, second shot I just flat out missed but why? I was devastated because I knew I could make that shot from a bench. Turns out I couldn't make that shot with only a sapling for a rest. That was 6 years ago and I've learnt a ton from that miss.
The best way to find out just how far you can make an shot is to practice that shot. My main hunting practice now consists of at least 1 shot every time I hit the range. This is the first, cold bore shot out of the rifle. Some like to call this the "fouler". I call it the "hunting" shot. The shot is taken from a multitude of different positions to mimic hunting scenarios. I've taken shots from trigger sticks, prone, leaning against a tree, off my knees, freehand and whatever else I can think of. Freehand I'm confident to 250 yards or so. Off a good rest or prone 600 yards or so, only because that's how far I had to shoot at home. I've just extended my home range to 725 yards so hopefully I can extend my confident hunting range to 700 yards. Again, a lot is going to depend on conditions and shooting rest. I do practice these different positions with a warm barrel but it's still the very first shot that counts. If I was presented with that same 569 yard shot today, I'm very confident that elk would be in the freezer.
My longest kill shot to date was a mule deer at just over 700 yards when I was 20. I know now that was a fluke.
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For me it depends on environment, weather conditions and time of day not so much the cartridge measurables. I am set up and proficient to 600 with 7 rifles. I try get inside of 400 and have only shot 4 deer past 400 longest being 457. Those were all in the fairly open coolies of western SD. Oddly enough 2 were killed with a .257Wby, one with .270Wby, and one with a 300Wby. All of the 6.5s I have and have had, I have never had to stretch past about 380 yards, and I have killed as many big critters with the .260 and 6.5-06 as any other chambering I've owned or own.
Having shot 600 a lot and 1000 some and seeing my flaws as a shooter and the effects of even slight downrange cross winds at a K, and the fact that I don't have a deer dog, I have to stay inside 500 for sure.
Having shot 600 a lot and 1000 some and seeing my flaws as a shooter and the effects of even slight downrange cross winds at a K, and the fact that I don't have a deer dog, I have to stay inside 500 for sure.
Seriously though on topic.. I have never had the opportunity to shoot game over 489 yards. Not where I hunted for the first 40 years. I bought a hunting property 3 years ago...which gave me the 489 yard Elk, but up there I do have the opportunity to see game up to 1 mile. So...I bought into the LONGER RANGE idea. I have been practicing hard for the past two years weekly. 3 new rifles, three new scopes and buying powder by the Keg instead of by the 1lb...so am I ready to shoot longer ranges...you bet.... I'm going to stretch it right out now...I'm going to 500 yrds!
This is kind of an open-ended question, it really depends on the game and the kit I'm using at the time. I think the rule of thumb is 600 yards for most hunters that practice their off-season rifle marksmanship, for those who don't, I'm also sure it needs to be shorter. I would feel comfortable hitting a deer at 1k... due to my 1k match shooting over the years, with that said; I dought very much that I would attempt those shots, I've killed Ground Hogs, my best 1014 yards with a .308 Win, but Ground Hogs sure aren't as tough as a Mule Deer. So for me, I'd say, again depending on the game and rifle... 600-800 yards works in my case with a pretty much a high percentage of hit's on the game, in the vitals at those ranges.
xsn10s
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I have an 800 yard range 3 miles from the house. And I used to shoot 1200 yards all the time. But I have not shot at big game past 125 yards yet. Where I live some areas the closest I can get to some big game is maybe 600 yards. So I train for those situations or if I have to shoot at wounded game. Otherwise I'll put on a stalk, I prefer to get close as possible. During bow season I've been within 20 feet of an elk herd. That got me hooked on getting close by either stalking or ambush. Predators and varmints is entirely a different thing. As long as the bullet has enough behind it for a clean kill I'll let it fly. So far 400 yards on a cold bore rock chuck confirmed many times. 800 yards unconfirmed on a coyote. I would have has to cross a freshly cut alfalfa field to confirm which we didn't want to do.
Time of flight always comes up but there again it is judgement. At 500 yards the bullet is gonna get to the target right at 1/2 a second. About the same amount of time it takes a modern compound bow to shoot 45 yards or so.
TRG65
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I personally think 600 is a max, but it is very conditions and terrain based. 600 would be a 2MOA target on something like a deer. It is also about the distance when my bullet goes below 2100/2000 fps. I've shot enough matches, that I'm not comfortable with my hit percentage on a less than 2 MOA target to risk an animal. Also, I know you can get expansion on accubonds or eld-x, etc, but I've seen too much data which shows questionable expansion when you get close to advertised limits. I like the information provided on ballisticstudies.com and analysis on hit percentages based on web analysis (https://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/06/09/how-much-does-it-matter-overall-summary/)
For the folks who can and do take game further, outstanding. Shooting matches is two fold, I gain practice and more skill, however, I know how risky long shots are on fairly large targets. For a monthly PRS match, my hit percent is usually only between 66 and 75. That is of the shots that I get off. My points are usually only between 50 and 66% of the possible. That would be a lot of wounded animals.
For the folks who can and do take game further, outstanding. Shooting matches is two fold, I gain practice and more skill, however, I know how risky long shots are on fairly large targets. For a monthly PRS match, my hit percent is usually only between 66 and 75. That is of the shots that I get off. My points are usually only between 50 and 66% of the possible. That would be a lot of wounded animals.
Orange Dust
Well-Known Member
Exactly what I was saying. It matters. The distance you can or should shoot is different on every hunt. In perfect conditions, on a calm animal that is not going anywhere, a good shooter with the right equipment can kill him a long ways. It is a judgement call every time. It takes a lot of experience, not just with shooting, but in studying game and their habits. (Except Coyotes. The poor things will be shot on sight if my rangefinder can range them.) The equipment we have today is amazing compared to what we had not so long ago. The younger crowd need to understand it is not the same thing as shooting steel or paper. Some animals have a habit of not being where they were when the bullet left the barrel. Some are actually pretty good at it. I still think a lot of experience bow hunting is really good for the long range rifle hunter. Bows will teach you this very quickly. It is the same thing, the distances are just longer.
esshup
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Like others have said, it all depends on the animal and the weather conditions. My 7mm still has approximately 1,000 fpe at 2,000 yds., so oomph remaining isn't an issue.
That 7mm AM is a beast!
I can ring steel out to 1200 yards. But 750 yards is the max that i feel comfortable shooting game, and only then under the right conditions.
dana bodnar
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Each animal you hunt has a different size kill zone. When you can group consistently in that zone at that range in the wind and all the other variables then and only then can you take a ethical shot. That is the name of the game.
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