My personal range limits

Guy M

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
895
Location
Chelan Co, Washington
I'm a hunter first, and a long-range hunter second, if at all. But I admire the skill required for long range shooting, and often shoot to 600 yards. I know, that's a "chip shot" for a bunch of you guys. :)

Perhaps it's my perception, but there seems to be some pressure for guys to shoot game at farther and farther ranges, even if they're not comfortable with shooting "way out there." I'd say... Shoot at ranges you're comfortable with.

Most of my conventional hunting rifles are zeroed at 200 yards, and I'm very comfortable with them at 300 yards, some to 400 yards.

My "long range" rifles I feel plenty good enough about to use out to 600 yards. Though I'm not currently competing, I am a "long range high master" according to the NRA, so have some experience with longer ranges.

Here's some reasons for my personal range limits:

1. Often, I simply don't have long-range shot opportunities. Mostly I seem to end up shooting game between 150 - 350 yards. Even on pronghorn. I've never shot a pronghorn beyond 250 yards! Closest shot on un-wounded game has been about 20 yards. Closest shot while following up a wounded bear was about 10 feet, in the brush. That was pretty intense.

2. I fear wounding big game, with a marginal shot, and having it get away. If an animal is poorly hit at 400, 500, 600 yards... It gets a LONG head start. This one worries me a lot. A few years ago I made a marginal hit on a nice mule deer buck towards the end of the day. Was unable to recover that buck until the next morning. I didn't sleep well that night. Fortunately the weather was cold, and it turns out the meat was in excellent condition. He hadn't gone far the night before, after being hit, but he had traveled. I think that he may have gone a lot farther if I had insisted on following him longer at night, pushing him.

If you've never made a poor hit on big game... You're not immune, it just hasn't happened yet.

3. Wind... Range is easy. It's just math. It can be measured accurately and dealt with easily. But wind? I can measure the wind at my firing point. I can only estimate what it's doing out there at 200, 300, 500, 700 yards downrange... And even our best whiz-bang cartridges with the most slippery of bullets are still greatly affected by wind.

4. 600 yards is as far as I can routinely practice at my gun club. I can practice farther, but it's easy to set up at 600 and practice. Not so easy to set up 800 - 1000 yard shots, so I don't get much practice beyond 600 yards.

So - for those reasons, though I have done a fair bit of shooting at 600 and beyond over the decades, I've set my personal limits where I feel confident. I'd suggest others do the same - find your confidence level, built on experience with shooting. And please, consider what happens when wounded game gets a quarter mile or half mile head start on us. These are my limits, not yours.

Oh, sometimes I've carried a silly lever action rifle with iron sights... Or a traditional muzzle loader, or a bow, or hunted with my revolver... Ya, my limit is even shorter then!

Regards, Guy
 
I'm the same. My firearms will perform well outside of my abilities to confidently shoot at longer ranges. Just about every shot I've taken on game has been less than 300 yards. Not hard for some by any stretch, but I need to work on my form and follow through before I'll risk taking anything longer. Heck, even some of my 200 yard shots are admittedly sloppy.
 
I have practiced out to 600 yards regularly for the last 20 years. Depending on the conditions (wind, animal behavior, etc.) I feel comfortable with that as my personal max. With that being said, I have never been presented with a long range shot. Due to limited hunting opportunities I take what I can get. My farthest big game animal was 106yds with an open sight lead only muzzleloader.o_O I have spent hours glassing clearcuts only to turn around and shoot a buck at 50yds:)
 
600 Is my limit if the wind is very calm and I have time and a good solid rest on game that doesn't know I'm there. A good spotter is handy also
 
GuyM : I have always said that if a hunter has never made a bad hit on a deer, he never shot at too many. Happy new year.
 
The thing that has limited me as much as anything is too many gun/scope combinations.......Dang I wish I could sell them all and settle down to one unit!! Missed a calf elk yesterday only because I had taken the mill scope off and replaced it with a better moa scope, did the conversion in my head just fine but forgot the moa hashes are 2 moa hashes instead of 1=missed very high ;-(
Time in the field has also taught me that I aint shooting long range to the truck and the critter aint likely to run to me after the shot. SOOOOOO if I gotta walk out there anyway may as well get a closer look and shot at the critter.
 
I concur. I find when it has been awhile since I have practiced at longer ranges my confidence is reduced. Therefore the distances I will engage game becomes much less. This past week I found myself in a big field where I have taken deer out to 750 yards. That was when I was shooting the same setup and shooting every week. I found my self checking my notes and range card and verifying ranges but decided I would limit myself to the tree line where shots varied from 300-350. I took a nice doe at 300. Each situation is different and many variables come into play for my confidence levels.

thanks

buck
 
I'm a hunter first, and a long-range hunter second, if at all. But I admire the skill required for long range shooting, and often shoot to 600 yards. I know, that's a "chip shot" for a bunch of you guys. :)

Perhaps it's my perception, but there seems to be some pressure for guys to shoot game at farther and farther ranges, even if they're not comfortable with shooting "way out there." I'd say... Shoot at ranges you're comfortable with.

Most of my conventional hunting rifles are zeroed at 200 yards, and I'm very comfortable with them at 300 yards, some to 400 yards.

My "long range" rifles I feel plenty good enough about to use out to 600 yards. Though I'm not currently competing, I am a "long range high master" according to the NRA, so have some experience with longer ranges.

Here's some reasons for my personal range limits:

1. Often, I simply don't have long-range shot opportunities. Mostly I seem to end up shooting game between 150 - 350 yards. Even on pronghorn. I've never shot a pronghorn beyond 250 yards! Closest shot on un-wounded game has been about 20 yards. Closest shot while following up a wounded bear was about 10 feet, in the brush. That was pretty intense.

2. I fear wounding big game, with a marginal shot, and having it get away. If an animal is poorly hit at 400, 500, 600 yards... It gets a LONG head start. This one worries me a lot. A few years ago I made a marginal hit on a nice mule deer buck towards the end of the day. Was unable to recover that buck until the next morning. I didn't sleep well that night. Fortunately the weather was cold, and it turns out the meat was in excellent condition. He hadn't gone far the night before, after being hit, but he had traveled. I think that he may have gone a lot farther if I had insisted on following him longer at night, pushing him.

If you've never made a poor hit on big game... You're not immune, it just hasn't happened yet.

3. Wind... Range is easy. It's just math. It can be measured accurately and dealt with easily. But wind? I can measure the wind at my firing point. I can only estimate what it's doing out there at 200, 300, 500, 700 yards downrange... And even our best whiz-bang cartridges with the most slippery of bullets are still greatly affected by wind.

4. 600 yards is as far as I can routinely practice at my gun club. I can practice farther, but it's easy to set up at 600 and practice. Not so easy to set up 800 - 1000 yard shots, so I don't get much practice beyond 600 yards.

So - for those reasons, though I have done a fair bit of shooting at 600 and beyond over the decades, I've set my personal limits where I feel confident. I'd suggest others do the same - find your confidence level, built on experience with shooting. And please, consider what happens when wounded game gets a quarter mile or half mile head start on us. These are my limits, not yours.

Oh, sometimes I've carried a silly lever action rifle with iron sights... Or a traditional muzzle loader, or a bow, or hunted with my revolver... Ya, my limit is even shorter then!

Regards, Guy
I think the only real pressure on pushing people beyond their limits is people/companies marketing products specifically designed to "go long, go longer".

As long as I've been around this site there's always been pretty broad agreement that the limit on range should be set by each individual based solely on their comfort level.

If that hasn't been made clear enough, your thread is a good opportunity for us all to reinforce it.

I've been at this longer than most and my maximum range will vary greatly based on all of the conditions when a shot presents itself. Too windy? Wind strong from wrong angle? No shot.

Game/range adds up to more than my comfort levels with the caliber/rifle in hand, no shot.

It doesn't matter to me if the shot on game is 50, 500, or 1,000 yards I'm only taking a shot if I'm completely convinced I can make it and get a good clean kill.

Now, varmints and predators fall into a different category as far as I'm concerned. On them I will stretch my limits because mostly I'm shooting them on my places or my neighbors and they want me to if nothing else run them off with a miss rather than pass on a shot. Those are all about protecting our land and livestock or my dogs so I don't care if they run a bit before expiring.

After a recent incident with a very large charging boar I also decided I'm not going after any more big hogs that run off in the brush if I'm alone or have a kid with me, it's just not worth the risk.
 
The value of a good spotter is immeasurable. Can't be said often enough.
I agree 100% with this statement. I think LR hunting/shooting is better as a team sport. However finding a good spotter and hunting with said spotter isn't easy. I shoot & hunt alone a majority of the time and have found that videoing with my phone and spotter to be the next best thing. Videoing a hunt is not easy with my equipment, alone and with no experience. It also lacks the immediate feedback a spotter can give so I focus like crazy to spot my own impacts. Wish I could get a video to load and show how videoing proved its worth.
 
The value of a good spotter is immeasurable. Can't be said often enough.
Truer words were never spoken. You have to know where your hitting, where the bullets going or you can shoot all day and not hit what your trying too.
 
I agree 100% with this statement. I think LR hunting/shooting is better as a team sport. However finding a good spotter and hunting with said spotter isn't easy. I shoot & hunt alone a majority of the time and have found that videoing with my phone and spotter to be the next best thing. Videoing a hunt is not easy with my equipment, alone and with no experience. It also lacks the immediate feedback a spotter can give so I focus like crazy to spot my own impacts. Wish I could get a video to load and show how videoing proved its worth.

Interesting idea, never thought of that. I've done a wee bit of digi-scoping. While getting everything lined up can be a bit tricky, I have been suprised how good the results can be.
 
I agree wholeheartedly. I have established a personal limit of 600 yards on wild game with perfect conditions and practice to that distance. Fun to shoot steel beyond that but in my mind the worst thing I can do is wound an animal. I am also not comfortable with the diminishing performance of most bullets at the longer ranges and slower velocities. We always here about the great shots, but how many near misses are there? The statistical analysis I have seen of accuracy at long ranges leads me to believe that the odds of a less than good shot are way too high. Off a half a minute at 800, 1000 etc will likely mean a wounded animal. Hopefully a miss but we can't guarantee that we will either miss or make a perfect hit and not wound.
 
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