My personal range limits

[Mike 338]

I bow hunted before I ever rifle hunted. I appreciate the ability to "get in" on an animal and close the gap anytime I can. I talked to a dude behind the gun counter once who said he was going to shoot an antelope past 400 yards if he had to backup to do it. It seemed to me he cared more about boasting than dropping his animal clean. My range limits are a little more dependent upon conditions and the set up in front of me.

 

[Joefrazell]

Yep seems like after 600 things can very easily fall apart if there's a tiny error. Some guys here can easily make hits reliably beyond 600 yards but that's not me at this point in my shooting career. If you can take a 10" gong and hang it anywhere as far as temp, elevation, wind, angle ect. And hit it first shot with a cold gun then you SHOULD be able to efficiently kill at that range. Thats how I like to test. It doesnt matter if you can shoot 1/2 moa at 1000 yards if you poi is 2 feet from poa at that range.

 

[Canhunter35]

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.

Well said.
I'm kinda the same. I seen my moose at 800 yds bedded down. I walked over to 200yds and shot him in the neck...the closer you are the less chance of error.
That said if it's a varmit at a range I have validated dope for, its go time and I'm shooting...it's why I practice. And I know you CANNOT make a shot you don't take. But if you can make first round hits 80% of the time on a target at a given range drop that to 40-50% on a live animal. I've had it where I range a roll in the terrain in front of a coyote and the dirt flies at its feet. Doh!
There's a lot of little errors can happen when hunting with extended range multiplying them

 

[CaptnC]

This topic is timed perfectly. I've been hitting the range regularly in the last month getting ready for a hunt that starts January 5th.

The area should provide plenty of shot opportunities out way beyond my capabilities. It is an open canyon semi desert area of west texas.

There are several different species of exotic sheep and deer there. Because they are non indigenous there is no limits, not that means I will be blasting away. But it means if I can catch the right situation I don't have to be restricted by sex or specie.

I have been practicing different positions with both rifles that I will be taking. I know everyone will suggest to get one gun and learn it...but because this is a once in a life time hunt and I don't want a rifle issue to ruin the hunt.

Here is something I've made if I have time to set up on a spot and glass.

This at the 600 yard range.

I'm very satisfied with my ability to make a shot out to 600 yards. The wind will my biggest challenge. Right now the weather forecast is stable so wind should not be a huge issue. But I still plan to try to get the wind either in my face or at my bank to minimize it's effect on the shot.

I also hunt alone so I will try to record my shots on my spotting scope. I've been recording my shots on steel for the last few weeks. So I've even been practicing setting that up too solo. I'm averaging 10 to 15 seconds from starting the camera to breaking the shot.

 

[WildRose]

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.

This morning I had one of those moments where having a spotter would have made all the difference. To shorten a long story I ended up shooting an extra buck having thought one of the two I'd just shot was only wounded and finished with a quick follow up shot.

Had I for sure been able to see my impacts or had a spotter with me doing so I wouldn't be having such a long day. Had to come back to town for a Dr's appointment and now the rest of the say will be spent getting out three deer and dressing them.

It's all Mario's fault for going home early, HA!

 

[WildRose]

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.

That is something I've yet to master but it sure is a great idea. If nothing else you can go back and look at the video to figure out exactly what happened.

I'm shooting an unbraked/unsuppressed .375 Ruger right now that only weighs about 7.5lbs so there's just no way in hell to spot my own.

 

[WildRose]

Well said.
I'm kinda the same. I seen my moose at 800 yds bedded down. I walked over to 200yds and shot him in the neck...the closer you are the less chance of error.
That said if it's a varmit at a range I have validated dope for, its go time and I'm shooting...it's why I practice. And I know you CANNOT make a shot you don't take. But if you can make first round hits 80% of the time on a target at a given range drop that to 40-50% on a live animal. I've had it where I range a roll in the terrain in front of a coyote and the dirt flies at its feet. Doh!
There's a lot of little errors can happen when hunting with extended range multiplying them

"Know Thyself", "Know Thy limits" followed by "Be Honest with Thyself!".

 

[1Moose]

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.

So true. Someone good enough to make a kill shot 9/10 or 19/20 or 49/ 50 times isn't then likely to have a clean miss high, low, left or right (cleanly missing the several inches of animal still in the way in those directions). That's a "lucky" bad shot and we can't count on that. I lost a whitetail bow hunting many years ago and still don't like to think about it. And I shot a pronghorn with a Barnes TTSX out of my .30-06 when I got back into hunting several years ago (only bullet I had been able to get to shoot well out of that rifle). Too tough if a bullet and not the perfect shot. Had to look her in the eye when I made a 2nd shot. Don't want to do that again either.

 

[Bravo 4]

On the flip side, you also don't hear about the times guys do not take a long range shot due to a "just didn't feel right" scenario. This year I had a couple cow elk feeding in a tree line at around 1100 yards. This was about as good of shooting conditions as one could ask for while hunting: barely a breeze at basically head on bearing, calm animals, and a pretty darn stable shooting position with a rifle setup more than capable. Even though I had been smashing small rocks a week prior at ranges well beyond that at basically the same elevation/temp/baro but with some fierce winds, I didn't pull the trigger on one of those cows. Something just didn't feel right. At first I was a little shaky from elk fever (yes, even cow elk do that to me after hunting hard a solid week and not getting to put an animal in the crosshairs), then I was shaking because I had taken my heavy coat off to get a better shooting position and started getting cold while doing a little dry firing on them, then once I felt confident in "me"-the elk had moved into some thicker vegetation and I didn't want to try and thread the needle. Guess what, a couple days later I drove the 1200 miles home (with over $1,100 dollars of unfilled tags in my pocket) with my tail tucked between my legs.

 

[gohring3006]

Good post,
I heard a Congressman say the other day. "Don't say or do things that make you appear weak."
Giving in to pressure from other people, and making poor decisions based on that pressure, not only appears weak, it confirms it.


Do what you know you can do, not what you think you can do..
But always try to be better.

 

[Guy M]

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.

Ya, for me, it's important to be consistent. If I hop around with a lot of different rifle/scope combinations, I'm not nearly as good as I am when I stick with one that I know well.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I will add to this thread by saying that confirming drops out to effective range with documented atmosphere is highly important. This data then needs to be formed into your ballistic solution. Once you have this confirmed data then you can adjust it for current conditions when on the hunt. Changes in elevation, humidity, and temp make big changes in poi when hunting beyond 500y. The further the range gets the more difference it makes. These one size bdc reticles or send in your rifle dope for a custom yardage turret are not good for long range hunting.

Steve

 

[jrock]

I do believe marketing has something to do with. However, technology as come a long ways with better everything which makes results at LR more reliable. I think people like to stretch their limits and challenge themselves. Sure, practice is one thing but each to his own when determining limits for ethical hunting.

The biggest game changer for me was the addition of a range finder. I would always try to get less than 200 yards before shooting as I'm not great with visual range estimations. The next item was using scopes with high quality glass and repeatable turret adjustment. I don't trust ballistics charts without verifying drop. As I started to work my way out, the atmospheric effects started to get challenging beyond 500 yards for a 100% repeatable first shot. That aspect limits my range for now. Sure, I can whack steel, rocks, and paper at more than twice that distance but that isn't looking at an animal with buck fever running through your veins.

Practicing using a gun or bow at twice the distance I plan to shoot helps me feel what my body is doing allows me to better correct myself.

 

[Buck Buster]

I will add to this thread by saying that confirming drops out to effective range with documented atmosphere is highly important. This data then needs to be formed into your ballistic solution. Once you have this confirmed data then you can adjust it for current conditions when on the hunt. Changes in elevation, humidity, and temp make big changes in poi when hunting beyond 500y. The further the range gets the more difference it makes. These one size bdc reticles or send in your rifle dope for a custom yardage turret are not good for long range hunting.

Steve

Years ago, mid 70s, we didn't have all these high tec. things of today. When a shot was questionable the guys that taught me said to get the same range in a different direction, preferably on an adjacent mountain ( so you didn't scare the deer ) and take a practice shot. It only takes one practice shot I'm sure you know, as long as someone knows where it hit. This is in the mountains of PA. And the next shot is usually a hit on the intended target. This is still as good of method I feel if not better, because you are adjusting for the actual conditions at that time, no mistakes calculating information and it is fast. Bang! splat!, I saw it hit, move back onto the target, BANG! capuump! He's down!! Just about that fast! I like it, and so does my wallet. Good luck hunting and be safe.