The Future of Long Range Hunting

[406precision]

Honestly 25-30% But I've made some **** lucky shots

But other than coyotes, wolves, and prairie dogs if it's moving I'm not shooting at moving critters.

We have a moving deer simulation at our archery range it really opens some eyes when guys shoot.

Jordan@406

 

[MMERSS]

We have a moving deer simulation at our archery range it really opens some eyes when guys shoot.

Jordan@406

Nice, I wish there were more ranges available with moving targets. Oh, and clay birds don't count unless a single projectile is used!

 

[406precision]

Clays at 1000 are good practice..brings out the kid in me.

Jordan@406

 

[WildRose]

Recently had an exchange with a friend on how to calculate the lead for a moving target. This came during a conversation on antelope hunting, and what to do IF the first shot goes astray. We stipulated from the outset that we would never choose to shoot a mover EXCEPT to try to "clean up the mess" from a blown shot. When we got into the nuts and bolts of target velocity, angle and range change from target movement, sustained lead vs. intercept shot and so on it became obvious pretty quick that you better not screw up the first shot....

Shooting a moving target is just not the kind of thing that many in this country have experience with at all.

To do so well requires a tremendous amount if practice ON moving targets.

Europeans on the other hand grow up on it and practice the skill pretty much every time they are in the field because so much of their big game hunting is done as "driven hunts".

Of course they aren't doing it at long range.

The nature of my hunting, primarily predator and varmint hunting is done on moving critters but like many Europeans I grew up on it.

With practice you develop a feel for it but even with as much practice as I have at it I simply will not take a shot at a moving game animal at long range unless as you point to we're trying to put a stopper on a wounded animal.

If we all stick to the principle of "Respect the Game and know the limits of your abilities" we have very few problems.

 

[Engineering101]

My two cents worth: My dad started me hunting deer back in the 1950's. We were poor as church mice and needed the meat what with a family of 6 to feed. One day he let me go hunting by myself. Wow. That was big stuff. I was wandering up a hillside when a nice 3 point whitetail jumped up and set sail going flat out across the hillside. I saw when it jumped up that it was a nice deer but it was mostly out of sight in the brush until it got to a opening about 80 yards off to my right. I was ready with my peep sighted 6.5mm when he got there and I squeezed off a shot.

I missed of course and was surprised to say the least when I got over there and found a dead 3-point piled up in the bushes. (Trick question, should I have taken that shot?)

Over the years I shot a few more running deer though none were moving as fast as the first. Eventually, I made a bad shot or two and hit animals I tracked but didn't get. I felt pretty tore up when I wounded an animal and finally the light bulb came on and I realized you must be SURE WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO HIT THEM OR YOU DON'T TAKE THE SHOT. It would have been a lot easier if my dad had just told me this but that wasn't his style.

So... I'll tell you, bottom line, it doesn't matter what the game is doing or how far away it is, if you are sure, take the shot. For most people, including me, that means that running game is a no go... or game at long range in a big wind, and so on.

By "sure" I mean you gotta be SHOCKED if they don't fall down when you squeeze the trigger. If that is your reaction to a miss you are doing it right. If you kind of suspected that you could miss and you pulled the trigger anyway, I suggest you reconsider your whole approach to this hunting thing.

One more thing - back to the trick question. I was surprised I hit that deer. I had NO BUSINESS taking that shot. If you've got kids you are training up to hunt, do them a favor and don't let them find this out the hard way.

 

[WildRose]

This^^^^
I'll take a moving coyote any day however I'm sure the ones still laughing at me would prefer it!

Same here. The first hundred or so I shot at probably 80 were laughing their butts off.

In the last thirty years, not so much.

 

[justgoto]

I don't hunt game animals at long range at all. Here in Ohio, just this year, we are allowed to use straight-walled cartridges in rifles to hunt deer. So for me it isn't practical.
I do shoot at running deer as we hunt driven deer often. Here is my set-up for practicing on moving targets.



I've practiced at up to 75 yards.
My 1 shot kill percentage would be in the 90 percentile, but for the whole group of short range hunters in my general vicinity, it would be 10% possibly; and even then, they don't just take one shot.
So most of the hunters on this site are leaps and bounds more ethical than the average hunter in my area, that might be complaining about the evil long range hunters; especially since their training is "on the job."

Having said that...
I've seen a few videos on here with young hunters shooting long range and missing the deer totally on the first shot. The correction to the mistake was to simply try again until there was a hit.
Those videos were met with praise. I said nothing, since ethical issues are to be avoided here.
But I think those types of videos fall into the same category as the long range moving target videos. Those children had as much business lobbing rounds at long range game animals, as do the ones not trained to shoot long range movers.

Now that opened a can of worms, didn't it?