What got you interested in long range hunting?

[RAGGED EDGE]

The NRA national matches, Williamsport, PA and Kenny Jarrett and his bean field rifles. Now I live out among a couple of LRR builders, and 10 miles away from a range I can go to a little over 1100 yds. on whenever I want to. "A man's got to know his limitations." Other than on varmints, mine is 500 yards.

 

[Bandit49]

I grew up on a ranch in south eastern Montana hunting Antelope and Mule deer with my dad and brother. I watched my dad make 400+ yard shots with a JC Higgins -06 and 4x Weaver scope. When I was going to get my first rifle dads said to get a .270 as he said it was flatter shooting than his -06.
Then in 1971 my brother and I bought a pair of Rem 788's in 22-250 and wreaked havoc on Coyotes sometimes out to 600 yards.
About the same time I bought a Rem 700 in 6mm that I am able to get some good long range hits out past 600 yards.

 

[KyCarl]

Growing up in Ohio hampered me quite a bit. You had to use shotguns for deer.
Predators were about all you could long range shoot? Coming from a frugal farm family
Who's idea was "Why buy a rifle for something you can't eat? Traps are easier and faster".. I'll catch up slow but steady.

 

[lyotehunter]

My first deer was 750 plus with my dad's 30-06 and a 6 power weaver scope. When he got back to me he said that the gun would not shoot that far. That was in 1962.

 

[DJ Fergus]

My first deer was 750 plus with my dad's 30-06 and a 6 power weaver scope. When he got back to me he said that the gun would not shoot that far. That was in 1962.

Did you hit it on the first shot? Even if you didn't hit it until the 3 or 4 shot, that's still pretty amazing for your first deer kill at that distance.

 

[22250imp]

It was coyotes sitting on there butts sunning themselves after having their fill from a dead cow. It was 800 yds. And also a Cooper I had acquired, chambered in the 6.5-284.

 

[skookum]

My bug started fairly early, having a fascination with rifles at a young age but it really got moving listening to my grandfather and dad talk about a couple animals my grandfather had killed acrossed a canyon and as I got older I wanted to know more.
At age 18 I went hunting in northern WA and saw a mule deer buck with mass and trash come out just before dark out at the 400 yard mark and he never stopped long enough for me to feel comfortable taking a shot and that really got the bug going.
I went in to the army shortly after, even though I tried and came close, i was never able to go to sniper school. When we deployed to Afghanistan we had a couple M14 rifles for "Squad Designated Marksman." I got selected to receive some training on how to use them from some much cooler guys with beards and that really put things in motion.
While in country, I signed up for this very site and began soaking up all I could, I even bought a custom 300 WSM rifle from the classifieds here. Through a lot of trial an error in relearning how to shoot and reload since returning stateside, I confidently shoot passed 1000 yards regularly.
After all the money and time I continue to spend, I still cant seem to find an animal to shoot passed 400 yards, my longest shot to date is 396 on a beautiful whitetail buck and 426 yards on a ground squirrel with a .204 of all things. My interest has been spread on to my dad and a close cousin of mine. Below I added a photo with my grandfather whom no longer hunts or shoots due to his health but this year I had him shooting a rock at 700 yards. After the first shot he chuckled and said "that's amazing."
Sorry for the long reply, keep this going, it's been fun reading everyone's stories.

 

[dmj]

For me it was actually archery hunting. What I mean is that when I practiced with my bow I would shoot at fairly long distances (75-100 yards). Now I didn't shoot at game that far away, but what I found was if you could consistently shoot well at extended distances it made the 20 yard shot seem like a chip shot. And yes sometimes over confidence has away of humbling you. Then I found this site and started learning about long range. Now believe me when I say I am not an expert and still need to learn a lot more. But already liking to shoot it was a very intriguing aspect. Has cost me a lot of money and sometimes frustration. And so far I've applied it kind of like my archery hunting. Learning to consistently make hits to 800-1000 yards on targets has greatly improved my ability to take game in the 400-600 yard range. I would like to thank everyone on this site for all the information. Also thank Len for the site. Thank you all

 

[jasonco]

Public Land Colorado antelope, they don't let you get too close, unless you can happen to get in a spot to intercept them. Especially lately, it's very hard to draw a resident tag, so when you see one get on 'em, which could be a ways away!

 

[Hand Skills]

I moved to Saskatchewan a few years back.

Coyotes sunning themselves, deer holding up way out... I got tired of passing on opportunities that were outside my comfort zone.

My quest necessitated getting back into reloading and upgrading my targeting optics. This site has been a huge help, so I decided to join and give back what little I can to the great community here

 

[CNY Yote Hunter]

For me it was seeing animal after animal out of reach. It always was in my mind, there has to be a way to hit that effectively. Then came the practice and the learning then the pure enjoyment of the accomplishment when you hit that game at X amount of yards and hit it where you intended to!! Its awesome

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

Antelope hunting and Not being very stealthy.

 

[Craveman85]

For my area long range is anything over 100 yards in my few current hunting spots I could get to a max of 325 which I'm more than comfortable with now. My family did deer drives for ever. They'd see a deer 200 yards away and try to figure out how to chase it closer to someone. It was shotgun only here till like 15 years ago though. Took a while for most of them to come around to the rifles. I bought a 243 the year before they allowed rifles for deer. I practiced a ton with it that summer. Then opening day that year everyone was watching a 6 point at 200 and trying to figure out a plan. So I shot it while they were arguing about who would sit and who would drive. Even if I get someplace where I could shoot longer range I don't ever want to shoot beyond 500 yards. Just have no urge to reach out and touch them. I do know that most people around here have no business beyond 100. My brother needs to limit himself to 50 but won't.

 

[SergeantD]

For me: I grew up on a farm and no one in my family hunted or done much shooting. I hunted with a Winchester 1300 & slugs from age 13 to 18 by myself and didn't know anything. Never hardly saw deer and never killed anything. @ 18 years old I bought myself a 35 rem marlin 336 that I saw no reason why I couldn't hit the moon with it, seriously, lol. Had an lot older fellow help me sight it @ 100yds. Finally got a shot at a deer about 300 yards away with the old 35 propped up on a hay bail. Made three shots and the deer still just standing there. I didn' even know to try & hold over, I thought the old 35 rem was a Lazer I guess. Lol, funny I was that green. I was so disgusted. If I would have killed that deer I would have never had the determination that I needed to learn what I should know about shooting at longer distances. It took my failure to motivate me to learn more. Now I'm glad that deer was 300yds away and I missed it. Wouldn't have learned much if it would have been 50yds away and I would have hit it.

Great story....I also taught myself to hunt at different distances and would get upset if I didn't get a deer. I normally saw more bucks when I had a doe tag then would see more doe's when I had a buck tag. For me it's all about being in the woods taking it all in. It's my time to decompress from work and all the other BS. Yes shooting a deer is nice but I also like to explore and stalk and hunt. Nowadays I take my boys out and teach them the basics. Life is all about learning and I want them to enjoy it as much as I have over the years.