What is long range hunting and what is hunted?

[Keith M Sheehan]

Expend a few thousand rounds from your .338 Lap at 800 yards from the prone position and annotate how many land within a 10 inch circle. If you put at least 90 % of them in the circle, perhaps then you can attempt the shot under field conditions. JMHO YMMV.

Well and truly said.

 

[Greatgrandad]

I must presume that you are 75 yrs old or more (I'm 82) and the thought of backtracking for miles to get closer is daunting. But, if you had chosen to spend the effort to get within say, 400 yards and make a successful shot, think of the enhanced adventure story you would have created. With the equipment and skill of todays dedicated shooters, 700 yard shots have a reasonable rate of success. I guess I just like the idea of extending the hunt as long as I can.

You are correct on the age bracket, and while I have killed a ton of game under 300 yards, there have been many times and places I could not close the distance across deep and steep canyons, ravines, rivers, open flat plains, mountain to mountain, etc. At least not and expect the game to still be there after a long journey to find and area, bridge, ford, etc to cross. I have lost a few opportunities during my life attempting and wasting time only to discover the game had left the area never to be seen the rest of the hunt.

"Enhanced adventure story you would have created" - I do not hunt to create adventure stories.

If you haven't read any of my earlier posts, I am an old competitive shooter from decades back. Nat'l Match, 800-1,000 Palma, 1,000 yard prone, some 1 mile and 2k yards and other. During my hay day, it was not uncommon to shoot 8-10,000 rounds a year in practice and comp. And much of that was before a lot of the modern equipment that has made things easier and a little more precise.

Even now at my age and much reduced shooting due to various reasons, it is still very common for me to visit the range and shoot 100 rifle rounds at LR on a given day.