Here is my recent memory of shots I, my son, my daughter, father or wife have taken. We shoot a lot of long range steel in the wind to practice which in a lot of cases is more fun than hunting. There is always good food and wine involved afterwards as we usually do it in central AZ near AZ wine country. I would say 90% of these shots were taken in the early morning where no wind call was necessary. All these shots were one shot kills except the 934 Coues and the 500 yard Eland. My grown son fired 2 times before that Coues was hit. The first shot was a miss because the deer took about 3 steps to the next bush to feed as the trigger broke, always a danger shooting this far. Up until that the deer has stayed feeding at a single bush for minutes. The second shot hit the center line angling across from last rib on the right side exiting the left point of the shoulder. The first shot on the Eland was spot on but Eland are huge and I felt the need to shoot a second time. Shooting far in a lot of wind is not my bag so to say, it is too risky. Up to about 8 mph can usually be managed but in broken country even 8 mph can get really tricky. Most of the shots on the plains game were in very open flat areas where we could call wind much easier. Most of those shots were in 3-5mph wind. There was no wind on the Eland shot. Most of these shots were taken using a G7 BR2 as a basis of ranging and wind setup with a Kestrel for immediate wind check. We just went to Africa so I thought it would be fun to include those. Usually shots in Africa are much closer but we were hunting in the Free State that has a lot of areas that look like eastern Wyoming.
For my money I'd rather be 300-500 on Coues for rifle shots. Its far enough they don't get spooky and one can set up carefully for the shot and its close enough to minimize wind issues. On elk, well they are huge so getting in the vitals is easier so longer shots with enough rifle and the right rifle in open country is not an issue for me. Where we usually hunt elk it is prairie country so shots tend to be long. Since hunting in Africa several times I have changed my aiming points on game. My going in position is to half the animal then aim at the middle of the lower half right on the leg shading towards the back of the bone on side shots. On angled shots my archery shooting has made me think very carefully about the vitals angle before pulling the trigger but I still shoot in that lower half. Shooting high behind the shoulder is absolutely out the window for us as it can end badly, especially with archery. In the right circumstance a forward high shoulder shot is the medicine of the day when it can be made and you want the animal to DRT and not run. I've never seen anything shot in the high forward shoulder run off, its anchored everything.
| Coues | 340 | 7mm STW |
| Coues | 322 | 7mm STW |
| Coues | 678 | 7mm LRM |
| Coues | 782 | 300 WSM |
| Coues | 743 | 6.5 PRC |
| Coues | 512 | 300 WSM |
| Coues | 512 | 7mm LRM |
| Elk | 1092 | 7mm LRM |
| Elk | 395 | 300 WSM |
| Coues | 934 | 7mm LRM |
| Coues | 340 | 6.5 PRC |
| Coues | 295 | 7mm LRM |
| Coues | 460 | 6.5 PRC |
| Coues | 450 | 7mm LRM |
| Coues | 500 | 280 REM |
| Coues | 695 | 7mm LRM |
| Coues | 344 | 300 WSM |
| Coues | 602 | 7mm STW |
| Coues | 713 | 300 WSM |
| Coues | 448 | 6.5 PRC |
| White Blesbok | 499 | 6.5 PRC |
| Common Blesbok | 494 | 6.5 PRC |
| Eland | 500 | 6.5 PRC |
| Black Wildebeest | 305 | 6.5 PRC |
| Zebra | 235 | 6.5 PRC |
| Springbok | 235 | 6.5 PRC |
| Waterbuck | 230 | 6.5 PRC |
| Average | 505.7407 | |
. So I hunt in North Florida given that, this can be from 25 - 30 yards on out to not gonna chance it. But I think the question was about the shot distance. I'm good to 300 yards on animals have played a lot more on paper. And of coarse it depends on the round and all other figures. Or a country boy cold bore shot at the moment.
