What made you interested in long range shooting?

[DSIMON1211]

For me it was all about the Hogs!! Here is central Texas they have become so bad that even trapping over 500 in a year we never touch the population. So a couple of years ago I took a shot at a hog about 500 yards away and realized I was guessing on where to hold over. That moment is what made me realize I needed to up my game in every area of my shooting skills. Now like most of you 10's of thousands of dollars later I am comfortable at anything up to 1000 yards and under the right situation 12-1400. It has been a joy to see what the work and tools make possible compared to even 5 years ago. We still have a serious hog problem but it's a whole lot more fun trying to eradicate them now than it was before.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

I thought everyone got to shoot M40s so this is just another day of shooting.

 

[Rosebud]

I read elsewhere in a thread about the division and the lack of manners for one another we have these days. It made me think about why I came to this thread or any others. We all have a story about what made us interested in shooting distance, share your story if you are inclined. We have a common interest but how we each arrived there could make for some interesting stories.

I have hunted since I was a boy, starting out with my dad's Ruger .44 pistol or my 30-30 Marlin. Like many on here I spent some time in the military as a young man and was exposed to that plastic M16A1. Growing up and hunting in the Ozarks, I had never taken a shot over 125 yards. The fact that I could routinely hit a silhouette from 50 to 300 meters with that little bullet out of my plastic rifle was pretty cool for this hillbilly. I would have to say that is where I first became interested in shooting distance. Share your story if your inclined

When I started hunting a cornfield that is over a mile square. Was seeing good deer way out of my comfort zone. Had to get the right gun and scope setup, and practice, practice, practice.

 

[RckyMtnRutt]

Was lucky enough to have a dad that always put guns into my hands and was a fanatic shooter and reloader. Got to see it all growing up that im thankful for. Been hunting since i was old enough to and took a lot of elk in wide open country in central idaho. Nothing was ever over 500 but a lot right at 500. Couple years back i was on a big buck that got pushed by some kids on a wheeler elk hunting...only shot i had was at 750 yards. My fixed 6 300win was out of it's range. Right then i knew i needed to build a long range gun and start shooting long. Dad stopped hunting and reloading so i went home and picked up all of his reloading stuff last year. Now at 33 im reloading shooting super tight groups and finally got out to 1000 yards with my little 20" 6.5 tikka...now im itchin to build with a new caliber like 300win or prc. Have a 338win heavy barrel but it is just too dang heavy and kicks like a mule. Plus i love my 300wm. Now i know why my dad was addicted and always in the reloading room and range everyday

 

[Greyfox]

I was hooked on rifle shooting and hunting from an early age(1960's). My very first interest in long range shooting was the result of an invention creating the necessity. A buddy of mine had a Redfield 3x9 Wide View scope with the two line ranging reticle and a turret calibrated to his 30-06 Winchester. Of course we never shot anything past 100 yards, but the idea that Redfield sold such a product must of meant it worked…At least this was my impression, and it stuck with me. By the 80's my longest shot was 300 yards with my 375H&H on a Kudu on a hunt in Africa. While I did a lot of competitive shooting, over the next decade, much of my NE and Southern hunting at shorter ranges and mostly traditional archery/black powder for well into the 90's. The trigger for getting serious about LR rifle hunting occurred in an archery hunt in Canada. We observed several large bucks traveling a slew at 500-1000 yards. We were made well aware by the locals that nobody up there would think of making such a shot with a rifle. Upon returning from that trip I got my hands on Platters book, The Ultimate Sniper". There wasn't much available on LRH. With the very comprehensive information in that book, I thought about adapting Platters principles for hunting and put together a rifle/scope/load that I felt could be effective for hunting to 500, maybe 600 yards. It was a Remington 700, 308W, Varmint barrel./ Mark 4 Leupold scope. After a lot of practice, a couple of seasons later in a trip back to Alberta. I ranged a buck at a bit less then 500 yards and dropped him. I was hooked forever, and the quest for 1000 yard hunting had begun. I will say Len's great forum and it's very knowledgeable participants have proven to be invaluable in achieving that goal.

 

[DesertBoy]

Glassing up AZ "bears in the pears" a long ways away, with a short time frame to be able to close the distance.
300 gr Berger's really cut the time down significantly

 

[stovepipe]

My dad coached rifle in the marine Corp and as you can imagine was a most excellent marksman, he owned many rifles in a lot of different calibers that he shot a lot but when it came to hunting big game he only used one gun a 721 Remington 300H&H and man was he lethal . Dad always set up our camp in a spot where he could see a long way in a place that had a lot of game trails and I've seen him make many one shot kills at distances that no one in camp would even attempt. I really miss my dad. Anyways we stopped at my cousins country store one day and he had a golden eagle 7mm rem mag with a 4- 12 Redfield with the accurange reticle and a target knob...I was in love so the old man bought it for me and that's when I started stretching it out. I still have both those rifles by the way. Good memories

 

[tomsd]

For me it was all about the Hogs!! Here is central Texas they have become so bad that even trapping over 500 in a year we never touch the population. So a couple of years ago I took a shot at a hog about 500 yards away and realized I was guessing on where to hold over. That moment is what made me realize I needed to up my game in every area of my shooting skills. Now like most of you 10's of thousands of dollars later I am comfortable at anything up to 1000 yards and under the right situation 12-1400. It has been a joy to see what the work and tools make possible compared to even 5 years ago. We still have a serious hog problem but it's a whole lot more fun trying to eradicate them now than it was before.

LOVE IT

 

[tomsd]

My dad coached rifle in the marine Corp and as you can imagine was a most excellent marksman, he owned many rifles in a lot of different calibers that he shot a lot but when it came to hunting big game he only used one gun a 721 Remington 300H&H and man was he lethal . Dad always set up our camp in a spot where he could see a long way in a place that had a lot of game trails and I've seen him make many one shot kills at distances that no one in camp would even attempt. I really miss my dad. Anyways we stopped at my cousins country store one day and he had a golden eagle 7mm rem mag with a 4- 12 Redfield with the accurange reticle and a target knob...I was in love so the old man bought it for me and that's when I started stretching it out. I still have both those rifles by the way. Good memoriesSWEE

 

[tomsd]

SWEET

 

[Mark37082]

I've always enjoyed hunting and shooting, but never really dedicated the time and energy in understanding the long range game. My local and most frequent places I would shoot or hunt limited the shots to short to medium distances at least from todays standards. I was very excited when I shot a deer back in the 80's at just over 300 yds. I did not even dial for this shot. The old 30.06 did it's job and after a full day of dragging that deer 3 miles back to the truck, I was so proud but exhausted. My first hunting trip to South Texas really opened my eyes to long range hunting. After shooting a decent buck I spent the next several days hunting hogs and coyotes. We were sitting on a hill overlooking a open area waiting to see what would appear. I glassed a coyote just lounging at 1100 yds. It was dead calm wind. I made a humorous wager with a buddy that I could hit that dog. Settled in from a stable rest dialed 30 MOA on my Leupold on the 7RM and let the 168 Berger rip. To my surprise the coyote was down and had free beer for the rest of the trip. Lucky. Absolutely. I was hooked.
I have really enjoyed the LRH forum. Great members that are always willing to help. Very limited experience with "know it all " type people that you find often in other forums. Sorry for the log post.

 

[Allen Kitts]

Well as most of you I have hunted since a was a small boy chasing squirrels with my dad in the hardwoods of Kentucky. After I got out of the Navy I moved to Montana and that's where things started to change for me. You can see game along way in Montana. The first year I was eligible to hunt I shot my first bull at approx. 400 yards with my 7 mag and it blew my mind. Mind you not because I wanted to but it was across a canyon and thew was no way to get any closer. I used Kentucky windage, no pun intended, as at that time there were no good over the counter range finders, and it wouldn't have mattered because I couldn't have afforded one anyway. That's when I started looking into larger faster calibers, more expensive optics etc. I went through quite a few different rifles/scope set-ups and then I read about a gun company in Wyoming that made rifles that were guaranteed to shoot to 1000 yards out of the box. I thought, no way could this be true, but after a couple of years of saving and through the good graces of a dear friend, I was lucky enough to come up with the money to get one of those rifles and the rest is history. The guarantee was true as I was hitting steel at 980 yards the very day I picked up the rifle. I have been fortunate enough to have taken a lot of beautiful animals with that rifle over the years. I shot a pig while hunting in California at 567 yards the first year I owned the rifle and none of my friends or the outfitter we were hunting with had ever seen anyone shoot that far with any success. What a great feeling and boy did that make me want more. Quite a few years and quite a few rifles later I am still enthralled with getting it right at 1000 yards. I just love the fact that you have to take your time, read the wind, read the animal, check your range multiple times and make sure that everything is just right in the world before you pull the trigger. Its an art to me and one I take very serious. I have never taken anything at 1000 yards plus but I am slowly approaching that milestone. I took a Blesbuck in South Africa last year at 851 yards and it was an incredible feeling. Someday maybe if all the stars align.

 

[Mmac52280]

In AZ, I put in for most trophy hunting units and hunting is few and far between so I took-up shooting in 2015 with a goal of being proficient at 500 yards.

NOW, 3 rifles into it and thousands of dollars, too many hours, logbooks documenting everything and scrounging for reloading supplies, as many of you already know, 500 yards at steel is a chip shot.

It is seriously a disease without cure. Reloading scales in 3 decimal places, seating bullets to .001 tolerances..........it's ridiculous.

I had no idea what I was getting into............

There's no way out now!!

This is so true. We all have things we are passionate about, we don't always know how much, until it's too late.

 

[Radman]

As a kid I loved seeing how accurate I could shoot my pellet rifle and I spent as much time as I could out shooting sparrows and red squirrels. As we have all experienced I started feeling the need to challenge myself and started shooting farther. As I got older I stepped up to a .22LR and then a .17HMR. I think the HMR, combined with my interest in movies like Sniper and Shooter (as unrealistic as they are) got me interested in pushing the limits further. I saved up for a 223 and used MIL dots for holdovers, writing my DOPE on my stock and had the dream of one day being good enough to kill a big game animal at 500 yards. Started spending all my spare time reading everything I could about long range shooting, bought a rangefinder, started dialing elevation instead of holdovers, and learned reloading from a member here who turned me on to this site and took me under his wing and that was pretty much the end of my disposable income. Now 500 yards feels like a chip shot and though my longest big game kill is a measly 336 yards, I have a half dozen one shot kills on varmints beyond 700 yards.

In regard to LRH Forum, I spend more of my time here than anywhere else because the people on this forum are generally good hearted, knowledgeable, and much more helpful than other forums. My first ever western hunt was a DIY antelope hunt in Wyoming with my stepdad (my graduation present to him) and I credit a member here for a big part of our success as he was willing to share one of his hunting spots with me so we could tag a couple decent bucks. I also met up with another member and talked him into attending a precision rifle match with me, even though neither of us have ever competed in that type of event, and we actually won the team event and we keep in touch still. In return I try to share my knowledge and experience with other new shooters and I really enjoy bringing newbies into the game, especially their reaction when they make their first LR impact.

What you said about the people here. I agree. I won't waste my time where members are braggards, liars, egoist, full of themselves or just childish. Life is too short for that - I could watch cartoons or TV politics if I wanted that!)
IMO over 90% of the folks here are mature, courteous, friendly & knowledgable. I feel that I have "friends" here although I will likely never see/meet a single one of you. Too, this site is maintained & policed extremely well. Thanks for that!
There is a wealth of experience, knowledge, friendship & even humor here plus we ALL share the same love! (Arms Sports)
I love it that so many share their stories & experiences & the fact that if someone has ANY specific question they can always count on an answer or support here.
I'm just saying.....
.