H&S, as you start shooting greater distances you will adopt a new mindset, and new equipment. MOA is no longer acceptable. You add dials, magnification higher BC bullets, and perhaps velocity. Push a high BC bullet hard, and at close range it will make a real mess of things, so you have to adopt. Those dials that work so great for LR shots also eliminate the guess work on the 250yd neck shot, and the mess that would go along with said fast, soft bullet on a traditional shoulder shot, and any thoughts of tracking.
Yeah it is a combination. My equipment limitations prescribe the distance I'm willing to shoot. I've been plenty comfortable taking ribs shots with a rifle and high bc bullets at close range and at the limits of my equipment for distance. That also ends up being the limit of my shooting ability. Lungs are a big target, and I haven't needed to know all of the exacting info to make a good hit.
I'm still trying to decide if I want to spend the money to step into the next bracket of distance shooting at game. I've actually been downgrading to cast bullets, setting up and practicing with handguns for hunting, which is what this thread is about. I know today that I could put a bullet into the ribs/lungs of an elk with a handgun at 200yds, and with the ballistics of an Amax, I could double that distance for lethality, if I wanted to get proficient enough to make it a viable proposition.
I am headed more toward upgrading my handgun skills than upgrading my rifle/optic and rifle skills. A magnum 7 distance rig is in the cards though, as that is an itch that needs more scratching. It's a lot easier to solve now that there are so many who're doing it and who've done it a long time.
