Well, I don't have a hard-on for long-range shooters, I respect the work that goes into it. And I agree with everything that's been said about slobs being slobs regardless of the range they shoot at, and about more game being wounded at 200 yards and under than long range.
Long-range shooters practice more and good ones can hit at long range much more consistently than your average hunter can hit at short or moderate ranges. And sometimes no matter what the range, stuff happens. I knew a very accomplished old-timer who used to say "if you haven't missed, you either haven't hunted a lot or you're not trying hard enough." And I never knew him to miss. He wasn't careless or unethical, just truthful.
But I'm still skeptical of the 1,000 yard chip shot, granted I'm talking hunting animals in the field, not steel at the range. And maybe it boils down to what you mean by "chip shot," to me, it means pretty much a sure thing.
There have been two threads on this forum this season by good long range shooters who had first shot misses at around 1,000 yards, one due to the wind read and one due to the animal moving after it was ranged. I'm not being critical, just making an observation.
If either shot had been at 300, then the wind and range wouldn't have mattered, and they would have been true chip shots.
That would seem to take 1,000 yard shots out of the chip shot realm.
