Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting How many rounds do you fire to get ready for long range hunting???

Recently I spent some time at my step daughter's in another state.. Deer/elk seasons were on so one of my projects was to go to the local rifle range and watch guys shooting.. The range was only 200 yards long.. During the time I was there, I seldom saw a shooter with a std. rifle and say a 3-9 scope.. Often the rifle was a typical hunting rifle but with what was clearly a long range scope.. One other thing I noticed was almost always, guys were going to the bench with two boxes of factory loaded ammo.. I am guessing, guys are caught up in the long range shooting world and bought either a long range scope on their rifle or a new rifles and scope for this sport.. However, although they had good equipment, they were still shooting factory stuff.. I messed with long range shooting for quite a while, never made the shots folks do to day, but I could never made some of my longest shots by simply buying a few boxes of factory before season.. I guess what I am asking if these guys are buying long range scopes and in many cases long range rifles and sight them in at 200 yards, have things improved enough to make accurate shots at 500 to 1000 yards.. Thanks.. The world is changing faster than I can keep up with..

Ive had some rigs like factory ammo and some that didnt.
Do think most times some handloading can be of benefit.

I varmint hunted a lot when younger and always shot handloads. Chucks mandated half inchers at 100 IMHO.

My current yote rifle, and im not very serious about things as I used to be, shoots .75 at 100, w cheap factory ammo.

Have two deer rifles at an inch or just under, w factory ammo.

Have done minor check for lot # variation but so far diff lots have shot same.

Im 300 yards and in so not a long range shooter.
Maybe whittling groups .25" lesser at 100 is worthwhile.

Both of my Ruger single shot varmint rifles wear 10X reg Leupolds ( one an M8, the other a Vari X iii ).

Traditional looks important on those IMHO and will.proly up to a 12x when I find a deal.

My yote rifle is a .243 in HS stock and it wears a reg 4-12x AO.

I see nothing wrong w big scopes and tactical looking stuff.

Just dont want to lug more around LOL.

Range not too far away goes to 700.

After deer season some buds and I are gonna shoot our regular crap at 500 and see how bad they do.

My other deer rifles wear 3.5-10x and 2-7x.
Will try the .30-06 w the vx3i out to 500 😊

2 boxes of ammo sounds like an ok day at the range.
But Id be spending more than one day at the range of getting something set up for long D.

Hell i burn that much or.more checking short range stuff.

Guess I just shoot til im comfortable w the system.
Even when handloading i find something good and am done. Am not one to constantly tweak or change things.

Still want a .257 wm for a long range yote nuker.
Proly end up spending a fair bit at that long range place if I get one.

Not enough

From what I`ve seen, buying "long range" rifles and scopes, plus two boxes of ammo, does not make a long range, 300 yrds +, shooter.
But each of us has to have enough smarts to figure that out.

Hmmm...

- what's a "std rifle"?
- what's a "long range rifle"?
- why is a 3-9 scope not a "long range" scope?
- what's a "typical hunting rifle"?
- what makes a "clearly a long range scope"?
- why is factory ammo apparently automatically not long range ammo?

I can guarandamntee you anyone serious about practicing long range hunting won't be found at any range sitting at a bench poking holes at 200 yards in quiet air...

Pretty hard to verify data on a 200yd range.....not uncommon at all for speed and BC to need trued to your actual impacts. I like 600-1k to true up BC. Once I have my data for the load it's matter of data collection in different conditions. Might need to tweak bc or speed in various conditions.



Me thinks they just think it's cool and 200yds is probably far for them.

06, That is what I am thinking..

I can't answer your question, but do feel it is worth mentioning that for whatever reason, I have come across a fair number of long range shooters who put their reloads in factory load boxes.

I have no idea why they wouldn't buy a plastic box designed for reloads, but it is something that I have noticed.

I don’t base my longer range shooting readiness by the number of rounds I send across a canyon anymore. I did that at one time, when I was figuring out rifles and their loads.

Now with the ammo and component shortages, I might launch 1-5 rounds max. And, that would only be to verify scope is gtg.

🦫

1-3 rounds at 100 to get zero after a new batch of ammo, may twist to 5 and 700 yards to confirm, easy, so 5 rounds max.

My long-range specialty pistols are mostly setup with 2.5-8X Nikon's with BDC reticle or Burris's with the BP reticle. I now have a 2-6X Weaver with a 6.5' plex reticle at 6x setup on a 17 Fireball XP-100 that i have killed out to 425 yds. with. I don't put a lot of big optics on any of my SP's any more unless it's setup for prairie dogs off the bench.

One might also ask how many rounds you fire offhand to get ready for sudden opportunities at 100 yards or less. I visit a range at least once a week on average, sometimes more, and it’s rare to see anyone fire offhand, except at 20 and under. The ones that make it to the 50 with their carbines almost invariably fire from a rest. Can’t recall seeing anyone fire offhand with a hunting rifle except me. One rimfire addict shoots both pistols and rifles offhand at gongs at 100, and since he shoots almost every weekday, he’s pretty good. Even if the usual shots are long, short pokes happen, and sometimes “dead” stuff gets up and takes off.

I verify my sighting at 200, and may take a few pokes at 300, both off the bench due to range rules. I also fire a good many shots sitting on a stool or chair at home with airguns, which is probably the most realistic practice for my deer hunting, which is about 50/50 ground seat/treestand (no rail). Where I hunt, I’d have to go to considerable effort to put myself in position for an opportunity at over 100 yards, as the cover even in the “open” areas is very brushy, with head-high weeds and other vegetation. There are one or two open spots, but those seem to get most of the hunter traffic it seems. Sometimes I think many are uncomfortable in close cover. One guy I ran into even complained because the F&G folks didn’t knock down the cover so he could see better. (!)

In my offhand shooting practice, I have determined that 75-100 yards is about as far as I can dependably hit a gallon milk jug offhand. I limit my shots on deer and elk to under 400 yards because that’s about where my confidence of hitting the spot I’m aiming for ends. Your mileage may vary.

I dont take shots Im not comfortable with.
And that isnt fully dictated by yardage.

Unfortunately there are some folks that shoot hoping to hit a deer.

Never understood that.

i shoot 3 rounds to verify zero from the previous hunting season. if i change ammo, i shoot 3, adjust, shoot 3 more, and adjust to 3" high at 100 yards. i don't shoot at anything past 300. 270 win, 308, and 30-06. been doing this for about 55 years. best of luck to the long range shooters, but it just isn't my thing.

Pre ammo craziness? Usually around 50-100 rds a month over the summer from field positions out to 600yds.

Now? Maybe 10-20rds. Good thing is that ballistics stay the same, and fundamentals can be practiced by dry fire or .22lr.

But my hard limit is 600yds, so not crazy long range. Honestly closer is better.

No. My guess is, what you're seeing is guys with "long-range scopes" that for the most part won't be taking 500 yard shots. Because if the furthest they can practice is 200, they have no business taking 500 yard shots.

A wise man once told me, "if you want to be good at 500, practice out to 700 or 800."

That is kind of what I think smoke.. It's the latest fad so they want in.. I saw a nice buck tonight at 375 yards.. He looked a long way off and it low light an tall grass.. Never even lifted a finger to take a shot.. Maybe tomorrow, maybe never.. He was too nice an animal to shoot at late in the evening...

What people will accept as "good enough" is what changes.