Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Killing deer at 1000 yards

After shooting at Williamsport (1022 yards) I can now see how killing a deer at 1000 yards really wouldn't be that difficult. All 10 of my shots whould of killed a deer. being colder during our deer season and not having to shoot 10 shots as fast as one can would make a huge difference in accuracy.
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<br>I am going to make some alterations to my existing 300 win mag which will make it easier to kill deer to 1000 yards. As of now my self imposed limit is 650 yards. I can see how that range could be doubled.
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<br>Have a good one all,
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<br>Don

"IF and I know there are always "IFS" I hadn't pushed 3 shots way right I would of had a pattern around 17", but it ended up about double that. I was happy with my vertical spread of 9" " DonKnows
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<br>"All 10 of my shots whould of killed a deer." DonKnows
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<br>Don, you sure do know how big the vital area on a deer is. Thank you for the info. Our blacktails are kind of small but someday I hope to hunt some of those deer with a 34" wide kill zone.

yep, 3 of my shots would of hit it in the hind quarter. You must remember though I shot 10 rounds as fast as I could aquire the target. That wouldn't be the case when shooting a deer and/or elk. The barrel wouldn't be anywhere near hot when shooting an animal. I had so many heat waves comming off a hot barrel that it was all waves at the target. I used my hunting rifle, not a rifle designed for competition. But you failed to mention that part.
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<br>Talking to others at Williamsport that have killed animals to 2000 plus yards I can see that it really isn't as difficult as many would beleive. I am sure it took them a long time to get to that point so don't think I am saying "anybody" can do it. After talking to a lot of people last Saturday - that shoot in 1000 yard competition - I determined that a 1300 yard kill on a deer and/or elk wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult as I had originally thought.
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<br>My own "deer rifle" - with a stock change - can be made to effectively kill deer to 1300 yards.
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<br>There "is" a process to doing it and I listened to the "process" and watched a video of people actually doing it. The same people that made the video shoot in 1000 yard competition and I spoke with the maker of the video last Saturday. He was a really nice guy to talk to. Darryl has killed deer way beyond 1300 yards and explained his process. Instead of being negative about how it isn't possible I opened up to these people and have learned a lot from talking to them.
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<br>They are more then willing to share their knowledge and we should thank them for that,,,,,,,and not be negative about it.
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<br>So, when I say any of my shots would of killed a deer, I was correct, even if 3 of my shots would of hit the hind quarter. Knowing what I have learned last Saturday I am convinced that with some practice and a stock change and applying what I have learned from guys that have done it,,,,1300 yard kills on deer and elk are not that far off,,,,,,,for me.
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<br>Have a good one,
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<br>Don
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Don where was your FIRST shot????That is the ONLY one that concern's me....1000 yard match shooting is a very different ball game....I have NEVER shot ten round's at a deer.Your first one would have been enough.......I think you'll do just fine.Try the 200gr Match King's in your 300.E-mail me a address where to send them and I'll ship you out a few to try....I think I owe you a few any way:).If they don't work,try the 190's.I'm shooting 240's in a 1 in 10....And they call for a 1 in 9......Let me know..........

Boyd,
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<br>My FIRST shot (for score) was at 3 O'clock in the black. Shots 2 and 3 where to the right of my first shot. All 3 shots where no more then an 8" pattern with a vertical string of no more then 6".
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<br>You sir are correct, once my small diameter barrel started to really heat up it got interesting.
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<br>Any of my first 3 shots would of been a double lung kill.
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<br>Don

Before you vainglorious experts start trying to kill deer at 1000 yards you better make sure you can hit a chuck every time at 500.

miki,And just what's so hard about doing that???????????

Using live animals as targets at a 1000 plus yards is unethical. Calling it hunting is erronous, there is NO hunting involved.
<br>What is the purpose of doing it at this range that you can't obtain by getting closer?
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<br>Your 1000 yard target will remain at that spot no matter how many times you hit it. A shot animal can wonder off enough for you to miss it, or wound it again, and I'm darn certain you can't run that 1000 plus yards in less then a few minutes to make a better follow up shot should it decide to wonder over the hillside.
<br>You have no control over what a wounded animal might decide to do. A target just stands there, giving you false impression animals will do the same. ~~~Suluuq

Rusty,
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<br>First off, no hills around here for the deer to run behind. Where I hunt it is extremely flat - kind of like eastern SD only we have trees
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<br>Secondly, as I watch a deer in the field - sometimes for as long as 30 minutes - I pattern the movements of the deer. If the deer puts its head down 30 times to eat and it stays there for a minimum of 30 seconds each time I have to beleive that the 31st time it puts its head down to eat it isn't going to all of a sudden take a huge jump.
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<br>I have passed on more "long range shots" then I have ever taken because the conditions weren't to my liking. We never suggested that people just go out and start throwing lead all over - HOPING - to hit the deer. We shoot under very controlled conditions. In fact I would say our conditions are more controlled then most "average Joe" hunter that tosses lead at 100 yards - HOPING - to hit the deer.
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<br>After shooting at 1022 yards and listening to the advice of others that have killed deer at 1000 plus yards I see where it really isn't as difficult as "I" thought. I will make the necessary changes to my equipment and I have no doubt that my 1000 yard kill on a deer is in my future.
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<br>Just as side note, 2 years ago I killed a deer at 75 yards. It was fun but it surely didn't require much in the way of skill.
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<br>Don
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<br>P.S. my best kill on a woodchuck is 660 yards - using my 22. At 500 yards that chuck is just plain dead.

I've done a fair amount of shooting at ranges past 1000 yards with the 6.5 mm Match Kings and the 200 grain Match Kings out of a big 30. How do you folks judge wind accurately out at 1000 yards for first shot placement? With the 200 MK at 3000 fps a 3 mph windage error equals nearly 2 feet error in bullet placement.
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<br>I hunt Prairie Dogs at long range, and yes I use Match Kings

Maybe with portable laser rangfinders the trajectory and holdover problems are more or less soluble, albeit I doubt the little pocket RFs will cut it at 1000 yards, let alone the 2000 the Williamsport boasters claimed to DonKnows. But the wind problem, as mentioned above by another poster, is still with you guys. If a 3mph wind will move the bullet two feet at 1000 yards, you are in trouble, a 6mph means four feet. And if it is calm where you are, how do you know how it is blowing at the target or half way there? Another question, what has happened to your muzzle energy way out there? And if you are using Match Kings, will they, or any other bullet, expand when they have slowed down? Sniping at human targets at any range is permissible in war, if you only wound then two guys have to help your victim and they too are out of action temporarily, but it is inexcusable to run the risk of wounding and losing a game animal, and that risk is, in my opinion at least, unacceptably high in this kind of shooting - I deliberately do not call it hunting. It is target work on live targets, akin ethically to live pigeon trap shooting. There are people who think that is OK too, I am not one of them.

Miki... Good post. I mentioned the same things on another thread, but they find ways to explain it away. They don't like to acknowledge the extra risk involved.
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<br>Don... A paper target will always stay where its at. it has no brain, no legs, etc. It remains no matter how many "arse shots" you put into it.
<br>Whereas, game animals do have a brain and legs, and do make decisions, of which YOU have no control over, regardless of how many minutes you see it eat something. Do you read it's mind?
<br>Should one get hit, perhaps it will die.
<br>Perhpaps it will wait long enough for a few follow-up shots. perhaps it will walk or run away.
<br>Shooting at a moving animal at 1000 plus yards is VERY differcult to do. I seriously doubt any of the LRS here can hit the kill zone of a walking deer at over 1000 yards with enough certainty to be a good "hunter".
<br>You think the further one is away, then they have more hunting skill? This is erronous. "To hunt" means to get closer, to stalk. What you are advocating is merely shooting at live animals at extreme ranges, based on your ability to punch holes in a paper target, where you think a target and an animal are the same thing. ~~~Suluuq

I agree totally with you Rusty-Gunn, Targets are great at long range. The stalk is the fun of the hunt, being smarter and sneakier than the prey is where it was at for me. I might add that I have been outsmarted by some "dumb" animals on more than one occaision, part of the enjoyment.
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<br>Heck, at the ranges they are talking the animal don't even know they are there!
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<br>In my mind there are two distinct catagories of riflemen, shooters and hunters. Shooters only need to be able to shoot and hit targets, hunters must be able to stalk and make clean kills of living animals.

I've never shot LR at a moving deer....Try to find something to put us down about......TO HUNT is to search for something.We have to find them before we kill them.......HUNTING.........................

Boyd and Don,
<br>I'm not trying to put anyone down here. I'm trying to learn if you have a new or different technique for first shot judgment of long range wind conditions.

This has been gone over many time's before.At range's over a thousand yard's,or in a high wind.A spotter round is fired 50 or 100 yard's in front of or behind the animal.Final adjustment's can be made.............Then the next shot is taken at the animal..............

Boyd Heaton and DonKnows
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<br>I don't want to suggest that you guys are careless, only that the technical problems raise all sorts of issues. Let me give a hypothetical: the animal is standing there and you have a broadside shot, there is no wind all the way from you to the animal 1000 yards away, you know the range to the yard and have your scope correctly adjusted, your rifle will stay in a half minute at that range, you are all set up to shoot from the bench, the rifle is a .338 Lapua Mag so there is decent energy out there, it weighs twenty pounds so it won't kill you with recoil - and as you shoot, the animal takes one step and you hit it in the ass or in the gut because of the extended time of flight at long range.
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<br>Miki

T Lee,
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<br>You stated:
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<br>"Heck, at the ranges they are talking the animal don't even know they are there! "
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<br>And you are 100% correct. That is the entire idea.
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<br>Based on your own statement I would suggest this:
<br>Notify every single archery hunter that just before they are to take the shot they YELL so the deer knows they are there. Otherwise your statement doesn't "hold water". Does it?
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<br>Isn't the entire idea to NOT let the animal know you are there?
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<br>Don
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Miki,
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<br>What you stated could happen. No doubt about it.
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<br>Then again it does in fact happen with the person using a 30-30 shooting at a deer at 100 yards.
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<br>There is a butcher shop across the street from my house - where I take my deer to be processed. A couple of years ago the place was REALLY busy. Cars and trucks lined up for 1/2 mile down the road, waiting to take their deer in to be processed. Since I live right across the street I walked over just to see the deer and talk to the people waiting. I can't make any kind of a "flow chart" as to how many deer where "gut shot" or shot in the "arse" but there where a lot of them. Most of the deer were shot at ranges of less then 150 yards, by the hunters own storys.
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<br>My point being a lot of hunters killing deer at relatively short distances still manage to shoot deer in the "guts" or in the "arse".
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<br>Because there are fewer "long range" hunters versus "short range" hunters there are bound to be more "missplaced" shots from the "short range" hunters versus the "long range" hunters based soley on the number of hunters per group. I think that is a fair statement. What the percentages are, I have no idea. I would say, based on my own killing of deer and those I have spoken with that kill deer at extended ranges that we (the long range hunters) missplace shots less often then the "short range" hunter.
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<br>As has been said many times, I wait for the optimum conditions. If that condition does not present itself, I do NOT squeeze the trigger. I doubt most "short range" hunters do the same. A lot of the "short range" hunters I have talked to about how they obtained their deer tell me that very little if any thought went into the process prior to squeezing the trigger. They are under the false impression that because they are so close they can't "mess up". As we all know, that isn't the case.
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<br>Again, my intention of making these posts regarding "long range hunting" is merely to express my personal enjoyment of "long range hunting". If somebody reading these postings is able to obtain data usefull to them about "long range hunting" then I am happy that my small amount of knowledge on the subject has helped them. If somebodys interest is piqued from reading these posts and they go about it in a realist manner then I am happy to of helped, even if only in a small way.
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<br>We all make choices and "my" choice is to obtain the necessary "skills" and "knowledge" to enjoy the sport of "long range hunting". I am not trying to jamb anything down anybodys throat.
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<br>Have a good one and thank you for your interesting post.
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<br>Don

Canon,
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<br>Boyd has already told you what he does. I will tell you what I do - as of now anyhow.
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<br>If I see a deer at 420 yards (which I have killed 3 in the past 4 years, all 1 shot kills) I watch it, study it. I have a Swarovski spotting scope, Leica Geovid range finder, my bench, front rest, rear bag and my rifle all with me in my stand. I watch the deer as it feeds in the harvested field. Sometimes with my naked eye, sometimes thru the spotting scope. I do my best to "pattern" the deers' movements. If it is windy, I simply watch the deer and hope it moves closer. I won't shoot in a strong cross wind. Most of the time the deer come out to feed in the last hour or so of legal hunting time. Once I have "patterned" the deers' movements I then hit the deer with the range finder. I do this several times to make sure of the distance. I then adjust my elevation on my scope to the correct setting based on the distance. I re-check my elevation adjustment at least 2 times to be sure I set it properly. If the deer has moved any appreciable distance while I was doing this I repeat the process. I then get down on my rifle resting on the front rest and rear bag. I get as steady as I physically am possible. I squeeze the 2 1/2lb trigger. I always aim for the double lung shot. If the deer is not broadside I do not shoot.
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<br>I realize I am "only" talking 420 yards here, not 1000 yards. But since I am not set-up to kill deer to 1000 yards (yet) I can only tell you what I now do. I have my rifle worked out to 650 yards. If a deer is within my comfort range (650 yards) I will proceed with "my" process to cleanly kill the deer.
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<br>This is what "I" do and should not be confused with what other "longer" range hunters do. They can speak for themselves as to their processes/procedures.
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<br>Thanks for you post, I hope this answers your question. If not, let me know.
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<br>Don