Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Small rant, sure most can relate

I have a two part rant that I'm sure a lot of you guys can relate to, but thought I would share it none the less.

Rant #1. While taking lunch at work, a friend and I discussed the coming deer season. Him knowing I had Mickey Coleman build my last rifle asked with a puzzled look,

"Why spend that much money to build a 30-06?"

As if the 30-06 is so undeserving to take whitetails. Not wanting to get into the long pointless debate, I told him the truth. It's a splendid round to shoot, doesn't punish the shoulder, the 30-06 has proven its accuracy potential countless times, hits plenty hard to anchor the largest of whitetails, and for 400 yrds and less which is well beyond the average shooters ability to shoot and well beyond the range I'm likely to take whitetails in my area. Why not the 30-06?

Of course his standard answer to my question was as you all have heard before. "You need to shoot a magnum."

Just as I was preparing to roll my eyes, another guy whom was thinking he was lending credence to my argument piped in and made the statement that just makes me boil which brings me to

Rant #2 and I quote. "Me and dad was hunting in Minnesota on a family farm and I shot a buck with his 30-06 at about 700 yrds running and dropped him in his tracks".

Without thinking I shouted Bullshit! Three times in fact. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Now normally I don't call someone out like that. I just shake my head to myself, and disengage from the conversation. But knowing what I know in the shooting world as limited as my knowledge truly is compared to some distinguished members of this board. I just couldn't let it go.

I find difficulty shooting @ 500 yards on a good day at times from a solid bench. Wind wrecks havoc on me when I think I have it whipped, and sometimes something as simple as losing track of how many clicks I actually dialed in on my elevation turrets humbles me. I will probably never get the opportunity to take a buck at such extended ranges. But I would like to know that one day if I get that chance I'll be ready. However I wouldn't think of it unless I was positive I could make it happen. The limiting factor isn't the round I choose to shoot. That I'm sure of.

Ok rant finished.

"Without thinking I shouted bullshit. Three times in fact."

Should've gone for at least four or five...........

Boy howdie.....

I'm of the opinion that many members of the crowd shooting 300 mags at deer have no business taking shots at distances where the 300 mag would have any real advantage over a 308.

bet he cain't shoot one worth a chit.

there's been a couple of folks on this LR forum who have stretched .300 mag-esque ballistics from the '06. don't make me back up that statement with cites, I'm too lazy.

Have hunted with and guided too many 'hunters' that use a magnum to make up for practice.

My longest shots on game have all been from a rest in calm weather. I wouldn't think of taking a '700 yard shot' at walking deer, much less a running deer. I have more respect for the game than that.

If you practiced shooting more often you might change your mind

I've been in the gun business for 20 years and constantly hear such claims. I long ago came to the conclusion that 90% of the dumbasses that claim to make such long shots have absolutely no concept of how far 500 yards (or 400, or 700) really is....

I had a sniper squad leader who told me he shot a doe running at 500m through the head. I also saw this guy shoot his personal gun at 300m one day and his version of sub-MOA and mine are MUCH different. After a while I determined he talked a lot more than he actually did things and if his lips were moving he was lying. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and called him out as often as he told bullshit stories.

Nah... He struggles bad. Coming home from the hunt club he would complain about the deer he missed. He swore they had to be at least 400 yards away. Come to think of it, the club has 26 members and I don't think anyone has ever killed a deer under 300 yards there.

His next fix for the flinching blues is to purchase the lead sled so he can shoot from a bench and not have to deal with recoil. He also suspects his scope is junk (vx3 2.5x10x50mm) he is now awaiting the luepold tac with a 30mm tube in his words to gather more light.

Let the head shaking continue....

Recoil is his enemy and he's to proud to realize it. Shoving your finger inside the trigger guard pass the first knuckle doesn't do accuracy any favors either..

Well your first red flag is, he didn't know how far away they were. Just like the guy who shot at the running deer that was "about" 700 yards away,

Should have told him that if he would be a little more quiet, then deer wouldn't spook when he got within half a mile of them.

Just speaking for myself, I have practiced shooting quite a bit, but simply do not understand why some folks are infatuated with shooting animals at very long range.I'm not really against it;simply don't care about it.

The technology of LR rifle shooting fascinates me;it'a also fun plinking targets at great distance,and I "get" the intellectual stimulation of ballistic problem solving,and hitting a small target at great distance. I always figured that's what varmint hunting was for.

But sniping some unsuspecting BG animal at 1000 yards would leave me ambivalent.....at least that's how I felt on the handful of animals I've killed at 500 yards or so.It did not thrill me at all....kind of like not being involved in a "hunt".

I have gotten a far bigger thrill when the animals were a lot closer...Felt more involved in a pursuit, and less like a detached assassin.

Maybe that's why I got by with a 4X scope all those years.

I use to tell my wife she's going to have to whisper.... She would reply louder and even more agitated. "I am whispering!!!"

Why even hunt with a rifle then? Sounds like a recurve should be your hunting tool of choice.

I've done a little test the last two months and have proven to myself and others that a magnum launching high BC bullets puts other chamberings at a disadvantage

Had a guy tell me about a month ago that with the book minimum charge of H4895 and a 150 SST his drop @ 500yds was 20" with his rifle zeroed dead on @ 76yds from his 30/06. I got 2 bullchits out before his Dad chimed in and told me it was true. That got 2-3 more bullchits out, and a nice exchange of back and forths.

Funny when I invited them out to our 600yd spot they had other stuff to do and shooting that far is nothing but wasting ammo. I told him they would be wasting ammo because they would be lucky to hit the damn ground at that distance.

Had a fellow telling me how great a long-range shot he was.

Talked him into coming with me to the gun club. We set up on the firing line and I indicated the targets at 600 yards...

The realization of how far 600 yards is sank in right then and there...

We don't see ranges like that often in my neck of the woods.. 500 seemed to be as well as a mile when I first saw it. Having the skill to shoot twice that distance would be awesome as well as daunting to me.

In response, I shoot quite a bit. I work not only on trigger time but also in hunting situations, at least as much as the range rules allow. I agree with Bob's comment, shooting any BG animal at ranges of 600 + yards just doesn't appeal to me in the least. As I stated before, I have more respect for the animal than that.

And as far as 'use a bow', I do that as well. At least that I can practice shooting 'live' rounds in my back yard.

If you are interested in punching paper or ringing a gong at long ranges, I have no problem with that (except that currently the longest range I have access to is only 190 yards). I do go to a friend's place about an hour and a half away and shoot his 300 yard gong. I do enjoy that as a test bed for some of my loads and to better learn each rifle and load. And since I am limited in range yardage, I limit my shots.
I have seen videos on youtube etc that depict shooting a DRT elk or mule deer at some phenomenal range but I've always wondered how many videos were erased because they'd miss-judged the wind or some other factor. I'm sure the long range 'hunters' have their share of poor hits just as do any that limit themselves and do NOT practice other than half a box the day before season opens.

I get the " With my new XXX gun, I line it up dead on at 100, hold at the top of the back at 500 and it's dead." Or something to that effect all the time.

Or used to anyway.

Uncle bought some land of couple years ago, right out of town, that's easy to get to. Great place to shoot, 600 yards, can easily drive to targets, etc.

I've took a bunch of the "snipers" I've heard all the BS from up there. Some of the excuses I hear are almost unbelievable.

Funniest one I can remember, a guy shooting his .300 RUM...I swear the bullet must have hit the ground at least 10 feet in front of the steel I had set up at 500 yards. I'm waiting on a response, few seconds later I get "I'm pretty sure that would have hit a deer."

There have been a few though, that opened their eyes and turned into a good shooting buddy.