Sept 2007, Pushing teh limit article on Elk by J Scott Olmstead.

Damn fool states in the article he got his drop figures for 500 yards off the ammo box and out of his head guesing, and that once he got home his guess was within a few inhces of what the ballistics said, but who knows as the fool never shot the load at 500.....

GREAT information to be so stupid as to blabbing to the public. I am NRA member for teh good, the mags leave somethign to be desired, but why stab us in the back at the same time too?

Jeff

That's one reason why I still have all my old American Rifleman for when I've got extra time to read.

I read that and I thought, "Who is he trying to kid?!"

500 yards isn't that far. You would be pretty close with the drop off the box. Should be minute of milk jug as far as drop goes. Now if he can dope the wind, that is a whole other subject. If your shooting elk silhouettes against a nice cut bank you could just walk them right in.

Drop off the box may not be even close, way too many variables. Could be easily 10 inches off or more.

But it sounded good to a lot of " other " long range hunters..

I took a long range guy shooting about a month ago -when i set the 8" steel plate up at 458yds he had a very odd look on his face.
Coming from a 1000yd shooter that struck me as odd -grin-...
He had no idea what was going on except he had read a couple of things a guy like this guy wrote.

I read the article too. It just was balatantly irresponsible to present it that way.

I am fairly sure a good shot (DOgzapper, for examplt) could figure out the drop from the box, fling a couple of "sighters" and make a kill.

BUT HE SHOULD NOT HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT IT.

HEll, just fib and tell the public that it was "lucky" that you got to toy around with the rifle the day before the hunt. It was luckier that you took some shots at rocks actross the gorge. Laser sighted range showed about 29" diope at yada, yada, yada.

Even with a chrono and software-I use exbal, I always tell folks you must confirm your data at the distances you intend to shoot. I actually encourage them to practice further than they intend to shoot, but that is another story.

Oh heck it would be easy as all get out to extrapolate a close SWAG, then take one pop at a rock or such and use the correction as a holdoff and kill.... thats no issue at all and many more than just a few could do that if they applied themselves. I've done it more than once way out beyond 500....

Point is the whole dang thing was just irresponsible. LIE about the deal if you have, don't print stupidity...

Jeff

I just saw something on the Outdoor Channel where a guy was going hunting and stated the same thing to the camera pointing at the little graph on the box. I couldn't believe it. Said he was all set up for a long shot.

Gdv

Really makes those of us that work at it look like fools, IMHO.

Jeff

Don't forget that an elk (according to what I researched before my hunt) is about 32" depth in the chest. You can tolerate a lot more inaccuracy in trajectory/range estimation than when deer hunting.

32 inches might be right. Of course maybe 2/3 of that is vital....

I don't really care about what the error range might be, I'm pissed that the rag printed a story like that AND that anyone was dumb enough to pen that in the first place..

I've shot probably not as many guns as you have, they don't all behave the same way.

Now if I had a proven BC, and not just a calculated one, and was able to run a ballistics program on it, great. I wouldn't trust any info that I had not verified first....

I think we are on teh same page..

Jeff

Did you guys complain to the editor? Whether anyone kills deer or elk out to 500 yards - I don't want to hear about it! I'd rather hear about good conservation and real sportsmanship! Not some braggart who thinks he's more of a (wishful) shooter than he is a compitent and ethical hunter.

I'm not a long range hunter. I'm workin' on it. I will say this: an article like that does a huge disservice to anyone who really IS a long range hunter! You guys really should be writing to the editor.

I'd love to take a guy like that out to my steel plate course and see him hit that 500-yard steel plate on the first shot. He got lucky- and so did the elk- with that shot.

-jeff

Yeah we should write the editor, good point, I might contemplate that!

As to ethics on the shots and your opinion of hunting or not.... thats a long hashed out non issue to me, it can be done very correctly and easily generally speaking, my point to it is that it was not done correctly and should have never been printed, it was a poke in the dark that worked.

Jeff

My attitude about long shots .....

When I first started hunting more than 30yrs ago, I read in several places that more than 90% of my shots would be under 250yds. Such has been the case! (on mulies, one whitetail, several elk and several other pronghorns).

To date I've only killed one animal, a pronghorn doe - at over 300 yards. She was around 400.

If I'm not 300yds or closer, then my "hunting" is what sucks. My shooting won't make up for that. Also, everyone I've ever BG-hunted with doesn't shoot beyond 300yds either. FWIW.

Then what the hell are you doing in the Long Range Hunting section? Are you lost?

Apparently he is..........

You are! In the head!

Stubble you are in the wrong area.... just stirring it up....

FWIW there are some times that getting closer can't happen, and that point my rifle skills take over. Yours may not. But mine speak that 300 yards is a chip shot... like 50 to most... YMMV.

BTW I could "hunt" and kill deer much quicker than I learned how to shoot longer distances correctly... IE the folks that have the skill set have dedicated more time and energy and field work to get to that level, than the folks that just wonder around and poke one at 100 yards or so.

Tis no different than choosing your weapon.

Another thought, I don't care for Africa or hunting there, consequently I rarely if ever snoop or reply to anything in the African section..... a bit of advice that has worked wonders for me. I don't think they'd like me over there telling em how much I hate Africa.....

Still wondering aimlessly.............

Maybe.

Anybody who waqnts to write the editor and complain about the story should be aware that the author is the editor.

JB

No problem here.... just too lazy to go to word and print and find a place to mail it to so far....

Jeff

I would suggest the editor/author ought to take some time off and talk to Jim Zumbo. A little more thinking and less writing.

Makes odds even better that the Author will get the letter...........