One or two years ago, it doesn't matter. The fact is you took a shot that you were not skilled enough to make, yet you mention the "pathetic" shooting you have seen at the range. You are one not those guys at the range that you have observed. That the irony is lost on you is telling.
Both actually. Read through that thread about last years lost elk and it references the elk he lost the previous year.
The entire matter would be long forgotten but for the fact that Coyote Hunter himself continues to bring it up. That, and as you noted, a proclivity for criticism, and dare I say boasting and unsolicited advice.
Read through that 2014 episode and there appear to be more serious issues than bullets and marksmanship. The whole story just doesn't add up.
It is clearly a ranch hunt. Somehow it is also a road hunt between 3 different game units. This part is never clearly explained. Look at the success rates on these ranches and most of them are astonishing. It is difficult to reconcile having that sort of access and then making the decision to fling a long shot. The desperate shot attempt doesn't jibe with someone bragging on their vast experience. It almost appears to be a quest for a stunt shot.
The failure to make any attempt to contact the neighboring ranch appears to be illegal. At various times in that thread Coyote Hunter offers that he is not sure which ranch, that it is all about money and paying customers on those ranches, and that this particular ranch does not get along with the ranch where he is hunting. I personally don't buy that explanation because I own property that is elk habitat. If a dead elk turns up there I am going to have a discussion with the neighboring property owner about that elk whether I get along with him or not.
Perhaps saddest of all is that it appears that some younger people are apparently witness to this.
