I don't consider myself a long range hunter. I practice to 600 yards with my hunting rifles. 400 would be my current limit under most field conditions. With a good rest and modest wind, I could stretch that to 500.
In my mind, long range hunting starts somewhere between 500 and 600 yards. I enjoy long range shooting. I don't ever see getting into long range hunting.
You and I are in the same boat. Farthest critter I've ever shot was a groundhog at 488 of my steps...……….which are longer than a yard. Did it when only the military knew what a rangefinder was. Guessing 510-515 actual yards. So, shooting a big game animal, to me, would not be that hard for me today...……….with a LRF and a better rifle/scope combo. I just don't shoot many critters at all anymore except turkeys with a shotgun and whitetails with a bow, so...…………. But, I thoroughly enjoy shooting paper and steel. We can do 600 right now at the farm. Hoping to move about 2 treetops this summer and 700 is a done deal. Next stop is at a neighbors place to secure permission to place a target on his property, and 1000+ is right there. Want to have a rifle put together for just that sorta shooting. The donor is in the safe. But shooting at a big game animal past 500 or 600 wouldn't get me off in the least.
