Dogshooter, good points. You are a refreshing realist.
Re the three foot hole in brush, think minutes of angle. A rough figure is that 36 inches is well over 200 minutes of angle at 40 foot range (240 MOA I think). If my one-coffee morning mental math is correct, at 500 yards a 36 inch hole is a smidge over 7 minutes of angle. For reference, 7 MOA equates to a 7 inch target at 100 yards.
200 minutes of angle is a big target. 7 MOA is not, under most hunting conditions, though easily hittable with time, a good rest, good gear and a reasonably good shooter.
I.e. 200 MOA at 40 feet is easily doable offhand. 7 MOA is not easily doable offhand for most hunters. Same size hole in brush, hugely different target as the range increases, which bring us back to the increasing difficulties of hitting at long range. Long rangers who hit stuff consistently are really good.
