WHOA! Didn't know I'd hit such a nerve here. I think missing a gong at long-distance is fine. Not making a perfect shot on the animal is not fine.
Somehow, 300-yards doesn't seem unethical, but adding 200-yards to that seems 'wrong'. What happens in the extra 200-yards that would make a shot go bad?
Ho jeez! What can go wrong? At 500 yards... wind, animal movement, operator error... with an MOA rifle, if that animal moves even a few inches you could be out of the vitals. Or if you misjudge the wind... or the distance (but you'd be nuts to even try that shot without a rangefinder).
I'm too new to the forum to get in a fight yet! :-) I will say, the last argument I got into over this subject led me to set up a longer-range practice course with steel plates at 250, 340, 410, and 500 yards. I can pelt the 340 all day long, but can only hit the 410 about half the time. So, there's a lot that happens between 340 and 410 yards, much less between 300 and 500!
I'd feel confident about shooting an elk out to 350 yards, based on my experience. With my hunting zero, and my rifles and scopes*, that means holding one "vitals" high. I can do that. Beyond that, holdover gets pretty sketchy. Anyone with serious aspirations beyond 350, 400 yards needs to have a target-style scope, a rangefinder, and needs to practice a BUNCH under all kinds of different conditions. If you practice enough and get your gear set up properly then it may be possible to shoot out to 500 yards- but so far is hasn't been, for me. But that's me.
-jeff
I agree Jeff, there is much more to long range shooting than tossing a bullet downrange. In the 1960's I shot high power rifle matches, I shot in the Northwest Regionals at Fort Lewis in 1966. So I shot 500 and 600. Luckily at Fort Lewis it was grey overcast and no wind so a guy can do pretty good at that range. Our range went to 500 yds and we had shifting winds and when the wind slacked then came the mirage. It would throw you two feet left or right depending on the wind direction, when it stopped the mirage would put you up two feet. A good scope can help you read these things but you still have to know what your doing to make the effective shot. I shot a friends 300 Win Mag with scope for fun one day. I fired the first round and he told me to shoot at the marker which was about six inches. I only fired 9 rounds but I learned to watch what was happening in the scope. My brother-in-law told me he shot a Whitetail at 500 yds. twice and the shots were 2 inches apart. I told him he was a much better shot than me and that I would never attempt that shot. He said, well I'm not lieing I don't aim, I just shoot. Like I said, your a much better shot than me. I have heard about those 500 yd shots all my life but I want to see it measured. The longest shot I have ever made was on a Blacktail, I was using an 06 with 150 Grain Spitzers. The buck jumped out from underneath me, with no chance for a snap shot. I was above a road so I watched the road and there he went. I can still see the crosshair when I touched it off. The first shot I was holding on the end of his nose and broke a back leg. He bailed over the side of the road heading toward the river. The second shotI was holding at about 4 inches above the top of his horns and hit him in the horn about 4 inches above the head. That knocked him down, the third shot I was holding at the top of the horns and broke his neck just under the ear. I have no idea how far he was but that was my all time favorite shot. I'm not saying that a 500 yd shot can't be made because there are a lot of good shooters out there but I do hope they practice a lot and are confident in making the shot. But like I said, I wouldn't try it for fear of wounding the animal.
