Originally Posted by Kaleb
Originally Posted by rickt300
Define your idea of long range. Are you in the reasonable camp of up to 450 yards or are you in the hail Mary camp of 600 yard shooting at unwounded game?


Careful. Many people are far more accurate at 600 than a lot of us are at 350. Let’s not say something is a Hail Mary just because it is too far for you or me. Plenty of deer get wounded by people who never practice and take shots at your reasonable distances. Most people I know in real life have never practiced past 200 yards yet will shoot at a deer at 3-400 yards. Lots of guys practice at 1,000 yards and 500-600 yards would be a pretty easy shot for them.


Under most field conditions in Wyoming where a hard gusty wind is changing direction 3 or more times on the way to 600 yards even the best shooters are taking a chance on wounding if they take the shot. I know it seems odd but I know some really good shooters and they all say wind is the limiting factor not range. Bullet performance becomes and issue also as velocities and energy drop. Even if you practice on a range or shooting at rocks out to 1000 yards that doesn't mean you will get first round vital hits, hence the "hail Mary" designation. Beyond that if you do make a hit at 600 yards if the animal does not drop right away finding it can be a pain in the arse. I hate to think of all the elk lost every year by people who think they have the skill to dope the wind at ranges even as close as 350 yards.

Last edited by rickt300; 07/04/20.
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