I think each person needs to know their limits. Based on what they have practice at. After 400 yds I am not comfortable. If I was going to be taking longer shots I would need to practice.Some one that has practice longer shots will be able to shoot farther that I should be shooting.
Scotty;
Good morning or perhaps afternoon already where you're out on a raid, regardless I trust that Christmas was a good one for you and you're well.
Thanks for your reply sir, I agree with your thoughts on the subject completely.
As many know, I've been involved in teaching the BC Hunter Safety course at our gun club for 30+ years and the subject of "how far can I shoot and/or how far is it ethical to shoot" comes up pretty much every year.
The answer I've come up with is that if the shooter can hit a standard paper plate at that distance each time and every time, that's how far they're able to shoot at game. I'll stipulate too that they need to hit the plate from the chosen shooting position if it's a firearm.
The theory being paper plates are reasonably inexpensive and available targets and don't wreck arrows that badly either, so whether the new hunter is going out with a bow, in a shotgun zone, a muzzle loader, great grandpa's ancient .303 LE or something newer, they have a way to measure their ability.
That said, when a buddy and I used to run the center fire rifle shoot at the same club's annual Turkey Shoot, when we put up archery targets such as bsa1917 showed and had offhand matches, the results were both educational and somewhat dreadful at the same time. This was folks who had enough confidence in their abilities to come and compete, some reasonably serious competitors at that.
My friend and I still talk about how abysmal most folks were shooting from standing, unsupported positions.
Some respondents have mentioned shots at game that was spooked or at least aware of the hunter and I believe that's definitely a factor as well or surely can often be.
Usually if we stretch the distance to the target, there's a better chance of it being relaxed and unaware of us which should be a plus I'd think.
Of course other than getting the distance ranged correctly, the wind will become more of a factor out there too, so it's a mixed blessing.
Thanks again for your reply and all the best in the New Year.
Dwayne
