My bet is there are a lot more wounded at close range than long. One word. Archery. That’s coming from a guy who hunts with a recurve, no sights and cedar arrows. Facts are facts. Guys who shoot long range are guys who buy a chit ton of equipment and invest a lot of time shooting and tinkering around with stuff to get it right. They split hairs for bragging rights. They’re likely ADD and OCD. Compare that to the guy that buys his ammo off the shelf, has a scope that is a “set and forget it” and checks zero with one shot at fifty yards two days before season. Unfortunately that is the majority of the hunting community. People on this site are the 1%. Even those who disagree with long range hunting. Not saying those here who don’t shoot long distance wound game. I don’t shoot long distances anymore as I prefer to track/stalk/still hunt with iron sights and my 35 Whelen with 250 grain RN bullets. Typical Fudd gear but, I also run a Nosler M-21 300 WM with 200 grain Terminal Ascent with a .608 BC at near 3K fps, with a mid range optic. Perfectly capable of knocking over game at distance. I don’t shoot as far as these fellas but I don’t condemn them for what I don’t or can’t do. I have in the past shooting crop damage and likely farther than I should have considering equipment limitations. That’s just what we had and we dealt with it.
Point is, those who are passionate about what they do don’t make mistakes very often and there is no group of people more passionate and dedicated than long range hunters. I’d put my money on them for success rate versus the weekend warriors that go out smelling like old spice and Marlboro reds and is more concerned about who’s going to be at the bar later on that day than when is the last time they shot their rifle.
