Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Realistic Distance For Ethical Kills

To this day, I"ll say this, I"ve screwed the pooch a few times in my life.

And every last one of them has been under 200 yards.

I"ve never screwed up a longer shot. But as noted, I know whats realistic for a day and conditions.

Just last weekend I was taking too much time dialing in at 667 and reading the wind and the target left. No big deal. That afternoon in the same place the shot was totally unthinkable all the way around. Conditions were too bad.

Its never been a dick thing with me, just something thats more challenging. Like using a pistol, or a bow or MZ etc.... its another thing that challenges me. And when I was tuned up, firing more than 10K rounds a year out to 1000 yards, with irons to boot, I was confident. My confidence range is much less today than it was a few years ago. Next year it might be really high again though.

And I never turn down a shorter shot if offered.

I have a gun capable of long shots. Beyond 1000 easily. I"ve shot groups of 8-10 inches with the same caliber at a bit over a mile. But I am not practiced enough to think of it, with that gun yet. So while I have a gun, I don't have the capability with it. I won't shoot it past 200 yards in fact. I"ll run my 308 a lot further than that.

Its like anything else, just be sure of what you are doing.

And IMHO, for a long shot, I'm not at all averse to a couple of sighters to verify elevation and high and low wind conditions. It cost me once on game, took one sighter, on a softball sized rock at almost 1000 yards. About 100 yards or so to the side of the critter. Actually hit the rock just on the base as a scrape, pulled up on the critter and it started walkign and walked off. Never gave a shot. No big deal but it would have taken my long from 802 to something over 1000. Never had a good chance since then.

So its all in the shooters ethics.

Of course you know a lot more are wounded by weekend warriors at 100 yards, just due to numbers.