Seems the problem with some LR shooting is that people without the training and background in LR match shooting and other distance related shooting activities are doing it...simply because they can buy the gear for it.
They lack hard core experience,and don't really KNOW how many things can go wrong;are not very good at reading conditions,do not have angles nailed down, etc etc.
I stay away from it myself because I feel that it takes years(decades) of continuous practice in hard competition,tens of thousands (not hundreds) of rounds at the range and registered shoots,and in the field reading conditions and making wind calls in broken country,to be remotely good at it.
The most dangerous characters seem to be those who buy the gear,practice with a few hundred rounds,"hit" often enough to think they know what they are doing...and then try it on living animals,miss the first shot,or worse slop one around the edges....they really did not "know" what they were doing, but think they did.
I would argue that reality is in the middle of what you describe, and I base that on what the military accomplishes with 5-6 weeks of training, starting with a solid 300yd rifleman, they basically double that distance.
I'd also like to put in a plug for John Burn's "How to Shoot Beyond Belief" DVD set. Money well spent.
