Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting What is your definition of 'long range'?

I think that’s one of the components to a LR shot, that lots of people don’t consider..... the amount of time one has to get that shot off.

Your typical LR shot occurs in minutes.... even hours. There’s time to observe the animal, the terrain, the wind, the angles, etc. The shooter gets to pick the very best time to let that bullet go, he’s not reacting in an instant. All of the variables are accounted for (as best they can be), and there’s a frame of reference for the shot (based on previous practice).

In the scenarios described above.... those were “snap” shots, taken in an instant, without the ability (necessity?) to take variables into consideration. Some of those shots end badly, just the same as some LR shots end badly.

Furthermore..... imagine the outrage if someone talked of taking a 500 yard shot through a “3 foot wide hole in the brush”.... it would light the interweb on Fire! Yet, that’s a perfectly acceptable shot for someone else... based arbitrarily on range?

Dogshooter, it would depend how close I am to that 3 foot opening! memtb

Good post Dog...

Dogshooter, good points. You are a refreshing realist.

Re the three foot hole in brush, think minutes of angle. A rough figure is that 36 inches is well over 200 minutes of angle at 40 foot range (240 MOA I think). If my one-coffee morning mental math is correct, at 500 yards a 36 inch hole is a smidge over 7 minutes of angle. For reference, 7 MOA equates to a 7 inch target at 100 yards.

200 minutes of angle is a big target. 7 MOA is not, under most hunting conditions, though easily hittable with time, a good rest, good gear and a reasonably good shooter.

I.e. 200 MOA at 40 feet is easily doable offhand. 7 MOA is not easily doable offhand for most hunters. Same size hole in brush, hugely different target as the range increases, which bring us back to the increasing difficulties of hitting at long range. Long rangers who hit stuff consistently are really good.

BTW, love that little Itsy Bitsy call!

You found 4 Elk that were gut shot. When you found them how did you know they were initially shot at long range? I’m sure there is a story there, so have at it.

Then we get your own stories of animals making their move as you were shooting. Perhaps you are not the expert on animal body language you previously claimed to be?

In addition, I’m not your bro and finally you are giving the old farts a bad rep with your stories. But it is obvious you shouldn’t be shooting LR. Then you have need to guess re my conscious. Which by now is not surprising.

battue, I’m not trying to be argumentative and am “not” opposed to long range shooting of game.....but, a snapping of a twig, the smell of a predator or a human, and other factors can cause a “seemingly” relaxed animal to bolt without warning! If it happens at exactly the “wrong” time....we have a missed or wounded animal. Taking the shot is what we must all deal with.....assuming the animal “will not” move is rather unrealistic! memtb

Good point. Having our human scent and sounds farther away from the critter, as with a LR shot, reduces the chance of the animal becoming alarmed by us at the wrong split second.

If you can’t hit a 7 MOA target.... you should take up golf. I watch my kids, wife, and a hundred random people a year... hit 2-3 MOA sized target out to 1/2 mile with relative ease. Now.... that doesn’t mean they should be shooting critters that far away.... it just means 7 MOA sized targets are actually quite easy to hit.

But you do bring up another oft overlooked point about LR shots.... they’re taken off much better “rests” than your typical “hunting” shot that’s taken off-hand or leaning against a tree.

So... now we can see, from your examples above.... how/why a “Long Range Shot”.... May actually be LESS risky than some of the “Close Range Shots”.....

You’re taking a very quick (sub-2 second?) off-hand shot, at highly alert/moving animal, with brush in the way. You’re amped up, and have to make it all come together RIGHT NOW, or Never.

I’m taking a highly calculated shot, at a completely unaware animal, with nothing in the way. I’m able to watch the critter for 10 minutes, judge wind, and get a very solid rest. I choose when to send that bullet... because I have ample opportunity to wait it out. I’ve practice that 550ish yard shot hundreds and hundreds of times.

Which of those scenarios is more likely to produce a miss... or worse, a poor hit?

Seriously.... think about it for a minute... don’t just automatically go to the “range” issue.... look at the whole situation.

Thanks for the compliment on the Itsy Bitsy.... it really is a great little call.

I’m not arguing either. And all you mention “can” happen. I have somewhere near or perhaps over 100 Pa Deer tags that have been filled, the vast majority on standing or slow moving Deer that didn’t know I was about to pull the trigger. None yet have escaped due to a surprised move on their part.

No doubt, for sure I’m due, but obviously it will not be the norm. Hell, I can get take the safety off when they are close and have yet to put one on alert. No doubt, I’m due.

Jordan, That’s a great point.....”IF”, you are the only hunter in the area! Which, I wish were true....but is rarely the case! memtb

I haven't seen but maybe 1 out of 100 competitive shooters that could hit a 7 MOA target 20 out of 20 from Standing. Maybe 5 out of 100 could go 10 for 10.

I bet if they got a good rest.... most could go 10 for 10. That’s kinda the point, if you’d bothered to read the whole post.

Well it’s scent and sound from one less human in close proximity of the animal, which still decreases the chances of it being alarmed. If you are within 100 yards of the critter, your scent and noise has a far higher chance of being detected than the random chance that some other hunter happens to be close by as well

It's the only way one can take a shot.

I define long range as the distance beyond which you can’t hit a milk jug sized target or 12” steel without fail. Happy Trails

No argument from me except to say, if you do this long enough, "can screw up" goes to "will screw up" regardless of the range.

I agree with almost all of that but I don't think the risk goes up geometrically with range. The main risks with long range are mis-judging the wind and the animal moving. With good judgment those risks can be minimized by not shooting in tricky winds and not shooting if the animal isn't undisturbed and stationary.

What?? By my calculations, that works out to almost one deer per year, that is outstanding!!

The intended purpose of this thread was NOT to discuss the ethnics of "long range" shooting but rather to explore what the members here consider to be "long range", knowing full well that each will have their own definition and that those may and often do change over time.

Perhaps a better question would have been "At what range can you reliably place our bullets n a 6" circle?"

I respectfully disagree! As a somewhat extreme example.....I can except 2/10 of a second animal movement at a hundred yards. However, at lets say, with a 700 yard shot....the time will be much closer to a full second of movement. The animal, already a more difficult target at range, will move considerably more with that one second of movement, than one given 2/10 of a second movement @100 yards. We should make our shots assuming the animal will move.....it’s our decision as to how much risk and movement we are willing to except! memtb