Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Randy Selby on Long Range hunters

That's a good simple summation & a good statement that should encompass a lot of "hunters".

He does make a lot of generalizations & probably overstates a lot of things & understates others.

He's 100% on target about ego, though. Some LR "hunters" are hunters others aren't; they are just shooters & there's a difference.

If you've ever spent much time around various hunting conventions, you'll soon see that many of the "hunters" are simply & only about kills for bragging rights or for filling up a bucket list of animals.

These are the LR "hunters" that in many cases, give LR hunting a bad name & are some of the people he is referring to.

Others are genuinely really good hunters that have other motivations & have also learned to utilize modern tools to extend their genuine hunting capabilities & I don't see anything wrong with that.

It's wrong when inadequate shooters & "hunters" use LR shooting as a crutch.

I think he does badly underestimate the LR shooting capabilities of a lot of good hunters & shooters today, but in reality, I also think that number of really good shooters is relatively small compared to the numbers that have jumped on that bandwagon & use it as an excuse not to be a hunter.

Money can buy equipment; it can't buy the talent or skill or the ability to capably use it nor the aptitude & skill of being a genuinely good hunter.

Just my view of the world, YMMV.

MM

Selby Rifles - 1,000 yards out of the box!

I'd take a 10k bet that at least 50% of the people that buy a hunting license could not hit a pie plate at 100 yards on their first attempt with their deer rifle.

This is always one of the issues with "freedom" and the question of how to protect one person's rights without stomping on another's.

I shot two chamois in New Zealand: one bouncing along a cliff face while being chased towards me by a helicopter and one from the hovering helicopter. While the range wasn't exactly long and by no means a "hunt", the shots I made were the "trophy", if you will. Both critters are honestly some of my more prouder successes and was A) legal, B) fun, C) a cultural thing and D) a good way to spend the one day I had left in country. It is also a great way to make the anti's hate us even more....which ties into my original point in my first sentence.

I see a lot of similarities with that situation and the current long range craze, and no, I didn't practice those shooting scenarios beforehand. I probably should have, but didn't as it was a last minute opportunity that I hadn't anticipated. I wouldn't have shot though if I wasn't confident in the situation.

You shouldn't shoot animals at long range, but if you do, make sure you buy one of my guns!

All this guy is missing is the big red shoes and squeeky nose. "The real clownsmith"

No bet there, your 50% is optomistic. I have seen many who cant hit a pie plate at 100 yards on SEVERAL attempts. Off a bench.

FYI this video was made 3 years ago.

Agree with him or not, like his delivery or not, Randy Selby has earned thru considerable work and experience the right to his opinion and his ways to share them. He was tutored by Les Bowman in his youth, and much more on his resume
Randy has seen Gunwerks and Best of the West move in just down the road and he probably has a point about what we see on their shows and what ends up on the cutting room floor.
I enjoy watching his Real Gunsmith videos and try to learn from them. I got a kick out of his take on the new PRC chamberings.

http://randyscustomrifles.com/therealgunsmith/

Nothing wrong with "old school", getting that way myself these days.
I like the retro look of his old shop in contrast to the modern CNC machinery of the new gunsmiths.
Whether who is better, new or old, doesn't matter to me.

i appreciate your post. for years, all you read besides the classic old gunwriters, is all about custom equipment and the dangers of wandering out in the western hunting areas. long range has captured the imagination of many.

one skill is dying...off hand shooting with a rifle. at the range i shoot at, it got so bad that extra structure had to be added to ensure bullets stayed in the range.

a couple of places were set up for hunters to shoot at up to 100 yards. hardly anyone uses them. almost all of the people who shoot from field positions are military match shooters and silhouette shooters.

There's a difference between having an appreciation of the old school and being hidebound.

That's 3-1/2 minutes of my life I can never get back.

Having seen some shots taken that shouldn't have been, some animals hit and not recovered because the variables were to great to overcome yes I believe the long range "craze" has led to those kind of things.

I 100% agree with Selby that ego looms large in the long range debate, but that's okay. I love getting pheasants out of a field after other guys fail, and I love catching fish when other guys can't. However, over-hunted fields and crappy fishing spots are not my preference. All too often a long range shot on game is preferred and even sought after. The only reason for that is ego.

The ONLY reason I have one long range rifle is for hunting Axis across The Texas Hill Country. Often times I will be posted up and look across 3 or more hillsides & see them grazing on the leeward side. Range, dial , whack. But never more than 500 yards, personal limit. Otherwise I work into at least within 250-300 yards.

I was at the range one day trying some new loads and a guy sat down at the bench to my right with a new very expensive .338 Lapua sniper rifle. I know it very expensive because he told me what he paid for it. This range only has targets at 25, 50, 100 and 200 yards. We were on the 100 yard range. He told me he was going elk hunting in Colorado on a ranch where you could get some real long shots at elk over 1500 yards. He said all he had to do was get sighted in at 100 yards and when he found the actual actual distance to the elk he'd just adjust the scope for that distance. After he made his first 5 shots letting his barrel cool between shots I looked at his target and he had shot about an 8" group. I moved to a different target to get away from the muzzle blast. Maybe he did better on his second group.

To me there is no reason to shoot game animals at very long range. The animal could move after you fire. It's not like a military sniper who is shooting at enemy soldiers who want to kill him.

While I can’t disagree with the above, I’d offer that might be painting with a pretty broad brush. Folks have also been taking bad shots from as little as 30 yards for a long time - the long range game has had little consequence on general lack of practice or judgement.

I wouldn't hesitate to make a 500 yard shot as long as there were no crosswinds. We shot popup targets at 500 yards in Army basic with our M-14's. The 500 yard mark on the flip up sight was fairly close but we got to use tracers to get on target.

I have a 1,000 yard rifle - inch groups at 300.

The problem isn't the rifle.....

500 is my limit, and then it needs a good rest, game standing broadside, little or no cross wind.

Now, 30 yards my huckleberry.

I've been known to miss a 50 yarder tho...

It wasn't my fault. Really.

I can only afford the beard and maybe the hat, if they sell them at Walmart.

Instant gratification culture is the culprit..
Any of us could go on for days on that theme...

I spend less time worrying about what others are legally doing and more time becoming more proficient and capable with what I’m doing.