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

Interesting point for me on this topic is What is the bullet designed to do at this range? I've often heard that many game bullets need a minimum velocity to open up properly. That velocity is usually in the area of 1800 to 2000 FPS - again, depending on the bullet construction.

Could you seriously go past 1000 Yards with most normal hunting calibers and and expect good performance from your bullet or will it just be a pencil poke through at best? Do long range hunters consider that?

Not trying to set anyone's knickers on flame - just asking.

The guy is a fuggin idiot! ... i i i i i i i ....arrogant prick. He couldnt hang with a schitload of average guys that hunt mountain to mountain every year in PA.

I was able to make it through a little over six minutes of the video. That's six minutes of my life I wish I had back.

At 81 years....I consider 150 yards long range.....sitting in my box stand with a Mr Heater, a thermos of hot coffee and a good pair of insulated 'shoulder britches' and my .54 Hawken ML rifle....shooting REAL BLACK POWDER!!

I recall that if a fellow was really interested in 'showing off' or proving how good a marksman he/she was that they took a good rifle to Camp Perry Ohio and shot in the National Rifle Matches!!

Nothing like the excitement of having game up close. I like bow hunting during bow season, some bow-hunt year round for that reason.

For the sake of argument let's call any shot over 350 yards long range, even that is far to distant for a great many hunters. Hitting an inanimate object at that distance or 2-3 times that distance is a challenging and fun game. Many people have the skill to repeatedly do it. All that's needed is to accurately know the range, dope the wind and have developed the necessary skills with an accurate rifle.
However, that target lacks the ability to move on it's own. Shooting at big game at long range is, IMHO, completely unethical. No one can predict or control what that animal is going to do between the time the trigger breaks and the bullet reaches the animal. Just one step is enough to turn an otherwise fatal shot into a gut shot and perhaps a lost animal that's going to suffer a miserable death.

To illustrate....
My longest shot at previously unwounded big game was 362 laser measured yards on a rag horn elk. Prior to the shot the elk had been completely stationary and unaware anyone was near. When the trigger broke the cross hairs were perfectly aligned on his chest tight behind the shoulder. By the time the bullet got there he had moved far enough forward that the bullet hit him in the hind leg. Fortunately, he only took a few steps and stopped. The second shot dead centered his heart and dropped him.

There is simply no way to predict an animals movements.

Learn to hunt and close the distance!!

I really enjoy shooting at long range.... at steel targets.
Hunting big game, not varmints I like to stick to 450 yds or less. I grew up using the old point blank range and holdover with a flat shooting cartridge and with the short time span most animals give you to pull off the shot it works and is effective.
I do dial for long range on targets and understand many pull it off with great success big game hunting and I am fine with that.

I agree with all the above. Most hunters couldn't hit a herd of circus tents at 500 yards, yet many are trying flock shooting at 1,000. I had a friend who could take and make the long shots and do it with his 270 WBY Magnum with a #2 contour barrel. I've always had to get close...300 yards on in.

Shoot 'em far as you can, but if you could get closer and don't...you're either lazy or a dumbass, or both.

That guy is an ignorant douche nozzle ! I have let myself start a couple of his videos in the past and never finish them.

good point. some years ago a magazine (i think it was handloader) did a test on just this topic. they took 30 cal 180 gr and tested about 30 of them at different velocities. a lot of the premium bullets had little expansion at range. the velocities started at 2700 and declined 100 fps at a time. the two with the most reliable expansion and weight retention were rem and win roundnose.

sure are alot of opinions on mr selby.you know what they say about opinions.all i know is there are components for building extremely accurate long range rifles as well as optics.that being said the ability of the equipment is only one factor in shooting long range let alone hunting long range.some of the keyboard wizards on here make mr selby out to be a arrogant blow hard or big mouth.well i own rifles custom built for many applications.all of them capable of extreme accuracy.bottom line is this man has forgotten more than alot of you could learn over many years.as others have stated when you are shooting at any game animal you need to know what you are doing with all variables involved.hunting is a serious responsibility and knowing your limitations is most important.yes mr selby has a hard opinion.after building rifles for over 5 decades and having hunted longer than that i think hes entitled.most of you who criticize him are probably young and cant help it.i limit myself to 4 to 500 yards anymore dependent on game,conditions and calibre.i also start at 30 caliber when hunting elk or larger game.especially in grizz territory.

I found Mr. Selby's delivery style far more tolerable than most of the mindless criticism he received in the last 8 pages of this thread. No doubt he has hard opinions, repeats himself frequently, and lacks the instant appeal that is so critical of today's consumers of social media.

What he stated early in his presentation (and what is missing from most of the conversation to follow) is that we need to respect the game animal enough to not make anything less than the most ethical killing shot. Far too many so-called "hunters" seem willing to take whatever shot available to them. I would suggest that, the bigger the antlers/horns/whatever, the more likely it is that a risky shot will be taken.

He's right about the amount of editing that goes into sport hunting shows. You're not getting the privilege of watching a gut-shot ram or bull that took a step between the moment the gun was shot and when the bullet arrived 850 yards later.

I've lost some friendships over poor hunting ethics. I don't want to be friends with a man who can't understand the ethic that taking a life demands that we do so as humanely. as possible.

You ever thought about writing a book?

Please define "as possible".
Is it simply a bullet's time of flight factor for you? If so then that's fine but I think an important point is that the further out a critter is---the less chance they know you're there (in theory at least) and the calmer they will be. If you've got an animal close by in your crosshairs right when the wind swirls (yes, I know this can happen at several hundred yards too), the animal can instantly bolt and if you don't have the reaction time to let off the trigger bad things can happen, so that's another consideration. BTDT, though I admit it is a somewhat rare situation. One raghorn bull I accidentally headshot at about 75 yards is a perfect example of this, where I just got lucky but could have just as easily gut shot him. When I am dealing with swirling breezes (read: not necessarily winds), there are situations where I actually prefer animals to be at least 200-250 yards away if not more for this reason, though though I do enjoy having them closer.

There's lots and lots of ways to look at hunting ethics.

I won't argue with your point of some people taking any shot given, nor the bigger thread gripe about unpracticed long range hunters taking irresponsible shots. That is absolutely not a practice I would endorse.

I am hoping he has thought about taking an English class, but something tells me that is your point.

When did Caylen fall from grace?

Good...piss off...I don't particularly want to know a judgemental cunt like you anyway.

How I or anyone else hunts is none of your fucking business.

🤣🤣🤣 I was headed there.

That old man sure knows how to throw sand in a gal’s vajayjay, don’t he? What a bunch of crying and squealing! 😂😂😂