Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anyone have a personal limit of 300 yards or less for shots?

Growing up out in the Big Empty and having an iron sighted rifle always handy, you tend to get to know your distances and your POA/POI.

Closer is always better, but ~400 yards was my limit.

I have a 300 yard range at my house. Lots of folks use it for Sight in and practice. I can tell you that most have trouble much over 150 yards even off the bench. I have a 6" fence post planted to practice "leaning on a tree". Lots of guys can't put 5 in a paper plate at 100 off that. Have one neighbor who just seems to be a naturally great shot. He can off hand 300 and keep them all on 8"x11" target every time. Remington 760 pump 06.

Set scopes on my 06 and 308 2 1/2" high at 100yds. Old timer taught me to hold on hair on first shot. If I shoot under and he doesn't haul ass then set cross hairs on his back. Never got a third shot without hitting him or he hauls ass.
George

Fixed power scope, usually a 6x. A rangefinder and keep shots under 250.

98% of my shots are under 100. Much simpler.

Yep

90 percent of the deer I have killed were ant less than 100
I have shot a few at 400 plus but there almost always able to close the distance for a better shot.

It’s a situational thing. Free handed 80 to 90 yards is a long shot. Decent rest 150-200 yards is ok. In good conditions and with front and rear support 300-400 is fine if I practice. Many people are better shots at 700 yards than I am at 350. It just all depends.

Well I'm a little surprised. I 'never' take an off hand shot UNLESS it's the only possibility. The only one I remember happened in 2012 when I surprised a Doe and she swapped ends to leave......she wasn't quick enuff. It was @ 80 yds.

OTHERWISE - remember- I hunt on the ground, I carry & use Shooting Sticks, the 2 legged, 3 sectioned kind.
I also sit in certain situations and they adjust for sitting positions. I weighed them a few years ago at 17 or 18 oz.
"They ain't heavy....They are friends"


Jerry

If I haven't proven I can do it in practice, I don't attempt it on a live animal in the field.

When I was hunting Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming I practiced at distances further than I was willing to shoot animals.
I still do practice longer than I expect to hunt , 300 yards across the hay field is a very likely shot.
My hunting buddies think 200 yds is long and not worth practicing, "I'll never shoot that far" Maybe for some...

Our local range goes to 400 yards. Torso targets and steel plates of various sizes. I shoot on it quite often. With everything from an ar15 with a 1-4x to my 308 with a 2-10. I also practice shooting off of my shooting sticks and what I've found is out to 300 yards is about as far as I can reliably hit the 6 and 8" plates everytime. Once I get off the sandbags and go to the sticks (which is how I hunt) 400 gets iffy with the hit rate going to about 75%. So I limit myself to 300 in the field because I feel that is end of my comfort zone. The longest shot I've ever made around here was 305 on a coyote and 275 on a whitetail; most of my hunting is inside of 200 yards due to the landscape.

YES.

I try to keep shots to no more than 300 yards. If I had a range to shoot further for practice I might, but I don't. I have stretched shots beyond that before and been successful. Mostly on wounded animals. I did shoot an unwounded antelope at 360 yards with my 270 and 130g Sierras Game Kings ( I ranged it after the shot.) I held on the top of its back and took out the heart. I have also passed on them at 450 yards, just because I hadn't practiced that far and I can usually get closer.

If you don’t practice much 300 is too far. With no range finding device how accurate is your estimation of 300 yds?

With the rifles mentioned, with a 200yd zero you’re going to be about 8” low at 300. At 350 you’re going to be 15-20. Big difference.

But to answer your question, 400 is my limit if things are perfect. I do use a range finder and a scope with dials. It’s capable much further than I am. eyesight is my limiting factor.

300 yds?.....Ha! I have never shot at a deer that was over 200 yds. out of the 150+ whitetails I have killed I can only think of a handful that were over 100 yds....The terrain I hunt is not conducive for long shots....Hb

I have made longer shots, but I'm a heckuva lot more comfortable with keeping them under 300. I won't apologize to anyone for that, either.

300 yards on deer sized critters sound good to me.

Not a personal limit, but most of my shots are 200 yards or less, with the occasional 200+ yard shot.

I have that limit under the conditions you list. But I have three questions:
1. Why worry about 400-yard shots when most animals are taken within 150? Learning how to get closer to game works better than trying to buy your way to 400 yards.
2. Why no rangefinder? If you don’t know the exact range, then you don’t know where to hold.
3. Why didn’t you mention the wind? It’s a much bigger factor than most people think.


Don’t be like those guys.


Okie John

I can't begin to tell you how many guys I've run into in the hunting areas I hunt who literally cannot tell the difference between 200 yards and 600 yards... "that deer I shot was at least 600 yards away and I dropped it with one shot"... almost always turns into a discussion of "did you have a rangefinder?" When all is said and done, often the "hunter" gut shot a deer at around 150-200 yards thinking it was a lot farther, usually didn't find a good rest to use while shooting way past his limits shooting off hand, and wounded the deer/elk and had a long tracking job in front of him... or a lost and wounded animal....

I practice a bunch, but not as much as some guys on this site but I do know my limits... and, as said above, they change depending on the conditions. Long range shots often depend on the terrain you hunt in so I would think it prudent to be prepared for the shots you expect to encounter where you hunt.... and carry a rangefinder these days...