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Not a gun writer. I'll engage stuff from point blank to around 650 yards. Archery, blackpowder, centerfire. Good quality scopes and well put together rifles have made 400 to 650 very doable for us. I'll shoot steel a lot further for practice judging wind etc. This year its two archery tags and 1 blackpowder. And for me black is a Hawken with a patched roundball so gonna be up close for 2022.

If one practices and is confident at whatever range they decide, good for them.

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Never killed past 300

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Haven’t shot game past 250.


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Originally Posted by ingwe
Over a lifetime of big game hunting easily95% of my shots have been at 200 yards or under.

Same here.


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I definitely would not say regularly, but I’ve killed at least 20 whitetails between 375 and 425, using 4 different rifles.

Good shooting sticks or a bipod and late afternoon when the wind lays down, it’s not that hard.

I have also walked away and left deer that I was 90% sure I could kill. I won’t pull the trigger with less than 100% confidence.

Last edited by country_20boy; 07/17/22.
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Originally Posted by rcamuglia
I don’t hunt to shoot game at certain ranges. Rifles are lethal at long ranges and I worked to be able to steer bullets accurately as far as the rifle can realistically perform.

How sad would it be to own a Ferrari and only have enough skill and knowledge to be able to drive it in school zones.

Most hunters have no idea how to use their own equipment
This pretty well sums up my approach.

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The last 9 seasons my party has killed 28 bucks. 18 were 350 yards or farther. All fell within sight.




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Originally Posted by ingwe
Over a lifetime of big game hunting easily95% of my shots have been at 200 yards or under.
That would work for me.


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Originally Posted by Pharmseller
The last 9 seasons my party has killed 28 bucks. 18 were 350 yards or farther. All fell within sight.




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That's nice to see them go down.


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If I wanted to shoot something at 400+ yards, I've got one place on the whole farm where I could do it. Just off the front porch there is a flat spot in the yard. From there out to the Jagendehutte is 450 yards. Here is a view from the Jagendehutte back to the house:

[Linked Image from genesis9.angzva.com]

That's it. Deer congregate on that hillside. Conceivably, I could set up the shooting table in the yard and wait. Outside of that one venue, the longest unobstructed distance we've got is about 250 yards, if a deer shows up there at the extremity, I need only wait a few minutes, and they will come to the middle of the field and I can shoot them at 150 yards. This is the Garden of Stone venue, where we bag at least one deer every year. Before discovering the Garden of Stone, I had not shot a deer beyond 80 yards in 25 years of deer hunting.

[Linked Image from genesis9.angzva.com]


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Originally Posted by rcamuglia
How sad would it be to own a Ferrari and only have enough skill and knowledge to be able to drive it in school zones.

Uh Huh ! Very Good illustration.

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Originally Posted by ingwe
Over a lifetime of big game hunting easily95% of my shots have been at 200 yards or under.

This and for me, probably closer to 100. My longest shot ever, was at 350 yards with a perfect rest and I rifle I was very comfortable with. I think that is probably my personal limit. I will also add that our dear departed friend Sharpsguy (RIP) had me hitting the 500 yard ram with my 45-110 pretty routinely, then again that was a target.


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will mention this too with my 257 Weatherby mag. in my Ruger #1 i have shot deer mostly nice bucks from 30 feet to 700 + yards with this rifle , i know what this rifle is capable after all the shooting at many ranges for practice out too 600 yards, i wore out a 700 Remington custom barrel and action doing this. now for the funny part my biggest horn whitetail buck i shot at 30 feet running away with this Ruger #1 at 10 power.


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Another comment at this stage of the discussion: I learned decades ago that while an accurate rifle and the skills to use it certainly help in pronghorn hunting, I eventually found more pleasure and satisfaction from pulling off a good stalk than a long shot. This may because of hunting them a lot, not just due to living in Montana (where we often draw multiple tags) but other states. A while back there was a period of around 15 years where I frequently hunted at least one other state each fall.

While obviously a rifle loony, who appreciates (and owns) quite a few very accurate big game rifles of varying vintages, I get plenty of long-range shooting on prairie dogs, where I generally bring at least four rifles--a rimfire to start on a town, a centerfire that does most of the shooting to 300-350 yards (where the highest percentage of hits are made), another for shooting out to 500 or so when the dogs under 300 are thinned out, and another for 500+ yard shooting--which can vary considerably in chambering, from fast-twist .223s to cartridges such as the 6XC and 6.5-06. Have also used oddballs, including several with iron sights I planned to use on big game, such as a replica Winchester High Wall .30-40 Krag, a .375 H&H Ruger No. 1 I planned to take on an all-iron sight safari in Botswana, and an original "trapdoor" 1873 Springfield .45-70. The longest shot made on a PD with the iron-sighted rifles was 275 yards with the trapdoor .45-70, thanks to its excellent Buffington rear sight.

But have also always known that big game involves skills other than shooting--which is why there's always some amusement when I see photos of big game country where a closer stalk is considered impossible, such as the one of the Snake River Canyon that appeared earlier in this thread. This is due to making quite a few stalks in supposedly unstalkable country in various places around the world.

That's partly why I haven't shot a pronghorn at 400+ yards for quite a while: It simply isn't as enjoyable as it used to be. Last fall, in fact, I got the strange notion to fill my Montana tag with my most accurate drilling, a Sauer 16x16/6.5x57R. No, this wouldn't limit me like a bow, traditional muzzleloader, or even a trapdoor .45-70, partly because like many older 6.5 Euro-rifles it has a 1-8 twist, and holds about the same 50 grains of powder as many "moderate" 6.5mm cartridges, from the 6.5x55 to a 21st-century round today's hunters tend to either love or hate.

The bullet eventually selected was a high-BC model in the 130-grain range, started at around 2750 fps, and I practiced with it on the local range--which extends to over 1000 yards, and is covered with all sorts of steel plates, including a life-size pronghorn silhouette at 300 meters. Turned out that despite the Sauer's low-powered, non-dialing variable scope, it was good to go out to 400 yards, though I was a little more comfortable with 300 meters. But after a very satisfying stalk the shot turned out to be a little under 250--and I had a lot more fun, in preparation, anticipation and hunting, than I would have shooting the buck at 400+ yards with one of my genuine 21st-century rifles, such as my custom 6.5 PRC--though that would have been fine too. But I think this is a good example of how hunters vary--and how weird some of us can be!


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Alright then. We should start a thread on what our closest shots have been. I've shot 3 elk that were well within 15 yards. One at 10 yards and he didn't even know I was there until after I pulled the trigger. If he would have kept walking my way I would have stuck the barrel in his nostril.... The moral of the story is you never know how near or far the shot is going to be, but one thing I can tell you is if I know I can make the shot, I'm not going to pass on the opportunity. There's a lot of speculation in this thread and it's never not funny. A lot of guys think they can draw a conclusion without even having half a clue..


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I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
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I have regular opportunities to shoot deer at those distances, and regularly refrain because I can get closer and I like to get closer. I don't care what distance someone else shoots.


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Originally Posted by bsa1917hunter
Originally Posted by PaulBarnard
I'd venture a guess that fewer than 5% here are regularly shooting game at 400 yards.


I shoot jackrabbits and ground squirrels at 400 yards. ha ha.. Do quite a bit of practicing in the 400-600 yard range and up to 1,400 yards. Just getting back from a shoot where 800 was the furthest shot on a chuck sized target. The shoot today requires you to have to dial for different distances from 276 yards to 714 yards and its timed. 5 shots on 5 varying distance targets in 2.5 minutes. If you don't practice shooting at distance, I'd say don't take shots over your comfort level. Everyone here, should know what they are capable of. A deer or elk at 400 yards is a damn easy shot under ideal conditions. It can also be a damn hard shot under less than ideal conditions. That's when I would NOT pull the trigger... Practice tells you what you and your equipment are capable of. No one else can pick a predetermined distance for you. I've taken deer at 6-700 yards. All 1 shot kills..


Did they change the match format? I thought the Marksman class was limited to 611 yards.


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Originally Posted by bsa1917hunter
Alright then. We should start a thread on what our closest shots have been. I've shot 3 elk that were well within 15 yards. One at 10 yards and he didn't even know I was there until after I pulled the trigger. If he would have kept walking my way I would have stuck the barrel in his nostril.... The moral of the story is you never know how near or far the shot is going to be, but one thing I can tell you is if I know I can make the shot, I'm not going to pass on the opportunity. There's a lot of speculation in this thread and it's never not funny. A lot of guys think they can draw a conclusion without even having half a clue..
I've only had the opportunity to shoot deer beyond 200 yards in the last 10 years or so, and I've come to enjoy shooting deer at ranges from 300-600 yards.

But the first 30 years I hunted, I killed exactly 2 deer over 100 yards, 180 yards being the longest shot. Most of the deer were 50 yards or less because you just can't see any further in southern pine forests. Two of the bucks I shot were literally at the base of my tree and I shot straight down between the shoulders. Exit holes were on the bottom of the rib cage. I had to hop over one of the bucks from my climbing platform after descending down the tree.

Also killed a few within 15 yards while sitting on the ground.

Last edited by AU338MAG; 07/18/22.

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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
I have taken some big game at over 400, out to around 550--several before laser rangefinders appeared, when I'd stolen from previous gun writers (especially Elmer Keith) how to use a scope's reticle--or even a front sight--to provide a pretty good "measurement" of range as long as I knew the approximate chest-depth of various animals. It worked well, but a laser works better, unless of course it doesn't provide a read-out, which is why I still keep up with my reticle-ranging.

But haven't shot one over around 350 or so for a few years, mostly due to not doing as much "trophy" hunting. So far haven't been tempted to stretch the range to 400 when making meat. But will also point out that anybody who shoots enough smaller varmints at longer ranges to consistently hit them over 400 won't find killing deer-sized game much of problem. Remember one day under somewhat unusual prairie dog conditions where I killed 9 of 14 at 600-650 yards with a 1-12 twist .223 Remington using 50-grain Ballistic Tips. If you do that sort of shooting regularly--especially with a big game rifle, which I've also done--400 isn't a problem on a pronghorn.


IME you've stated the most important underlying factor of engaging targets at shorter ranges such as 400 yards! When your shooting at small varmint sized targets at 650 yards with a bullet that is not known for bucking the environment you get a bunch better at shooting. In fact if a person has a bullet known for its environmental defying property's in the right cartridge 400 yards is like skill level 1 compared to a skill level 10 that you were indeed performing at 600+ varmints. Anyone who has dabbled in long range shooting understands this to be a fact and also understands what you were accomplishing.

500 yards and under from an environmental standpoint is actually a simple task for anyone who is interested in learning how to do it. Beyond 500 gets a bunch more complicated! Taking 9 out of 14 small varmints at 600+ yards with a 50 grain ballistic tip is down right impressive! I'd not want to be a pronghorn standing at 400 yards. My chances of survival would be almost zero

Trystan

Last edited by Trystan; 07/18/22.

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Thanks, Trystan! But the 9 for 14 did occur on one of those rare, almost-calm days on the high plains. :-)


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