Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Realistic Distance For Ethical Kills

Several weeks ago I go to the range to do some shooting at 500 yds with a new load I was working on. Another fella shows up and runs out to set up his target at 100 yds. I shoot three shots while he's blasting away. When he finishes he asks...how far you shooting? When I told him 500 yds he proceeds to ask me in a smart ass tone if I pray before I spray then tells me it's an unrealistic distance to hunt and how folks who claim to shoot critters that far is full of it. I don't answer but ask if it's ok to go down and get my target as I'm done for the day. As we walk down he grabs his target that sprayed about an 8 inch group and proceeds to continue to walk down to the 500 with me commenting on how he doubt I even hit the target. When we got there it was three shots just under an inch. Well it sure shut his mouth and I remember thinking as I walked toward my truck that this particular fella probably was speaking for about 60% of the hunting crowd or just people in general who are completely clueless. I don't worry to much about that sort of stuff anymore. In what seemed like 1000 words of ignorance that rolled from his lips the only words that came out of my mouth were...do you mind if I go down range....yes it's a custom, and have a nice day.

Shod

Impressive still. Impressive cartridge that can do that as well. What is it?

Ok, here is a situation that happened to me this fall. I was hunting a canyon and spotted this elk. The closest that it was humanly possible to get to it was 565Yds. I shoot a gun that I am very comfortable with at that distance, is it ethical to set up for the shot?

Here is a pic of the view into the canyon.

So where are the dead elk pics?

I missed high the first shot, he never even lifted his head. I dialed down for the angle a bit more and hit with the second shot. I put another one in him and ended it.

It took us 2.5 hours to find a place to get off the cliffs to him, here is the end result.

So if you'd nicked him, there would most likely be a wounded bull running around? I reckon that's a miss with a happy ending.

Of course it's an ethical shot, if you have the experience to do it.

If you can't kill something the size of an elk at 565 yards with one shot, you simply don't


Nice bull by the way!

And if he had been thirty yards away running full out and someone using his grandpa's 742 woodsmaster with see through sites and using grandpa's ammo he bought at Otasco 30 years ago, with only three rounds missing, gut shot him he would still be a wounded bull running around.

It does illustrate that even a small miscalculation at long range usually ends in a miss instead of a wounded animal.

A greater percentage of animals are lost by bow hunters than long range shooters IMO. Do you think bow hunting is unethical?

Ethics and abilities are two different things.......

Agreed.

I do find it funny that many/some who want to argue ethics have no idea as to others abilities.

I shot my moose this year at 547. First shot went exactly where I wanted it. It stood there for a few seconds, then went about 20 yards and dropped. I was using a 150 ttsx from a 300 wsm. Not the best for extreme long rang but I planned on limiting myself to 750 yards max with that combo. MV was 3400 and speed at impact should have been around 2300 so I was confident the bullet would expand a bit and it looked like it did.

Bb

As in I don't have a clue as to Wyo's ability. The miss woulda rattled the schit outta me. But at least he knew where is correction was, so I'd say he had the ability. Don't know if the second shot went low mid ship or if that's just some stuff in the pic. Regardless the whole ethics argument is so broad that it depends on the person/particular situation. LR stuff has taken an AR turn, IMO, in that everyone wants to be cool.

'tis a nice bull though. But it was a miss....

The best way to infuse a generous dosage of ethics into the LR gunner is to require that the shooter punch his tag if blood is drawn....whether he recovers the animal or not.

Shod, in the future, you can gently but firmly suggest this idea before the yay-hoo starts flinging rounds.

That is an expecially nice elk, wildwyo.
Angle changes things, and the further out, the greater the change. Gravity works along the horizontal axis, so the greater the angle, the shorter the actual horizontal distance will be, and one will hit high.
To make it all a lot easier, I use the G7 BR2 rangefinder... built-in ballistic software and weather station that also measures and corrects for angle.

A 565 yard shot? Dial and shoot, if the wind is relatively calm, or at least steady. I do carry an anemometer for long range shots.

If you miss with elevation on a 2 foot target at 565 yards, you haven't done your homework.

I am all for that, but do it for all hunters not just guys shooting long range regardless of weapon. Actually I would prefer that you only get one shot at an animal. If you miss your done.

338 Allen Magnum

Yep....I should have titled the thread.....realistic distance for a 1st shot kill! When you say the word ethics every single adulterating drunken whoremongrel. Immediately come running to there defense to immediately reason out why there lying piece of sheet carcass is something of high moral fiber and the smell of sheet is to be desired. Unfortunately for the worthless dung the facts are that there are good ethics that stem from moral fiber and there are bad ethics that the worthless little moles try to serve up like steaming dung on a golden platter. I must say however I certainly am pleased to see there are far more real sportsman with good ethics that have posted here than not. For a certainty most all the men who have posted have qualities I admire.

Gentlemen....let us always remember and pass on to our children something that will better them as a human being. It's all about learning respect...self control....and displaying an attitude of non greed and consideration for something other than the me monsters that frequent society today. It's something that's becoming more rare everyday yet something that is still a tradition that is passed on from true sportsman. Non of us are perfect and as far as I'm concerned a thread like this certainly doesn't hurt to reflect apon and remember who we are because a fella can grow for the good or you can slip a little here and slip a little there and pretty soon you find your up to your neck in schit.

As for any whining piece of schit dung that the word ethic makes cringe. Well go on and cringe you worthless piece of schit!!!!

Shod