Finally got some snow on the ground up here and man was it great! Bucks were out in full force Sunday. I seen 28 bucks total, If I had to guess on the does I probably seen around 70 or so. I seen one buck yesterday that was a big ole boy but never did get a shot. I wanted to try my hand at longer shots this year as I had a long distance rifle built last year and I have been praticing about 3 or 4 time a week since I got it. Every buck I seen today was under 400 and I wanted something around the 7 or 800 mark. This buck was only at 605 yards and I had myself talked out of shooting him for a while because I wanted a farther shot. But after looking him over for a good 30 minutes I decided to take him. I dialed my scope up 2.4 mils(zeroed @300) and I had to hold about a 1/4 mil for wind. Perfect shot. My set up is a 300 WSM built by Bison Barrels out of Gillette WY. I used a 180 grain Hornady SST, I shoot them at 3075 FPS. My scope is a Burris MTAC 6.5x20x50 mil/mil.

The buck has great back forks and some trash but very small front forks.



Lucas

Nice buck. Guess you could have stood up and waved your arms if you needed him further away.

No place for this in hunting, Great shot, good hunt, good deer, poor attitude. JMHO

You do know this is the long range hunting forum,,,,right? I'm not big on long shots but if a man puts his time and practice in and has the equipment, its all good.
Great buck and I would have liked to be your back up man for those chip shots. If the big boy was a lot bigger than that, you sir have more restraint than I will ever have.

God Bless,
MM

heavywalker,



Upon what do you base JMHO?

I have no problem with long range shots. I have taken them, and many people that I have hunted with have taken them, with success. If you look at my posts here in the past I have supported the practice and have many threads that I started myself. However, I have never went hunting hoping for a long shot and even passing animals up in order to get a long shot. Treating an animal as if it is target practice is not in the spirit of hunting as I know it. I don't think long shots are something to be taken in order to stroke ones ego, rather they should be taken when conditions warrant and no other opportunities present themselves.

Other forums out there...

And so whats wrong with long vs other choices we make. This argument never ceases to amaze me. There is no 100% foolproof weapon or shot.

Do the best you can, know your limitations and stay inside of them, the rest is no one else's business.

Very nice buck and excellent shooting..congradulations..

Congrats, Very nice I see why you couldn't pass him up! I went cow elk hunting in Oct. All set up for long range . Spotted a herd 1/2 mile away. Snuck in to edge of meadow but saw a butt go in to trees. Cranked scope down to 4.5 and dialed to 100 yards . I could smell elk so I did a cow call .a big cow stood up . Bam, shot her at 41 yards in the head. So much for long range !

nice buck, 605 yards is long range to me.

Ed

Good job, reminds me of someone I know.

I'm not criticizing the shot and it is a great deer. However, when you post what you did on a public forum, you've made it everybody's business.

Oh brother...here we go again....

His wife can take a long shot on a cow elk and he'll no doubt tell us she could not get closer even though they set up for it in the first place.

I see a double standard here.

Congrats! Nice shooting, and a great buck.

Nice shot and nice buck. Keep doing what your doing and I think you have an great attitude in that you practice with your equipment before taking it afield.

Nothing wrong with taking them way out there.

If you wanted a 700+ yard shot, then why did you take one closer than that?

Well if anyone cared to read what I wrote they would see that I have no problem with the distance of the shot that he took. I would have no problem if he took an 800 yard shot as he indicated. I simply stated that passing up animals for the express purpose of attempting a longer shot is the wrong attitude to have when hunting.

Again I congratulate him on his shot, he obviously took the time and effort in the off season to pull it off. Great deer, Great hunt, etc...

I realize that this is his first buck shot at long range and maybe he is a little excited about the prospects of being able to make such a shot, but I think that in time he will realize that heading out just to take shots at long range is not the way it should be done.

Again Congrats, I certainly don't want to hijack the thread this is the last I will say on the matter.

I couldn't agree more.

As far as I'm concerned, take what you can get and don't pass on anything simply because it's too close.

Game animals are not steel targets. A poor shot matters.

That being said, Congratulations on one unique Muley and one heck of a nice shot!!!!

heavywalker,

It certainly seems like you and look at game animals differently. To me they are to be enjoyed whether I am watching them or shooting at them or eating them. They are not more special than a rat in the alley.

??????

So you get the same enjoyment from NY city alley rats as Big Game, assigning them the same value?

I hope that was just a keyboard fart

For fun, yes.



I remember getting buck fever over shooting mice with a BB gun when I was about thirty-five years old. Hunting is hunting.

Yep.

Although I am happy the OP chose not to put the post in the deer hunting forum as mayhem would ensue and I too would have gotten in line to have a kick at the cat.

Nice buck.

Holyyy schit.

Nice looking deer, a 600 yd shot on game is nothing to sneeze at, I'd say you did very well.

FYI the shooter in question did place third at a regional long distance shoot this past month.

First to the OP congrats, good shooting and nice buck, even with the "trash," LOL.

Personally I tend to agree with what Heavywalker said, but I also realize that is my own personal ethic, not to be confused with "ethics." And not to be imposed on anyone else. To put it another way, just because I may have tried to get closer or taken a shorter shot doesn't mean anybody else needs to think the way I do, or is in the wrong for not thinking the way I do provided they are capable of making the shot, which the OP obviously was.

It's true, game animals are not steel targets and a poor shot matters.

There was no poor shot here though.

Kind of what I was thinking, not sure how you can assign the same value to plague carrying vermin and trophy game animals. Better rethink that comment or reassess value system.

having passed thru Wibaux Montana a million times, as flat and open as it is there, 600 yds would seem like a pretty common thing around there...

if the man has the equipment and knows how to use it, I see no problem with that..

problem usually is, all too many guys don't know how to use the equipment...

I say prepare for 600, hope for 100.

LB- Congrats on your great buck and on your shot as well!

You could have walked 200yds in the opposite direction in that 30 minutes...

That is funny!

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe just crawling Must say that it was obviously a good shot and a nice buck, but I would get more pleasure from a long shot if that is how the animal presented itself and it was my only choice.

Pieter

Hey, at least he didn't burn up all his points for a trophy area, and then gut shoot a dink at 500yds, only to let the meat spoil. (not to mention forgetting his camera)

You'd have to be a real moron to do that...

Congrats to the OP.


Travis

You sure let JeffO get under your skin....

I'm pretty sure he just doesn't tolerate incredible stupidity.

+1

If he was outside his known competence level, that's one thing. That wasn't the case so I see no issues with his desire to achieve a personal first.

Congrats on a great buck!!
600 yards is a heck of a shot and nothing to shake a stick at. There will be others. At least you got the right equipment/ know how.

I think im long range hunting cause aint nothin moving in these woods this year. Maybe i should start hunting mice...

What he said
besides a feller would have to see more of Wibaux than the Tasty Freeze!

Nice buck. I like shooting long distance too, but will never, ever pass up an animal I want because its closer. Guessing you didn't pass up anything bigger than the one you killed. Congratulations!