Long range hunting rifle

I'm with tcjones on this one. That long range crap is great for the long range guy with the equipment and the ability to score one shot hits all day long. The problem is that there are too many yahoos that blast and gasp, "what happened?" Three legged elk are fine as far as coyote feed is concerned. How many don't even shoot for a zero at 7000 feet of elevation? "It was fine last fall at 800 feet for deer in Ohio" doesn't cut it. Just attend a deer sight in day at a range near you as hunters prepare for white tail season in Michigan and you will see what I mean. I've helped on a number of such fiascos. A one foot target hit at 100 yards is fine with most of those guys. Scopes are the number one problem after the nut doing the shooting.
 
tcjones said:
I met a fellow over the holiday from Idaho showing we a video of his hunt on an elk at 750 yards.
The quick video was a shoulder shot and wham the elk went down. Quick pictures on the small screen and I saw something.
I said good shot was that the first shot? I saw ears turned back on that elk before the hit.
The young chap says no that was the second shot , the first one was a gut shot.
I ain't buying into this long range shooting of late on live meat for fun. It's plain cruel in my mind and most can't do it. It's a internet and tv fad to show off. They don't show you the cut out video.
Be a hunter and hunt clean. If you want to practice long, do it on paper not at the game.
Grumble,
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AMEN! Whatever happened to hunting ethics.
 
At Super Shoot about 1990 Wally Hart had his trailer set up by the big barn. In the trailer he had a recording playing in a continuous loop a hunt in, I think Wyoming but, location doesn't count. Little Bobby was narrating the film to whoever cared. He shows an elk shot at about 1500 yards over some rugged country and a valley deep and rough. I watched it a couple times and Bobby asked what I thought of it. Wrong thing to ask me. I asked how long it took to retrieve the elk. He said they got it the same day. I guess my point was what if it was just wounded, if the coyotes got it, if they couldn't find it? I told him I thought it was a dumb shot to take. Why not stalk? Ooohhhhh wellllll. That's him and I'm me. I find white tails in the woods around here shot by "Hunters".
 
huntinco said:
This is all i do for a living, Guide hunters, Long-range hunting rifles, shooting schools for hunters & i have seen & coached more elk, mule deer & moose kills @ 500 - 1500 yards then anyone. So let me ask a few questions. What is your main animal you want to target, what weight of rifle are you wanting, what hunting optics have you considered, are you road hunting or backpacking, how far can you walk, what is your weight, do you have a rangfinder if so what brand, do you plan to solo hunt or with a partner, what is your shooting percentage @ 400, 500,600,700,800,800 & 1000 from prone & shooting sticks, what shooting sticks do you use, do you own a spotting scope if so what one, do you have a portable weather station?
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If you don't mind I will ask , just out of simple interest.
If you have been involved in more hunts at 500 to 1500 yards than anyone. How many follow up shots have you taken (legal for guides here in Alaska) to kill an animal that one of your clients crippled.
Cripple as in a gut shot moose and I swear I hit it or a back spine shot at 1000 yards as the elk is pawing away on front legs with back end dragging or mule deer running full bore away on three legs?
Just the usual long shot stuff, you know. How many follow up shots in lets say, The last 5 years?
Thank you, Tom J.
 
Hunter said:
Wilbur, that reminds me of your story about THE money. :)
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Yeah, I guess you're right about that. If I wanted one bad enough 7K wouldn't stop me! In fact, never has....which I suppose is the reason I don't have 7K these days.
 
Gary
Most of the guys here hunt flat ground were a shotgun is required or from a stand or blind. They have no idea what the rest of the country looks like so they tend to frown upon everything with zero experience. Most or all of there shots are under a 100 yards even with a rifle and they cripple more deer than all the longrange hunters by a huge margin.
A good friend had me send you a private message that i hope is actually helpful.
John
 
I work with some of our brightest and best shooters. I've chambered thousands of barrels the past few years, many going in harms way. Depending on caliber they are used out to and beyond 1000 yds. The rifle is the easy part. The optics are the easy part. After that it takes a Kestrel for the atmospherics, a ballistic app on your phone and a well trained trigger puller and that's the weak link. Train train train different locations, different weather, different wind. Now apply a little common sense and a good dose of ethics and you'll know your limits. A complete system, rifle and optics(scope and range finder) could easily hit $7k.
 
1000 yards

You re right OldMan, Most of my deer kills here in Mo. were under 200 yds. Ive been out west killed antelope,deer, and elk. Never had a long shot out there either. I guess Im old school. Im not Carlos Hathcock. I need a good rest, no wind, know the yardage, then I might try one at 400. I got an idea where my 06 will be at that range. I wouldn't try one at a 1000 if I had heat seeking missiles. I always felt I owed it to game not to cripple it if possible, and I can do that a lot closer than 1000yds. A mans got to know his limitations. 400 yards is mine.
 
I hunted in Michigan in 2006 and will never be back. My rifle was a pump shotgun and we were spaced out at 125 yard intervals along a grassy fence line waiting for the deer to leave some very thick trees to come out and feed. We looked like mall ninjas but got 10 deer in 30 minutes. Notice i said deer not trophy bucks. You guys can keep your up close shooting I prefer a rifle on my hunts.

I have shot alongside many operators/sniper types and while I like Dave Tooleys posts I disagree with the assumption they are well trained and highly skilled unless the military only allows them back east?

Deer dont hide behind brick walls and rarely shoot back or get on there cellphone for extra help.Out here we use the calibrated turrets for our area with nothing but a rangefinder and spotting scope. Our success rate is above average and as the terrain is steep all cripples go only one direction and that is downhill. If you have seen a cripple go uphill you have no idea what hunting out west is all about.

Doug
If you need no wind you can forget hunting out west as that will never happen. I am glad you know your limitations and dont try to stretch it.

I think the OP came here looking for caliber gun and gunsmith suggestons not a morals debate but then again he picked benchrest central.

Wilbur lock me out this place is toast.
John
 
You hunted in Michigan with the yahoos I spoke about earlier.
That's all I'll say.
You don't need to be locked out of BC Forum. You just need to unlock your mind to what is around you.
 
tcjones said:
If you don't mind I will ask , just out of simple interest.
If you have been involved in more hunts at 500 to 1500 yards than anyone. How many follow up shots have you taken (legal for guides here in Alaska) to kill an animal that one of your clients crippled.
Cripple as in a gut shot moose and I swear I hit it or a back spine shot at 1000 yards as the elk is pawing away on front legs with back end dragging or mule deer running full bore away on three legs?
Just the usual long shot stuff, you know. How many follow up shots in lets say, The last 5 years?
Thank you, Tom J.
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I will give the easy anwser. In a nut shell the amount of follow shoots are the same @ any distance & I see more wounded elk with horrible shot placement @ 50 -150 yards then I do @ 550-800. Another huge misconception on elk are Neck and high shoulders shots should be taken & this in not the case!! 90% of the time a neck shot elk will get away and 90% of the time a high shoulder elk will be back on his feet in under 40 seconds & 90% of the time a gut shoot elk will die within 48hrs. Just ask my tracking dog.
 
huntinco said:
I will give the easy anwser. In a nut shell the amount of follow shoots are the same @ any distance & I see more wounded elk with horrible shot placement @ 50 -150 yards then I do @ 550-800. Another huge misconception on elk are Neck and high shoulders shots should be taken & this in not the case!! 90% of the time a neck shot elk will get away and 90% of the time a high shoulder elk will be back on his feet in under 40 seconds & 90% of the time a gut shoot elk will die within 48hrs. Just ask my tracking dog.
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Here is a quick litte plug on the long range classes we offer. Watch the show and give me some feedback as I'm headed to Mexico today chasing desert mule deer and will miss it. Outdoor channel today NRA all acess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_uhcI0GHzw
 
I'd like to say this, Like Dave tooley said Well Trained trigger puller, I shoot with them every year. So I know there are guys out there, that do this every year and are very good at it. I've been asked to go on some of these hunts, but thats not my thing! I'm a BOWHUNTER at heart. But I too have Screwed Up, And that never made me happy. So if you have hunted for over 50 years like I have and never lost an Animal, I'll call you a Mr. Obama right to your face. So I know there are a lot of you that are afraid to say I lost one because of a bad shot, No one wants to do that to a deer or what ever. But we are all human! So if you want the ANTI HUNTERS and Anti Gun people to win, just keep putting each other down! Last I knew this was still a free country, so keep it up you won't be hunting at all.

Joe Salt
 
We can argue among ourselves about hunting,shooting, whatever but we stick together about our right to do it. Iwouldnt shoot at one a 1000 but I don't care if you do. One of my least favorite sayings is There oughta be a law against that. We got to dam many laws now. I don't think I could see one at a 1000 thru a spotting scope. If long range hunting is your cup of tea,then have fun. Doug
 
Joe Salt said:
I'd like to say this, Like Dave tooley said Well Trained trigger puller, I shoot with them every year. So I know there are guys out there, that do this every year and are very good at it. I've been asked to go on some of these hunts, but thats not my thing! I'm a BOWHUNTER at heart. But I too have Screwed Up, And that never made me happy. So if you have hunted for over 50 years like I have and never lost an Animal, I'll call you a Mr. Obama right to your face. So I know there are a lot of you that are afraid to say I lost one because of a bad shot, No one wants to do that to a deer or what ever. But we are all human! So if you want the ANTI HUNTERS and Anti Gun people to win, just keep putting each other down! Last I knew this was still a free country, so keep it up you won't be hunting at all.

Joe Salt
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The antigun, antihunter is out there looking for reasons to stop actions they deem unjust. I try not to give a reason for people to look my way.
Trust me, when I was 5 I was putting a can of tadpoles to death. Now 52 years later I kill deer,goat,bear, moose, dove, goose, marten,otter,fish,crab,shrimp, crows,rats ,on and on.
Not only shoot em, I hook them, stab them,net them, trap them,beat them, on and on there too.
That is by the year to fill freezer and sport and to make a buck.
It is a free country, thats what gives me peace of mind to disagree on what I may choose as sportsmanship.

Tom J.
 
Here is another one for you to think about! When I was a kid and farmers would got too many CATs or DOGs they would put the litter in a burlap bag and throw them in the water. What would happen to you today if you were caught doing that? But they think nothing of taking a baby out of the womb and snipping its spin! I think I'll go long range hunting.

Joe Salt
 
The guys that longerange hunt are picky about there shots. The guns shoot incredible. My gun hunting will shoot 5 shots in the 4 to 5 inch range at 1000 yards. There has to be a lot of wind to make a 300 Grain Berger at 3000 feet a second drift off a deer sized target. I shoot all the time at 1000 yards and know what my gun is capable of. If you shoot and miss the animals usually don't run and if they do it isn't far. With a spotter your second shot is on the money. A lot of guys if the conditions are bad will shoot at a rock first and adjust and shoot the animal. I bet they wound way less deer then the guy in the woods shooting offhand or at running deer like in drives. Been there and saw it. Shooting at 1000 yards isn't that hard with the right Equipment. I could have almost anybody shooting 10 shot groups at 1000 yards in the 7 to 10 inch range on there first hour or so. If you don't think the guns are capable you ought to come to the 1000 yard benchrest school at Williamsport and learn how to load and test and shoot at 1000 yards. You would probably be surprised at how good you do and how much fun it is. Matt
 
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