This may stir some up some dookie but lets talk about long range hunting, and personal limitations.
I've read so many field and stream and other magazine articles that are bashing long range hunting these days and I can see why. I'm not going to get into the "technological ethics" of hunting because quite frankly I bow hunt and still in no way shape or form is bowhunting more "fair" to game. I'm launching a carbon fiber shaft arrow at over 200 mph with razor sharp blades at the front end. All while wearing camouflage that humans have engineered to trick animals. Hunting is not fair to game period no matter the range unless you are tacking an animal with your hands and hulk hogan choking it to death.
With AR500 steel targets selling like hotcakes everybody is soaking up long range shooting and I think that is great, however what shooters need to understand is long range shooting is not hunting! The thrill from a hunt after days of tracking an animal and finally getting an opportunity to shoot can't be matched when shooting at steel, and your nerves are wonderful at messing things up. On top of that while hunting out west we have been hiking miles, through canyons, up mountains, and all in between while carrying a full load of crap on our back. The biggest difference is when hunting many times you get 1 shot. ONE. Shot placement while hunting is critical, as lungs and the pump are what were going for (or Shoulder DRT). There is no: Bang, up 1.2 left 2.0 bang ding! It's Bang, F****K and now you shot an animal in the guts, blew a leg off, or hit it in the nose (happened to a friend). Now I get that things happen and we all miss, but lets address our personal limitations prior to hunting to mitigate that.
So here is the discussion, how do you all train, and limit yourselves?
Just like a DOPE book, I go out and record the weather conditions mentally when I practice. I have a 10" steel plate that I use in place of game vitals. Now i know it's bigger than deer vitals but for Elk and Bear its just about spot on. The 1st shot out of my gun cold bore, whatever the range is what matters to me, I hit or miss, I don't blame that my kestrel is off and needs tuning, or that oops I read the wind wrong, HIT OR MISS.. Assuming a hit i'll follow up and place 4 more for a group of 5. Whatever the range is that I miss that sucker in any of those shots then i'm past my personal LONGEST limit, in that I will not shoot past that. It does not mean I will shoot TO that range. If i go 5 for 5 i'll consider it acceptable under similar conditions to shoot to. For example
I went 5x5 at 994 yards with my 28 Nosler cold. I feel comfortable if given a perfect shot under similar conditions: prone, day, little wind <4mph of taking the same shot on an elk knowing I'll have a good chance at hitting it where I need to.
Lets say I missed at 700 when the winds are whippin'. Well I won't shoot at 700 then if the winds are bad when hunting but I may shoot to 900 in good conditions! My personal limit is not static, it's dynamic, something that I feel hunters don't fully get unless they shoot a lot. Too often I hear at elk or deer camp i'll shoot to 400 yards. I ask okay under what conditions? Often they say something like "i was shooting at the range at 400...." or they just look puzzled.
NOW this still doesn't take into effect energy required for proper terminal bullet performance. I shoot the Hornady ELDX 175 7mm in my 28 Nosler, and I limit myself to 1800fps as per their website advertisement for proper expansion. Shooting a Berger would be different and so would a Nosler bullet.
Nor does this consider game recovery. Often times large game doesn't DRT. If its wide open and I can visually track the animal for hundreds of yards (like the flats of AZ) I will be more willing to shoot an animal at further range, than if the animal is right by a ridge it could go over full of vegitation.
ALSO just finding where the animal was when you shot it can be a B***H if your hunting in non linear terrain with elevation. Bushes look different when you go down a ridge, the sun is setting and your desperately trying to figure out where that Bull standing when it was shot ONLY 400 yards away.
Back to my process, 5 hits for 5 shots 10" plate. I do this at the start of every shooting session months prior to the season and continue to do this as often as life allows up until its tag time. The entire time I'm logging what conditions are in my head to establish not only my limits, but my equipments limitations as well! (kestrel, optics, ammo)
During the hunt prior to any shot I think about recovery and how likely it is to recover that sucker at the range and location i'm at.
.02 cents and I feel obligated to share after hearing my younger hunting pals come back eating tag soup after wounding elk in Colorado, or deer in MN. What do you guys do?
I've read so many field and stream and other magazine articles that are bashing long range hunting these days and I can see why. I'm not going to get into the "technological ethics" of hunting because quite frankly I bow hunt and still in no way shape or form is bowhunting more "fair" to game. I'm launching a carbon fiber shaft arrow at over 200 mph with razor sharp blades at the front end. All while wearing camouflage that humans have engineered to trick animals. Hunting is not fair to game period no matter the range unless you are tacking an animal with your hands and hulk hogan choking it to death.
With AR500 steel targets selling like hotcakes everybody is soaking up long range shooting and I think that is great, however what shooters need to understand is long range shooting is not hunting! The thrill from a hunt after days of tracking an animal and finally getting an opportunity to shoot can't be matched when shooting at steel, and your nerves are wonderful at messing things up. On top of that while hunting out west we have been hiking miles, through canyons, up mountains, and all in between while carrying a full load of crap on our back. The biggest difference is when hunting many times you get 1 shot. ONE. Shot placement while hunting is critical, as lungs and the pump are what were going for (or Shoulder DRT). There is no: Bang, up 1.2 left 2.0 bang ding! It's Bang, F****K and now you shot an animal in the guts, blew a leg off, or hit it in the nose (happened to a friend). Now I get that things happen and we all miss, but lets address our personal limitations prior to hunting to mitigate that.
So here is the discussion, how do you all train, and limit yourselves?
Just like a DOPE book, I go out and record the weather conditions mentally when I practice. I have a 10" steel plate that I use in place of game vitals. Now i know it's bigger than deer vitals but for Elk and Bear its just about spot on. The 1st shot out of my gun cold bore, whatever the range is what matters to me, I hit or miss, I don't blame that my kestrel is off and needs tuning, or that oops I read the wind wrong, HIT OR MISS.. Assuming a hit i'll follow up and place 4 more for a group of 5. Whatever the range is that I miss that sucker in any of those shots then i'm past my personal LONGEST limit, in that I will not shoot past that. It does not mean I will shoot TO that range. If i go 5 for 5 i'll consider it acceptable under similar conditions to shoot to. For example
I went 5x5 at 994 yards with my 28 Nosler cold. I feel comfortable if given a perfect shot under similar conditions: prone, day, little wind <4mph of taking the same shot on an elk knowing I'll have a good chance at hitting it where I need to.
Lets say I missed at 700 when the winds are whippin'. Well I won't shoot at 700 then if the winds are bad when hunting but I may shoot to 900 in good conditions! My personal limit is not static, it's dynamic, something that I feel hunters don't fully get unless they shoot a lot. Too often I hear at elk or deer camp i'll shoot to 400 yards. I ask okay under what conditions? Often they say something like "i was shooting at the range at 400...." or they just look puzzled.
NOW this still doesn't take into effect energy required for proper terminal bullet performance. I shoot the Hornady ELDX 175 7mm in my 28 Nosler, and I limit myself to 1800fps as per their website advertisement for proper expansion. Shooting a Berger would be different and so would a Nosler bullet.
Nor does this consider game recovery. Often times large game doesn't DRT. If its wide open and I can visually track the animal for hundreds of yards (like the flats of AZ) I will be more willing to shoot an animal at further range, than if the animal is right by a ridge it could go over full of vegitation.
ALSO just finding where the animal was when you shot it can be a B***H if your hunting in non linear terrain with elevation. Bushes look different when you go down a ridge, the sun is setting and your desperately trying to figure out where that Bull standing when it was shot ONLY 400 yards away.
Back to my process, 5 hits for 5 shots 10" plate. I do this at the start of every shooting session months prior to the season and continue to do this as often as life allows up until its tag time. The entire time I'm logging what conditions are in my head to establish not only my limits, but my equipments limitations as well! (kestrel, optics, ammo)
During the hunt prior to any shot I think about recovery and how likely it is to recover that sucker at the range and location i'm at.
.02 cents and I feel obligated to share after hearing my younger hunting pals come back eating tag soup after wounding elk in Colorado, or deer in MN. What do you guys do?
