I posted a new thread about Mtn Prst and our positions this afternoon, but the rokslide monitor pulled it.
Ty619 - I've been hunting for 39 years - 43 years if you count gopher hunting with .22. I've been bowhunting for 5.
400m Maximum Shot Distance proposal is based on Fair Chase, Non-Hunting Public Perception, and Regulatory issues:
(1) Fair Chase dictates that the game have a chance to detect the hunter, and if detected elude him. Any technology or any other factor which tips this scale in favor of the hunter is unethical.
According to the Wyoming G&F Department, the ability for ungulates to detect hunters outside of 400 yards declines dramatically. (See their white paper on technology and hunting
here)
The long shots we see on youtube today did not occur in the 70s and 80s. Today's shooters are not better than shooters back then. The difference is technology. Today's rifles, loads, range finders, ballistic meters, etc. are all technological improvements, and they have allowed hunters to make these longer shots - outside the distance game can detect the hunter. Technology has tipped the scale in favor of the hunter.
Mountain Pursuit is not alone here. The Boone & Crocket Club questions extreme range hunting in their Hunt Right: Hunt Fair Chase initiative
here.
Idaho attempted to restrict long distance shooting with a 1993 regulation, still on the books, limiting hunting rifle weight to 16 pounds. At that time long distance rifles were big and heavy, but in the years since, the technology has improved and the weapons have become lighter.
2) Non-Hunting Public Perception - The non-hunting public has consistently supported fair chase, subsistence-based hunting (eat what you kill). The issue with long range shots is the animal is correctly seen as having no chance of detecting the hunter - just see the negative comments on youtube movies of long shot highlights. Extreme range hunting turns the non-hunting public against hunting.
3) Regulations - This year the Wyoming G&F Department struggled with how to address the increasing technology in hunting - both archery and rifle - and it's not the only state struggling with this. It's Mountain Pursuit's view that it will be impossible for the rule makers to keep up with the technological advances in terms of rule making to ensure fair chase. The regulations will always be behind. Maximum shot restrictions automatically accommodate for these technological improvements, saving the rule-making authorities the need to continually update regulations to keep up with these technological improvements.
See our full position on Maximum Shot Range Restrictions
HERE.