“Backfire” hunting challenge fail

[MT-nuffgun]

I don't have much shooting experience, but understand & endorse most of the advice & comments above, except for the more vague comments about poor shooting form that don't include specific details regarding the poor form. I just don't know enough to look at him and determine what all is the poor form I guess.

My question is this however, for the average/below average experience shooter (like me) looking to shoot for hunting accuracy, why wouldn't you zero your rifle at 250 yds? I assume this guy's rifle was zeroed at 100, because I thought there was mention of misses due to improper elevation adjustment for targets over 100 yds?

With a 250 yd zero, a quick ballistics calculator on a 300 win mag 195 gr eldm for "accuracy of water jug" shows no need for elevation or wind compensation with 90 deg 5 mph cross winds out to about 325 yds it seems. So, even with somewhat rushed shots under 325 yds, there is nothing to think about, adjust, or screw up.

I am fairly certain that I would really suck with that 300 win mag, especially after a few shots.

But am I wrong that with a 250 yd zero, reasonable winds, a decent scanning range finder, a dialed in reliable ffp scope with known reticle graduations (Jason mentioned above falling back on these as needed), a stable shooting rest, and a soft recoiling lower caliber rifle setup, shouldn't even a relatively inexperienced guy be able to be pretty deadly out to several hundred yards in these conditions?

This is more my style, MPBR shooting is what I was raised on. We would shoot for a 200 yard zero and basically hold 6” above poi at 300 yards, if it was over 300 we would get closer. The shooting/hunting world has come a long way and I see the benefit of of hash marks and dialing but it is always comical watching some of these hunting videos on YouTube. I watched a video last year of 2 guys hunting together. They had a black bear at 250 and steadily walking closer, the shooter kept asking for ranges from his buddy and constantly dialing his scope, every time the bear would offer a shot the shooter was busy dialing, he finally catches a break at like 150 yards and shoots over the bear. The way my “simple “ rifle is set up, my eye never would have been out of the scope once I knew that bear was inside 250 yards upon initial ranging. Now all that being said, my next rifle will have a Swfa scope on it and It will have dialing capabilities, but I’m guessing most of my shots at game will still be inside of 300 yards.

 

[300stw]

i wonder, if he was shooting at a mule deer, or an elk, how many of those shots would of been a hit,

not necessarily a lethal hit though,,,,, so the i can hit a deer out to xxxx range could be true in some peoples minds,,,,
i dont think he kept his head on the stock thru the shot sequence very well,,,,,,, would like to have seen someone else loading his gun and watch a dry fire

didnt say i could do better, kudos for going on film and taking the challenge


not standing in defense of the guy, a gallon milk jug past 300, with some wind and an iffy setup on the rifle gonna get tuff for a huge number of people,,,,

 

[JohnJohnson]

vague comments about poor shooting form that don't include specific details regarding the poor form

No rear bag or bubble level
No followthrough for his trigger press
Pops off the cheekweld as soon as the shot breaks
Doesn't know what to do with his support hand
Is shooting on 25 power so no hope of spotting his own shots, though with that setup it would be near impossible anyway.
Going to give it a 99.99% chance he has no idea what NPA is

Given the shitshow that his shooting form is, I'm a little surprised his prone position wasn't bladed.

 

[nobody]

This is more my style, MPBR shooting is what I was raised on. We would shoot for a 200 yard zero and basically hold 6” above poi at 300 yards, if it was over 300 we would get closer. The shooting/hunting world has come a long way and I see the benefit of of hash marks and dialing but it is always comical watching some of these hunting videos on YouTube. I watched a video last year of 2 guys hunting together. They had a black bear at 250 and steadily walking closer, the shooter kept asking for ranges from his buddy and constantly dialing his scope, every time the bear would offer a shot the shooter was busy dialing, he finally catches a break at like 150 yards and shoots over the bear. The way my “simple “ rifle is set up, my eye never would have been out of the scope once I knew that bear was inside 250 yards upon initial ranging. Now all that being said, my next rifle will have a Swfa scope on it and It will have dialing capabilities, but I’m guessing most of my shot shots at game will still be inside of 300 yards.

As a pro tip, and a way to bridge the gap for you between what you’ve always done and the “new ways,” just zero your rifle dead on at 100 yards. Then, when you hit the field, dial up 2 MOA/.5 MILS and simply hunt how you always have inside 300 yards. Then, when you’ve got time and/or the distance is farther, take the time to run your ballistics and dial accurately.

 

[wind gypsy]

"I burned 100's of thousands of $ in ammo shooting in the marines. They never thought to teach me how to build a supported shooting position."

 

[sconnieVLP]

"I burned 100's of thousands of $ in ammo shooting in the marines. They never thought to teach me how to build a supported shooting position."

Military “marksmanship” as a whole is pretty depressing, honestly. There’s more interest in just getting people through a qual than spending time really learning how to shoot.

I’m AF, and it’s particularly true there. Most career fields don’t have a continuous weapon qual requirement and will only do it predeployment (normally ends up happening right before they are supposed to leave). Can’t qual? Better get them through it or someone else ends up getting tapped for that deployment with three days notice.

There’s more time spent on teaching absurd “cleaning” practices than anything else.

 

[mt terry d]

Hiking sticks ( yuppies call them trekking poles) to get higher

A lifesize animal target to range would be more fair but with a milk jug kill area.

I'm sure without a little effort I could do

worse.

I'd buy Mike a beer for being game.

 

[Gorp2007]

There’s more time spent on teaching absurd “cleaning” practices than anything else.

Are you suggesting that scraping off carbon with dental picks wasn’t the best use of my time?

 

[nobody]

Are you suggesting that scraping off carbon with dental picks wasn’t the best use of my time?

I wasn’t in the military, so first off, thank you for your service

But this made me LOL at my desk at work, really paints us a picture haha

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I could only watch of few of the shots. That guy didn't have a clue what he was doing.

Same for me. The scope to the face on flat ground and the “groups” almost had me click away but it was like watching a train wreck… After shot 5 I couldn’t do it anymore.

 

[General RE LEE]

I shoot a lot out to 300-1K yards in the off season. I've floated the crosshairs on deer across a field multiple times at 500 yards and didn't pull the trigger. Smallish whitetail deer are a very small target at 500 yards and having only the fore end supported isn't steady enough. I might try a hunt where I'm prone but our farmer's combines don't cut the stalks very low so there are a lot of obstructions.

 

[Dixie]

"I burned 100's of thousands of $ in ammo shooting in the marines. They never thought to teach me how to build a supported shooting position."

Just a question... didn't they teach looped sling when you were in? Or would that not be considered supported?

 

[Mojave]

I am a retired military guy. I have killed some animals at right around 450. With the right equipment (he had the wrong equipment) this is not impossible.

I used to shoot F-Class and PRS type matches every weekend.

600 yards is another animal for most people.

1000 yards is another animal again, and over 1400 requires more luck, and wind voodoo that most guys are capable of.

Variables eat you alive:

Scope repeatability and correctness to the dials.

Rifle accuracy an inch is probably good enough, but it has to do that 15-20 shots in a row.

Transonic flight distance issues.

wind issues

positional issues

Ammunition consistency

Barrel hasn't done it's mid-life crisis shift (point where it settled down once it is wore in a bit, then that point again where it goes crazy at 600-800 rounds for most decently performing rounds.


So much. 100 shots, a lot of work would have went into making a 100 for a 100, he didn't do any of it.

 

[sconnieVLP]

Are you suggesting that scraping off carbon with dental picks wasn’t the best use of my time?

If the coating isn’t stripped off your BCG, it isn’t clean enough.

My cleaning “regimen” for my personal stuff is “dump some more lube on it”.

 

[wind gypsy]

Just a question... didn't they teach looped sling when you were in? Or would that not be considered supported?

I was never in, that was comment was in relation to “marine mikes” comments in the video about how much shooting he’s done.

 

[squid-freshprints]

Seeing the best in the world do this challenge with a hunting rig would be informative to the ethics of "long range hunting" in reality. "I'm good to 600" is a common sentiment and uncommon ability.

 

[JohnJohnson]

Seeing the best in the world do this challenge with a hunting rig would be informative to the ethics of "long range hunting" in reality. "I'm good to 600" is a common sentiment and uncommon ability.

He's not near the best in the world but Pieter Malan from Impact Shooting lives in South Africa and hunts with his precision rifles. He's a PRS and NRL22 shooter with a hell of a lot of experience mid to long range hunting. He does a lot of cull hunts where he's taking headshots out to 300 or so yards on impala type animals from a tripod. And body shots far beyond that. He has a fair bit of hunting videos on his Youtube channel.

I'm not saying I endorse everything he does, just it'll give you a pretty good idea of what real shooters can do in these situations.

 

[11boo]

Just a question... didn't they teach looped sling when you were in? Or would that not be considered supported?

I was Army infantry. Way before optics on M16s were a thing.
They never taught the sling support method to us. We did have a pretty cool standing supported trick. You stood in a foxhole, laid the rifle on sand bags and shot from there. It was pretty steady leaning against the hole. We didn’t use the bullseye targets and target pits the USMC used either. Paper zero at 25 meters. Everything else was done on a knockdown torso target. Thick plastic stuff, a hit anywhere triggered a sensor that laid it down then it would auto pop up.
The Marines were much bigger on marksmanship than us, and they did use a sling supported method.

 

[squid-freshprints]

He's not near the best in the world but Pieter Malan from Impact Shooting lives in South Africa and hunts with his precision rifles. He's a PRS and NRL22 shooter with a hell of a lot of experience mid to long range hunting. He does a lot of cull hunts where he's taking headshots out to 300 or so yards on impala type animals from a tripod. And body shots far beyond that. He has a fair bit of hunting videos on his Youtube channel.

I'm not saying I endorse everything he does, just it'll give you a pretty good idea of what real shooters can do in these situations.

We noticed dude is not the best. I want to see the best, perhaps Pieter Malan can do better than 70 percent?

 

[KenLee]

So I had an electrician apprentice, mid 30s guy. Nice guy, but he found out I was ex army as was he. He did a deployment to Afghanistan as a grunt, and he was constantly trying to regale me with his “long range” shooting skill with a M4
AR. OK.

Then he decides to get into elk hunting and is quizzing me about guns for elk.
I tell him nothing wrong with a .308/30.06 but he has magnum fever. I tell him get whatever and you can hit the club with me and sight it in. He gets a gun.

A lightweight 300 Remington ultra mag. No brake. Do I have to tell you how this story ends?
He lays 40 rounds of that ammo on the bench, intended to fire it all. He also gashed his brow on the third shot. to his credit he made it through 18 shots.

I bought a light Remington 700 300 RUM when they first came out. Luckily for me, the rifle wouldn't eject spent casings. None. Bass Pro refunded my $