Is 500 yards a long shot?

[207North]

I'll provide my recent personal experience. I shot my first bull elk this year at 800 yards which is much further than I had hoped to shoot. However, there were a few key factors that played into that decision and leant me the confidence to take the shot:

1) Earlier in the week, I shot a vital sized rock on the same hillside from the same shooting position at 750 yards and scored a first round hit. That provided proof positive that, at that moment, my equipment and skills were capable of making a hit at that range.
2) When I was presented a shot opportunity, it was nearly ideal conditions: the elk was very calmly feeding on the hillside and not moving, there was essentially zero wind and I was fully prone shooting off a tripod with a rear bag.
3) I had a Tikka 6.5 CM in a RokStok

All of those factors combined to give me the confidence to take a shot that I knew I could make even if it was further than I expected to shoot. I was rewarded by watching my bullet drop right into lungs and recovering the bull.

I will also note that earlier in the week I had a prior opportunity at this same bull but I passed at 700 yards because I was shooting from a seated position on a steep hillside off of trekking poles. I got crosshairs on the animal but with the position and heavy breathing from the scramble to get into position I knew it wasn't an ethical shot so I let him walk. That was an unbelievably difficult decision to make because it was my first time having an actual opportunity at an elk after several hard years of hunting and it was getting to the end of the trip. Even if I hadn't gotten my last second success I would have been glad I passed on that shot rather than risking wounding an animal that I never would have recovered.

All in all, range is just a number and it's specific conditions that dictate ethics.

How much experience did you have on the rifle before this shot?

How many hits on a vital sized target with this rifle at under 300 yards, how many between 300 and 600 yards, how many between 600 and 1000 yards?

 

[Laramie]

Lot of good information posted already. 500 yards is a long ways for most. I used to put in considerable time at the range to become proficient at long range. I have taken several animals beyond 500 yards through the years but as I have aged, my abilities have decreased. I turned 50 this year and reigned in my max range to 500 under perfect conditions. My gun and scope are capable of much longer but I'm not. Being honest with yourself is hard but we owe it to the animals we pursue.

 

[Skerhunter]

500 is a long shot even in the perfect conditions you described on deer sized game. Just because you are fully capable doesn’t mean everyone else is.

With today’s tech and enough practice it is doable, but most people just have the tech .

 

[wind gypsy]

Yes, 500 yards is a far shot. Too far most of the time.

 

[wind gypsy]

All in all, range is just a number and it's specific conditions that dictate ethics.

Problem is the vast majority of people are not capable of adequately identifying what the conditions are and the implications.

 

[Ross]

For the experienced, trained and well equipped in today’s world it is not a long shot. Watching enough guys at the range, it is a poke and too far for the vast majority of hunters.

 

[jdmaxwell]

500 yds is far shot for most.
I practiced my butt off is summer out to 800 yds.
Shot my Alaska caribou this August at 590yds with 7mm Rem Mag 175gr ELD X. It dropped in its tracks.
Shot felt easy with so much practice.
Would prefer go get a 100 yd shot but train for it not to happen.

 

[ckleeves]

After the BS I have seen the last few years in the mountains I think it may be time to stop talking about, promoting and posting videos of long range shots. We don’t need to know how far you shot your elk at.

I have no issue with it as long as you actually know what your doing and burn some serious powder getting to that point but it’s a different crowd doing it now then 10+ years ago. And you would think it would be better with today’s equipment but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

When the bull you have been after gets a front leg blown off at 1200+ yards (after 6 shots) and the only reason the “hunters” recover it is you stay with it and are nice enough to show them where it’s bedded and then coach the shooter how to kill the bull it’s hard to hike out with a good attitude.

When your 300 yards proned out on a group of bulls deciding if you really wanna pack one out of the snotty mud covered canyon he’s in and suddenly bullets starts flying over your head and you find the source and it’s 1700 yards from the bulls it’s time to re-think everything about LRH.

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

Yes 500 is long, I regularly practice to longer distances and have killed animals at longer distances, but I prefer my shots to be under 500 if it is possible.

 

[dårlig jeger]

Looking at combined 2024/2025 stats:

• 175 shooters, 420 shots logged
• Avg range 583.1yds, hit rate 60.7%

Link to 2024 stats for reference: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/2024-cold-bore-challenge-q-a-thread.360763/post-3724002

At some point when I have free time I'll pull in the 2023 data. This is starting to become a pretty meaty database of hunting hit rate data.

The cold bore challenge exists to answer this question.

If 60% success rate by shooters, who are under no time restraint, where they can pick the day/time/conditions in a place they know, doesn't tell you it's a long shot, then nothing else will. This should strike you especially when you consider most people who participate in the challenge are much more practiced than your average hunter.

I hope everyone who considers 500 yards a high-percentage shot competes in the CBC.

 

[sndmn11]

I think that success and recovery rates would increase measurably if hunters practiced any and all easy to awkward field shooting positions to the point of 200 and under is a gimme, while 300 is long.

This year I "helped" some mule deer hunters by glassing up deer and turning them loose. One of them missed 5 shots on 3-4 different deer and stalks opening morning. Me-> "How far were the shots?", my friend->"He got to about 300yds", me-> "That's a long way", friend->"well he shot a pronghorn this season at 350, so 300 isn't far", me->"prone on flat ground. you're telling me 300yds is enough of a sure thing that he likely hit at least one of those deer?", friend->"no they were complete misses, we watched the video".

The next season I "helped" some out of state Roksliders with elk by essentially shuttling them around and glassing. They did a great job finding their own elk; so well, they had elk moving right over them, and I suspect, bedding in their comfort bubble while they were on glass. A 75 yard shot(s) was missed by one hunter, and a similar sub-100 shot was separately turned down by the other hunter because he couldn't get comfortable.

They both ended up with bulls later on, with longer shots and unsuspecting elk.

Ive read it more than once in this thread of guys who "put in the work" at long distances to self-qualify to send it, but I can't remember reading of folks practicing for the less glamorous close range stuff.

 

[IAm_Not_Lost]

Majority of hunters at 500 yards or beyond are missing first shot, or not getting a good first shot. Requiring follow up shots in most cases.

Anecdotal evidence just in the last week from friends continues to support this, one friend wounded his elk at 250 yards, bad placement, another missed at 600 and took two follow up shots to eventually get it.

Not to mention the stats shown above in other posts, or challenges like seen on Backfire or with Cortina, demonstrate that most folks beyond 400 yards suck at shooting.

Yeah, we all know, that doesn’t apply to you (the person reading this that absolutely can shoot 1 moa all day out to a 1000 yards), but for the rest of us, it seems that reliably hitting an animal on the first shot at 500 or 600 yards or beyond is a lower probability.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

500 is a pretty long poke, yes.

Watch a bunch of Eric Cortana's "ethical Hunter" challenges on youtube, and over and over again, guys (and gals) (including Eric himself) who think they know how to shoot, prone, bipod, 20lb target gun, high zoom scope, etc - miss landing the first shot fairly often. They do usually get close enough that in a real hunt it would still go well for them, but not always.

Run some numbers in a WEZ calculator...

Etc.

But I know all y'all with a 7lb super lite mountain rifle shoot better than any of them, right?

Personally, for me, max range is almost entirely dependent on the hunting situation.

Off hand at a walking animal, 50-60 yards is a longish shot.

Off hand at a not moving animal, move that out to 80 or 90.

Standing with my monopod/walking stick, 200 is reachable.

Let me get a tree for a rest, standing, now we can touch 250 or so.

Sitting with crossed sticks, back against a tree, now I can touch 350 ish.

Past that, I need to be prone, front bipod or pack, some kind of rear rest, and dry fire the shot 2 or 3 times first, and then I could touch 500 or more.

In all of the above cases, deduct a fair bit of yardage for sub-optimal shot angles or bad weather.

 

[hibernation]

Not to mention the stats shown above in other posts, or challenges like seen on Backfire or with Cortina, demonstrate that most folks beyond 400 yards suck at shooting.

One of the earlier backfire hunting challenges, I think it was even worse, more like 200-300 where people started to fall apart? I really appreciate him doing those challenges instead of the usual "this gear is amazing, you can hit anything if you buy it"... but I was real disappointed at the end of that video. No one seemed to confront the reality of their own performance.

"I'm good hunting out to 500 yards"
(misses a bunch of shots)
"Yeah that was tough but I think I'm still probably good out to 500"

 

[hibernation]

The cold bore challenge exists to answer this question.

If 60% success rate by shooters, who are under no time restraint, where they can pick the day/time/conditions in a place they know, doesn't tell you it's a long shot, then nothing else will. This should strike you especially when you consider most people who participate in the challenge are much more practiced than your average hunter.

I hope everyone who considers 500 yards a high-percentage shot competes in the CBC.

I hope this kind of practice catches on beyond this forum. Internet bragging has warped so many hunters' expectations, it's like they can't wrap their head around the possibility that they kind of suck at shooting. So they forget the misses and just keep shooting until they get an impact, now you're good to go at that distance right?

 

[Rizzy]

500 yards while hunting is a long ways for me. The big dilemma used to be more about "hiking across the canyon", now it's more about "shooting across the canyon".

 

[PopNFresh]

depends on how you practice, I'd LIKE to think most people know before they lay finger on the trigger if they are capable.
some think they'll get lucky or don't care of negative consequences for the animal (on a bad shot) or the community (some of them post long range YouTube hunting of terrible choices and execution)

on the other hand I've lost track of how many times there's been steel or an animal at range and someone says they've got it and it's not even close......

 

[HuntHarder]

Yep

 

[Jethro]

I’m not anti-long range either and feel there are many, many folks that can make that shot.

But in the other thread, the OP talked about a botched 500 yarder. Claimed 500 yards isn’t far and just very flippant about it. Those that called him out were fudds and trolls. Now looking for validation.

500 yards is far enough to be respected. Even by those that practice often. Thinking 500 is far is NOT a fuddism.

 

[blacktailcentral]

I’m not anti-long range either and feel there are many, many folks that can make that shot.

But in the other thread, the OP talked about a botched 500 yarder. Claimed 500 yards isn’t far and just very flippant about it. Those that called him out were fudds and trolls. Now looking for validation.

500 yards is far enough to be respected. Even by those that practice often. Thinking 500 is far is NOT a fuddism.

Imposing someone’s personal limits on another hunter is pretty silly. As long as the bullet construction has the impact velocity to open and they have practiced shooting at distance, then its all pretty much fair game. We all pay for the licenses and tags just the same


Also i think everyone can agree we would all love a 100-250 yard shot but many times that is not possible.