Is 500 yards a long shot?

[danhuntingmi]

Lying prone in a field with an unlimited PRS rifle and shooting a 5" circle at 500 yards has nothing to do with shooting a deer at 500 yards. It does show that there are a lot of people who will go on YouTube and show that they don't actually know their abilities.

I don't disagree with you that his test isn't realistic for hunting. The point being, however, is they still miss despite the Pollyanna like shooting conditions. Do you want the circle 10 inches? They still miss.

 

[amassi]

I've seen Cortina's challenge mentioned a couple of times in this thread. I don't understand that one at all. What deer has five inch vitals? Seems like one of the dumbest things on Youtube if you ask me.

To answer the OP's question, yes 500 yards is a long shot. For anyone who thinks it's not, please participate in the cold bore challenge (way better than Cortina's by the way) and post the results.

Another great way to test yourself is to show up at an NRL match and try to shoot targets (that are pretty large) on the clock and set up by someone else. You will be humbled quickly and start to understand your actual limits in the field.

Agreed
There’s been quite a few dead deer on that challenge that were called misses.
I think it’s a gimmick to drive views to his channel and sell more barrel tuners.


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[Mtns2hunt]

I can shoot at 500 yards with my 300RUM. I bought the rifle for this exact reason. However, I quickly decided 500 yards is to far and does not feel like hunting rather than just killing. I now practice out to 500 but limit my shots to 300 and more frequently 200 hundred. Call me a old fudd if you like but I am comfortable with myself.

 

[amassi]

Thread
How many of you that think 500 yards is some sort of Herculean distance live and grew up hunting east of the Mississippi River?


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[207North]

Thread
How many of you that think 500 yards is some sort of Herculean distance live and grew up hunting east of the Mississippi River?


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I don’t think many here are saying that at all.

Most are saying it is a distance that must be respected. Its certainly not a give me shot.

 

[amassi]

I don’t think many here are saying that at all.

Most are saying it is a distance that must be respected. Its certainly not a give me shot.

In my experience When people start throwing around “ethical” they are generally holding up a mirror to their own shortcomings or vulnerabilities.

If you’ve never shot over 200 yards at a deer 500 seems like a mile. You may have never seen a deer that far away with a rifle.

Conversely if you grew up hunting western mule deer or worse yet Coues Deer 500 isn’t much to write home about. What’s really shocking is a lot of us were killing those deer without dialing scopes or rangefinders.
***not advocating for this but it happened ALOT***

So now we have an embarrassment of riches in the terms of knowledge, tools, training et el and it’s mind boggling to still see people who poopoo a rather mundane distance. My guess is they’ve never faced it


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[Justin Crossley]

In my experience When people start throwing around “ethical” they are generally holding up a mirror to their own shortcomings or vulnerabilities.

If you’ve never shot over 200 yards at a deer 500 seems like a mile. You may have never seen a deer that far away with a rifle.

Conversely if you grew up hunting western mule deer or worse yet Coues Deer 500 isn’t much to write home about. What’s really shocking is a lot of us were killing those deer without dialing scopes or rangefinders.
***not advocating for this but it happened ALOT***

So now we have an embarrassment of riches in the terms of knowledge, tools, training et el and it’s mind boggling to still see people who poopoo a rather mundane distance. My guess is they’ve never faced it


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I would bet a lot of money (and win a lot of money) from anyone who thinks they will reliably hit the vitals on a deer at 500 yards cold bore without a rangefinder and a scope with a usable reticle or the ability to dial.

I somewhat agree with the point you are trying to make about it not being extremely hard to do with today's tools.

 

[amassi]

I would bet a lot of money (and win a lot of money) from anyone who thinks they will reliably hit the vitals on a deer at 500 yards cold bore without a rangefinder and a scope with a usable reticle or the ability to dial.

I was trying to say- lots of deer and elk were killed without tools or knowledge at those ranges before the advent of modern tech.

Now we’ve had 20 years of practice and tools
Imagine going back to 1986 and telling someone in the future you’ll have access to a range finder that compensates for DA, angle, temperature and your orientation to the pole and will link with a candy bar sized tool that reads wind speed
Oh and your scope is 100% more reliable and usable
Also, almost everyone has access to this as it’s not terrible expensive
They’d sooner believe in flying cars


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[207North]

In my experience When people start throwing around “ethical” they are generally holding up a mirror to their own shortcomings or vulnerabilities.

If you’ve never shot over 200 yards at a deer 500 seems like a mile. You may have never seen a deer that far away with a rifle.

Conversely if you grew up hunting western mule deer or worse yet Coues Deer 500 isn’t much to write home about. What’s really shocking is a lot of us were killing those deer without dialing scopes or rangefinders.
***not advocating for this but it happened ALOT***

So now we have an embarrassment of riches in the terms of knowledge, tools, training et el and it’s mind boggling to still see people who poopoo a rather mundane distance. My guess is they’ve never faced it


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I get that a ton from guys that do not shoot a lot. Stuff like “How do you even see that far”

Then you have the guys on forums that claim .1 moa cold bore out to 1300 or whatever range that was like its no big deal.

It all boils down to what the individual pulling the trigger is capable of. Some people should not be shooting at an animal at any distance.

I also know people that if they felt confident and decided to take a 1000 yd shot on game I would support that decision.

 

[KenLee]

I've seen Cortina's challenge mentioned a couple of times in this thread. I don't understand that one at all. What deer has five inch vitals? Seems like one of the dumbest things on Youtube if you ask me.

To answer the OP's question, yes 500 yards is a long shot. For anyone who thinks it's not, please participate in the cold bore challenge (way better than Cortina's by the way) and post the results.

Another great way to test yourself is to show up at an NRL match and try to shoot targets (that are pretty large) on the clock and set up by someone else. You will be humbled quickly and start to understand your actual limits in the field.

I could care less about targets. Shot me what you can do when the game is fidgety or trotting.

 

[peterk123]

I think this guy explains it quite well it starts at the ten minute mark.

 

[Macintosh]

500 yards CAN be a high-% shot in perfect conditions. It CAN also feel like perfect conditions at the shooter, when in fact there is a difficult wind condition that makes it a much different shot. Terrain that makes wind conditions like that relatively common seems to be pretty normal when hunting. My problem (one of them, anyway) is that identifying that difficult wind condition is hard sometimes. I dont live where its reasonably possible to get the practice needed to make wind calls like that casual. It makes me much less confident in any given 500 yard shot. What are we shooting at? I dont have much error budget at 500 yards on a smallish deer sized target.

Regardless, its a long shot. Just because some shots are very long doesnt mean 500 isnt long.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I could care less about targets. Shot me what you can do when the game is fidgety or trotting.

How do you build an actual data set to understand your ability/limitation if you only shoot at live, fidgety, or trotting animals, and then practice to get better? Hopefully not on live animals.

Practicing in forced positions, on the clock, with a moving target will absolutely make you better at killing the game animals you mentioned.

 

[wapitibob]

Lying prone in a field with an unlimited PRS rifle and shooting a 5" circle at 500 yards has nothing to do with shooting a deer at 500 yards. It does show that there are a lot of people who will go on YouTube and show that they don't actually know their abilities.

It's simply his take on a 1moa challenge. The cold bore challenge is a more realistic, vitals type exercise.

 

[S-3 ranch]

In my experience When people start throwing around “ethical” they are generally holding up a mirror to their own shortcomings or vulnerabilities.

If you’ve never shot over 200 yards at a deer 500 seems like a mile. You may have never seen a deer that far away with a rifle.

Conversely if you grew up hunting western mule deer or worse yet Coues Deer 500 isn’t much to write home about. What’s really shocking is a lot of us were killing those deer without dialing scopes or rangefinders.
***not advocating for this but it happened ALOT***

So now we have an embarrassment of riches in the terms of knowledge, tools, training et el and it’s mind boggling to still see people who poopoo a rather mundane distance. My guess is they’ve never faced it


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Yeah Carmen mountain WT , Coues deer , panhandle pronghorn will really test your ability to make it happen regularly!
I think lots of folks are habitual about stretching the truth on their distances on kills on here !
There are a bunch of folks who say they are @ 700-900 on every single kill 1st shot, but I call B.S , lying on the web can become a habit for some

 

[Hnthrdr]

Do you restrict all your hunting to a long bow with wooden arrows and stone tips?

Heck no! I sure don’t. But I think we as hunters need to take a step back and understand that sometimes it’s okay for a bull/ buck to “win” to me that means not being silly sally and pushing shots, no matter the weapon. Or if I can’t get closer and get a shot generally 500 or closer, I’d consider 500 around where wild ungulates have a decent shot at using there elevated sense at detecting a hunter then it means the game is on and I’m not dropping bombs from 4 ridges away…

 

[207North]

I think this guy explains it quite well it starts at the ten minute mark.

Solid video. Its just a matter of people accurately putting themselves in the correct category for the situation.

 

[PopNFresh]

How do you build an actual data set to understand your ability/limitation if you only shoot at live, fidgety, or trotting animals, and then practice to get better? Hopefully not on live animals.

pigs, nature's reactive target?

 

[Wizzum]

Not an easy shot, not an otherworldly shot. It can be practiced and made in the right circumstances with a modest amount of time behind a stock.

 

[Coleredding00]

Out of the 4 animals taken on rifle hunts I was a part of this fall all 4 were prone shots with rear support on un alerted game. 2 shots on bulls were at 507 and 518 yards, one after the other by my partner and I. Mine was first, 507 yards. One shot in the lungs that was fatal but he was on his feet so i sent another. He had started walking so that one ended up in his hind quarter, which took him off his feet and caused him to roll down the slope. Really kicked myself for that one, but the first shot was fatal so my wind call was good. It did, however, highlight to me the variable of unexpected animal movement. Second bull stepped out and my partner sent one round that went in the back of the shoulder just missing the bone, jellying the heart and taking him off his feet in under 15 seconds. These bulls were genuinely in a place that the option was shoot them from where we were or not shoot, there was no angle of approach with proper wind and vantage to close the distance without coming out 50 yards from them.

The second was my wife's deer, 335 yards with an estimated 12 mile an hour wind. I gave her a wind call and she executed the shot beautifully, double lung taking the top of the heart off and he was off his feet in 10 seconds or less.

Third was a late season cow hunt with partner from earlier. Open sage country in a heavily roaded unit. We glassed the herd and made it to the closest point that gave us a vantage without exposing ourselves, at 340 yards. Zero wind, dialed and made a perfect double lung.

Those shots could be interpreted as unethical to some, but I sleep well at night knowing that all animals were dead in 30 seconds or less and that adequate preparation was done. 500 yards is my self imposed limit unless the conditions are exceptionally and undoubtedly calm, or I am making follow ups on a wounded animal. The efficacy demonstrated by my hunting parties this year is head and shoulders more ethical than the days of old, shooting into running herds of elk driven from the timber, and that is a hill I will die on.