Is 500 yards a long shot?

[WRO]

Do it with my bow all the time..


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[V35B]

500yds can be a long shot. I view it as what someone’s personal limitations are. That is where one needs to be honest with themselves. I was hunting last year and had the owner of the property ask what my max distance that I was comfortable with is. I looked at him and could tell he was anxious to hear my answer, and he got fidgety when I paused before I spoke. I simply told him that it depends, but 300 yds no doubt, beyond that we will assess the environmental factors at the time and shooting position. We were hunting rocky hills and canyons, and there was no telling when and where the animals were going to be. He was puzzled at my response a said most tell him they have X,Y,Z rifle and are good to 700-800 yds. I asked him if they actually took those long shots. He said yes, I asked if they hit anything, he said occasionally. Later on listening to the group talk, the ones that did connect never made good shots. I shot my animal at 366 yds, one shot, through the shoulder and it was over. We were packing it out and I was told that I was lucky, that 99% of the time 3-5 shots are needed to kill the animal. The few days I was with that crowd, I learned a lot about others, and the misconceptions a lot of people have on bullets, cartridges, ballistics, and wallop.

 

[mistadventures]

I love questions like these. The real answer is "it depends". What are you hunting, what caliber, and type of bullet are you using, have you practiced at that range, is the animal standing in a position that gives the greatest chance of success (such as broad side).

If you are hunting your game of choice with an appropriate caliber and bullet construction. Have the necessary practice to take that shot, and the animal is standing broadside then I say NO 500yds is not unethical or unreasonable. Regardless of shooting platform, field conditions, and range. It comes down to the shooters ability, and the caliber being used.

If you told me you was taking that 500yd shot with a 243 win on Elk, then yea your definitely in the wrong. But if you are using say 6.5, 7, or 300 PRC, 270 WIN/WSM, 6.8 Western, 7 rem mag, 300 win mag, etc, then I would say your are fine as long as you have the real world practice of shooting that far. Its one thing to sit down run numbers and true it up, its another to sit at the range day in and day out taking shots at those distances on a regular basis to build up the confidence of being able to control nerves, feelings, and whatever else comes up to take that shot in the field.

I've seen it personally with friends and family. They sight in the rifle, take some shots at range to get drop data and then never touch the rifle till hunting season. They have a nice 10pt walk out at 150-200yds emotions hit them and they whiff the shot. They can hit it at the range when they shoot the once or twice a year but they don't do it enough to be consistent with it. To able to control themselves so when things spike they have the repetition to take the shot.

 

[JasonWi]

500 yards is a very long shot to me, one of my hunting partners is incredibly talented at shooting that distance and well past it. But he shoots a lot and really tries to get as close as possible even though his ability is there to make the further shots.

I’ve only been practicing past 300 yards since 2023 as the first 30 years of hunting I’ve never had to shoot further than that. My personal goal is to be 100% lethal out to 450-500 yards.

I purchased a 223 to encourage me to practice way more from field positions and every year I’m shooting more than the previous year. I still have a lot of learning to do.

So for me at this point 500 is beyond my ability to guarantee the outcome — but I hope to eventually build that skillset up.