Long-range deer?

[Super tag]

Shooting long range can be done successfully with the right weapon, practice and experience. Knowing your firearm and having confidence is key. Sometimes the long range shots are the only option. I jumped into the long range game after watching five giant mule deer bucks at 915 yards for hours one season and could do nothing about it, the only way to get closer was to hike straight down and straight back up in 2 feet of snow and 15 degree temps, something next to impossible for most guys, a hike that would have taken all day, and rarely can you sneak up on animals like that unless you’ve spotted them before and know what they’re likely to do. If I could have taken the shot that day I would have, then I’d a gone and got horses to retrieve him from the bottom. All five bucks were once in a lifetime, true giants. We just got lucky and were in the right place at the right time. I’ve never seen another group of bucks like that.
After that experience I went out and bought a Gunwerks 7LRM with the rangefinder and have taken many animals out at long range. Its fairly easy if the conditions are right, just range, aim and squeeze the trigger. It’s not for everyone, and it takes alot of practice and skill. We don’t do it so we can brag about it. It’s just the way we like to hunt in the highest terrain.
I came across a couple guys hunting moose a few years ago and watched a guy drop a trophy bull at 1430 yards with a 338 Lapua, one shot. Dead right there.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Grew up in South Georgia and 250 was my longest shot with most within 150yds.

moved to Oklahoma and longest became 540, but most were under 250. In parts of the west, it’s hard to understand how little cover exists for vast stretches

 

[Ernie]

Honest question. the guys taking the long shots at game are you watching them fall or having to try and find blood then track or know the general area "they should have died in" and then just walking it till you find them?

When I kill at distance, I am in open or fairly open country...Think Wyoming

 

[Ernie]

Do many people out west really shoot deer or other game at 600+ yards? I have the right gear but can’t even imagine shooting at an animal beyond 300. Here in New England the woods are really thick and long shots are rare. Longest shot at a living animal for me was about 60 yards. I practice regularly and feel very comfortable banging steel out to 600 but that just seems too far for me to try on an actual hunt.

I’m not criticizing, just trying to learn more about other styles of hunting.

I don't think many people shoot a lot of big game animals beyond 600 yards, compared to all big game hunters.
My guess is the percentage of folks who hunt at distance, gets less every 100 yards beyond 600 yards for that matter.
I have taken more than a handful of big game animals beyond 600 yards, but most of the time, my kills are from 75 yards to 550ish yards.
I hunt in a lot of open country at times, but sometimes I hunt in heavy cover.
Sometimes I want to do the sneaky sneak, and other times I like stretching things out.
Sometimes, I have not taken the time to practice enough at distance that year to be prepared to take shots beyond 600 yards.

 

[jimh406]

Sometimes the long range shots are the only option.

There is always another option.

 

[loganwayne]

When I kill at distance, I am in open or fairly open country...Think Wyoming

If everything is open i wouldnt be sorry worried about myself recovering the game. Here we have Ag fields that i could shoot long shots. problem is the deer may only be 20-30 yards out into the field and if they dont drop they are back into cutovers or dense woods and i have a hard time tracking them.

 

[Ernie]

If everything is open i wouldnt be sorry worried about myself recovering the game. Here we have Ag fields that i could shoot long shots. problem is the deer may only be 20-30 yards out into the field and if they dont drop they are back into cutovers or dense woods and i have a hard time tracking them.

Depending on the distance, and the impact velocities at those distances, the older A-Max's and ELD-M's do a great job opening quick, and create a lot of trauma on deer sized game.
The LRAB is great if it shoots good in your gun, as it is designed to open up at lower impact velocities.
Shot placement (shoulder or double-lung), bullet choices, and impact velocities become very important.

 

[Titan_Bow]

First year I antelope hunted I remember seeing guys that would pull out those sun shade canopies, set up heavy shooting tables, lay out their rifles on a lead sled, etc. setup all their optics and sit all day anticipating a long range shot.
It’s a different skill set to be accurate at super long ranges, I just don’t have it. I think that ALOT of Internet forum mentions of people shooting really long range are over exaggerated. I think very few people have the skill necessary and the accompanying gear needed, to accurately shoot an animal in that 600-1000 yard range. The guys that I know that are capable of that put in a TON of work at the range, and invest ALOT of money in gear in order to do it.
My farthest antelope was shot at about 348 yards, elk was 212 yards. I’ve never shot a deer past 100 yards, but mainly because I bow hunt 90% of the time for deer.
If someone has the skill set and appropriate gear, has put in the time and effort to be proficient at those ranges, then I’m all for it. I don’t think of myself as a bad shot or anything but I’ve never felt I had that level of precision past 300-400 yards


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[Ernie]

Well said @Titan_Bow!

 

[Macintosh]

If everything is open i wouldnt be sorry worried about myself recovering the game. Here we have Ag fields that i could shoot long shots. problem is the deer may only be 20-30 yards out into the field and if they dont drop they are back into cutovers or dense woods and i have a hard time tracking them.

 

[loganwayne]

Depending on the distance, and the impact velocities at those distances, the older A-Max's and ELD-M's do a great job opening quick, and create a lot of trauma on deer sized game.
The LRAB is great if it shoots good in your gun, as it is designed to open up at lower impact velocities.
Shot placement (shoulder or double-lung), bullet choices, and impact velocities become very important.

It's not that I'm not getting a blood trail. I have an extremely hard time finding the first blood. Once I find it I can stay on it. It's hard to explain. I shot a doe two years ago couldn't find blood called my buddy and when he got to the top of field he said it looked like someone ran through the field with a 5 gallon bucket with 2 big holes in it and I was right in the middle of the blood circling not seeing any.

I don't hunt unless I know someone else is around to help me track. Trying to train my pup now.

 

[TradLife406]

I'd bet on a dedicated long range enthusiast making a one shot kill at 600 vs a Fudd at 300 with a rifle that he hasn't shot since that forken horn walked too close to the road last season...

To be fair iI definitely was the the later example. I'd spend all my time with my stickbow but never with my rifle.

So I built a 6.5 PRC and learned to shoot it. There's a lot of times hunting in Montana where is physically impossible to "get closer". Wide open flat chick pea fields don't lend well to sneaking up on a herd of antelope.
I made a great one shot hit on my loper buck last year at 525. My seven year old daughter and I were able to use a ditch along the farm road to get that close but we couldn't get closer. Little to no wind and prone off a tripod with a rear bag it doesn't get much better.

The year before I put a bullet an inch above my loper doe's heart at 200 yards further than that.

I don't go trying to see how far I can kill. That's just stupid. But it's definitely nice having the skills to never miss inside 300 anymore like I used to. Then if there is a situation that calls for a little poke and I'm 100% confident in my ability to make the shot I'll take it.

There's zero difference in how an animal tastes if it was shot with a trad bow or a precision rifle