Who here doesn’t shoot beyond 300yrds ?

[Harronek]

After spending some time here I feel that I must be an old Fudd because I don’t shoot past 300yrds / I don’t Dial my scopes elevation / I use a second focal plane scope and it doesn’t have parallax adjustment.
There must be others like me or am I relic of times past ?
So how many of you guys keep it 300yrds and in .

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Me. My longest kill shot ever was just over 300 if I recall (long time ago). I now mostly hunt parcels where there are no shots more than 100. My last 20 or so white tails have been no more than 50 yards. My buck last year was an eye popping 12 yards. My doe about 40.

 

[Snowwolfe]

I will hit 73 later this month and have never killed a big game animal beyond 300 yards.

 

[PNWTO]

I try to self limit, mostly to keep some aspect/fun of “stalking” and set up. Although I wouldn’t say one stalks to 300yds.

I’m also a semi-minimalist. I have never liked high power optics and like fixed power scopes in general. Heck, my 308 T3X will have an Acro on it this year.

Plus, with two kiddos and a lot of other hobbies and obligations, range time is limited.

I like simplicity and spend the rest of the money on binos, clothes, and funding travels/adventures.

FWIW my longest elk shot was probably 630ish yards with a 300, but that was out of necessity (out of state) and a guide who was happy with the set up. I felt totally confident, just not my preference.

 

[Thegman]

I seldom shoot animals beyond 300 yards. On occasion I do if there's just no practical way to get closer, but there usually is.

My last black bear was initially at 200 yards when I got up on him in a little alpine valley. Wanted a closer look at him so stalked up to 110 yards before I decided to shoot him. That's one of the most fun parts of hunting to me.

 

[Harronek]

As others have mentioned… the stalk / closing the distance / crawling and creeping through the terrain is way more important to me .
Every year a multitude of animals meet their maker by way of Archery and that is a real challenge of perseverance and sneaking around.
300 yrds is actually a long way and that is my maximum I would and could consider.
If I can’t get to within 150 - 200 then there are some exceptional things going on in my hunting environment.
I am fully aware that different locations and areas allow for and sometimes demand longer shots, but we don’t all live and hunt in those wide expanses.

 

[Cherokeeguide]

I self-limit to 300 yards.

At first, my rifle did the limiting for me. I started out hunting the wide open spaces of the wide open west with Marlin 336 in .30-30 as an 11 year old kid in 1976. It didn't stop me from filling my tag, but it did mean that I couldn't hunt the same ground that my dad and most of my uncles hunted the same way they did.

Most of the deer I shot in my first 7 seasons were under 50 yards away when I shot them.

My dad, on the other hand, used a scope-sighted .30-'06 and he had no problem pulling the trigger out to 660 yards. The only problem I had with that was that helping him find his downed deer was something of a time-consuming ordeal at times. It is a lot easier to recover a mule deer shot at 30 yards than it is to recover one shot at 660.

So, the recovery aspect is a part of it, for me.

Also, I started shooting "Service Rifle" matches back in the old Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM) days. Part of the National Match course of fire is slow-fire prone at 600 yards. I still shoot "Service Rifle" under Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) rules today. I know exactly how incapable I am of doping wind correctly on every shot I make from the 600 yard line.

The longest shot I ever made on a game animal in a sport hunting situation was a 278 yard broadside poke at a California high desert mule deer. That was in 1992. My longest shot on elk was on my 20th and last one. That was 178 yards. My longest pronghorn shot was 256 yards, and that's the only one I've shot farter than 150 yards away.

To me, it is a choice I make and not one that makes me morally superior. I don't think my dad ever shot a deer at less than 400 yards. He was a "one-shot killer" and not a wound inflictor. I'm NOT against people making different choices and not "anti-long range hunting" at all. I wouldn't be comfortable hunting like that, but my dad told me, a few years after he stopped hunting for health reasons, that inside of 300 yards, he'd be a "buck fever basket case" and for him, shooting past 300 was easier and distance meant he had time to plan his shot so it would be effective.

 

[Kauaihunter]

300ish max for hunting, most animals shot inside 200. No dialing, I just walk a lot while hunting. Good binos and get closer.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I have killed a couple of deer past 300, but where I hunt, it isn’t necessary to shoot that far. I believe in being prepared for longer shots and it is something I actively practice, but as long as my legs work, I will use terrain to get closer and take higher percentage shots.

 

[Wolfshead]

The farthest I can shoot at my home range is 300 yards.
I’ve never had a chance to shoot farther.
I will NOT shoot at an animal at any distance I have never shot.
So 300 yards is my limit.
To be honest it is plenty far enough for me.

 

[B Harrison]

My longest shot on an animal is just under 300, but I’m in the mountains of NC, and we actually get close to deer in the woods.

I’m excited about the longer range game, but will very conservatively practice until it happens to come up in the field.

I may look at a corn pile at 400 yards late season this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Macintosh]

I live in the east and hunt on foot in the mountains. Shots over 300 yards literally dont exist. Most of my gun kills are under 75 yards, frequently under 50. Hunting in the west Ive only ever had one opportunity past 300 where there wasnt an obvious way to get closer.
I do practice at longer range and the rifle I practice with the most and take west is equipped to dial and shoot at game at longer range, it’s just never been useful for me. But for sure Ive seen situations when out hiking or backpacking that would make a longer shot the best shot, so it makes sense to me as a tool to practice and have in the quiver, even if my intention is always to get as close as reasonable.

 

[Tick]

Always found a way to get closer. Comfortable to 500yds but never shot past 300yds at an animal.

 

[Dave Thomas]

My farthest kill shot is a little over 200 yards. I hunt the piney woods of Louisiana and most shot opportunities are within 100 yards. I'm prepared for farther but don't go looking for them. We have a lot of pipeline through our lease and that's where a longer shot could happen.

 

[Bluefish]

I seldom shoot even 300 yards now. Don’t have access to ranges longer than 200 yards and where I hunt doesn’t offer range beyond that either. I also don’t get to use “long” range cartridges for hunting so I don’t really worry about it anymore.

 

[kota]

The only thing I shoot farther than 300 is varmints. Longest on a deer is 224. All western hunting for muleys and blacktail. I also don’t shoot at running deer unless it’s a follow up shot. In both cases, my shot selection is driven more by the desire to not make a mistake than to fill a tag. I also have low tech and light weight rifles/scopes focused on reliability and confidence to get in to action quickly. It works for me, but has come at the expense of unfilled tags, and especially so on the really big bucks. More power to those that have the equipment and skill to do more!

 

[Big Sky Guy]

Longest shot I’ve taken in game is 287 on an antelope. This year I had a bull at 327, it was really windy probably (20ish mph) to the point my eyes were watering. Not sure why I didn’t even try to setup for a shot and dry fire but my first instinct was to get closer as I am not well practiced in wind. Ended up bumping the bull in the course of the stalk. Oh well, idk why but I don’t have a desire to become a long-range sniper hunter. I do however have a desire to become better equipped at setting up for shots within 400 yards. Practiced a little last year and will do more this year in field conditions as I grew up always practicing from a bench which has its place but I think practicing your shots as they will be in the field makes the most sense.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

It totally depends on conditions. As mentioned numerous times, I prefer shots 300 or less. The longest shot I ever took (made it too) was a bit over 400 on antelope. My usual shots are 200 or less. I hunt Wyoming and my home state Colorado almost exclusively and it can get windy. Wind is the biggest fact for me limiting my shots. I have passed up shots at 200 across a canyon when the wind was really blowing. If don't have a good rest or am breathing hard also have kept me from shooting. I am 84 now and don't recover as fast as when I was younger.

 

[Machingeaneer]

I shot a deer at 297 but most of my shots are under 100 in woods here in MN

 

[thinhorn_AK]

My whole life I’ve maybe shot 5 animas past 300yds.