Your longest kill?

[Bum8221]

980 with my custom 300 RUM on a whitetail doe. 1 shot, she took 3 steps and tipped over

 

[roadrunner]

Shooting a couple hundred rounds a year is nowhere near approaching competence to shoot beyond 400y.

I shoot way less than 200 rds per year. Does this mean I can no longer shoot at an animal that is 400+ yards?

Last elk I shot was a little over that, should I have passed? I may have only shot a couple rds before I went.

Looking for some guidance is all.

 

[207North]

I shoot way less than 200 rds per year. Does this mean I can no longer shoot at an animal that is 400+ yards?

Last elk I shot was a little over that, should I have passed? I may have only shot a couple rds before I went.

Looking for some guidance is all.

Does 200 rounds a year allow you to verify that a rifle is zeroed and true your drops out to maximum range?

Do you then do it again under different lighting conditions? Under different wind conditions? Different density altitudes?

Do you re-test with different shooting positions?

Or do you lob one out there with a .270 and a BDC reticle?

 

[Neckbone]

This year, 285 on a cow elk. I was prone, jacket thrown over a sage bush, and just laid out over top of it. Waited on wind gust to settle and it felt great. Shot was perfect and exactly where I thought it went. I know that distance is no big deal for many, but where I live you have to drive quite a way to shoot anything over 100 yards. Ergo, I don't get as much practice at those distances as I would like.

With that said, I have had much shorter shots be more challenging due to the rest I was using and ergonomics of the shot.

 

[Spence1875]

We have a 300, 600 and 1k range at my club so I am very lucky. See a few the of hunters pre season at the 300 pre season, almost none at the 600.

The biggest issue is that almost all of them only use a bench and a big rest, sandbags or lead sleds.

It is not only about the rounds u shoot at
long range but how you shoot them. You need to practice like u hunt. I hate bipods on a hunting rifle, personal preference, so I practice to shoot prone off my backpack, sitting and standing with sticks and bipod. I also shoot a fair amount offhand at 100.

I also shoot Tikkas and have a T1x 22 lr with a 3-9 compact, makes for the best position shooting practice honestly.

 

[roadrunner]

Does 200 rounds a year allow you to verify that a rifle is zeroed and true your drops out to maximum range?

Do you then do it again under different lighting conditions? Under different wind conditions? Different density altitudes?

Do you re-test with different shooting positions?

Or do you lob one out there with a .270 and a BDC reticle?

If I go out to the "range" and can hit a 5" circle with the first shot with a zero of 250 yds, 200 rounds is irrelevant.

I've never "lobbed" one out there. Having spent a lifetime shooting, I am quite certain how my rifles perform from 3,500' to 10,000' in elevation. Having spent decades hunting with a rifle from Oct through March, I am quite certain I know how my rifles shoot.

You can pretend all you want to try and mimic different hunting positions and shooting conditions, but you will never replicate shooting prone in 8" of snow covering fragmented sandstone slabs and boulders oriented at less than a parallel surface until you actually have to do it.

For the record, you are not qualified to question what and how I shoot...

 

[KurtR]

787 bull elk 6.5 creed 143 eldx no wind on the bipod with rear bag. Took both lungs and top of heart bullet exited. Bull dropped right before I was going to shoot second round. Watched impact in my scope never lost sight picture. Now i dont shoot near as much as i did back then so i would not take that shot. Used to fire couple thousand rounds a year would rather train dogs now.

 

[HuntHarder]

I love all the "ethics police" in this thread. Keep it up, it's a good look.

 

[roadrunner]

I love all the "ethics police" in this thread. Keep it up, it's a good look.

Pretend experts really. That's what makes it so entertaining.

 

[Pharmseller]

Pretend experts really. That's what makes it so entertaining.

I’m far from an expert. In my opinion, and my opinion only, if it takes you 8 misses before you hit, you shouldn’t be shooting.

 

[Thinkingman]

31 yards whitetail buck out of a tree stand.

First elk was shot at 13 yards.

 

[Tall_Vol44]

Before this year, 315 on a whitetail using MPBR method with a duplex reticle on a 30-06. High spined it, and had to get inside 200yds to put him down. In retrospect, I should not have taken that shot. The furthest I had ever shot up to then was maybe 200 yards, and I was going off ballistic data from the ammo box. I was young, dumb, and blood thirsty at the time. Lessons were learned.

This year, 575. Prone off my pack using game bags as a rear rest. My first elk. Put 3 shots into him within 6"of each other. He didn't make it 10 yards.
I had practiced, and was prepared, for longer shots this year and would not have hesitated to shoot further if I would have had a spotter with me in the conditions I had that morning.

 

[roosiebull]

Only shot one critter beyond 350yds, and it was a pretty hurried shot on a lion at 497 right before it got out of view… di’in’t go 20

 

[WRO]

Same with the guys that take a single shot at a rock a few days before the hunt and deem themselves ready to shoot an animal at the same distance.

Guys that have never shot beyond 200 yards from the bench lobbing rounds at whatever during hunting season.

Shooting a couple hundred rounds a year is nowhere near approaching competence to shoot beyond 400y.

I am not against long range shots but please be realistic with what your capabilities are.

Shooting from a bench is pointless beyond load development.

If you can shoot prairie dogs at 100 with a rimfire consistently you can shoot 500 with a big gun early with a little practice, aim small miss small. My kids have both killed past 400 and neither of them have shot a 100 rounds of cf in their lives. But their rifle matches their 22 and they shoot the hell out of it.


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[207North]

Shooting from a bench is pointless beyond load development.

If you can shoot prairie dogs at 100 with a rimfire consistently you can shoot 500 with a big gun early with a little practice, aim small miss small. My kids have both killed past 400 and neither of them have shot a 100 rounds of cf in their lives. But their rifle matches their 22 and they shoot the hell out of it.


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Rimfire is great. Especially if it matches the centerfire rifle. You get repetitions in that match centerfire positions, learn wind, learn to spot shots and correct, learn to follow through.

The only negative is bad habits from lack of recoil management.

For a 500 yard shot…. I would put my money on the guy that shoots a few bricks of rimfire a year at 100+ yds positional over the guy that shoots a couple boxes out of a centerfire from a bench.

 

[dtrkyman]

67 yards…Archery, hunted whitetail with a firearm twice, .44 mag and a muzzle loader, both shots under 40 yards.

Watched a client kill a bull at 727 yards, ridiculous, impressive and lame at the same time, I was a spotter not the actual guide on that one, she was confident and pin wheeled the bull!


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[Pony Soldier]

I agree. The biggest issue is knowing what your rifle, bullet and setup will do- consistantly. I don't shoot large amounts from the bench. But I do shoot coyotes out of my front porch window. Out to 350 yds its not hard to be consistant. Beyond that, estimating the bullet drop can be a challenge.

One of the toughest is up an extremely steep hill from a sitting position. I shot a cow at that range a few years ago. She was facing me so I had the length of her neck plus her chest to absorb any mistakes. I estimated the drop at about a ft and hit her at the base of the neck for a clean kill. The set up was in sitting such a way to get the body in tension. I'm guessing the slope angle was at least 45 degrees - up. It was one of my toughest shots. I don't hardly ever miss.

Sometimes the toughest are charging elk at 10-15 ft. The question gets to be shoot? Or run.

 

[Dust Rider]

780 yards. Bull elk. 300 WSM 165gr Sierra Grand Slam.
Scope is a Zeiss Rapid Z 800. Held on 800 and bull dropped.

 

[Jimss]

I always get a little bit t'd up by these posts. The question should be, "what is your closest kill!" It often takes a lot more skill, patience, and will power to stalk close than winging bullets and arrows long range! With that said, I killed this year's moose at around 8 paces with a muzzy!

 

[Eleven]

To those who are suggesting that the question should be closest kill; start a new thread, I’ve got plenty to put in that one too. Please refrain from messing up the OPs topic. Thanks.