I've hunted out west a few times a year the past several years, and its laughable to me when guys try and say long shots are required. Sure it's much different than whitetail hunting, but that doesn't mean you can't get as close. Long distance rifle shooting is impressive to me. I could never pull off those shots even if I wanted to. That said, dropping an animal from 500+ yards is more target practice than hunting. No skill involved with hunting/stalking is required to do so. Again impressive, but don't pull the its required card bs on guys back east because those of us who have been west know it isn't true.
Leupold VX-3L 4.5-14x LOL.. On a Tikka T3 Lite rifle in 300 Winchester magnum. :D I've passed up a few shots looking for the kind of shot that might be Ruck139 approved but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. These goats have been shot at for several weeks straight now. It's now down to the doe antelope season.. and they gave out 500 tags for does in just this unit so it's not like the things aren't watching people try to sneak up from them on all sides. I've shot about 20 whitetail deer with a rifle or shotgun. My furthest shot was 50 yards. Most were between 11 and 25 yards. I've shot dozens of whitetail deer with my bow and my farthest shot was 28 yards. So it would be easy for me to say "Nobody ever needs to shot past 30 yards with a bow or 50 yards with a gun". But those were Midwestern whitetails and my experience with them has absolutely nothing to do with hunting out here.
i shot a nice 8 point thanksgiving day standing still at 100 yds. knew it was a good hit, but he ran 200 yds farther west onto the bean field. then he got up and started running towards a neighbor. at 325 yds running full bore i gave him another and he piled up. first shot was lungs, second blew his shoulders out. this buck was running a doe hard which is why i think he ran this far, full of testosterone and all. i had a gentleman yell at me for taking a running shot at a deer at 325 yds. mind you he knew i had already hit him. i think he was just jealous he couldnt do it himself. i feel like i am a average shooter and i feel good about shooting out to 400 yds at a standing deer. i would never shoot a running deer at 325 yds if it wasnt already injured though. i mainly shoot out of tower stands with the gun resting on the window. PSE gave me a great idea though with that turret thing since i can see about 600 yds to the west! i shoot a 300 win mag btw.
This x10, I think a lot of people use that reasoning for an excuse at taking long pokes. I have shot a few animals at long range with a rifle, Elk at 550 and antelope at 675. With my bow I have never shot anything over 45 ad honestly have never ran into an issue with needing to shoot further. I admire the BOTW guys for their skill, though I do not agree with some of their hunting choices. The Berger bullets they shoot are a joke for a hunting bullet.
Don't get me wrong I've shot a Muley at 8 yards spot and stalk but long shots do come about and you have to be ready to take them when you consistently hunt out west and want to be successful every year. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I once witnessed a 100 yard bow-shot at a deer by a guy that was competent in making the shot. I was impressed but it was a rather long tracking job... too long... and he was only off a few inches. A deer can move a lot in the 1.5 seconds it takes an arrow to travel that far. If one is making long shots with a rifle... I have no problem IF a hunter is competent and properly equipped. I shot two deer one afternoon last year, the closest one was at 412 steps, which is likely more like 320-350 yards... at best. I used my 30.06, with 150 gr Remington Core Locked bullets. They did the job but I got very marginal penetration... maybe 7 or 8 inches... max. NOT properly equipped. At least a bullet travels faster than sound... which is where the difference comes in in my thinking. It was almost like that bow shot deer just stood there and watched the arrow come and hit her. She could have easily gotten out of the way at the sound of the shot and the whistling of the arrow but she just threw her head up and then stood there.
I've hunted out west lots... With that said the furthest shot I ever took was around 75 yards on an antelope and probably 65 yards on elk. These two shots was with a rifle.. Like said above, don't make it out that that's the way you have to hunt animals out west. It's just not true. I spotted both animals at your 600 yards distance and it would have been alot shorter of a hunt if i would have tryed a shot.It took me all day to get within 100 yards on both animals.
I hunt out west every year. This year was the first with success. My elk was 35 yards and my mule deer was 61. Both with a bow. With that being said if I would have had a rifle on both of those hunts it would have been cake. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
I said this before and got laughed at but this is the truth. A buddy of mine out down a real nice 4x3 this year from 160 yards. Wow. I'm pretty darn accurate out to 100 but 160 is a far shot. Moral - if it's a range you are confident at shooting right on. I'm shooting at anything inside of 80. I have about baseball maybe softball sized groups at 80.
160 yards, with a bow? I'm calling BS. Even the best bow shots in the world can't hit the vitals of a deer consistently at that distance. Maybe it was pure luck, but stuff like that gives bowhunting a bad name. You have baseball sized groups at 80yds? Again I'm calling BS. Maybe you got lucky and did it once, maybe. But consistently, no way.
No bs. The 160 is gnarly. But the guy is a good shot. As for my grouping at 80 being bs I Gus's ill just have to upload a video of me shooting. Shouldn't be that hard to believe. World Cup guys shoot 70 meters with a recurve and hit the 10 point ring almost every shot. I practice 80 and 100 a lot. I've robin hooded an arrow at 60 yards.
To be fair three years ago I missed multiple 40 yard shots at bucks from the ground. Twice the deer jumped out of the way when my loud bow went off. So I switched to a Mathews z7. Quiet. Last year I missed a shot at a huge 4x4 from 25 yards. I can hit a dime at 25 yards consistently. I didn't range held 20 pin on heart and got a little fever I guess. Did some learning tho. Now I am for lungs and always range even the close shots. Foam is a lot easier of a target to hit. Or does for that matter as it seems. I have yet to miss a shot at a doe. I guess I just don't get as excited and nervous with a doe down sight. This year I missed a steep angle tree stand like shot from 80. It was my only opportunity at a buck this year. I didn't miss up and down tho as one might think. I had wind blowing right to left so I thought my arrow would drift an inch left. What really was happening was the wind was hitting the hill I was standing on and created a pocket of lift that drifted my arrow right. Missed by about three inches. I could see the arrow skate sideways with the lumenock lit.
I'll say it again, just because you can hit a target at whatever range does not make it OK to shoot at an animal at that distance. Animals often move when they hear the shot, and the arrow hissing, and they can move further the further they are away. Plus shooting in a tee shirt in controlled conditions is totally different than shooting from a treestand in heavy clothes. I'd be willing to bet very few guys can hit a baseball, or a basketball for that matter, at 80yds, from a treestand, on a breezy day, with hunting clothes on, when they are cold and stiff. I am not OK with missing, or worse, wounding an animal. Like most of us, I've been there/done that, and for me it is not acceptable. I have not missed or wounded a deer in a very long time because I refuse to take a shot that I don't know for a fact I can make. You guys keep taking your long shots, but when you wound an animal, please learn from it, like I learned. The animals we hunt deserve it.
Hey look here guy. I'm an honest guy. I'm not gassing myself up or nothing. But I'm a good shot not 160 good but I am 80 good. And I'm taking that shot when I get it. If I can get closer by all means I'm gonna try. I stay strong on opinion of take shot at the range you are comfortable. For me that is 80 yards. For my buddy I guess that is 160. More power to him. For the gun guy at 600. Right on. As long as you are practiced and comfortable at the given range. And yes I have wounded or maybe even killed and did not recover. I'm not proud of that. That tore me up. I did it once. And I'll try my hardest to never do that again.
Seems to be a lot chest thumping in this tread. I wouldn't do this, I wouldn't do that...ect ect. Building yourselves up by comparing it to others. But the thing is your on the internet and nobody knows what really you do or don't do in the field...we only what you want to come on here and say. The guys that shoot long range on that show obviously put a lot of time and effort into that shooting and hunting. Specialty equipment ect ect, practice ect. If it's what they enjoy more power to them.
I have seen the show. I have no problem with it. Its not my thing, but they are very proficient with their weapons and take shots that they are confident that they can make. It's legal, and with their skills, ethical. No different than some bow hunters being ethical at only 20 yards where others may be taking ethical shots at much longer ranges.
