A Long Shot

[billrquimby]

In the late 1960s, I spent two summers competing in a siluetas metalicas (metallic silhouette) shooting league in several cities in Sonora, Mexico, south of where I live in Tucson.

We fired 20- and 40-round matches with centerfire hunting rifles at 1/2-inch steel targets of half-size chickens, javelinas, turkeys, and desert sheep from 200 to 500 meters out.

We were required to shoot offhand, standing, and without slings, rests or shooting jackets. I practiced dry-firing for 20 minutes every day and shot maybe 100 rounds of .270 and .30-06 ammo every week, and eventually got to be a fair offhand, long-distance shot on calm days. I even won one of the league's championships.

What I learned after seven months of competitive long-range shooting was that the wind is fickle, and judging wind drift at those distances is just as important as judging bullet drop.

In an African hunting setting, someone who must pay a trophy fee for a wounded and lost animal needs a fat wallet if he's willing to risk shots at extremely long distances.

Bill Quimby

 

[kuduman]

first off, inever brag about shooting skills as it will bite you in return. i was hunting duiker in the mountains of the eastern cape. we hunted hard for 3 days. we were seeing them daily but had trouble sealing the deal. we were walking on top of a mountain when 2 took off running part way down the mountain. my p.h. whistled and the male stopped behind a bush and looked at us. in a split second, i was up on the sticks and held just below his chin. at 200 yards, i almost decappitated it. i got a new cape for him and await the mount. sometimes you get lucky.

 

[hunting]

I do have this nice story about long shots, many years back when only a few in South Africa had a range finder i was hunting with some South African friends just for meat, well when i met some of the guys for the first time i learned that the two new guys are actually guys taking very long shots they talked about 350 ,400 yard shots, i decided that i will take 80 , 90 yard shots. We were hunting in the free state for Sprinbuck, and Gemsbuck. I was the lucky one with the range finder ( got one from a client in Houston ) everybody was in the back of a truck, the landowner's rule was you shoot from the truck or you go home. First Gemsbuck was mine and it was a nice close shot i am sure it was 110 maybe 115 but i did not had the range finder in my hand. Then it was one of the long shots turn he told everybody on the truck the shot is 320 to 360. I guess 160 to 180 but did not say anything as i was the new kid on the block, the third Gemsbuck belong to long shot number two his shot was way out there 380 and more in his books, also he let everybody know how far the shot is, by then i just had enough of all this bulls... and i took out my range finder well it was only 170 yards . From then on i had to measure each animal. By the way i was not invited again maybe because i did spoil the long shot stories afterwards.
Johan

 

[sestoppelman]

ditto kuduman! Never brag to your PH unless and until you have proven to him in the field that you can shoot. I personally have not killed anything at over maybe 300 yards, an antelope in Montana with a .257 Roberts. In Africa fortunately most shots are well under 250 yards which is plenty far for most shooters under field conditions.

 

[lawrence_court]

My best and worst shots took place within two days of each other.

Worst
The worst was when I wounded a kudu in Namibia (very high shoulder above the spine) at 80 yards with a perfect rest. Thankfully I got a second into his chest seconds later as he crossed us and killed him outright - but it was a terrible shot and I still feel awful about it.

Best
My best shot ever was a big male Baboon on the same trip. I was with my brother when we came over the top of a hill in the bakkie. The baboons were instantly running up a bank to our front across a valley, and as per usual, the big male was at the back. My brother and I both lined up the big male and I could see him running through my glass at 16x mag. Just as I was about to squeeze my brother shot from his .375 H&H with the bullet kicking up dirt in the tracks of the baboon. The shot must have been only a foot low and right as he ran up and left up the bank. It would be fair to say that the old boy accelerated a bit after that.... I held above and left about a body's length and pulled the trigger (.300 wm 180gr TSX). I heard the bullet slap and we ranged the body at 300 metres exactly. He was hit right through the chest (though that part was mostly luck I'm sure). He was at full sprint when I fired, and as anyone who has seen them knows, they can travel.

Either way I learned more from the bad shot than I did from the good shot. Lessons are always learned best from failure though I suppose.

Enjoyed reading this thread. Hope you're all still enjoying hunting.

L