Hunting distances- how far is too far?

[Nhoro]

I read ti's statement in Magnum magazine " Remember that shooting small groups from a solid bench-rest position may satisfy you, but it can also give you false confidence in your shooting ability. Your biggest grouping (not the smallest) from a field shooting position at any given distance represents the maximum range at which you should engage an animal. If 200m is the longest range at which you can hit a six-inch target with three consecutive shots, then that is your maximum range for taking body shots on springbuck. For brain shots at the same distance, you must be able to hit a tennis ball-size target consistently"

It got me thinking- I have seen many pics of tiny groups ( I assume benched groups) often with large bores like 416 and 458 Lott. I like thiguideline above. He also says in the article- Do not trust ballistic programs and dia,ing turrets without testing at the distances on a target. What distance can you hit a 6" target with 3 consecutive shots ?

 

[JimP]

A 6" target with 3 should should be no problem if a person practices shooting at the ranges that they intend to hunt.

I have zero problem doing that from most shooting positions out to 500 yards. If I need to shoot any further I'll find a way to get a very solid rest.

 

[Northern Shooter]

All depends on the rifle, the caliber, the optic and how proficient the shooter is with each of those. I feel like shots on North American game are generally further that what is seen in Africa.

Many western sheep/goat/elk hunters will take a 500-600m shot with the right load and scope.

Iron sights? inside of 100m for me.

 

[Zambezi]

I've seen the posts about being able to shoot the flea off a mosquito's sack at a thousand yards. Some may actually be able to do it (I've seem some big mosquitos!). But for me with a 4x40 scope on my 30.06 I'm confident and comfortable out to a max of 250m to hit the 6 inch plate... 300m I'm at 80-90% confidence. I probably won't take the shot. With iron sights nothing over 200m at all.

To those who can with supreme ability then kudos. That's not me.

 

[375Fox]

I’ll shoot to about 350 yards max. That’s the distance I feel I still have a chance of hitting a wounded animal a second time, beyond that I think it’s just a lucky shot. I’ve yet to wound and lose an animal and I don’t want to. Quad sticks have really given me a lot more confidence on the longer shots in Africa because the left right motion is eliminated. You can only miss up or down, so a broadside shoulder shot will likely either be a good hit or a clean miss the first shot. My furthest shot on an animal was a roe buck at 360 m across a valley, no opportunity to get closer. The shot hit low and broke its front leg. My second shot put it down. The hunters who have the skill to shoot 500-1000 yards I’m impressed by, but it bothers me how many just hope for the best and take the shot. I think it’s really disrespectful to the animal.

 

[Fabnosh]

It’s bench vs reality. If you can shoot a beer mat (UK term meaning about a 3 inch disc) at 100 from sticks or off hand. There is a good chance you’ll eat…that’s assuming you have the appropriate level of field craft to get close enough to make it work.

I do think we’ve forgotten that getting close is a hard learned skill and a 500 yard shot is a pitiful bragging right.

I’m sure other views are available

FN

 

[revturbo9967]

Longest shot I’ve taken on game was 340 yards on a speed goat and it would have stretched it further if needed, but that’s not the norm. I’m comfortable out to 200 yards off sticks, anything past that I will need to have a better rest or prone-something that doesn’t happen in Africa often.

With a good rest and time to set up I will hunt up to 600 yards on elk, preferably 400 and under though.

 

[BeeMaa]

With a 300WM or 375H&H 250-300 yard would be the max on any game animal. There are exceptions, but they are few.

 

[Doug3006]

I think the 6 inch plate criteria makes a lot of sense. The longest distance at which you can REPEATEDLY hit that plate using field rests (I.e., trees, shooting sticks, backpacks, etc.) is your max. Not once in a while. Not your personal best. Virtually always. (We are humans after all). If that distance is 1,000 yards, so be it.

 

[BnC 04]

Since you used the word "hunting" and not sniping I feel 300 yards is within most that are willing to put in the range time.
Once your dialed in, get off the solid rests and start shooting off of sticks, trees ect ect. Those little groups you had off a bench open up real quick
Keep at it and you will get them tightened up to where you want/need them.

 

[JimP]

A few of us should clarify our long shots as far as where we learned and still hunt.

I hunt in the western US and the Rocky Mountains where a cross canyon shot on a elk or mule deer is not uncommon, and those shots can get long if you want the animal. Getting closer in most of the instances is out of the question. I was once on a hillside with a friend sitting down at camp. He kept telling me that there was a huge mule deer buck just below me. I had no idea that the deer was there since I was having a hard time seeing much further than 5 yards down the hill.

But don't get me wrong, I have hunted animals with pistols and archery gear so I do know how to get close but those were usually different seasons where the animals were more approachable.

 

[Mekaniks]

I think the 6 inch plate criteria makes a lot of sense. The longest distance at which you can REPEATEDLY hit that plate using field rests (I.e., trees, shooting sticks, backpacks, etc.) is your max. Not once in a while. Not your personal best. Virtually always. (We are humans after all). If that distance is 1,000 yards, so be it.

I agree with Doug.

As far as you can hit a paper plate repeatedly, with the rifle that you are going to use, shooting as you would in the field, should be your personal maximum distance.

 

[ChrisG]

There's a MAJOR factor that many MANY people forget about. Ok... so you can hit a dime at 750 yards every time. Is your bullet still above the threshold velocity to expand? If not, prepare for a long tracking job if you don't hit any major nerve clusters or break bones. For 90% of "normal" non-magnum calibers, that threshold is right around the 350-400 yard mark. Magnums may extend this range by 75-150 yards. Unless you're shooting a 325 grain Berger VLD out of a .338-378 Weatherby, that's about all you're going to get. Very rare exceptions occur. But past 600 yards, 99% of all bullets will not expand reliably. Who cares if the animal can be hit if all that will happen is the bullet pokes a pencil hole through.

 

[Mekaniks]

There's a MAJOR factor that many MANY people forget about. ok... so you can hit a dime at 750 yards every time. Is your bullet still above the threshold velocity to expand? If not, prepare for a long tracking job if you don't hit any major nerve clusters or break bones. For 90% of "normal" non-magnum calibers, that threshold is right around the 350-400 yard mark. Magnums may extend this range by 75-150 yards. Unless you're shooting a 325 grain Berger VLD out of a .338-378 Weatherby, that's about all you're going to get. Very rare exceptions occur. But past 600 yards, 99% of all bullets will not expand reliably. Who cares if the animal can be hit if all that will happen is the bullet pokes a pencil hole through.

Yes sir you are correct for sure. Bullet performance should always be considered in hunting distance decisions.

 

[Hank2211]

There are a few things to bear in mind when we talk about distances and hunting. The first - well, and example. My son arrived for his first hunting trip in Africa - a college graduation present - and told me he could hit a 6" gong at 1000 yards (he'd been to SAAM school). I told him that was great, but gongs are flat and animals aren't. He'd have to calculate angles when he was shooting animals - something not important at the range. Know where the vitals are and where to place the shot to hit them. Not as easy as it sounds. Secondly, animals also move, while gongs tend to stay pretty still. You have all the time in the world to line up that gong, and maybe a few seconds to line up the animal. You might have longer, but you can't count on it.

The other thing is a matter of personal values. To me, the best part of hunting - real hunting - is getting as close as I can to the target. Sometimes that's impossible (a mountain nyala 390 yards across a valley), but most of the time, a little work and you are amply rewarded. I like to keep my shots to less than 100 yards. As much as I try not to be judgmental, by the time you get out more than, say, 300 yards, absent exceptional circumstances, the more you're target shooting and not hunting. And if you're target shooting, I don't think you should be doing it on live animals. Just my opinion.

I know many will disagree with me, and that's their prerogative. Just as it's mine to hold that view!

 

[ChrisG]

There are a few things to bear in mind when we talk about distances and hunting. The first - well, and example. My son arrived for his first hunting trip in Africa - a college graduation present - and told me he could hit a 6" gong at 1000 yards (he'd been to SAAM school). I told him that was great, but gongs are flat and animals aren't. He'd have to calculate angles when he was shooting animals - something not important at the range. Know where the vitals are and where to place the shot to hit them. Not as easy as it sounds. Secondly, animals also move, while gongs tend to stay pretty still. You have all the time in the world to line up that gong, and maybe a few seconds to line up the animal. You might have longer, but you can't count on it.

The other thing is a matter of personal values. To me, the best part of hunting - real hunting - is getting as close as I can to the target. Sometimes that's impossible (a mountain nyala 390 yards across a valley), but most of the time, a little work and you are amply rewarded. I like to keep my shots to less than 100 yards. As much as I try not to be judgmental, by the time you get out more than, say, 300 yards, absent exceptional circumstances, the more you're target shooting and not hunting. And if you're target shooting, I don't think you should be doing it on live animals. Just my opinion.

I know many will disagree with me, and that's their prerogative. Just as it's mine to hold that view!

Well said! I like to LOOK at animals a long ranges... but for my shooting, I like to be as close as I can possibly be. It really sucks to lose a game animal. Anyone who has never done it and claims they have a perfect shot record because they're "such a good shot" hasn't been hunting very long. That's also why I try to never take headshots on large game.

 

[Inline6]

There's a MAJOR factor that many MANY people forget about. Ok... so you can hit a dime at 750 yards every time. Is your bullet still above the threshold velocity to expand? If not, prepare for a long tracking job if you don't hit any major nerve clusters or break bones. For 90% of "normal" non-magnum calibers, that threshold is right around the 350-400 yard mark. Magnums may extend this range by 75-150 yards. Unless you're shooting a 325 grain Berger VLD out of a .338-378 Weatherby, that's about all you're going to get. Very rare exceptions occur. But past 600 yards, 99% of all bullets will not expand reliably. Who cares if the animal can be hit if all that will happen is the bullet pokes a pencil hole through.

The 7mm will hold pretty well too. A 7PRC shooting a 180gr class bullet will be above 2000fps with over 1500ftlbs of energy @ 800 yards.

Having killed from 3 feet to half a mile. Everything in my world is condition dependent. You are correct on bullets, it's just another part of the equation. What is the terrain like? Light conditions? How heavy is the mirage? Winds are they constantly switching or is it more steady? How still are the animals? Have you shot that temperature with your rig before? Just because it bug holes at 90° doesn't mean it will not fall out of a node at 40° because you are shooting a powder that is not temperature stable. To build off of your statement, lots of factors come into play. The biggest factor is the person behind the rifle, will they have the discipline to pass on the shot because of the conditions they are seeing? Many people I have talked with over the years say they will pass, put that target animal infront of them. The buck fever starts to take over, more times than not.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

In most cases anything past 100 yards is shooting, not hunting. Getting up close takes real hunting skill. At twenty yards the equipment is pretty much immaterial. At 500 yards it's all about the equipment. I am the hunter. Me, not some company in England or California. Yes, I have made some long shots (actually, every long shot I've attempted has put meat in the freezer/salt), but not with my gun. And truth be told, though they were exceptional trophies, their value to me pales in comparison to the less spectacular animals shot at close range or on the run (or both = most valuable).

By the way, I hate quad sticks. Too fiddly on uneven ground or trying to shoot moving animals. Fiddly = unnecessary movement to tip off the quarry. But they work very well shooting at animals on the other side of the gym.

 

[R.M.C.]

I don't go over 300 yards but have killed a couple deer a bit further. But the vast majority of my hunting seems to take place within 150 yards or so, give or take. The older I get the closer I like the shots I think, but 300 is my max. I don't practice any long range stuff so I don't go past that.

 

[WAB]

To me this question is totally situationally dependent. In Alabama I am typically hunting with a 9.3x62 or 7x57. 300 is an easy shot with those rigs, 400 is doable if the conditions are right. I use simple German no 4 reticles sighted for 200.

Out west I’m shooting a 6.5 PRC. I am shooting sub 4” groups at 600 with that rig from hunting positions. Unless the wind is ripping, a 600 yard shot in decent light conditions is responsible with that rifle. Cross canyon opportunities can make this shot a reality.

I get really concerned with time of flight on the really long range stuff (800+). At extreme ranges the target can walk out of the shot while the bullet is in flight. The result can be something none of us want no matter how good the shot is.