Shots Past 100 Yards

[Art Lambart II]

The more I read about or see on Safari TV shows the more hunters I find taking 150 yard or longer shots on PG animals off of shooting sticks. I understand if you step out from behind a bush and your PH’s jaw hits the ground as he hurriedly sets up your shooting sticks and points at a 60” Kudu standing at 160 yards while loudly whispering shoot, shoot!!! What I don’t understand is why make a long shot on a representative trophy animal. Currently I like to limit my rifle shots to 100 yards or less. My local shooting range max out at 100 yards, so that is the maximum distance I can practice at and feel comfortable shooting. If I had my way I’d prefer to keep all my shots under 50 yards but that’s not always possible. I’m sure everyone will agree the first few times you move your rifle from the bench to the shooting sticks confidence is not the first thing that enters you mind. So why do it, why take a long shot from shooting sticks if you don’t have to?

 

[gillettehunter]

Don't take any shot your not comfortable with. In my area you may have a year where your shots are all over 200 yds. I can and do practice out to 500 yards. In Africa if you draw blood you pay. Make sure you can make the shot. Last trip to Africa I ran about 300 rounds through my rifles in the 30 days prior to leaving. That helps with muscle memory and confidence.
Get used to shooting off sticks. I took my own to Africa so they were what I was used to. Everyone has their own comfort level. My Black Wilderbeast was closer to 400 yards than 350. Had a great dead solid rest and made the shot. I passed on a similar shot the day before because of a 25 MPH crosswind......
Everyone has different abilities. Know your limits. Tell your PH and stick to that. I may feel confident in a shot that you wouldn't take. That's OK. I have the places to shoot out much longer distances. My equipment is designed to be not just adequate, but very good at longer distances. You may not have the time/equipment/place to practice longer ranges. A good PH will help you get close enough to make the shot. Best of luck to you. Bruce

 

[lcq]

Bruce gave you good advice. I really don't like shooting off sticks and the longest shot I made was 160M on an impala and would not shoot further. Now prone, a bipod, tree branch etc is another matter assuming the wind is calm. Now that is for trophy animals, vermin like baboons I have no problem with hail Mary shots

 

[UKHunter]

I'm not sure sure why the size of an animals head gear dictates that a hunters comfortable shooting range and ability to make an ethical shot is tossed out of the window?

 

[Art Lambart II]

Don't take any shot your not comfortable with. In my area you may have a year where your shots are all over 200 yds. I can and do practice out to 500 yards. In Africa if you draw blood you pay. Make sure you can make the shot. Last trip to Africa I ran about 300 rounds through my rifles in the 30 days prior to leaving. That helps with muscle memory and confidence.
Get used to shooting off sticks. I took my own to Africa so they were what I was used to. Everyone has their own comfort level. My Black Wilderbeast was closer to 400 yards than 350. Had a great dead solid rest and made the shot. I passed on a similar shot the day before because of a 25 MPH crosswind......
Everyone has different abilities. Know your limits. Tell your PH and stick to that. I may feel confident in a shot that you wouldn't take. That's OK. I have the places to shoot out much longer distances. My equipment is designed to be not just adequate, but very good at longer distances. You may not have the time/equipment/place to practice longer ranges. A good PH will help you get close enough to make the shot. Best of luck to you. Bruce

Thanks Bruce great advice, passing on shots is something I'm very good at. I specifically chose to hunt the Limpopo province because the shots are shorter than some of the other areas in RSA.

 

[MarkCZ]

Great advise from Bruce. never take a shot you are not happy with. now here is a weird thing. When ever we get to Africa and go to check zero I always shoot like a prat off the bench I hate shooting off a bench. Once I get in the dirt off my bipod different case. I don't mind shooting off sticks and for what it is worth this is what I do. Get on the sticks then sight the animal cross hair on its knees travel up smoothly and bang! I don't hold on the target. It works for me and I know we are all different. Try it you might surprise your self.
Markcz

 

[BRICKBURN]

I'm not sure sure why the size of an animals head gear dictates that a hunters comfortable shooting range and ability to make an ethical shot is tossed out of the window?

Interesting values question.

Where do we draw the line and why?

I practice out to ridiculous ranges off of my bipod at targets. 750+ yards.
There are plenty of better distance shooters in the world than me. I merely want to be able to shoot effectively to my limits. Like Bruce, I want to be prepared.

After thinking about the sticks for a few moments I can honestly say that I avoid the sticks.
I practice with them at home before a trip but, I'll happily carry that extra weight from the Bipod and crawl in closer, find a tree, anything.

When we ranged my Bushbuck Ram, first at 500 yards and then moved closer to 300 yards and then the PH (concerned about the Ram disappearing forever into the thickets) asks if you "can shoot from here?".
I said "lets get closer." There was no way in creation I was shooting from the sticks at that distance.
We ended up at a ranged 160 yards on the sticks using a sitting position. The last clearing available before the ground plunged off into the thickets. Would closer have been better, of course.
I had all the time in the world, as far as I was concerned.
Compensated for the recoil lifting the sticks coming back. Thankfully, one shot and done properly.

At some point you will have to say NO to a shot. That is the hardest part.
Light, distance, invested time, money, sweat and tears into getting into this position. Add no time left, once in a life time, "shoot, shoot, shoooot", etc. All of it creates pressure and you may be tempted to "pop a shot off."

It's easy to say don't do it, while sitting here at a computer. Much harder to stick to in the field.

Most PH's will bust a gut to get you closer.

 

[JimP]

On my safari most of my shots after the stalk were over 200 yards, there just wasn't any cover to get closer. All these shots were taking in the sitting position using a tripod shooting stick as the rest. All the shots were good shots except for one of them and that was on a gemsbok which I hit too far back. By the time that we caught up with him the only shot was about 170 yards and we were in brush that came up to about my waist so sitting or kneeling down was out of the question, so I had to take a shot while standing off of the sticks. It took me 3 shots before I hit him the second time. The first two were high and I finally just told myself to settle down and concentrate on what I was doing.

The thing is you just never know what situation you are going to be placed in. I was not proud of my shooting on that animal and all I could think that cause it was either the excitement or my heart beating 200 times a minute but once I settled down I made the shot that I needed to do to finish off a wounded animal that I doubt we could of gotten much closer to without the risk of him bolting and a long blood trail.

Now before the hunt I had practiced off of shooting sticks out to 300 yards and while my groups were nothing to brag about they were sufficient to of killed a animal at that range but the stars just didn't align for a few shots on 1 animal. What I would suggest for you to do is to shoot off of some sticks at a smaller target at 100 yards and become proficient at hitting that smaller target at 100 yards. You just never know when you might need to make that shot.

On targets if all you are shooting at is a bulls eye go down to your local shooting store and see if they have any squirrel or gopher targets that you can practice on by setting them up at 100 yards.

 

[thi9elsp]

I'm 100% with Bruce and UKHunter. Shoot distance you feel comfortable shooting regardless of trophy or cull/meat. I've taken animals over 300 yds (not in Africa). In those instances I was either sitting with a bipod or prone.

 

[UKHunter]

Interesting values question.

Where do we draw the line and why?

I practice out to ridiculous ranges off of my bipod at targets. 750+ yards.
There are plenty of better distance shooters in the world than me. I merely want to be able to shoot effectively to my limits. Like Bruce, I want to be prepared.

After thinking about the sticks for a few moments I can honestly say that I avoid the sticks.
I practice with them at home before a trip but, I'll happily carry that extra weight from the Bipod and crawl in closer, find a tree, anything.

When we ranged my Bushbuck Ram, first at 500 yards and then moved closer to 300 yards and then the PH (concerned about the Ram disappearing forever into the thickets) asks if you "can shoot from here?".
I said "lets get closer." There was no way in creation I was shooting from the sticks at that distance.
We ended up at a ranged 160 yards on the sticks using a sitting position. The last clearing available before the ground plunged off into the thickets. Would closer have been better, of course.
I had all the time in the world, as far as I was concerned.
Compensated for the recoil lifting the sticks coming back. Thankfully, one shot and done properly.

At some point you will have to say NO to a shot. That is the hardest part.
Light, distance, invested time, money, sweat and tears into getting into this position. Add no time left, once in a life time, "shoot, shoot, shoooot", etc. All of it creates pressure and you may be tempted to "pop a shot off."

It's easy to say don't do it, while sitting here at a computer. Much harder to stick to in the field.

Most PH's will bust a gut to get you closer.

I appreciate your post and experience you have shared. I am sure we all have, including myself, had animals at a distance where we were not competent at shooting at and thought about 'seeing what happens'.

I personally believe that the line should always be drawn at the ability of the shooter to make a competent shot and ensure an ethical kill. I know we all have moments where something happens and a shot goes wrong, I have had a few instances of this, I can still remember them all clearly and use them to learn from for the future. However, we should not play with boundaries and do our best to minimise risk.

Everyone will have their own views on what is acceptable and what shot they are comfortable at taking. It is hard to judge that without being there. I personally do a lot of shooting standing off sticks, here in the UK they are mainstream and every stalker has them. As a result I am competent at taking a shot to 200 yards, after that I prefer to get closer. 90% of my shots are under 100 yards, but I practise to 200.

I can recall an instance this year with a big Fallow buck. He was 300 yards away and I really wanted to get him, I put my rifle on the sticks and got the cross hairs on him. It was hard to hold an accurate shot on him but I knew this might be my only chance. It took a lot of resistance to not pull the trigger. I managed to get into 150 yards of him and make a clean shot. Looking back I was thankful I chose to resist the shot and get closer, even though I knew he could of given me the slip. Increasing the chance of wounding the animal was my cut off.

I guess my point is that we will all have shots and positions and distances we are better at and those we are not. It is hard to judge that without being there but I hope that we know our limits and stick to them.

 

[Red Leg]

I think we would all agree that keeping things within ones' personal comfort zone is critical. However, isn't a limit of 100 meters sort of defeating the purpose of using a rifle and telescopic sight? It is also an unrealistic and unnecessary burden to put upon yourself and your PH. Most of us have limited practice range space. However, a way to "extend" that range is to shoot at smaller targets from the same 100 meter line. Truthfully, on most African game, a shot into a paper plate at 100 yards is good enough. Consistently do the same thing with a salad plate at 100 and you are now hitting that original paper plate at 200. I have taken game to 250 yards from shooting sticks (three weeks ago it was a West Texas Aoudad at around 225). I practice off of them a lot and 90 % of that practice has to be from the 100 meter line. I actually now find the sticks a bit steadier than sitting in spite of the "floating" right elbow. My only point being, there are ways to extend one's comfort zone while doing that work at a 100 meter range.

One other point - and this is the old soldier in me speaking. Dry firing is almost as good as actual range work. If you don't already do so, practice calling the shot. With time you will know within an inch where a bullet struck before looking through the spotting scope. When you can do that, then calling the shot dry firing is a great way to develop trigger control from the sticks. And depending upon your neighborhood (and neighbors) a great way to practice on targets way out there a bit - or pick teeny tiny targets across the basement. You won't hurt a bolt action dry firing, but don't do it with a double.

 

[UKHunter]

Practice is definitely key. Prepare shooting from all positions and methods. That said, you can't replicate your heart beating out your chest, buck fever and having just hiked 10 km, but I still believe that practising and getting the basics sorted will pay dividends.

 

[thriller]

I killed my Kudu at a touch under 400 yards, it was a very long shot for me, but I was shooting a 338 and I knew what the ballistics were and shot prone off the side of a mountain. ust start practicing farther out and you will get a feel for shots like this. While practicing i like to shoot at milk jugs with water and red food dye it lets you know when you hit. Paper works well, but its hard to see the holes without a spotting scope.

 

[wesheltonj]

For me its the guns that I am used to shooting. For my 243 I have no problem out to 300 yards and will shoot father then that on paper, same with my 308. With my 270 will shoot out to 200 yards on game anything beyond that is on paper. On my 375 that I received for Christmas and have not shot yet, not sure yet about ranges, but I would not want to go much further then 100 yards just looking at the ballistics of the round.

 

[UKHunter]

I killed my Kudu at a touch under 400 yards, it was a very long shot for me, but I was shooting a 338 and I knew what the ballistics were and shot prone off the side of a mountain. ust start practicing farther out and you will get a feel for shots like this. While practicing i like to shoot at milk jugs with water and red food dye it lets you know when you hit. Paper works well, but its hard to see the holes without a spotting scope.

You took a shot at a distance you understood the requirements of and from a position you were comfortable with and practised at, and made a clean kill. You can't ask for more than that

 

[Divernhunter]

All of my shots were over 100 yards. Using 2 sets of sticks gave me a solid rest. One set under the rifle and the other under my elbow. The PH would place the ones at my elbow. Shots were 120 to 480 yards. No wounding of animals and no misses. Asked PH why so long when he said 200 before and he said we were shooting so well that he wanted to give me a challenge. We had a great time and got great animals....a large number of SCI book animals

The other father/daughter in camp could not hit anything well so they got him in under 100 yards and a couple of times under 40 yards. He still was able to miss. His was a cull hunt.

It depends on the lay of the land and the shooter with a good PH, I believe. I am booked to go back with the same people in 2017.

 

[Code4]

You have to be ready for when the chance arises. I took my Kudu at 260 metres (with a 9.3x62 and 286's ffs). A nicely shaped representative 51" male.
We had hunted for a few days and due to the area I realised shots were going to be long and I had passed up on one shot already due to range. My expectations had adapted. He pop'd out and it was off the truck, into the bush and there he was at the end of a rare fire lane. Off the sticks was no problem and the PH had seen me shoot and was confident in me. (Thank you Chris Troskie).
Was I completely confident of the shot ? No. But I had spent thousands of hard earned $'s getting there for ten days of hunting. I wasn't going to be able to come back next week or next season for another go. Dr Spock could not have concentrated better when I fired that one shot.

 

[Red Leg]

For me its the guns that I am used to shooting. For my 243 I have no problem out to 300 yards and will shoot father then that on paper, same with my 308. With my 270 will shoot out to 200 yards on game anything beyond that is on paper. On my 375 that I received for Christmas and have not shot yet, not sure yet about ranges, but I would not want to go much further then 100 yards just looking at the ballistics of the round.

Relook that chart! The .375 tends to be an accurate round from most rifles so that you can take full advantage of its range and incredible BC. For instance, your .308 with a 165gr bullet firing +2.5 inches at 100 meters will be -9 inches at 300. The big 300 gr bullet from the .375 with the same +2.5 inch group will be -10.5 inches at the same 300 meters. That is minute of field mouse difference. Even the "fast" .243 with a 100 gr bullet and the same +2.5 inch sight-in will be -8 inches at 300 yards. ) Only 2.5" flatter than the 300gr .375. It is one of the things which makes the .375 the most versatile caliber in Africa. Stick a buff at forty feet or clobber a kudu on the next ridgeline, and do it all with the same 300gr bullet.

 

[thriller]

"Minute Of field mouse" i like it

 

[BWH]

Ultimately do only what you & PH are comfortable with. Keep in mind, that the more proficient you are further out the success/body count/quality would go up. Most of my shots were well over 100, actually several well over 200. You just can't count on that many, good animals being that close or stupid.