James Swan on long distance hunting shots
- Thread starter Big Fin
- Start date
Marshian
Well-known member
Agree with above. If he can or can't hit the the target is Irrelevant (although I'm still wearing my waders). Huge difference between punching paper and animals. Plus the stakes are higher hunting. This
is why I'm against those uber long range shots (I'll say anything over 600) for arguments sake. I hate those d bags on Best of the West. Stopped watching that trash long ago.
is why I'm against those uber long range shots (I'll say anything over 600) for arguments sake. I hate those d bags on Best of the West. Stopped watching that trash long ago.
Didn't mean to get you guys bent. Sorry if i came across the wrong way. Wasn't bragging. Shooting paper not hunting.Didn't say every shot or that it's easy . Alot of things come in to play also. Alot of time on the range. Hunting shots are a lot shorter. So many things become a facter. wind ,snow, rain, cold hands. Could go on an on.
RobG
Well-known member
A few years ago I slid on my butt 70 yards to get a sitting position 80 yard shot at an elk so I'm not a long-shot type of guy. One big reason is that if the animal runs into cover I can't tell if it was wounded or not. Over a few hundred yards it is extremely hard to find the spot it was standing. How do you guys manage that?
jryoung
Well-known member
My brother and I are working on something to help pinpoint the area in which the animal was standing upon impact. For right now, I try and mark that area visually before the shot and have a couple points of reference then double check after the shot.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Hope you stick around and post some gear and target pics. Seriously.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Certainly wasn't implying you were...never mind.
Well - I'd say you're set up up well for it. Nice combo. Now let me guess - you're using H4831 or Retumbo and pushing 140 gr VLD's ??
sweetnectar
New member
It seems to me that long range shooting is similar to going traditional archery equipment. Both increase the challenge and both can increase the risk of wounding animals. Practice practice practice and concur the challenge...that is a big part of hunting.
thecrittergitter
Well-known member
Maybe i missed something, I thought I read that his comfort zone for off hand shooting was under 200 yards............much different.
Anyway, nothing I read seemed out of the ordinary. I have no problems shooting milk jugs all day long from 800-1000 yards with the right conditions but I'd feel pretty lucky if I could hit the same milk jug very many times offhand at 200 yds.
And there are days where I would feel perfectly comfortable taking a 600 yard shot on an animal, and there are days I wouldn't feel comfortable at all taking one at 300......
It seems as though every time someone brings up being able to shoot and have fun blasting targets at long distances, guys automatically jump in and translate it to hunting and shooting particular game....
Can be the same with the bow.....I shoot alot at targets and gophers over 60 yards. But that just makes me feel more comfortable with a 20-40 shot at an elk when the time comes....
I very much agree.
Topgun 30-06
Active member
critter---I reread his posts and you are correct on the off hand comment! He really was back and forth with comments on shooting and then hunting distances and after rereading the comment I think I'm on the same page now. I don't believe there are any definitions as to what is "long range" hunting and what most would consider unethical. One guy in that article in the link mentioned 900 yards. I don't know how he came up with that, but it's certainly much further than I would guess most people would say is ethical on an animal. When a bullet takes over 1/2 second from the squeeze of the trigger to POI it would mean that animal could easily be wounded if it takes a step in that timeframe and since none of us are clairvoyants to know if that's going to happen I'd say it's not ethical. When an animal is at those kind of distances and it's not possible to lessen the distance for as close as 100% sure thing for a humane kill my suggestion would be that the animal won that round and I'll try again another day. When an animal is shot at distance like we're talking about it really has no chance in what most would call a fair chase hunt. I've got a number of rifles of various calibers in my safes that will probably shoot out with amazing accuracy at 600+ yards, but I've never shot at an animal over 300+ yards because my eyes are so bad it would not be ethical for me. Give you one of them with your younger eyes and expertise and I'm sure you could easily double that distance on a calm day.
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shoots-straight
Well-known member
OH my God! Are you serious? That's a big S T R E T C H trying to tie those together. Totally polar opposites.
One philosophy of hunting with traditional archery forces you to be a better hunter, woodsman. The other all you have to do is utilize modern technology, understand how it works, and shoot. There's some expensive equipment to buy, but even that will get cheaper in time.
Not very many people can master the mental, or physical aspects of traditional archery.
If the dude from "Best of the West" can master long range shooting, then I say anyone can.
One activity will leed to more game being harvested, because of people being more efficient at shooting. The other activity to spend more time hunting and less being successful.
We are loosing our connection with the animals we hunt. Equipment is not the answer.
MTGunner
Well-known member
Long range hunting...
This type of hunting/shooting seems to be all the rage these days. Yet, I continue to see some good hunting, real hunting, as yet. What has happened to stalking skills, the ability to traverse difficult terrain to stalk close enough to take game humainly. Meaning, a clean kill within reasonable range. At nearly 66 yrs. old I continue to enjoy the efforts to get close. Look 'em in the eye, getting close enuf to do so. I have spent countless evenings pulling out prickly pear quills out of my knees, hands, forearms and etc, well worth each effort. Yes, I have taken many varmints, not big game, at long range. Hell, spend enuf money on firearms, spend enuf time at the reloading bench, spend enuf time at the shooting bench and most will be able to shoot to 400 yards with some degree of confidence. But, where does the actual hunting/stalking skill come to fruition? I suppose this paints me as an old hunter who indeed is proud of being able to stalk close with some degree of skill. As I age my body complains more to do so. I truly enjoy the hunt, I look forward to the experience of doing so. I will spend my later years reminising of getting close, dispatching humainly, cleanly and sportsman like. Just my two cents.
This type of hunting/shooting seems to be all the rage these days. Yet, I continue to see some good hunting, real hunting, as yet. What has happened to stalking skills, the ability to traverse difficult terrain to stalk close enough to take game humainly. Meaning, a clean kill within reasonable range. At nearly 66 yrs. old I continue to enjoy the efforts to get close. Look 'em in the eye, getting close enuf to do so. I have spent countless evenings pulling out prickly pear quills out of my knees, hands, forearms and etc, well worth each effort. Yes, I have taken many varmints, not big game, at long range. Hell, spend enuf money on firearms, spend enuf time at the reloading bench, spend enuf time at the shooting bench and most will be able to shoot to 400 yards with some degree of confidence. But, where does the actual hunting/stalking skill come to fruition? I suppose this paints me as an old hunter who indeed is proud of being able to stalk close with some degree of skill. As I age my body complains more to do so. I truly enjoy the hunt, I look forward to the experience of doing so. I will spend my later years reminising of getting close, dispatching humainly, cleanly and sportsman like. Just my two cents.
thecrittergitter
Well-known member
I totally agree that things can happen badly at long range when hunting. Which is why I was simply pointing out that whit seemed to be talking target stuff and not hunting....I may have missed a post if he was.
"ethics" in hunting seems to be focused more on long range shooting than anything else these days. Hell, I've seen guys whiz banging away and stuff at close range that are on the run or have other animals in front or behind them, etc......To me that is unethical but to the next guy who may feel he is some marksman at a running shot, it may not be so unethical.
Boils down to the fact that each person has their own limits. If you can go to sleep at night not feeling guilty about a decision you made, i'd say your within your limits. Course I guess there are some that have no concience at all
elk_hunter
Active member
That's exactly the point critter. Everyone has their own shooting limits - it's subjective
Hey critter, I've shot 2 and 3/8 groups at 857 yards and I didn't have anyone build my gun. Factory Remmy, with a trigger job and my handloads. I'm not BS-ing. I don't have a picture, nextr time I will. The guy seemed to be exagerating to me. If he's not BS-ing, I apologize. mtmuley
Like bow hunting, everyone has different capabilities. But one capability is estimating your own boundary of what YOU can do. An example is thinking the wind is too strong for that long shot and declining to shoot. The other factor is practice and taking time to really own a gun that can shoot, and take time to develop a truly accurate load for it. If a guy sights in his out of the box Remington at 100 yards with some factory ammo, and then thinks "hey, i have that Leupold CDS so now i can shoot to 600 yards" he may be surprised at the spray pattern.
That being said... I just finished loading up 20 rounds for my first phase of a ladder test for a new bullet powder combo I am going to try.
Get out there and shoot, one of the best and most fun thing I ever bought was a hardened target gong. They make shooting fun, and it sure is easy to see the hits at longer range because the paint chips off about a 1" circle
That being said... I just finished loading up 20 rounds for my first phase of a ladder test for a new bullet powder combo I am going to try.
Get out there and shoot, one of the best and most fun thing I ever bought was a hardened target gong. They make shooting fun, and it sure is easy to see the hits at longer range because the paint chips off about a 1" circle
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I was just researching some target gong plans. Milk jugs are great and show a hit well, but steel is easier to set up. I'm gonna try to build the frame so it disassembles for easy transport. No matter how anyone feels about LR shots on game, getting out there and actually shooting LR will really help at shorter ranges. There's no better way to get to know your rifle than shooting the crap out of it. mtmuley
