OK RR I have been around a average hunters, I like to call the typical 30-06 crowd those who think the old '06 is "the gun" no disrespect, but if these guys knew that much about ballistics they would see its not all that . My dad who is responsible for my love of hunting and shooting has always stressed bullet placement, being able to know what your bullet is doing at range is a huge asset to getting the job done at distance. As for my dads gun for years he shot a .243 win ( a weatherby) and I saw and helped drag alot of deer at 375- 501yds deer he shot with an 87gr bullet , not to many '06 guys would even take that shot, and ask the average hunter what his bullet is doing at 300yrds and he doesnt know . My dad now has addopted one of my rifles a 6.5-06 a sweeet shooter and where he hunts he has the oppertunity to shoot out to 600yrds usually sees deer a lot closer. Now my fav hunting rig is my ruger 25-06 with a 100gr nosler Ballistic tip at about 3500fps at the muzzle. A pretty flat shooter , now just because I saw a guy on the internet kill a critter at 781 yrds or I saw my dad do deer at 500 yrds I myself even though I have the equipment to get the job done and have shot papaper at 300 yrds, and I know what my bullet is doing at that distance I dont feel I am 100% confident in my ability to make a clean kill.So kudos to you ,my hats off to you . Now if I had a spot where I could practice those looong shots I would love to build that confidence .