RITCHIE3,

I owe you an apology. In rereading my post I can see how you took offense at what I said and I meant none, I hope you will believe me when I say I am sorry for the way my statements came across. In no way do I consider you or anyone else on this site an idiot. (Well maybe I am once in a while).

We are victims of our circumstances in this situation. I assumed you understood what Ringman was talking about when he said squirrels. In the west there are GROUND squirrels. This is a completely different creature from a tree squirrel. Think of a gopher and you will be right on the mark. I assumed we were all talking about the same thing so I did not understand your remark concerning shooting in the air. My mistake and I again apologize for it.

I think a lot of the disagreement is that fact we all are looking at this through our own experiences. If you have never seen long range shooting (and I don’t know that you haven’t) it would be hard to know what is possible. We also hunt under different conditions. I don’t know if you have spent much time above timberline but in my experience the shots come at longer range than some people understand.

I was also not clear when I asked if you had any long-range experience. I meant at inanimate targets. I firmly believe a hunter should never attempt any shot in the field he has not proven capable of at the range. This is how I determine my personal limits, on targets, long before I head into the field. What I was asking was how have you determined you personal limits. What is the longest distance you have personally shot at and what were the results. Have you pushed your own abilities until you can see by the results, on target, that you have reached the max distance that you personally should shoot under those conditions?

I don’t know if you caught my post about the fact that when we are trying to get video of a hunt if the animal is gut shot or some other poor shot we have lost that opportunity. I care as much as anyone about not causing unnecessary suffering but I am trying to use this as an example as to why we cannot afford to screw around shooting at anything just to see if we can hit it.

I do not believe I am a great shot. I have some technical knowledge about shooting. I am a competent field shot. I do know and have shot with a lot of guys who are truly great marksmen, and I know my present limitations. I am right now working on becoming a better shot. What we are going to show is obtainable to anyone who will put some time into the homework. I am absolutely convinced that you have the inherent ability to reliably hit big game at what is considered long range. You may choose never to learn the knowledge required (you may already have that knowledge) and you may never choose to use it in the field. Personal choice. But to say it is unobtainable is not true.

When you say I should have passed the 580 yds shot on the elk we will have to agree to disagree. I had proven in the past that I could reliably hit a target the size of that elk’s vital zone at twice the distance I was then shooting. I killed him with one shot. I would do the same again today in the same circumstances.

Thank again for the time you have given this.

I watched over 200 tank headed to Baghdad today. I am glad my name is not Saddam.
Kick a** boys

John