This thread is a good thread and should be left but I see a big division and the same things are really being said over and over.

The thing I don' t understand is where the " majic" number comes from that says it is ethical to make a shot at ?99 yds but at ?00 it is no longer ethical. Who determines that? Is it gun manufacturers? How about Ammo makers? Is it determined by some governerning body? Hunters in the field?

Some guy pointed out that he missed a doe at 700 yds then took her with the next shot. Someone else replied that just proved his point that it is unethical at that distance. Really? Well I embarassingly enough missed a doe at 80 yds this year, we both stood there for a minute wondering what had just happened and I took her with the second shot. Is 80 yds out of my range? I can tell you all that I took 3 other animals this year and connected on all of them at longer ranges. I' ve never missed at that range before. Still don' t know where it went.

I' m sorry but based on that logic that if you miss its an unethical range then none of us would be hunters anymore because no one is 100% at any range. I' d put money on the fact that 99% of us have wounded or missed a shot we were all capable of taking at some point in our hunting careers.

My personal limit is about 500 yds. Why? Because at that point I no longer consider myself a consistent shot. That doesn' t mean some of you should be shooting past 250 yds with your ability or others need to limit to 500 yds? Could I get better equipment or just practice more and extend that range? You betcha!Range is just that, range nothing more. Its like different shooting positions, some guys need rests to shoot accurately and I know a guy who can shoot as well as anyone shooting standing freehand. Is he unethical? No as long as he can consistenly make his shot. Does me miss? Yep, but not very often. Do we all miss at some point? Yep, anyone who says they have never missed or gut shot something is a liar or as rare a breed as bigfoot.

As long as there is enough energy present in the bullet to go through bone and the shooter can consistently hit his mark then its fine in my book. The only question I would ask is does the bullet have enough energy past 800yds? That would be my concern. For an elk you would need around the neighborhood of 1700-1800 ftlbs. If under that I wouldn' t take the shot even if I could hit a coke can at that range.