Judson, I feel exactly like you do on this subject. Where is the " yardage" line drawn between hunting and shooting ? What does " Hunter" mean ? On the other hand whether one likes it or not it is perfectly legal to shoot animals at extended ranges. I just hope that if a person is willing to take real long shots that they have the training and ethics to back it up...I am sure some do but I think they really are in the minority. I personally like to be up close and personal with an animal I am about to kill if at all possible if not then it will be at a range where I can expect little to go wrong with the shot. If I am not mistaken there is a ban on .50 bmg rifles for hunting in Idaho because they(Fish and Game) were finding that some hunters were shooting Elk at ungodly distances and not bothering to properly recover animals unless the dead animal was visible from where they shot...