Do you shoot a lot of deer at 500 yards? Boy I love that question. Obvioulsy the answer is NO. But the fact remains that the 30-06 is more than capable of performing this task. The shooter is the one that needs the practice. And I really need to emphasis this fact. If you haven't practiced at these ranges, you have no business shooting at an animal that far away. And there may be a time when you may have no other choice than to take a shot at 400 or 500 yds or let the animal walk. I've hunted for over 45 years and shot a lot of critters. Out of all these animals, 4 were shot between 300 and 350 yds, and one out to almost 450. All of these were one shot kills and all with a standard 270 Win. Almost every other animal was shot under 100 yds.