Originally Posted by
hardcastonly
the vast majority were very VERY bad at estimating distances correctly past about 150 yards...some estimates that were over 70% wrong were not uncommon
I'm not surprised. I was on the 300 yard berm with another guy once who insisted we were on 500, and the 200 yard berm was halfway, so 250 yards from us. Let it suffice to say that he was using just a bit too much elevation?
Estimating range is truly a unique skill that must be practiced. LRFs make practice easier, as you have something to check your guess from, but even LRFs can send an incorrect reading under the right conditions. A mil-dot reticle will compensate for that, but most of us probably aren't fast enough with the math to use it to estimate range on a target about to bolt. Your own pace count is handy to know as well.
Me? I'm pretty good to 300 but just haven't experienced a need to shoot over 175, and that was on a pronghorn in open country. My equipment is usually much better on paper than I am. I've stalked close enough to deer and pronghorn to take them with an open-sighted handgun. We're all different though. Some can shoot long, some can't. Some need to shoot long, some don't. If you can't stalk close, better learn to shoot well long. If you can't shoot long, then you'd better learn to stalk.