John shoots competitively with bench rifles in 1,000-yard shoots, has taken deer from up to 950 yards and calls long-range hunting a science.
Among the $10,000 in equipment he lugs around for the sport are five rifles which he uses for different conditions. The rifles are customized with calibers that range from 6 mm to 338////378.
The guns weigh up to 72 pounds, which is partly why they are fired from tripods or on gun benches. Another reason for the support is the extreme accuracy needed when firing at such distances.
At this distance, breathing too hard or squeezing the trigger off-center can throw the shot way off.
John, who hunts with one of a half-dozen or so long-range hunt outfits in Mifflin County, spends weeks experimenting with different loads in his bullets to find the combination of powder, primer and shell casings that best fits each rifle.
Man, most of you are making it sound like these are some beer swilling slob hunters who do nothing but make every hunter look bad.[&:]
If they were hunting elk , mule deer , or antelope , instead of whitetails in this manner would they still have been insulted as bad by most of you folks?
I get a kick out of all the times I see people post statements like "all hunters need to stick together" , and then I read posts like this.[:@]
Just because it's your way doesn't mean it's the only way!
Like Timbercruiser says, it's hard to tell how many deer are maimed or killed by these guys. Another concern I have is how do the shooters know for sure that there are no other people on the hillside they're firing into? With that type of shooting going on, I wouldn't be found anywhere within 20 miles of that place
Then you wouldn't be hunting any public land that I've ever been to! The guy fired 10 shots at the same deer in a 30 minute time span. I've counted more than ten shots in a 30 second time span on public land.