Buckshot

Slamfire, those guys have the setup dont they? Laser range finders, 100mm binos, spotting scopes, hot coffee and sandwichs. Sometimes when Im freezing my butt off in Potter I think these guys may have the right idea.

rick_reno

Up where I hunt elk 300-400 yd shots are pretty common. They're uphill and I haven't found a way to get closer to them. Someone mentioned a 25-06 for this - this is nuts.

bigbulls

SO, it's ethical to shoot 507 yards at a target that has a vitals area the size of a paper plate but unethical to shoot past 300 yards at an animal with vitals the size of a truck tire.

Sorry but I fail to see any logic in this thread or any others I have read of yours.

Looking at the bold type in your quote I gather that you think it is perfectly acceptable for you to take a 500+ yard shot on animals, which are a lot smaller and harder to accurately hit lethaly, but the rest of us should stick to 300 or less.


Well DUH-HUH!
I think I get dumber every time I read a manboy post.


I'll just repost a line from Hunter_59 if he doesn't mind.
Your ethics don't hold water! Kind of like a cracked toilet! It lets the water out but still holds the sh*t!

manboy

wow i am glad to see everyone is reading now!

oh, the antelope thing i WAS 14 AND IT WAS MY FIRST EVER BIG GAME HUNT! now i have got a little smarter, i just have learned a bit more than most on this site for my age!

lets keep it up !!!!

bigbulls

So how old are you now?






Lets look at a couple of different cartridges and animals when considering how far one should shoot at an animal.

Take an antelope and an elk since they have already been talked about here. A mature antelope has about an 8 inch (50 square inches) vital area. A mature elk has about a 24 inch (490 square inches) vital area. S0, a mature elk has about 9 times as large a vital area as an antelope does. So considering this factor alone if you can accurately hit the vitals on an antelope at 300 yards then you should be able to hit an elks vitals at 2,700 yards.

Of course the fastest bullet from the biggest magnum does not travel 9 times as fast as the slowest bullet from the smallest cartridge so other things come into play.

AS far as centerfire rifles are concerned if one uses the correct cartridge for the intended game the external ballistics like energy levels, bullet drop and wind drift. differences will be pretty neglegable. IE..... a 243 caliber for antelope and a 300 mag for elk. But the size of the vital area will play a roll here. If aiming for the center of an 8 inch vital area you have a 4" margin of error around the center. If aiming for a 24 inch vital area you have 12 inches of margin around the center. That's 3 times the margin of error an elk has over an antelolpe. A 180 grain 300WSM accubond will drift 12 inches at 450 yards in a 10mph cross wind and will drop 12 inches at about 390 yards. A 95 grain .243 ballistic tip will drift 4 inches at only 225 yards in a 10mph cross wind and drop 4 inches at only 320 yards.

Then you have the speed at which the target animal can remove it's vitals from the path of the bullet before it gets there. I have no way of calculating it but I can assure you that an antelope can move 4 inches many times faster than an elk can move 12.5 inches.

So when opne actually sits down to calculate factors like this one quickly realizes that it is actually more ethical to take a 300+ yard shot on an elk than it is to take a -300 yard shot on an antelope. You certainly have a much bigger "fudge factor" than you do when the size of the animal startsdecreasing.


Did anyone here learn anything??????????????????????????

skeeter 7MM

Yet again another wizard posting manboy! True to form soap boxy & demeaning, with little attention paid to the personal aspects of the sport. I am not sure how I forgot to add the ever air of arrogance and contradiction prior..DUH!

You have got it all mb…cudo’s.

cherokee_outfitters

I'm sure glad I grew up in a family that didn't set limitations on themselves. What one man can do another can do. I've shot enough to know 600-700 yd shots are and can be a real mind boggling shots and for the most part not ethical on big game. But if a person is knowledgeable and well practiced 500yd shots are well in ones capability with a decent rest.

I say when you can hit a 24inch metal disk off hand at 550yd 2 to 3 times out of 3 shots without a rest. Then having a rest makes it a for sure deal everytime. Discussing what you can and can't do is better left to the boys who haven't been there.

huntnmuleys

you can hit a 24 inch metal disk OFFHAND 2 out of 3 at 500 yards? you either have one hellufa good scope, or your mathew quigley

brad

Prarie_Boy1

I beleive that a well placed shot is often the deciding factor in a situation like this no matter what the calliber, but that goes with out saying that the person behind the gun should realize the limitations of that particular calliber and not try to push the envelope. By this you are showing respect for the animal by doing everything in your power to ensure a clean kill. I do however beleive that with some of the larger calibers such as the ultra mags 500 yard shots are not unethical so long as the individual behind the gun knows how it preforms at those ranges.

Slamfire

Buckshot, C'mon on down to York, we'll sit in my brother's barn loft. A kerosene heater, an electric coffee pot, and guarenteed deer trails within bow shootin' distance, what more could a fella want. [8D]