A62Rambler

Mr. John B 45,
I do apologize. I read a post and see now that it was JJT that made those statements. I hope you will forgive me for attributing that claim to you. Again my apologies for not paying closer attention to who made such .... claims.

muskrat89

rather_be : you took the words right out of my head. We see all kinds of distances being tossed around here, so who decides what' s ethical? 499, but not 500? 500, but not 525? I agree, I guess - the ethical shot is from where you can consistently put shots into an 8 inch (Or whatever) kill zone, under hunting conditions. This argument, to me, is a lot like the " bows are bad" , " modern blackpowder is bad" , " bait is bad" , " hounds are bad" , arguments, that pop up now and then. Personally - I (so far) only hunt things that I can eat - thats my personal ethic - doesn' t mean I begrudge other forms of hunting, as long as they are legal....

MinnFinn

Prairie Boy - Now you' ve gone from a story about hunting big game at over a mile away to comparing it with highly trained snipers who use .50 very specialized and accurate sniper rifles in a war... I' m sure you could hit a prairie dog with a 155 howitzer, too, but what' s the point? Let' s get real here.

I' ll say it again. Anyone who shoots at big game at the extreme ranges (800 - 2000 yds) some have been talking about here with rifles designed for big game (not large caliber sniper rifles) are irresponsible. Why is that so difficult to understand. Just because someone, some time might be able to pull a stunt off, doesn' t mean it' s something they should do or encourage others to try!

Prairie Boy

i never said that they use rifles that you can by at walmart and are designed for big game. they use custom very heavy bench rifles with very big wildcat cartrides based on the LM, 378 weatherby and 416 rigby case. most necked to 338 and improved. these are special guns, cartridges and people that shoot them. there is nothing irresponsible about a person that does this when he has the skill to do so. it' s irresponsible for anyone that doesn' t have the gear and skill to do so. no one is encouraging anyone here to go and try to shoot a moose at 1500 yards with a 30-06 he bought at walmart. why should it be irresponsible to show a person that can make a shot like this on a hunting show? that' s like saying we should stop watching nascar cause people will go out and try to go 200mph with their cavalier. realize your limitations and the limitations of your gear. just because you can' t do this (or average people) doesn' t mean others can' t and just because it' s irresponsible for you to attemp this (or average people) doesn' t mean it is for skilled people with the right gear.

DARTanian

well then.......... where IS THE SPORT in shooting an animal at 800-2000 yards?????????? at which point does the buck fever kick in?????????? at which point do you make eye contact with your game??? when the animal is almost bloating when you get to it or if you even find it?????? i myself don' t see the SPORT in such a long shot. more power to you if you can make that kinda shot but i still ask the question " WHY COULDN' T YOU GET ANY CLOSER" ???????? has hunting gotten so bad and that the animals have FIGURED out the hunting TACTICS of the average hunter that you have to take an EXTRA LONG SHOT to get your game. do you have a little beeper in your bullet that lets you find your game after you' ve either wounded it or dropped it?????? well.......... this is my 2 cents and maybe we should all try some long shots and hope that we don' t shoot over roads,over peoples heads or something else that OOPSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS i didn' t or couldn' t see at the time i shot. WE ARE RESPONCIBLE FOR THE BULLET AFTER IT LEAVES THE BARREL.

i think that the only thing you should shoot long distance is a target and not something you plan on EATING.

just my 2 cents [email protected]

DARTanian

well i finally got drawn for this once in a life-time hunt. finally after 20 years of putting in. i' ve been practicing shooting at 1000 yds. BLAM,,,,,oopsssssss i shot off one of it' s horns. BLAM well heck there goes the other horn..... well....i don' t think i hit it so lets try for another............. it was close to a mile off and no-one will know that it was me.

just my 2 cents [email protected]

muskrat89

DART - I see what you' re saying, but to carry your logic farther - a bow hunter could make the same argument to you.. Why shoot it 200 yards away? Can' t you get any closer? If you can' t get it in under 60 yards, it' s not sport!!!

DARTanian

well i also shoot a bow and i still don' t see the point in shooting at that distance unless it' s at a terrorist or target

RICHIE3

First off, sorry that I have been away from this thread for awhile.

Next off,

Rem,

We " bash" or give our opinions, yea or nay, when asked to do so!

If the man who asked the question isn' t big enough to take on critisism when an opinion is asked, then one should keep to themselves.

As far as determining what range is the " deciding point" or line between " ethical" and " not ethical" , you know and I know that there is no such number.

But even you will have to agree that the magnitude of a slight miscalculation is greatly increased when shots are fired at longer ranges. It is all geometry and angles my friend.

Point A shoots at point B from 100 yards off and misses 3 inches to the left of the center vital point, due to a gust of wind, jerk of the trigger, ect. But, the end result is still a shot in the vitals.

Same scenario, but at 800 to 1000 yards out. Same mistake at the point of fire, but tremendously different and possibly disasterous results, to a live animal. Best case scenario for this is to miss completely. But, it has already been said by the poster of the thread that this is not always the case.

So, what is the harm in narrowing the chances of said mistakes by tunning down the " range" knob a bit?? Is it that you feel that you have to impress someone?? Are you lacking in your other skill so much that you can' t get close enough for a more high percentage shot?? I don' t think so. What will happen, and how are you going to feel when you miss terribly?? I bet it is a great feeling!!!(sarcasism) Yes, eveyone has missed, but why not narrow the chances of a bad shot instead of increasing them??

If I were to make a bad shot on an animal, I would go back and check myself to find out what the he!! went wrong. Possibly a stick in the shot tragectory, flinch at the critical moment, and yes, wind gust. Now, the last thing I need, to add to the list of factors, is a ridiculous range shot, where wind, unseen obstacles, unseen thermals, unforeseen movement by the animal, ect. are involved.

I am going to narrow the chances as much as possible to ensure that this doesn' t happen again.

You say that this sport needs all the help it can get, huh?

Then why give ammo to the " anti' s" by screwing around with this type of shooting??

If you want to shoot at something at 1000 yards, shoot a tin can.


Once again,

As far as the argument about " military training" and " I was trained in the whatever to shoot at 1000 yard targets" , this is a crock to apply that to 1000 yard shot on an animal. Everyone expects and is thankful for your military training to shoot back at someone, that is shooting at you!!!

This type of long range shooting, has no place in the hunting world unless your life is on the line.............

DARTanian

HERE HERE richie3 you just hit the nail right on the head.