Why the need for long range hunting?

[deermaster]

Why do people need a deer rifle capable of a 500-600 yard shot? If you read through old posts, you will see people asking for advice on a rifle that can make a 500 yard shot, a "beanfield" rifle. When have yoi ever not been able to get within 300 yards of a deer? I mean, I cant help but think these people have never even seen how small a deer is at 200 yards, much less 400+. When the deer looks like a tiny dot, and the hunter looks like a tiny dot, one can easily close the distance to 300 yards without being busted, as long as one knows a bit about when to move and when not to, and keeps the wind in their favor. I was hunting a field the other day where, from one end to the other, was probably 600 yards. A respectable buck stepped out at about 350 yards, and began calmly feeding in the field. I was shooting a fairly small caliber, and had not precticed at that range, so I didnt take the shot. I am comfortable with 250-300 yards, so, with the wind in my favor, I climbed down from my stand, and began closing the gap. Moving when his head was down, I easily made it to 200 yards, where I climbed into a box blind, and calmed down and was able to decide if I wanted the deer.

Even at 200 yards, the deer looked tiny he was so far away. I could have easily gotten closer. By crouching or belly crawling, He never knew I was there, with the wind in my face. I have NEVER had a situation where I have had a calm deer that I couldnt easily get within 300 yards of. Sure, I have had deer walk by at extreme range, where I didnt have a chance to sneak up on em, but even if i could have made an extreme range shot, I still couldnt have made it cuz the deer was walking or running.

I guess what I am saying is, for open country deer hunting, why does one need to take shots past 300-350 yards?

I have nothing against someone that can kill a mouse at 1,000, and chooses to do so, this is not an ethics debate, and this is not me trying to say noone should take long shot because I cant. PLEASE DONT TURN IT INTO AN ETHICS DEBATE I couldnt care less if someone kills every deer they shoot at at 600 yards. This is simply me asking, Have you ever had a situation where you could not get within 300-350 yards of a deer?

I am talking deer hunting, not sheep or goat hunting where canyons can making stalking impossible. That is a whole other ball game. I am asking for opinions on deer hunting, western or eastern, where you just plain cant get closer than 300 yards.

[oilfieldguy]

I think some folks are just excited by the prospect of owning a rifle that can do business long distance. Mabye in Africa with dangerous game it's more of a consideration, but for whitetail deer probably not. But in America we say "to each his own".
I could also see where someone on a fixed budget who wants to hunt everything from elk to grizzly to whitetail deer and has to pick one rifle for all purposes might want one of those.

[Bigfatts]

If you actually hunt over bean fields or other open expanses of ground, you might make a long shot, even though there is almost always a way to close some of that distance, IF you aren't hunting on the ground. Other than that, some people just lack the skill to stalk an animal, others like to see if they can do it. Around here, 100yds is a long shot. To each their own.

[DiscoRacing]

Well i have the rifle for 3 to 5 hundred yards probably...since I fancy the 30-06 caliber... but my blind is set up in a cleared spot of dense cover brush, where the longest shot is 70 yards and the nearest is 45 yards... not sure what group that puts me in.

[deermaster]

Like I said, If someone get excited by making a clean kill at 500 yards, thats awesome, thats how they enjoy the sport. Im just asking for opinions....Have you, when deer hunting, never been able to close 500 yards to 300 yards? I think 99.9% of the time, it can be done.

[COYOTE JLR]

Like I said, If someone get excited by making a clean kill at 500 yards, thats awesome, thats how they enjoy the sport. Im just asking for opinions....Have you, when deer hunting, never been able to close 500 yards to 300 yards? I think 99.9% of the time, it can be done.

I think it really depends upon where you hunt. Out in my neck of the woods, 300+ opportunities are not uncommon. Personally, I don't take such long shots. I don't have that much faith in my shooting ability and I'd really rather not interested in chasing a wounded deer through the hills. I have a couple friends, who do take these shots in the most unfriendly circumstances with frightening regularity, but I would say that these friends are the exceptions to the rule. Because I know far more hunters who seem to think that they can make those shots, and I've spent too many afternoons helping them drag these deer out.



This is what the area I hunt looks like. Its rolling hills with extremely thick underbrush that makes getting to the deer very difficult. Often, the best bet is to shoot from one hillside to the other since that will provide you with the most open shot, but shooting across a ravine does tend to stretch the shots out a long way.

So, in my hills, getting close to a deer is damn near impossible, unless you just happen to run into one on a logging road. The underbrush is too thick, and the hills are too steep to allow for stalking or keeping track of an animal while trying to get above or below it. Not that it can't be done, but it is a chore and there is a lot of hunting pressure locally so you're lucky if you see a buck all season.

[jglsprings]

Elk, people hunt elk. Trophy elk sometimes come at long range. Same thing for trophy deer.

Just because you or your rifle can shoot 600 yards, doesn't mean you have to take that kind of shot.

I have an elephant rifle, it doesn't mean I hunt elephant in Colorado.

[RockyMtnTactical]

I personally dont like to take a shot that long out.

[300magman]

Sadly hunting is getting so competitive in some places that the man who gets the deer might be the man who can shoot it from the farthest distance. There are 20 plus hunters chasing every buck in the country around here, the deer are practically nocturnal, in a constant state of sever spook, and when one steps out chances are 2 or even 6 other guys are seeing it at the same time you are....know your gun, take your shot, hope someone else isn't faster than you. That is becomming more and more my experience.

Sure, I've stalked close to deer before, even hunted with a 30.30 lever a year or two, but not being able to take those fleeting longer shots that only present themselves for seconds at a time, well...it cost me deer, those years.

I don't know about 600 yard shots, but a good hunter should be able to pull off 300 without much problem......and I could possibly see a place for 600 once in a while.

[qwman68]

if you are in a shooting house and the buck of a lifetime is 400 yards across an open field are you gonna get out of the shooting house and stalk the deer..you will be busted before you even make it down the ladder..if you have the rifle and are confident in your ability to make the shot i say go for it..my humble .02.........

[ARDogman]

You have a 500 yard shot and 15 minutes of shooting light...no time to close to 300?

I guess that falls into the .01% you were mentioning though!

[Kiwi Hunter]

Personally I love the stalk and getting one over a wild animal - the "Oh Crap" look you get if you are finally seen! Bow hunters regularly seem to manage getting within 15 yards of deer without raising a sweat.

I'm just guessing that many of these "need a 600 yard shot" guys have never seen what the kill zone on a deer looks like at 600 yards (or possibly at all...) Yes 600+ yard shots can be done, but I havent seen anyone spraying on the web about the "one I gut shot" or "when I blew its hind leg clean off" or "pencilled high through the shoulders and ran away" all LR shot results which I have seen first hand :barf:

[Flatbush Harry]

Dunno...

I've shot for 53 years and hunted for 47. I have shot since 1970 with military rifle (M1, M14/M1A and AR15/AR15A2) and understand what shooting at 600 yds is all about. I have never taken a shot at longer than 250 yds at deer and never at more than 350 yds at coyote...and my rifles in .308, .30-06 and .223 can hit at 600 yds if I can do my part...with iron sights. Having said that, I would never take a shot at longer than I thought I could hit game in the vitals, which to me feels like 250-300 yds, shorter if I can.

I think a lot of the folks thinking 500-600 yd hunting shots are fantasizing about their competence. I probably shoot 3,000 rounds a year with various rifles, scoped and iron, and, as Dirty Harry said in "Magnum Force", a man's gotta know his limitations...I know mine.

FH

[deermaster]

gwman, have you ever seen a deer at an honest 400 yards? they are pretty small...Long waaaayyyy off. Unless you fall out of your stand and scream all the way down, the deer prob wont spook.

Kiwi Hunter. Great post. You see how succesful hunters with modern archery gear are, with ones that really practice hard hitting paper plates at 60-80 yards. They never needed a 400, 500, 600 yard shot.

[ZeroJunk]

I've seen plenty of deer gut shot at 50 yards or less, even completely missed.

I dont' know that accepting the challenge of gaining the discipline and the equipment to make a shot at 500 yards is necessarily any better or worse than the challenge of getting within 15 yards.

[rickyjames]

perfect example for you. just yesterday saw a guy sheep hunting on tv. found a nice sheep, took his shot at 300+ yards and wounded the animal. the animal took off and the hunter couldn't get another shot till the animal was
700+ yards. hunter took his time and droped the sheep at 700+ yards. like forrest gump said......it happens.

[Swampghost]

A few scenarios that I've run into; Hogs or deer on one head (low island) when I'm on another. Getting closer would involve crossing water of unknown depth, possible quicksand, gators, cottonmouths and now pythons. I'm going for the long shot and taking a boat or buggie across.

Cow pastures. FL is full of them. Also full of fire-ants and rattlesnakes. A stalk here would involve getting out of your stand and doing a full belly-crawl across a pasture.

I'll stick to long shots when required.

[vetteracer92]

We have two big 5 point whitetails (the ones big enough to say HOLY S&!T)that are very skittish, I've been about 550 yards away and they'll take off.

[reloader28]

It does depend on the situation and terrain.

I've shot 2 deer at less than 20yds and I've shot 2 at 450 and 1 at just over 500yds but most are 150-200yds. I shot a trotting bull elk at 550+ that was almost to the boundry when I got him. I will admit there was about 2% luck involved with that one. But I had 2 holes about 6" apart in his chest.

I try to sneak up when I can, most times it is possible, but not always. I wouldn't expect someone from back east to come out and try those shots without some practice. We have a 1000yd rifle range out the back door and practice alot. 400yd shot are easy for us. My teenage daughters have both taken deer at 300yds with 1 shot cause we couldn't get any closer.

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

^^^

I was waiting for someone from Wyoming to answer!!! Terrain is a factor in shots of these distances...

[qwman68]

if you are confident in taking the long shot then do it..you are right harry,you have got to know your limitations.. ive been shooting all my life,i know what i can and cant do with my rifle, the longest shot ive ever killed a deer was 300 yrds. dropped a monster doe in her tracks.. could i have made a shot longer than that? yes i can.. believe it or not i have seen a deer at 400 yards and beyond.. hmmmm... ive got a pretty big back yard too.

[jgcoastie]

Discussed, at length, in this thread I started a few months ago...

[NWCP]

It's a prudent move to close in on your game the best you can. As stated before, hunting mountain goats, or antelope can call for some glassing and relatively long shots due to terrain. Some folks shoot game routinely at long ranges. I'm not one of them. Now varmint shooting is a different story. There it's a test of skill and equipment when popping small furry pests.

[168 grain]

Terrain is a huge factor. Especially when you consider gators and pythons.....wow im not going to complain about climbng in and out of a tree stand anymore. Ive seen some really good shooters with some high dollar rifles and even higher glass that 5 or 6 hundred is no prob but you have to know how to range and you have to know your rifle. But why? some terrain, some 5 hundred is no problem (why move when you can just twist turrets), and others uncontrolled ego.....just my opinion.

[darkgael]

"...need for long range hunting"

Need is a dangerous word. Is there a need for it? Might be if the terrain prohibits movement toward the game or if that same terrain would prevent recovery of the animal in a safe manner.
Another thing to consider when asking a question like this one is the definition of "hunting". For many of us, the word has different meanings: for someone stalking game through the woods, the word means one set of experiences. For the fellow sitting in a blind, waiting for a whitetail to walk out of the woods - essentially coming to him - the word has a different meaning. Both of them will describe what they are doing as "hunting"; they are both taking game but in different ways.
For a trophy hunter in the mountains, that long shot may make the difference between the record book and "come back next year".
Pete