Long range hunting

[Christel]

http://www.gunsmagazine.com/long-range-hunting/

Excerpt...

"Where do you say no?

In a recent column I suggested a rifleman should have the skill to make running shots on game. I also said once you have such skill it shouldn’t be used except to stop wounded game from escaping.

I feel much the same about long-range shooting at game. We can debate what “long range” means. Certainly your definition is as good as mine. For long-range enthusiasts and target shooters, long range starts at around 500 yards. The best modern equipment has the accuracy and power to kill big game at 2,000 yards and further.

I enjoy the challenge of long-range shooting. I think every rifle shooter should be capable of making long-range hits, as well as running shots. But just as I don’t encourage taking shots at unwounded running game, I’m not very enthused about long-range shots at unwounded game.
Discussing ethical issues is a risky business in this era of moral relativism, where expressing values is decried as being “judgmental.” I’m aware of the argument “as long as it is legal” we mustn’t criticize what others do.

I’m not so sure. In some states there are no caliber restrictions on big-game rifles, other than “no rimfire cartridges.” In such states, I could hunt elk with a .17 Rem or .22 Hornet, shoot them (or at least at them) at 1,200 yards, and be completely legal. And no, I don’t want more restrictions, my point is we need to set higher standards for ourselves than just “is it legal?”

It may not be written in hunting regulations, but I believe we hunters have a moral obligation to kill the animals we hunt as quickly and painlessly as possible. I realize not everyone agrees. It astonishes me how callous and indifferent some are."

The online edition has the full story. Click on the link at the bottom of the link I have provided if you want to read it.

[Mike357]

Completely agree.

[kennyc]

in my view long range is where there is time for the target to move (enough to potentially make a kill shot into a wounding shot) in the time it takes the bullet to leave the barrel and hit the target. No doubt modern rifles/cartridges are capable of hitting a target at 1000 yds+ cold bore, however what happens if a horsefly bites the target just as you fire? even I can move a fair bit if bitten, in the nearly 2 secs or so it takes the round to travel a 1000 yards! there is a lot of BS spouted on various forums about how the poster can hit animals regularly at 5,6,700 yards and more, I suspect there are a lot of misses and woundings these Gods of the art don't tell us about I consider it unethical and these people should stick to paper!, funnily enough a lot of them weren't in evidence at the recent sniper/snap shoot at Bisley

[M99]

In my opinion the skill is getting close enough to the living "target" to ensure that a clean kill results from one shot - that is the "skill"

Mike

[DaveT]

In my opinion the skill is getting close enough to the living "target" to ensure that a clean kill results from one shot - that is the "skill"

Mike

Agreed..... 200 yards or 300 max IF you have practiced beforehand...... AND paper targets are NOT deer they don't move they don't bleed and they don't crawl away and die painfully if gut shot or have the back of their neck blown off.