Thread: Whats the longest shot youll confidently take at an animal

Originally Posted by BRADS

I've shoot deer out past 1000m in the past, I was shooting almost every day, In all conditions, on steel out to 1800 had really good optics and big 375s etc, and had no trouble with it, never lost an animal all one shot kills, and enjoyed the challenges involved.
These days, it has to be inside 400 in good conditions. Im not shooting enough to be confident of making it all come together past there.
Also I don't have $ invested in the guns or the time to practice I guess.
I believe anyone can shoot that far if they are prepared to put the time and $ into it if that's what they want to do.
There's some gun builders around like Kiwi Greg that specialize in making awesome rigs if it's your thing.
Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

Gard damn work and kids and priorities etc.
I'm out the other end of that stuff now.

Originally Posted by BRADS

I've shoot deer out past 1000m in the past, I was shooting almost every day, In all conditions, on steel out to 1800 had really good optics and big 375s etc, and had no trouble with it, never lost an animal all one shot kills, and enjoyed the challenges involved.
These days, it has to be inside 400 in good conditions. Im not shooting enough to be confident of making it all come together past there.
Also I don't have $ invested in the guns or the time to practice I guess.
I believe anyone can shoot that far if they are prepared to put the time and $ into it if that's what they want to do.
There's some gun builders around like Kiwi Greg that specialize in making awesome rigs if it's your thing.
Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

faark its nice to see such brutal honesty ...warts n all.....good on you.

Often this kind of thing can be a bit of a dick swinging competition, but so far so good with this thread.
@BRADS has nailed it - with skills, practice, the equipment and frequent shooting, you can shoot deer very dead with a big bullet at improbable ranges.

But for most of us mere mortals, you're looking at whatever your [aforementioned] allows.

In the period I was shooting a lot of deer as part of a concerted effort to clear land, a 500m shot was routine. 600m sometimes. With the .300, the odd 700m+. The primary control on range was topography - the typical distance across gullies.

However, as I've mentioned on here in the past, I found that kind of shooting to be unproductive. One shot and usually in that kind of country the mobs scatters and keeps on scattering and the chance of a second deer is drastically diminished unless its a fawn. So these days, I'm all about getting a bit closer and setting myself up for 3 or 4 quick shots to drop more than one.

On the last trip, I worked out that of 40 odd deer shot, the average range (including one at 10m and a couple at about 30m) was 276m. On three occasions I got 4, on two occasions 3 and multiple occasions 2 (fawns).

All DRT give or take with a soft 165gr Speer.

Funny was just talking about this today with a mate.

I’m very confident out to 300M

I’ve dropped four in the 400 - 430M range.
Two instant clean kills.
One headshot, so also an instant clean kill. But….. I was aiming for the chest.
It was quite a steep downhill shot, and I had a crap rest, and I was 2 from 2 at that point. I certainly wasn’t nice and solid on him. So not sure if it was just a poor shot, and lucky result. Or perhaps the result of the down hill effect and a bit of wind? I realised afterwards I should have used the true ballistic range function on my binos.
Last one was 385, seemed to be an instant kill. Dropped like a sack of shit, almost did a back flip. We were packing up our gear to head down to him, when my mate said he’s up and running. I couldn’t see him in the low light and broken country. By the time we got over nearer to him, he was still very much alive but could barely move. Didn’t have time to do a decent autopsy and see where the bullet took him.

I’m not confident enough in my setup to consider further. I haven’t had the chance yet to stretch to 500, and won’t until I’m 100% sure I have my trajectory dead right.
I passed up a big 6 pt Sika stag at 600. Bolt closed super steady rest no wind, but but didn’t put my finger on the trigger, and eventually decided not to risk it.

Must punch some paper at 400 to prove accuracy.

About 250 just point and shoot but like to get closer if I can

Originally Posted by Allizdog

About 300m for me. Otherwise I try and get closer. I know my 308 can kill much further out, but I don't trust my own ability to make a vital hit too much further.

This is me ^. Know it can be done further out, but I'm not sufficiently confident or invested in it - shooting at something is very different to shooting something. Part of the challenge is getting a bit close enough to know it's humane. I don't find shooting something from half a kilometre away all that sporting (no offence to those that have that honed skill!), and there would be sleepless nights following knowing I'd wounded an animal that I couldn't retrieve.

For me more than half of it is just being out in the green stuff. I saw a what I think was a Rifleman the other day in the Tararuas while stopping for a feed. Saw a deer trot off later while tangled in some supplejack, but still tell people about seeing the Rifleman first.

Full credit to the long rangers, but that's not what I'm out there for. Each to their own.

For a challenge and a dare, we have shot camels out to 980m .338 Lap Mag , top range finders and heaps of practice
U need to know the range virtually to the meter at this type of distance ,need to know your rifle and ammo and pick your weather , even just the mirage from the salt pans can lead to a miss
We don't do it often, however some of the mobs have been shot at before and won't let u get closer than 500m so wevoften shoot at 500 plus. There is no way u can keep up with camels in any type of terrain, so let mthem walk away calm down then ping em. The terrain here in WA lends itself to long shots in places

Originally Posted by BRADS

I've shoot deer out past 1000m in the past, I was shooting almost every day, In all conditions, on steel out to 1800 had really good optics and big 375s etc, and had no trouble with it, never lost an animal all one shot kills, and enjoyed the challenges involved.
These days, it has to be inside 400 in good conditions. Im not shooting enough to be confident of making it all come together past there.
Also I don't have $ invested in the guns or the time to practice I guess.
I believe anyone can shoot that far if they are prepared to put the time and $ into it if that's what they want to do.
There's some gun builders around like Kiwi Greg that specialize in making awesome rigs if it's your thing.
Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

I agree with this from my experience.
I used to have a range set up from my back door that had targets out too 700m. What I found was that I could do pretty well with my bog standard but accurate hunting rifle out too 600, But that beyond 500 there was an element of uncertainty regarding cross winds that I just could not remove. For me I pretty much limited myself to shots on animals to under 400 due to that, and I always tried to get closer. My thinking being that If I kill it, I have to walk there anyway, so why not walk there first and kill it easier.
However the last few years has seen me with far less time to shoot, let alone hunt, and so I have now brought that distance down further to 300 as Im just not so confident in my abilities without regular shooting practice. Hopefully the next few years will see that change again.

Id add that If I averaged my shot distance over the years, it would be closer to 100 yards. Even Tahr hunting. Ive always worked on getting closer.

Thats my theory as well got to get to it anyway so may as well get close in the first place. Quite a few times buy the time you get closer you realize its got a mate with it as well.

I’m glad this thread has stayed positive. I think in some quarters there’s a lack of understanding around longer ranger hunting. Like everything we do in life it’s about (a) incremental increases range (b) training and knowledgeable development and (c) equipment.
I’ve personally shot and killed a few deer at 660 yards and would probably attempt to shoot a deer out to 700 yards with the right rifle in the right conditions. I’ve practiced out to 1000 yards on steel and check/verify all my rifles before I attempt to kill an animal.
My main point is times have changed, how would most of us answered this question 25 years ago when we were shooting with 3-9 power scopes and .270s. :-) At least we still would have had money in the bank! Man, gear is dam expensive, but fun to use.

Originally Posted by craigc

I’m glad this thread has stayed positive. I think in some quarters there’s a lack of understanding around longer ranger hunting. Like everything we do in life it’s about (a) incremental increases range (b) training and knowledgeable development and (c) equipment.
I’ve personally shot and killed a few deer at 660 yards and would probably attempt to shoot a deer out to 700 yards with the right rifle in the right conditions. I’ve practiced out to 1000 yards on steel and check/verify all my rifles before I attempt to kill an animal.
My main point is times have changed, how would most of us answered this question 25 years ago when we were shooting with 3-9 power scopes and .270s. :-) At least we still would have had money in the bank! Man, gear is dam expensive, but fun to use.

very very true statment there craig!

Keep in mind to apply the same rule as if asking fishermen how big the fish was...

divide all the numbers you get by half. maybe 2/3...

If I can get a good prone position and the wind is ok I can confidently get a deer out to 400m. I target shoot further than that but ethically that's as far as I'll go on a live animal.

From kneeling I'll go to maybe 150m

Standing, if I can't wack the animal with a stick I'm not taking the shot. A day at the nzda range was well and truly humbling for how terrible my off hand work is.

I find good old possum shooting good practice for off hand shooting. Although usually close every shot is a little bit different angle distance etc

Furtherest i have shot an animal was 790m. However this was many years ago with average gear and no idea, fair bit of fluke factor. Maybe not complete fluke but definitely could have gone wrong many ways. I could likely do the same again now that i have more experience and better equipment but dont think i ever will attempt it. Back then i was young and dumb with no real thought going into what happened if the shot didnt go well (lucky for me it did). These days im alot more aware of just how many factors are involved with accuracy of the equipment + wind calls. I shoot alot of animals around the 400-500m distance with no dramas but as mentioned above, past that external factors start to compound rapidly and doesnt take much to mess up a shot.