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

I dont reload so every shot I make sure I'm on the money.The pension doesn't allow for any windy 300yds shots.lols

Very interesting and surprising for me how the majority of us are 400 or under. Even guys on here who clearly knock over a few deer at longer ranges.

I enjoy watching NZ hunter, and when I watch them set up one novice after the other and knock down animals at 600m I think surely I should be aiming further..

200m has been the limit to date for me. I've lined up on animals out to 400 but those fallow looked rather small in my 2-7 loopy.
I've since put a 3-9 on that rifle and have had a 1 shot attempt at paper at 400 which resulted in a hole 2 inches from the aim point.
We ran out of time after that and I have never had a chance to try again since.
I'd need to shoot at that distance a few more times before I'd attempt it at a deer.

I think all my recent deer have been end of day so I'm as conscious about finding them on the deck in fading light as much as anything else. 250m max for me. If I had time to put in some range work then I might try get out another 100 but still that would be dependant on having enough light to find it.

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1000 yds back in the day but that was with big bangers , Nightforce scopes and lots of practice. Doesnt interest me anymore Id rather get close with the .223 . Horses for courses .

Originally Posted by Lauries Hut

Very interesting and surprising for me how the majority of us are 400 or under. Even guys on here who clearly knock over a few deer at longer ranges.

I enjoy watching NZ hunter, and when I watch them set up one novice after the other and knock down animals at 600m I think surely I should be aiming further..

Good thought...I haven't taken anyone to the range who cant shoot about MOA at 400 yards...but my gear and dialing for them. Very much a gear and knowledge thing rather than any particular shooting skill I reckon.

interesting that so many are being honest about range rather than skiting about really long shots - but I wonder if its really all about how many actually carry a range finder - I know I never have and I cant be alone in that - so for me with 308 its probably 300 yds

I carry a range finder. If im sitting watching an area I practice guesing the distance of things and then check with range finder

Longest animal was 1107 7rm 162amax usual ranges are sub 300 for me I stretch the legs here and their at work just because . Id happily shoot further but 300 seems to be my long range of late

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

interesting that so many are being honest about range rather than skiting about really long shots - but I wonder if its really all about how many actually carry a range finder - I know I never have and I cant be alone in that - so for me with 308 its probably 300 yds

I only started taking longer shots after obtaining my first rangefinder. Then obtaining scopes with hash mark reticles to give me drop references for the longer shots. Using the range finder was an education. I thought I was taking longish shots before the rangefinder but what I really learned was how useless my unaided range estimates were. These days, for fun, I often guess a distance before ranging it for confirmation. I can say my estimations have improved but I would never attempt a game shot without ranging first for true distance.

With my gear and skills I'd take a 300m shot happily enough in good conditions. A dial scope would probably extend that 400m with a bit of practice. But really, its been nearly two decades since I shot an animal more than 200m away, so at this stage I don't see the need for the investment.

150 metres...maybe...?

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My grand dad all ways told me not to shoot to far because it put too much strain on the barrel. He must have known a fair bit of high tech stuff like that because he told me that during ww1 when the Kaiser heard my Grand Dad was going to head off over there he got a bit worried about such a knowledgeable bloke from NZ who knew so much about metalurgy (he used to make horseshoes and gate hinges and such) was on his way that he called the whole show off. Grand dad told me if he had the old forge set up right, he could make a magnum barrel out of a bit of number 8 wire and it would be able drop a good 16 pointer further out than you could look without eye strain and not have any issues with the old strained barrel syndrome. Bless you Grand Dad and thanks for teaching me so much good stuff.

Originally Posted by inozz

My grand dad all ways told me not to shoot to far because it put too much strain on the barrel. He must have known a fair bit of high tech stuff like that because he told me that during ww1 when the Kaiser heard my Grand Dad was going to head off over there he got a bit worried about such a knowledgeable bloke from NZ who knew so much about metalurgy (he used to make horseshoes and gate hinges and such) was on his way that he called the whole show off. Grand dad told me if he had the old forge set up right, he could make a magnum barrel out of a bit of number 8 wire and it would be able drop a good 16 pointer further out than you could look without eye strain and not have any issues with the old strained barrel syndrome. Bless you Grand Dad and thanks for teaching me so much good stuff.

Sounds a bit like my grandfather.
He always told me to shake the barrels when shooting at a mob of ducks to spread the pattern out a bit. It must work because quite often a different duck than I thought I was aiming for falls out of the sky.

My great grandfather got 27 quail with one shot. He just waited till they all lined up and headshot them with the 22.