potato/pototo
 

I to believe this thread is right on track.The question asked was what is your furthest one shot kill on a deer.With moose being the largest of the deer family.I'm sorry that some have to use mathimatical formulas.But i shoot cus I luv it,whether targeting or on game.But seriously I'm very confident at taking 400yd shots and frankly I find 300yd shots gimme's.Thats why we target practice at long ranges,to be able to make the shot .Remember shoot be happy;)

I`d be very confident in a 200-250 yd shot on deer size game if sitting or a tree limb ect to rest the rifle on. The only problem I have with that kind of shooting here where I hunt is the Balsam and Cedar insist on standing in front of me 25 yd away. I`m lucky to see 75 yd let alone get a shot at any greater distance. 75% of the deer I`ve shot wouldn`t be "long range" for a spear.. of course 200 more yd in the swamp would just be that much farther I`d have to drag `em and I`m getting too old for that if there`s a way around it...:D

When using my .257 Roberts and having a decent rest, I limit myself to 300 yds.--tr

i shoot a Remington 700 in .308 and a 22 inch barrel. A leupold scope (3-9x50). I shot a doe at over 200 yards in the spine and she dropped like a rock.The n the next week i shot a 7 point buck at 300 in the neck and he dropped like a rock.didnt even know the distance. and to beat it all...... i was standin up durin both shots!:cool: beat that.

Lots of folks limit themselves to three football fields away.

But I never played football, so for me it's a 3-wood and a wedge :D

I know it's a good thing that I can shoot more straight than I can hit a golf ball!

Goes to show that you should read
the thing first.
I thought it was "what is the longest
that you have shot a deer?"
To that I answer 1. I have never taken
a deer further out than 100 yds. That's
a product of where I hunt. Mountain
woods.

To the question what is the max for
my gun. I'd go 300. Actually I'd probubly
not make that shot but I would make
one somewhere between 2 and 3
hundred yards. My gun could handle
300 yards but I wouldn't take the shot
unless it had a real good rest.
Not usually the case.

I shot my first deer in Kansas with a .308 at 240yds.:D

I shoot a 7mm mag. using a 160gr. handload and along with the scope I use for it I am totaly comforatable and confident with it out to 500 yards shooting prone.

For us, 300 yards is not considered long range. But, know your rifle; know your ammunition; use a rifle capable of a clean kill at longer ranges; and be at least adequate in estimating range. A good shortcut (assuming you hunt where long shooting is routine) is to sight your rifle between 4.5" and 6" high at 100 yards. You hold low on hair to 250 yards and high on hair to 400 yards. Read the following article to follow the logic. http://www.kifaru.net/posimag.htm

P.S. - Great Question.

P.S.S. - Practive, practice, practice.

Range?
 

With my 50 BMG, 1000+ yds is no prob. They drop like a rock !!!!!!

The prob is finding the carcass. So ya use a spotter with a spotting scope and FRS radio ta keep ya on line.
Yeh, I know this is gonna raise a stink, so what?.
Keeps yer blood movin!
Hnter

When I select a cartridge and ammo ......
 

I'll pick a round that humanely and ethically can dispatch a deer to 300 yards, then I add on a 100-yard (buffer) extra.

In over 30 years of hunting, I've actually only shot at and killed one pronghorn at nearly 400 yards. Everything else has averaged 100yards-plus to usually less than 300 yards.

The 400 yard antelope was after I had time to calculate for a slight breeze and drop.

I would rather let a deer go than wound it. The longer the shot the harder it is.

I might take a shot over 200 yds but only if I had the laser and data with me.

When I was much younger, I shot a Whitetail at about 800 paces. It dropped immediately - 165 grain 30-06. Shot it off hand and the deer was running full out. The bullet had to go somewhere and it did but luck -- no kidding. Would not do that again.

I shot an antelope this year at 440 paces. The conditions were perfect.

300yds is a long shot anywhere you are or how you cut it.

most people shooting that far arent shooting that far on paper. 1-200yd world is alot difrent than 200- and further things change drasticaly and i dont think guessing yardages past 300 are even in the question

most all calibers are dropping close to 4 feet at 500yds most are dropn even more than that.

i am not pointing fingers at anyone ive been there myself killed one deer past 300 with my 270win with luck alone and young stupidity.

knowing what i know now i would still make that shot but i would not guess the range or not practice at the range out to distance i plan to shoot. for me 300 is as far as i go and i punch paper at that range and can keep groups well inside 5"s mosty my rifles will print half that out that far.

if any thing local is any indication im willing to bet that most people dont shoot past 100yds ever untill they are looking at game in the cross hairs. even i was giulty of that.

If you hunt on the prairie good luck on keeping all your shots under 100 yards.

RANG
 

300 IS MY MAX

limit yourself
 

take the distance you can sucessfully shoot a 6 inch group standing sitting prone or bench and cut that down by 25% and that should be your MAXIMUM shooting distance in the field. When you are dehidrated or just ran to the top of a hill your 400 yard shot from the bench just turned into a 600 yard shot from the bench in the wind. most people dont have any buisness shooting past 250 yds in favorable conditions anyway. know your abilities and dont exceed them for the sake of a wounded animal.

well for the guys who dial it up, once the bugs are worked out on the range it basicly gets down to where they're rounds run out of steam. If they can dial to 600 or 700 and hit where they are holding, then its just a turn of the dial away to get as far as possible. if they're data is right, ballistic programs are only as good as the accuracy of the info you feed it.
Remember this, the dialing up is just simple math to about 700 yds. I can routinely hit a 4" circle to 700, but from there on I start to waiver, at 800 a 10" circle is about the best I can do, at 1K its not even close, I know what I need to work on and I'll get it fixed, just takes time.
Any way I feel confidant to 800 yds if the wind is favorable, took a doe last week at 585, bang/flop.
RR

MY Longest shot on a deer
 

This poll is a little confusing for me in that I'm not exactly sure what it was asking... The Longest Range that I WOULD shoot, or the longest range that I HAVE shot a deer.

The Digital Gentleman pretty much has it right , you can HIT anything at any range you are profiecient at.

However, there are some practical limitations that I have come to understand over the years as I have aged. When younger, I dropped a deer at a little over 400 paces, probably about 300 yards from my point of shooting on the terrain I was hunting. That was with a .308 Remington BDL with open sights. A fluke for sure.. and a long story... and not the point.

What I have subsequently learned about shooting long range, is that though you may hit the deer, you may never FIND the deer.

Finding the spot that the deer was standing in when shot at long range is difficult in many circumstances, and if it doesn't drop right there.... DRT as in Dead Right There, an EMT coined phrase my son passed on to me about some of the steamy summer nights they spent in certain So. Carolina city sections, can require dusting off our tracking skills.

When a deer runs, your chances of locating it is inversely proportionate to the distance of the shot, and assuming that the your "visual imprint" of the deer's surroundings will remain static as you approach its assumed location is something we all quickly learn is a myth.

From what I have learned from some old timers, is that YOU need to direct a second party to the presumed shot location when distances stretch. If you are by yourself, the job is very difficult and next to impossible. It is easier if you are above the deer and can clearly locate an outstanding physical feature of terrain (not a treestand... a hill or mountain side) on long shots.

What IS a long shot. Most of my acquaintences seem to agree that anything over 150 yards brings brings an increasing degree of difficulty in tracking an animal that has run for most of us.

This brings us back to two fundamentals for shooting. Proficiency and observation. Proficiency is something that we can all probably intuitively agree on. Observation is something most of us are deficient in.

Close shots don't present the problems that longer range shots do. Wind direction and velocity are one. Terrain features we are shooting over is another, both for the shot and for tracking. The animals demeanor. The fact that it is standing still at the shot is not the same as is it alert, is it poised to jump, is it in an flight or fight attitude, and any number of other cues that many of us miss when we pull the trigger.

It takes only a tiny fraction of a second for a bullet to reach game, even at several hundreds of yards, yet in that same fraction, an animal can just twitch and cause shot placement to be off by several inches. Add to that the grouping you shoot, the wind and thermals, and you may end up with a dead deer walking (running) that we have to follow up on.

How far out can you kill a deer? I saw a video a few years ago on shooting running deer. As a part of that video, there was a trailer about these guys shooting at deer at long distance... like 500 to 600 yards. They had set up, set up markers and spotters, and sighted in for this distance. The gun was a 300 mag of some kind. As the video closed, they had taken a shot at a deer on this far hillside with the words "you got him!" as the deer bounded down the side... They didn't show any recovery.. so I don't know if the "got him" or just "shot him".

Aloha... :cool:

Boy that was a good post. I don't really like these questions because of the quality of answers you get. On another site we got a post about long range shots on Antelope. The new poster told us he was good to go with his 25-06 to 400yds but never shot past 300yds. Probally has no idea how far he shoot's as he then described the load and trajectory for us. He's shooting a 115gr Nosler bal tip that's zeroed at 200yds. He claimed it was 1" high @ 100yds, 1" low @300yds and 3" low at 400yds!

When questioned he said he didn't know the velocity of the load but he shoot's a lot and that it might have been 6" low at 400yds.

How far can you kill a deer? How far can you see one? Most hunter's don't know come here form sic'm about how their rifle really shoot's, the velocity or anything about long range shooting but are willing to tell all they don't know to the unknowing as gospel. Next thing you know another unknowing is giving it a shot.

On yet another site the same subject came up and a guy posted that he carried a drop chart to 500yds with him. I asked how he adjusted the sights a 500yds and he told me he just looked at his chart and held over that much. Huh!

For myself I try to keep my shot's to 200-250yds. My rifles are zeroed in to max point blank range with a 6" target and 250 falls under that. I could count on the fingers of one hand the shot's I've taken in my life beyond 250 yds and there were none I had to take.

Hi Don... :)

You are right of course about the unwashed (so to speak) spreading the gospel to the the unknowing and providing basis for future behavior.

One thing about Point Blank Range is that it at least represents your target. If you take the time to go to the range and determine at least your trajectory at varying distances out to some maximum distance, say 200 yards or even maybe 250, by taking a 6" pie plate and see if you can hit it consistently sitting on the ground.. wearing a back pack... or maybe shooting off your back pack or maybe taking a short jog around the rear of the shooting line and then coming up to the line and taking that 250 yard shot ... you've at least been there once before... :)

Much Aloha.. :cool:

I prefer not to shoot beyond 300 yards, but I would shoot up to 300 using a bi-pod and everything being calm. I have only shot one animal at this distance, it was actually more like 350 yards, a buck mulie with a .338 Win Mag. The bullet penetrated the heart but did not expand what so ever at that distance. It was a 250gr elk load, but to be honest I would have prefered a much lighter bullet in a .25 to 7mm cal or a 180 grain Ballistic Tip in the .338 cal.

I'm amazed to see this post still going. :)

grayghost,

I suspect that most folks have an opinion on long range: what constitutes long range, where they feel comfortable shooting to, and how far an ethical shot should be taken. This, of course, is dependant upon their ability, equipment, and familiarity with their rifle. If you've never shot past 200 yards, regardless of what a ballistic table says you have no business taking a 300 yard shot.

gd

I'll stir the pot.

Every basic trainee in the Army shoots to 300 meters with nothing but peep sights. These basic training guns are the worst guns the army has- often shot out, beat up, one step from the scrap heap. I did basic in 1991 with an A1 model that was probably as old as me and rattled like a can of nails.

Now I grant that the E-Type target is far larger top to bottom that the vital area on even an elk. So I am conceding that.
However remember these guns are crap, loaded with cheap, mass produced ammo, and shot with peep sights, not a 12x magnification that shows the ticks on an elk's hide at half a click.

So I find it hard to believe people consider 300 yards/meters a long shot. On a sandbag and prone unsupported a crappy old M16A1 did that easily with peep sights.

Another thing I concede- it's easy to kill people, elk are tougher, yes. But I think you all get my point.

Having said that- I try to stalk closer if possible. Killed a deer with an SKS with cheap russian ammo standing off hand at 200 meters, dead when he hit the ground.
I also have limited mobility so if I can shoot something one hill farther away, that is one hill less for me to try to stalk over. So I actually prefer a longer shot. Beats stumbling around the woods on bad knees.

Just picked up a .257 Wby Mag Vanguard Deluxe that I got specifically for it's long range capability. I'm an experienced shooter comfortable with extended shooting.

It's just that in my experience with deer, I just run into them at closer ranges. But I'm looking forward to some pronghorn hunting next season, where long shots are the norm.

Pot Stirring
 

I'm gonna stir your pot a little...maybe. It isn't just hitting the target(animal) that is the part ya have to worry about. It is hitting it in the vitals with enough energy to do the job. Not everyone may be the shot you seem to be...or worry about making that incredibly long shot. The 257 Weatherby is a nice cartridge for long range antelope or deer(and I consider 400-450 to be a very long range on a game animal) but it sure ain't a long range elk or moose caliber. Couple hundred yards max in the hands of an excellent shot. Elk take a lot of killing sometimes. So do big mulies. And forget the 257 on griz. especially with the new griz...the ones that aren't afraid of humans. Weatherby and others used those calibers to kill those game animals...but ya never heard anything bad about those stunts. An elephant with the 257 was just that... a stunt to sell rifles. I read some of the old magazines where people shot bears lions and tigers et al with the 22 Savage Hi Power. Some people got hurt doing it. There was a big hype about the 250-3000 being death on anything years ago. Sales hype, too. Used to be a saying in the car racing industry years ago...Cubic inches win most all the time. Holds true today even with firearms..bigger is better within reason..... as shorter yardage is better too. Except for bears I'd just as soon have 'em in my lap when I shoot. BTW welcome to the site. Lots of nice people here.. Good info also. And we all learn from the new folks too. Welcome aboard

Maybe I should say that the longest shot I ever made(or attempted) on a game animal was an antelope at a bit better than 450 yds. I was confident in my ability to hit it and for the cartridge to kill it. I was used to shooting those yardages on ground hogs and foxes at that time shooting a couple thousand rounds or so a year at critters. Hit most of 'em too. Turned down a shot the other evening on a nice Muley at about 200 yds though. He was in the field eating with the cow critters. About a 30 inch 4X4 too. Eating right next to the ol' prize bull....which ain't mine!!

I totally agree, Skeet. I concede that the E Type is far larger, and of course it's not 3 feet of elk across.

My point was more about the accuracy limitations more than killing power. To me, 300 meters seems an easy shot, even with a beat up gun in Basic.

I'm with ya on the real world practicality of shooting at long range. Although I'm not on the magnum bandwagon alot of people seem to be on. I don't think the game is any harder to kill today than when my grandfather hunted with a .30-30 flat nose.

I sure wouldn't take on a cape buffalo with a .257 anything. But it does prove the point that it doesn't take a .416 Rigby either.

We're massively overgunned for the most part these days. I have bad legs so I like animals to drop where they stand too. I don't want to track it. But I've never had anything run off yet with a well placed shot. So I'll save my shoulder some and carry on with Roy's favorite while I'm at it.

But since my legs are bad- open terrain like where antelope live is more my forte, so that is really why I chose to go small/fast/flat with my chambering choice.
If I were back east or up in the mountains here more, I'd have gotten a simple .308

Magnumitis
 

Is one thing I do not have. All these new Rums and ultras and super shorts etc aren't really any better than what we already had. Mostly a way to sell more new rifles etc etc. 50 more ft per second really doesn't give ya any advantage that I can see. Sure I have a few mags. Have an old Winchester M-70 in 375 H&H and another M-70 in 338 mag. They were bought years ago when I worked in Alaska. The last magnum I have is a 300 Winchester that I will use on Elk...and maybe moose in Wyoming. Moose in Alaska I used the 338. They live in some really nasty country and there are a few ocassional Grizzlies in the same area. They(grizzlies) are one of the hardest critters to stop I have ever seen....especially when they are stirred up. A long shot on Moose in Alaska is usually fairly short...but that muskeg is hard to go through tracking a wounded one. I also have an old German 300 Weatherby but a friend has had it for years in Alaska. One of the nastiest rifles I have ever shot. He kills his moose with it every year, though. My usual hunting rifle is generally a 280 Rem, 270 Win, 30-06 or 7mm-08..for deer etc. I also bought a Custom rifle at a yard sale(among others) this year that I may try on a moose or Elk. It is a Dale Goens built 35 Whelen. Have shot a few rounds through it and it is very accurate and kicks less than my 338.

My max would be 300yds with my .243 and 2.5-10X42 scope. However add for no bench rest, wind, cold, jitters, and 90 percent chance of all-around crappy conditions (pray for the other 10 percent) I'd probably limit myself to 200yds.
Minihuntur

I shot a buck @ 469 yards this year while hunting in NC. The shot was taken from a very high tower stand that enabled you to see over the pine trees. The tower rail was "fairly" stable and I leaned across 2 rails that were at right angles.

Buck was quartering towards me and standing on the edge of a thicket. I decided to take the shot before he slipped away or the sun dropped any further. The 162gr A-Max bullet, from my 7STW, went through the deer and blew through a rear femur on the way out. Oddly enough that buck walked ?? about 10 yards before piling up.

I was using a Leupold 6.5x20 scope with the varmint reticle. This reticle has horizontal lines for 200yds-300yds-400yds-500yds. I initially sighted the rifle in @ 200yds. Then moved out to the 500yd line. It was not too difficult to adjust the magnification ring so that the 500yd impact was on the money when using the 500yd crosshair.

As for knowing he EXACT range - I couldn't agree with you guys more. You either KNOW the range or you're just taking a wild guess. Guesses don't work. Laser rangefinders do.

Intersting thread

I'll jump in on this one-lots of great responses so far.
My max changes every hunt because the variables change.
weather
terrain
time to set
iron being packed

every situation is different,so is the max for that situation...