How Far Can You Make Successful Kill Shots ?.

[Jedidiah]

Things actually heard said by "hunters" in a primitive camping area.

"If it's brown, it's down."
"Shoot into the middle of them and see if anything falls."
"Anything that draws blood is a good hit."
"I don't bother following a light blood trail because I'll have other chances today."
"I haven't fired this gun but it's a good, accurate brand in the reviews."

I could go on but I hate making myself feel like vomiting.

Is it any wonder that many people dislike hunting and hunters? We are guilty by "association"!

 

[64Springer]

Things actually heard said by "hunters" in a primitive camping area.

"If it's brown, it's down."
"Shoot into the middle of them and see if anything falls."
"Anything that draws blood is a good hit."
"I don't bother following a light blood trail because I'll have other chances today."
"I haven't fired this gun but it's a good, accurate brand in the reviews."

I could go on but I hate making myself feel like vomiting.

I believe this is the norm and not the anomaly.

 

[1BadDart]

I fully understand aim small miss small. I shot a longbow for many years. It was an effective technique for that discipline. The phrase got popular after the Mel Gibson movie.
i however did instruct and oversee instruction of handguns for many years for the Federal government. Had I heard that being used and I did. The instructor would have received a brief intense lecture on the basics of marksmanship which do not include that phrase.
It removes one’s focus from the front sight. One should aim for center mass while focusing on the front sight.
I will likely never reach my goals of patched round ball shooting…unless I can find an indoor 100 meter range, but my prior experience certainly prohibits the theory of aim small miss small when used for other than instinctive archery or throwing rocks.

i totally disagree with the phrase being used in marksmanship.

Your center mass shot on a deer will result in the slow death and loss of the animal. We aren’t killing paper silhouettes here.

 

[1BadDart]

Probably 90% of those who participate on this forum know their guns. Of those 2% are the remainder non-participant muzzleloaders, probably 90% have no idea, how and where their guns shoot. A good share of those are out on opening day of a muzzleloader hunt with a gun that never saw daylight since last opening day of the last years hunt. They just think it is like their trusty suppository gun and that my friends is the travesty of it all.

Years ago, I was at our local sporting goods store the night before opening day of bow season. A couple guys in front of me in the checkout line had bows in their hands, both had new arrows. I overheard them laughing while telling another customer that they hadn't shot their bows all summer but were excited about hunting opening morning. I'd been shooting all summer and couldn't believe what I was hearing.


It's pretty easy to see why the non hunting public think hunters are nothing more than blood thirsty scum.

 

[Kmcmichael]

I don’t watch that much TV and had to look up cupcake wars. I still don’t understand the reference.
My reference to center mass was not a good description. But a shot behind the shoulder is a double lung shot.
Of course, you boys can do as you will. I will focus on the front sight above all else and especially try to focus on it again after the shot. I cannot see a `tuft of hair or any other such thing on a deer past 50 yards. If I ever take the longbow back up I will defiantly concentrate on a very small area of the target but when I have sights I will use them In the manner I mentioned.

 

[cannonball1]

Indian Trade Rifle 45 caliber and a greased bullet. Target practiced at the range at 100 yards with a 3 inch group. Location: Southern Utah. Vegetation: Rocks, Cactus, Few sparse scrub trees, more cliffs and rocks. Support: Range finder, Tripod. One shot thru the heart at 120 yards by my wife. Couldn't get any closer. Standing broad side. Would you pass or would you shoot. She shot!

 

[Jedidiah]

Indian Trade Rifle 45 caliber and a greased bullet. Target practiced at the range at 100 yards with a 3 inch group. Location: Southern Utah. Vegetation: Rocks, Cactus, Few sparse scrub trees, more cliffs and rocks. Support: Range finder, Tripod. One shot thru the heart at 120 yards by my wife. Couldn't get any closer. Standing broad side. Would you pass or would you shoot. She shot!



View attachment 188623

Just because it is a "great" deer does not mean I would take the shot. I have passed up great deer many times if i thought the shot was questionable. If you have been practicing, know the rifle well, know what it will do with the load you have etc, Obviously knew the range, used a rest. I think you did well.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Little mention in this thread of the ability, or lack thereof, for judging range. A bullseye target at 100 yards can look a lot different than the same distance in rolling woodland, like we have in the Ozarks, or open like the western states. Time of day and lighting conditions can fool the eyes also. But, I'll toss in that the "fool" factor is the greatest reason for misjudging range. Lack of real experience is next. When I had my ml gunshop in Indiana I taped several targets to the back of the door just to spruce it up. Sometimes when I had customers who were obviously ignorant of such things I would ask them to judge how far away those targets were from where we were standing at the counter. The most frequent response was "50 yards". Actual distance was a little over 20 feet. BTW, did I mention "fools"?

 

[Jedidiah]

Little mention in this thread of the ability, or lack thereof, for judging range. A bullseye target at 100 yards can look a lot different than the same distance in rolling woodland, like we have in the Ozarks, or open like the western states. Time of day and lighting conditions can fool the eyes also. But, I'll toss in that the "fool" factor is the greatest reason for misjudging range. Lack of real experience is next. When I had my ml gunshop in Indiana I taped several targets to the back of the door just to spruce it up. Sometimes when I had customers who were obviously ignorant of such things I would ask them to judge how far away those targets were from where we were standing at the counter. The most frequent response was "50 yards". Actual distance was a little over 20 feet. BTW, did I mention "fools"?

It takes practice and experience in judging distance accurately. We used to practice doing it and used a "range finder" to verify our guesstimates. it took lots of practice to get to the point where we were close. and close meant 50 yds or more!! That doesn't matter at 100 yds for most rounds(unmentionables) but it makes a big difference at 400 yds or more. My brother shot an antelope at 427 yds with a Browning model 78 single shot, in 30-06.Not a long range cartridge by most standards. He loads his own too. He had a "dope" card taped to the stock that he studied and glassed the antelope for a few minutes while he thought it through. The guide asked him if he could make the shot, he said yes. He assumed a sitting position, took the shot and dropped the Antelope cleanly. The guide measured it off at 427yds! My brother was also a consummate riflemen who shot NRA small bore Olympic rifle(four position) for years competitively across the USA. practice & skill make a great difference. I could have never made the shot.

 

[FishnRod]

Was the fork side broke or did it grow that way?
Neat old buck for sure.

 

[mikesto44]

All my shots at game are well within 100 yards. When you start shooting out past 300 yards it takes a split second for that animal to take one step. Which in turn makes an ethical shot a bad shot. The animal deserves better than that...
Plus just because you can doesn't make it ethical...

 

[Jedidiah]

All my shots at game are well within 100 yards. When you start shooting out past 300 yards it takes a split second for that animal to take one step. Which in turn makes an ethical shot a bad shot. The animal deserves better than that...
Plus just because you can doesn't make it ethical...

I agree 100 %. They lift their head, drop their head, half step to the side, one step forward, were broad side now quartering, now a bush in the way, etc etc. Animals always do the unexpected. A real hunter knows that all they can really expect, is the unexpected! Keeping the distance as short as possible helps mitigate the unknown. IMHO

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I would have passed... or at least I think I probably SHOULD pass on that target. I'm just not that good of a shot these days. Around here, most deer are killed at thirty yards. One thing we got in quantity in Wisconsin is TREES. Also Democrats.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I would have took the shot in my 20's and 30's. Today I wouldn't take it.
This went down to a .50 caliber shot at 125 yards when I was 23. The deer was running straight away from me. Field dressed at 227lbs. I hit it exactly where I was aiming. I sure miss my youth!

 

[kelljp]

Over the last 20 years I've took note of the yardage of shots taken.
Noticed that the average deer shot (archery, ML or rifle) taken has been around 18 yards. Patience results in not spending hours on tracking.

 

[cannonball1]

I would have passed... or at least I think I probably SHOULD pass on that target. I'm just not that good of a shot these days. Around here, most deer are killed at thirty yards. One thing we got in quantity in Wisconsin is TREES. Also Democrats.

I have a feeling I'm talking to a Whitetail hunter. I'll bet you 80% of mule deer hunters kill way beyond thirty yards. I'm sure most on this forum live in a different world than I am used to when it comes to hunting.

 

[cannonball1]

by the way, my wife has only wanted to hunt deer two years in many. She has shot twice at animals and got two large buck. Once on a tripod and once over a large stump. Both deer were over 100 yards and we had range finders. The gun shoots 1" high at 100 yards. Both deer were standing broadside and she has nerves of steel. Luck you say? In open-range, western hunting, 125 yards or less is just common place.

 

[SOLANCO]

If you do not eat it, why kill it? I am not a fan of killing predators, all the "wild" terrorist Coyote stories not withstanding. They have a tough enough time getting by in todays world. Just one man's opinion.

Don't know anything about "terrorist" coyotes. But I do know that coyotes are very adaptable. I am in Pennsylvania and they are in every county in this state. Before retirement I worked at night in what was Philadelphia's Food Distribution Center, near the Delaware river waterfront. Not at all unusual to see coyotes hunting rats in the area.
Probably the only predators I would kill walk upright on two legs.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I have a feeling I'm talking to a Whitetail hunter. I'll bet you 80% of mule deer hunters kill way beyond thirty yards. I'm sure most on this forum live in a different world than I am used to when it comes to hunting.

That's correct. I live in Wisconsin. Most whitetail habitat has too many trees to get hundred yard shots. I'm also 66 years old and have less than optimal eyesight. A 125 yard shot for me would be marginal at best.

 

[Jedidiah]

Don't know anything about "terrorist" coyotes. But I do know that coyotes are very adaptable. I am in Pennsylvania and they are in every county in this state. Before retirement I worked at night in what was Philadelphia's Food Distribution Center, near the Delaware river waterfront. Not at all unusual to see coyotes hunting rats in the area.
Probably the only predators I would kill walk upright on two legs.

I am familiar with the area you worked in. As a kid we used to "race" on Front Street at night. At least the Coyotes were doing something useful if they were hunting rats!