Sounds like a couple of my rifles, 308 is about 15 low at 325 and the 338 federal is 13 low at 325. The 270WSM is 2 inhes low at 340 from the Burris Ballistic plex retical. How do I know I have shot them.

It's usually people like Txkiller that get waaaay off on their ranges.

One night Kyle shot a coon in a tree that was about 120 yards away. Killer says "dude that was a long shot...at least 300 yards"

Then after getting him to say he thought the fence next to us was 200 yards, I told Kyle to step it off. I guessed 76 yards for the heck of it. It was 81 steps. Some people, e.g. killer, just have a hard time with distances...

i think this holds true 9 outta 10 times.

i've shot a deer at around 275, hit it, had him run 50 yards and put another one in him. deer was further than i wanted him to be, and even on 9x he was small in the scope. combine this with the shakes and a blind that moves, and its not the best combo for long range shooting. to be totally honest, the only reason i tried that shot was because it was the furthest i've ever tried to kill a deer at and i wanted to see if i could do it.

with a normal sporter weight rifle and a 3x9 or a 2.5x10....300 yards is a long way. when i hear people say they kill deer regularly with their mossberg combo rifles with busnell 2x7x32 scopes, i call b.s immediatly

i'm comfortable all day long to around 200 yards....anything past that, if there is a way i can or the deer is going to come closer, i'll usually wait it out.

I've only killed 3 animals past 200 yards. the forementioned cull buck, a sika deer at 227 yards and a mouflon right at 200.

all the rest have been around 150ish yards and under

I tend to think a big % is made up; a guy I use to hunt with always talked and bragged about these 300-400yds shots he made prior to us hunting together; we hunted on the same lease for 6 years and during that time he never killed anything beyond 200yrs and missed a couple of deer less than 125 yrds away. Just a bunch of hot air.

lol ran across this on youtube.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0KY-X1e-Vg
thought it was great shot considering taken with a .243....

running a 200 yard zero, like most people do, 1.5-2" high at 100, most guns shoot plenty flat out to 300

the problem is past 300 the drop gets progressively worse
4-500 is a lot of drop for most rifles

my 308 has a Khales CL 3-10x50 with a 5 preset reticle, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 500 and I can dial between

500 is no problem with a good rest, assuming I KNOW it's exactly 500 yards.... my Leupold RF is unpredictable beyond 400 and so that's my personal limit on a deer

I have been practicing to 750 and can hit a 12" plate every time
from a bench and done 1K with a gun setup for it...

The other thing is the wind has a BIG effect at 500 and out

The caveat of the 750 steel is that sometimes the first shot misses due to wind!

Most of my shots are 250 or less, quite a few at 300 and have done close to 400 several times.. but won't unless I am 100 confident via a range finder, a good rest and minimal wind.

I enjoy the challenge of the long shot but hate sitting in a blind for hours and hours and would rather be out stalk / still hunting and am running a 1.5-6 scope on my 6.8
500 yards on steel 12x12 is easy with it as are 5" plates at 250
which coincides with most of my shots being 250 and under, the last 2 deer were 250-275..

My longest deer kill was 225 range finder marked yards.

My longest kill was 424 yards. It was a good shot and the buck only went 20 yds. He was broadside and there was no wind. I probably would not try a shot that long again though. I have killed several deer at 300 to 325 yards. I shoot a Browning .270 wsm when I'm hunting the power-pipeline and practice quite a bit at ranges from 200 to 400 yards, so I know what I can and can't do. I will not try a long range shot in adverse weather conditions, especially on windy days. I wouldn't recommend anyone shooting over 200 to 250 if they haven't practiced and know exactly what they and their rifle are capable of. If you practice, a 300 yard shot is really not that difficult with the right gun and scope.

I have never shot a deer past 120 yards. Only shot 1 time at a target over 100 yards. I shot at a 4" circle on a feedsack at 400 yards off of my tailgate as a rest and shot a 5 shot group with about a foot diameter.. it was way low though.

I dont believe lots of it, some on here too

My longest shot was on the prairie at Barton Chapel. It was a measured 305 yards. The only reason I took the shot was because I ran out of cover. I had a rest on a mesquite tree and was shooting a custom .358 shooting times alaskan, a Layne Simpson wildcat. I had a 4.5 - 14 leupold scope and knew where it would hit at 300 yds. if I did my part. That buck was an 8 point that scored 162 2/8 gross and won 1st place at the Hunters Extravaganza in Ft. Worth, my best buck to date. 300 yards is a long shot and if I have my preference all my shots would be under 100 yds. If you don't feel comfortable shooting at longer distances then don't risk wounding an animal. If you have the right equipment and enough practice and conditions are right there's no reason not to take the shot.

I have killed multiple animals past 400yrd, one elk at 603yrds and the other at 458yrds..Long shots can be made and made easily. You got to know your equipment and cant shoot factory loads, if you plan on makeing long shots you have to hand load no questions asked. I have one rifle that I shot often 6.5x284 custom made that I shot out to a 1000yrds can hit a 4inch steel plate about 8 0f 10. Just a 5mph cross wind out past 500ryds will move your bullet way more then you think. If you know your gun, bullets and range, and know how to adjust to wind it can be made.

Many are BS. Now you, I am not talking about you. I just said many.

If I said BS ever time someone told of that stuff on here or in the shop, I'd be BuSy. Some of the stuff people claim on here is so wild, there should be about 30 Olympic Gold Medal Winners here.
There are some that can, but they put a LOT of time effort and money into it.

most deer hunters don't shoot more than a box of ammo a year, and at 100 yards only

don't pull the trigger if you haven't practiced at that distance and KNOW exactly where the bullet is going to go.

If you aren't 1000% confident you have the shot, don't take it.

"Tomorrow is another day" as my dad always says

He talked me out of taking a shot over Thanksgiving, biggest buck I have ever had the crosshairs on, 275 yards, dark thirty, windy, very, very thick area the deer was next to..

He told me if it doesn't drop we will have hell finding it...
I came SOOOOOOO close to pulling the trigger, and I KNOW I had the shot... but I listened to the voice of reason

still haunts me, but, probably the right call

I would rather go back and try again than lose a trophy
hell, it's a good excuse to the wife to go back hunting!

You don't make long range shots by pulling the trigger...

http://www.ftwoutfitters.com/Fliers/SAAM_Precision.pdf


Spend a few days with these guys and you will soon know your equipment and personal limitations. Truly money well spent.

X2 on this one..had a friend who took his daughters to it and said after they went thru the school they could consistenly hit the 500 yrd steel off of sticks with someone calling windage for them. Said it is very well instructed course. He highly reccommended it.

SAAM is no "B.S"

I've never taken a shot past about 300 on a deer or hog. I say about because I did not have a rangefinder at the time. It was about 300 good sized steps though so probably pretty close to 300.

I will say though that I shot a few at paper the other day at 298 yds. (With a rangefinder) and had about a 5 inch group. I was just checking to see exactly where I was hitting at that range. Glad I did because I learned that with that ammo that's probably my limit.

I've got a handload that will group good farther and am working on another that will group well and kill out to 500yds. or so.

Alot of variables though. There are cases in which I would take a shot that far and some where I wouldn't.

Bottom line I'll say this. I now Have a rangefinder and I'll know exactly what my gun/scope/ammo is doing at those ranges before I take a shot further than 300.

I also plan to do some longer range practice out to 600 yds just incase the opportunity ever arises.

All depends on how practiced each shooter is at different distances. Ive made 400 yard shots, and passed up alot of game at 200 depends on situation. Guys that I take hunting without seeing them shoot, 200 tops. Nothing worse than losing an animal.

Just because it doesn't happen in Texas doesn't mean it doesn't happen. In the west and midweset 250-450 ish yard shots are pretty common on mule deer and antelope. not many use blinds you just have to use what's available and pay attention to weather or be prepared to pass on the shot if conditions are not right.

Killed many a hog at 300yds with my 6.5 but wouldnt take that shot at a deer. Hate hogs!

The longest shots I have taken were 275 and 290. One was drt the other I was a little high and had to chase but did recover. I am not about to tell anyone what to do, for me personally using a $200 leopuld that is about as far as I would ever attempt, I don't really have a place to practice further than that and I really don't feel comfortable beyond that. It is just intimidating to my eye. That being said I know people who shoot a lot, do their own loads, have better optics and guns set up for it that I have no doubt can shoot very well at long ranges, they practice quite a bit more than me as well.

I tend to believe more of the long shot stories than all the people shooting 1/2" or less groups at 100 yards. I have been around guns long enough to know that 80% of the rifles out there aint doing that but it seems like 80% of the people on this forum are!

X2

Boy! don't go that route--I said that one time and got blasted
by everyone and their dog.