What is your real hunting distance limit?

How far will you really shoot at live game in the field and make a clean kill?

  • 200y

    Votes: 37 15.9%

  • 300y

    Votes: 104 44.6%

  • 400y

    Votes: 46 19.7%

  • 500y

    Votes: 22 9.4%

  • 600y

    Votes: 9 3.9%

  • More than 600y

    Votes: 15 6.4%
  • Total voters
    233
Normally 300, but with the right rifle, no wind and an animal across a canyon that is not likely to move maybe 400.

I've shot at Camp Perry up to 1,000yds, but that was a large target that never moved.
DSC_0186-scaled.jpg

I've shot Service Rifle, Palma, Metallic Silhouette and 10 meter Air Rifle matches, but consider hunting a different challenge. Shooting skills are one thing, stalking skills are another.
 
Paying for lost animals really makes me a conservative hunter. I punch paper at much longer distances than that which I hunt.
 
My hunting distances vary based on the MPBR of the rifle/caliber I'm using; no further though.
 
My current limit of 200 yards was chosen mainly because of the brushy woods I normally hunt in makes longer shots than that a rarity. So instead of going out to a friend's farm in central Arkansas to practice shooting at longer distances I will almost never encounter, for the last few years I've been content to go to the nearby public range and shoot at their 200-yard maximum targets. The vast majority of animals I've taken have been in the 150-yard range.

ah_range08-jpg.777277


At the hunting camp in Mississippi, it can be a real jungle in a lot of locations with the longest possible shot at around 165 yards. During the last primitive season, I took a deer from this tree stand using a Browning 1885 in 44 Mag at 55 yards:

ah_deerstand-jpg.642975


In central Arkansas, the lease I usually hunt on often limits the distance to about 200 yards as well. About 15 minutes after taking the photo below, I took a deer at 156 yards with my Ruger No. 1A in 303 British:

ah_303_british-jpg.687309


Once at this same lease I saw the biggest buck I've ever encountered while walking down a lane at an uncommon 325 yards. But I was uncomfortable taking the shot free hand without any extra support or being certain of my holdover so I didn't pull the trigger. If I knew I was going to go hunting in an area where longer shots would be common, I have a high level of confidence that I could extend my range to 300~350 with some additional practice. I've shot some promising groups with my Sako 30-06 that I think would yield acceptable results at longer distances.
 
It depends to some degree on the wind, what gun I am using, animal, terrain, and shooting position. I selected 300 because under ideal conditions I will normally take that shot accounting for all of the above.

A moose is different than a springbok.
My .300WM is different than my .45-70.
My tripod is different than offhand.
Open tundra is different than thick brush.

Two very recent examples - 2 blacktail bucks on Kodiak.

The first was offhand at 180 yards. He was walking and I was afraid the opportunity would pass me by. In my haste I didn't consider his rate of travel well enough and hit him a bit far back. He still died quickly so no harm done.

The second was bedded down in some brush facing me, at a ranged 254 yards. I used my walking sticks and electrical tape to make a bipod. The hit was solid, but he got up and ran. We found him dead maybe 30 yards away. Without the rest afforded me by my walking sticks and light winds, I probably don't take that shot. As it was I was confident.

Longest shot? 400 a few times (including this past March) on caribou, in very open country. In Africa? From sticks, in a very strong wind, on a springbok at 230 yards.

I'm not the long range sniper many of you are, in terms of ability, and I know it. I am often hunting with a lever action that's sometimes older than me. I try very hard to stay within my limitations, and honestly try to get within 200 when possible. YMMV
 
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bakerb said:
I voted before I saw your requirement of off sticks. I said 400. That would be my max, prone from a bipod. My farthest shot that way was 318 yards last year on a pronghorn.

I did shoot a kudu this year off sticks at 250+. I’m not real sure of range. We didn’t have a rangefinder. Could have been 300. It was a long shot on the last day in the last hour and thankfully I made a good shot.

Off sticks I’d say 200-250 for me.
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Same here. Off sticks is 100. Prone off of a backpack I can do 400.
 
I will say that on my last hunt we used the traditional 3 prong sticks and then we used the 4 Stable Sticks which are much better for me. I was able to get a lot steadier with the 4 stable sticks
 
I´m very confident within 200 meters, but shot further, always within 300 meters.

I have shot at 300m with open sights, but that was in Army, when I was much younger :ROFLMAO:
 
I admittedly voted before reading all the qualifiers. I was at 500 yards but with those limitations I’m at 300.
 
I’m never not bringing sticks butttttt…
- Off-hand: 100-125
- Seated hugging pack: 200-300
- Seated sticks: 300
- Standing rested: 200
- Standing sticks: 400 probably?

Then again, wind, shot angle, cover, excitement, exhaustion, shivering, etc. limit this, but I’ve never missed a clear 200-250 yd shot in the field.
 
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This is a rather interesting exercise because my max distance veries drastically depending on position. Eliminating the prone position significantly reduces my maximum range. Admittedly I am a western hunter and have rarely encountered issues with shooting from the prone position, my furthest single round kill shot is 538 yards from prone but I have several confirmed backup/follow up shots out to 750 yards also from prone. My maximum distance decreases rapidly with a change of position and as such I can not give a single answer. I am comfortable shooting far further seated using my pack as a rest than I am say off handed.
 
My personal best was 456 on a mule deer in Wyoming, no way to get any closer. I was prone snd could control my breathing snd heart rate after a pretty long stalk.I practiced a lot for that hunt out to 600 yards.
Here at home I try to limit myself to around 400 or so using my VX 6 3-18 scope.
 
"Get as close as you can, and then as steady as you can. When you are as close and as steady as you can be, take the shot only if you are at least 90% confident of a clean hit." ~ to paraphrase Jeff Cooper

My personal limit is about 300yds, perhaps to 350 if all seemed perfect. 400yds would be my absolute limit, as bullet time of flight is approaching 0.5 seconds.

My longest kill in Africa was 300yds on an Ostrich. M70 .30-06 with Shepherd scope, and I hit exactly at my aiming point with the 300yd circle. Its reticle BDC is very accurate, but I won't push the distance.

Missed a running baboon by <3" (according to my PH) at ~400yds with my .308 Savage Scout and Burris BallisticPlex scope. A South African friend read my book the next year and chastised me for the excessive range. I thought it over and concluded he was correct. I took much more of a chance on the baboon than I would have on kudu, etc. and I shouldn't have. That shot was more likely to wound than cleanly kill, and thus unsporting of me...even on baboon. Glad I missed!

So, on stationary and unwounded game, 300yds for me. I can almost always stalk to at least that close if there's even moderate foliage.
 
I hunt with a 1933 vintage Mauser sporter with open sights so 200meters offhand, 250-300 with a rest. I have shot Schuetzen rifles 200 meters offhand for 50 years so I have confidence in my offhand.
Mike
 
Almost all of my hunting shots have been under 200m
With my “Hunting rifles” I’m saying under 200

In the right situation with the right rifle and data I think I would still consider 500 a long shot on game.
 
I honestly only have 1 rifle where I'd take a 400 yd shot, my 280 AI. I'd go to 500 if there weren't any measurable wind.
 
Before I left my home state to do any hunting my furthest shot was 50ish yards. We actually would sight our rifles in at 50 yards with peep sights and be good to 75-100 even though 50 in our woods is a LONG shot.
After traveling to do some small hunts , bear in Montana , Africa, Canadian moose hunt, my furthest was 236 yards.
I have a 200yard range at my house so 250 sitting on the ground doesn’t bother me. I’ve shot to 300 a lot just for confirmation and still get good groups.
400 yards I need more practice before I would shoot on an animal in field positions.
Prone not being a position your ever using on any of the hunts we do.
Off hand shots and running animals through the snow is more how it goes in the North East. Practicing by cardboard inside a tire and rolling down a hill for off hand running shots.
 
Andrew62 said:
I live on the east coast, my main blind is set up at 15 yards, other blinds are 25 and 100 yards. In Africa when I hunted the eastern cape and I told my guide I would not shoot out past 300 yards.
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The North East we are too used to stalking in close as the woods are so thick! Makes 600 almost feel like your not even hunting
 
Off quad sticks I voted 300 yards, but I’ve extended it to just past 360 because the situation gave no other option. I’m confident to 250-300 on medium or larger antelope, but if I’m going to shoot past 300 I need to be confident and also have the ability to reload and shoot again, so I’d likely pass an animal standing just on the edge of thick brush but I’d take an animal (and have) on open hillside or flat plain.
 
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