Just freaking shoot...

[Keith Wood]

I'm hearing more and more from outfitters and guides who are seeing clients who can't make a 100-300 yard shot without pulling out a ballistic app and a kestrel. Those are great tools for extended range shots (which are pretty rare in the actual hunting world) but are totally unnecessary inside of 300 or so yards with modern cartridges.

Know your rifle and its basic DOPE. Know your max point blank range. Be ready to shoot without setting up a tripod and seven bags. It's actual hunting, not NRL Hunter.

Example: On the first day of this year's Montana elk season, Schoby was showing me a new piece of country. We were on public land and had packed in the night before, brutally hung over. The wind was kicking our asses so we slipped down into the valley and side-hilled our way through a drainage. Mike spotted a lone bull 100 or so yards below us. He was feeding along and wasn't going to linger.

There was no time for dicking around with shooting sticks. I tried to sit but the slope was too steep and I couldn't see him. I rested my rifle across a small tree but that wasn't ideal either. I could see the top half of the elk. With my scope on 2.5x, I threw the rifle up and shot him offhand. The bullet hit the spine and he tumbled into the nastiest crap imaginable. I didn't need software or a wind call-- just some basic shooting skills.

Learn to hunt like your grandfather.

Getting him out of there was a story for another day...

 

[Godfather]

I'm hearing more and more from outfitters and guides who are seeing clients who can't make a 100-300 yard shot without pulling out a ballistic app and a kestrel. Those are great tools for extended range shots (which are pretty rare in the actual hunting world) but are totally unnecessary inside of 300 or so yards with modern cartridges.

Know your rifle and its basic DOPE. Know your max point blank range. Be ready to shoot without setting up a tripod and seven bags. It's actual hunting, not NRL Hunter.

Example: On the first day of this year's Montana elk season, Schoby was showing me a new piece of country. We were on public land and had packed in the night before, brutally hung over. The wind was kicking our asses so we slipped down into the valley and side-hilled our way through a drainage. Mike spotted a lone bull 100 or so yards below us. He was feeding along and wasn't going to linger.

There was no time for dicking around with shooting sticks. I tried to sit but the slope was too steep and I couldn't see him. I rested my rifle across a small tree but that wasn't ideal either. I could see the top half of the elk. With my scope on 2.5x, I threw the rifle up and shot him offhand. The bullet hit the spine and he tumbled into the nastiest crap imaginable. I didn't need software or a wind call-- just some basic shooting skills.

Learn to hunt like your grandfather.

Getting him out of there was a story for another day...
View attachment 32

Great post Keith Wood, and congrats on the bull.

Agree with you, and some of that I imagine sits in the hands of the shooter, who to your point has to get their proverbial shit together, and part might sit with the guide or outfitter that have been market conditioned to this being more the norm and trying to accommodate it, versus change it - either way, your counsel if spot on.

I graze, explore, experiment, and more with my gear and tactics for hunting, always seeking a better way. I'm certain along the way I was "that guy", falling prey to blending a recent long-range course with a rising passion for raw hunting in the field. I won't discount future evolution of all that, but I have found great solace in knowing my DOPE to 400 yards stone cold, so all I need is a buddy or guide to call actual or estimated, or I will through my own eyes and make my best guesstimate, and I'll let it fly, and my theory is anything longer than that, I have time, and hopefully concealment, to figure out calculations, stalk approach, etc. The off-hand element is something none of us practice enough, and so we all probably suck more than we want to admit, but finding anything, even a tree branch, is better than nothing for a point of contact.

 

[Sean Molina]

Great advice!

I agree with @lynch.kevina too.

With archery, I practice all of the "unfavorable" shots. When it comes to fire arms, I'm guilty of striving for the perfect shot, and thus disappointing my grandfather. May he rest in peace.

Again, great advice!

 

[Jeff Johnston]

Agree 100 percent. I also see it in archery all the time on a micro level. Deer comes in. Hunter ranges at 38 yards and dials his sight. Draws. Deer takes three steps. Hunter lets down, ranges again---surprise! 35 yards---adjusts the dial and draws again. Deer runs off. Now, what I will say is on a 250-plus yard shot where conditions aren't ideal, make sure your rest is good. If your wobble is wobbling off the animal, you need to improve it, your heart rate or the range to the target.

 

[Keith Wood]

We know JJ isn’t afraid to sling lead.

 

[Jeff Johnston]

Also, I think Keith's photo of his elk should be the new standard for trophy shots. I'm serious!

 

[Charlie Benton]

Great post. Some of us are blessed with shooting a bunch of different rifles throughout the year as part of our job. As such, it's difficult to get really familiar with the dope for each rifle. I've found a great workaround to be creating a dope chart for each rifle, print it out small, and tape it to the inside of my scope cap or to the stock.

 

[fuchsmatt]

Great post. Some of us are blessed with shooting a bunch of different rifles throughout the year as part of our job. As such, it's difficult to get really familiar with the dope for each rifle. I've found a great workaround to be creating a dope chart for each rifle, print it out small, and tape it to the inside of my scope cap or to the stock.

QB armband works great too, can print a little bigger or add more yardage intervals for longer ranges.

 

[Keith Wood]

Yall are kinda missing the point…know your point-blank range and be ready to send it.

Charlie; I hear you on the T&E guns- I’ve been bitten in the ass on that one more than once!

 

[badgererickson]

" I know..." are 2 of the most dangerous words I've heard in the classrooms, and on the firing line; If you ALREADY "know" from watching videos, WTFBH are you doing in my classroom? Send em back to air guns and .22s, no optics. Got to the point I'd stop helping track an animal, once I found out WHO was behind that trigger.

 

[jacobylovell]

I'm hearing more and more from outfitters and guides who are seeing clients who can't make a 100-300 yard shot without pulling out a ballistic app and a kestrel. Those are great tools for extended range shots (which are pretty rare in the actual hunting world) but are totally unnecessary inside of 300 or so yards with modern cartridges.

Know your rifle and its basic DOPE. Know your max point blank range. Be ready to shoot without setting up a tripod and seven bags. It's actual hunting, not NRL Hunter.

Example: On the first day of this year's Montana elk season, Schoby was showing me a new piece of country. We were on public land and had packed in the night before, brutally hung over. The wind was kicking our asses so we slipped down into the valley and side-hilled our way through a drainage. Mike spotted a lone bull 100 or so yards below us. He was feeding along and wasn't going to linger.

There was no time for dicking around with shooting sticks. I tried to sit but the slope was too steep and I couldn't see him. I rested my rifle across a small tree but that wasn't ideal either. I could see the top half of the elk. With my scope on 2.5x, I threw the rifle up and shot him offhand. The bullet hit the spine and he tumbled into the nastiest crap imaginable. I didn't need software or a wind call-- just some basic shooting skills.

Learn to hunt like your grandfather.

Getting him out of there was a story for another day...
View attachment 32

Couldn’t agree more. Best shot I ever had was a 500 yard shot on an elk with my 280. It was my first M.RAD scope so I was nervous to start fucking with the turret so I just held high. Perfect shoulder shot and the 150 grain Barnes tore him up.