Advice for long range hunting caliber

[devster55]

7mm rem mag. That's all my family uses.

[SB1964]

My advice, don't bother. Most Deer & larger game animals are taken at 1-300 yards. I said most. I have friends that talk about 5-600+ yard game shots all the time. Most of them are "meat in the freezer" guys, they feel they have to have some, no matter what. Likely not the case for you OP, but I see it all the time with Fish/Game hunters. Harvest cleanly, or don't even touch the trigger. As stated, not trying to talk down, or "belittle" I just wouldn't bother. Like others, the challenge is appreciated, it's just there are more ethical challenges IMO.

[Divernhunter]

I have taken pronghorns at 600+ yards with a 7mmRem mag, 300win mag, 25-06 and 257Weatherby. All deer have been under that.
I would use a 257Weatherby(I have a Vanguard) as it is flatter shooting than a 270 and has less recoil.

If I am drawn this year I have a 264Win mag to work with. That is an excellent long range game killer.

[russ69]

Put a pie plate on a stick and walk it downrange. When you can hit the pie plate every time, you are safe to shoot. When you put the pie plate out so far that you can't hit it EVERY TIME, that is your limit. There is no cheating, you do it first time every time or you shoot closer in.

[ElvenSoul]

While they ar still made in America
The Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 300WSM can be found for under $900 if you shop around.

[Tarasdad]

For 500+ yards the 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Win Mag, any of the medium Weatherby mag rounds would do handsomely. For non-magnum the .30-06, .308, .25-06, even 7x57mm Mauser or 7mm-08 would do. It's all in your ability to put the shot where it needs to go and the bullet's ability to do the job when it gets there. Personally I've passed on shots that I could easily have made because I wasn't 100% comfortable, most notably a 12-pointer at 450 yards because I'd loaned my brother my Mod 70 Featherweight 7x57mm and was carrying his .25-06 Ruger. I wasn't 100% familiar with the ballistics of his loads so called a pass. Had I had my rifle instead of his I wouldn't have hesitated for a second.

Intimate knowledge of your rifle and load are a must. That means time spent on the range shooting at every distance where you are willing to take a shot. If you haven't practiced beyond 300 yards then don't even think of taking that 600 yard shot.

Wind, mirage, minor errors in judging distance all add up very quickly when you start talking about long range shots. Being able to dope the wind at 300 is one thing. Doing the same at 600 is far more challenging. Oh, and that load that shoots such nice groups at 300 may look more like a shotgun pattern at 600.

[ElvenSoul]

For a total buget

Remington 700ADL 7mm Mag with 26" barrel
(7mm mag really needs 26" barrel minimum)
BassPro and Cabellas even Walmart sells these for under $500

[CNC_Apps_Guy]

Put a pie plate on a stick and walk it downrange. When you can hit the pie plate every time, you are safe to shoot. When you put the pie plate out so far that you can't hit it EVERY TIME, that is your limit. There is no cheating, you do it first time every time or you shoot closer in.

^^^^^^ This.

Safety 1st, Ethics 2nd, and distance is a distant 3rd.

There's a few hunters in my company. Most are bow guys, the rifle guys are GREAT long distance (1k plus) shooters and NONE of them take a shot much past 150. They all say the same thing, "I'm not taking a shot I can't make a kill at 100% of the time." Great philosophy from guys who's families have been hunting for generations. They were humble enough to admit that as they age, they are finding the desire to move in a little closer grows each year.

Just some food for thought.

[LynnJr]

This is the wrong subject for Calguns and a lot of other forums as well.

That said I hunt longrange every year for the past 15 years and my 80 year old father killed a blacktail at 1053 yards with a straight 6BR not a Dasher.

You want heavy for caliber bullets and your barrel must have the correct twist rate to use them.
Out here we hunt spooky blacktails without stiff legged mode like mule deer use.Up to 800 yards any low shot and they are gone with 6mm or larger bullets.The impact scares them unless the bullet goes over the top.Past 1000 yards the 6mm and 7mm don't seem to bother them with low hits but a 30 cal does out to around 1200 yards.
I use a 6mm-06 with 107 Sierras at 3433 fps out of a 30 inch barrel or 3300 fps out of a repeater with a 26 inch Bartlein in 8 twist.If you can look at the ballistics out to 1000 yards.
57 grains of H1000 a fed 215 primer and Lapua 30-06 brass does the trick.
The 7SAUM is another good choice for longrange hunting.
You want a scope with the highspeed turrets as hunting rattles the nerves more than bench shooting ever will.The nightforce high speed turrets have 20 moa so with a flat shooting round you never exceed one full turn.
If you spot a deer at 825 yards as measured on your laser rangefinder you would normally use a cheat sheet taped to your stock or a ballistic app on your phone to get the come up for your shot and dial it in.
Most shooters would then place the crosshairs on the shoulder and take the shot we don't.
After years of doing this we quickly pull left or right of the animal 100-200 yards and fire at a rock or small bush the same distancwe away as the animal.The guy spotting tells the shooter what changes need to be made and the animal is then targeted.
The coastal blacktails we hunt each year go downhill once hit.My 80 year old father has only seen one deer in 70 years of hunting go uphill after being hit and that was a very gradual slope.
Like Toby said earlier your hit percentage will suffer the farther you shoot as everything that can happen will happen.
If you want send me a pm as this subject will really rub some the wrong way.
Lynn

[8200rpm]

Hi, I'm planning on eventually becoming an astronaut and serving on a mission to the international space station. I was wondering which pair of socks you'd recommend.

I'm just in the beginning introduction to the preparation for the preparation phase and obviously the socks are an important part of that.

[yankee-pete]

Hi, I'm planning on eventually becoming an astronaut and serving on a mission to the international space station. I was wondering which pair of socks you'd recommend.

I'm just in the beginning introduction to the preparation for the preparation phase and obviously the socks are an important part of that.

You are dumb beyond your years. Why bother reading or commenting on a thread that you don't like. Just skip over it it instead of being an a-hole.

[ElvenSoul]

This is the wrong subject for Calguns and a lot of other forums as well.

That said I hunt longrange every year for the past 15 years and my 80 year old father killed a blacktail at 1053 yards with a straight 6BR not a Dasher.

You want heavy for caliber bullets and your barrel must have the correct twist rate to use them.
Out her we hunt spooky blacktails without stiff legged mode like mule deer use.Up to 800 yards any low shot and they are gone with 6mm or larger bullets.The impact scares them unless the bullet goes over the top.Past 1000 yards the 6mm and 7mm don't seem to bother them with low hits but a 30 cal does out to around 1200 yards.
I use a 6mm-06 with 107 Sierras at 3433 fps out of a 30 inch barrel or 3300 fps out of a repeater with a 26 inch Bartlein in 8 twist.If you can look at the ballistics out to 1000 yards.
57 grains of H1000 a fed 215 primer and Lapua 30-06 brass does the trick.
The 7SAUM is another good choice for longrange hunting.
You want a scope with the highspeed turrets as hunting rattles the nerves more than bench shooting ever will.The nightforce high speed turrets have 20 moa so with a flat shooting round you never exceed one full turn.
If you spot a deer at 825 yards as measured on your laser rangefinder you would normally use a cheat sheet taped to your stock or a ballistic app on your phone to get the come up for your shot and dial it in.
Most shooters would then place the crosshairs on the shoulder and take the shot we don't.
After years of doing this we quickly pull left or right of the animal 100-200 yards and fire at a rock or small bush the same distancwe away as the animal.The guy spotting tells the shooter what changes need to be made and the animal is then targeted.
The coastal blacktails we hunt each year go downhill once hit.My 80 year old father has only seen one deer in 70 years of hunting go uphill after being hit and that was a very gradual slope.
Like Toby said earlier your hit percentage will suffer the farther you shoot as everything that can happen will happen.
If you want send me a pm as this subject will really rub some the wrong way.
Lynn

Does not bother me if the person has put in the trigger time and has the discipline to make the shot. In some places very long range shots are the only shots available. Just like in some places you will never shoot past 75yds.

[LynnJr]

We used to take 8 guns total for each trip and needed to be set-up 1/2 hour before sunrise meaning we would get to our spot 2 hours before first light.The guns were strapped down on carpeted wood and would get removed first so we could set up our shooting platform.The platform rotates 360 degrees and has a lockable brake so you don't move upon firing.
After the first weekend of hunting it was common for us to leave some of the guns hidden to help in setting everything up.
With the new high speed turrets and the phone apps the other stuff isn't necessary anymore.
Since we started doing this we have killed 4 bucks under 30 yards and that has never happened before.

[ElvenSoul]

We used to take 8 guns total for each trip and needed to be set-up 1/2 hour before sunrise meaning we would get to our spot 2 hours before first light.The guns were strapped down on carpeted wood and would get removed first so we could set up our shooting platform.The platform rotates 360 degrees and has a lockable brake so you don't move upon firing.
After the first weekend of hunting it was common for us to leave some of the guns hidden to help in setting everything up.
With the new high speed turrets and the phone apps the other stuff isn't necessary anymore.
Since we started doing this we have killed 4 bucks under 30 yards and that has never happened before.

Wow that sounds like kewl setup.
The only real long range hunting I have done is for coyotes at 700 to 1000yds out in AZ.

I did make a 200+yd shot mounted from horseback on a Cow Elk once. Hunting deer and elk from horseback it seems I can get in closer. Plus some horses know what is up and have good insticts for getting close to the game.

[Jedediah Munroe]

Easy answer here just don't limit yourself to the so called Condor range and when 2019 rolls around for non lead in the whole state just quit hunting this state all together, many like me already have for Big game.

Oh and Terminal ballistics can be very good with non lead bullets but Terminal and Ballistic coefficient are two different things, one is how a bullets reacts when it hits and the other is the flight of the bullet, in short.

Which non lead projectiles have good terminal ballistics at 600 yards? Not doubting you, I just wanna know.