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T Inman;
Good evening my friend, I hope the last week of the 3rd month has been behaving for you and you're well up there.

Since I do watch Jim on Backfire on occasion, I was aware of his challenge.

To be crystal clear, as I believe you know of me T, I don't yet own a laser range finder and while I do have a couple scopes that seem to dial fairly reliably, I really haven't spent the time learning to do it.

However as you said, that doesn't mean nobody can or that I believe no one should.

This young guide from Wyoming puts in a pretty fair showing with a stock Tikka and Hornady ammo.



Again as I said to Jordan, my participation is to encourage hunters who shoot near or far to go take a look once they shoot with whatever it is they're hunting with.

As always, I appreciate your input on subjects T as I know you've put in the time on the mountain - well on the flat lands too likely, but it's a BC saying maybe...

Best to you sir.

Dwayne

Blackheart,

You’re seriously not gonna tell us that you’ve never made a marginal, non-lethal, shot on a game animal in all of your years of hunting, even at the short ranges you hunt, are you?

As always, you've got solid info to pass Dwayne.
I've watched people wail away across canyons and not go check the area out for blood, regardless if the critter ran off seemingly unhurt or not. It is frustrating to watch. In fairness though, it can be next to impossible to find a particular spot after you drop down, cross a creek and climb a couple thousand vertical back up to where you think the spot was and doubly so if the brush is thick or trees are tall. I'd argue in those circumstances you shouldn't shoot at all even if the shot is within your abilities.

What is this Creedmore?

The last one was in 2011 and it was caused by a deflection on an unseen twig between me and the deer. I had that deer dead to rights and completely unaware at 30 yards, my crosshairs on it's ribs in the pocket behind the front leg and under the shoulder blade when the trigger broke. The deer dropped like it was hit by a bolt of lightning. When I got up to it, the top of it's head was gone ! WTF ? I immediately knew it was either a deflection or my scope was royally fugged so went back to where I was when I fired and sure enough I found a twig smaller than a pencil shot clean off maybe two feet in front of my muzzle. Given the height of it, I knew it had been below my scope and out of view but directly in line with my muzzle when I fired. I was just lucky that bullet deflected straight into the head of a very unlucky deer. I could have just as easily missed or hit it in the guts instead as deflections are completely unpredictable. The last one before that incident was sometime in the early '90's and was another case of bullet deflection. That time by a blackberry bramble about halfway between me and the deer that caused me to hit it through the hips rather than behind the shoulder where I intended. I was shooting iron sights that day and just didn't see that bramble. At the shot the deer instantly dropped in the hind quarters and started dragging itself away. I pumped another round into the chamber and put it away with a second shot before it went 10 feet.

Agreed, sherm_61.

So, what's 100%? 50 yards, not too cold, no buck fever, animal is unaware of your presence, solid rest, clear shooting lane, animal not moving, animal broadside? Ok, that happens for sitters and stand hunters sometimes (for the life of me I can't see the difference between this deer and the deer that doesn't know you're there because you're 600 yards away but, whatever). But, even then, you're in a high-density deer state and you let 'em walk this particular evening. Then, hiking out for lunch with the boys you jump the big one at 50 yards and you see that big rocking chair (as Faulkner would say) on top of his head above his bounding, white azz and you have to take a shot. And, you have way less chance of making that shot than Mr. Burns does making that antelope shot. That's how 100-yard hunters wound deer. Or, you practice and get good at killing running deer at 50 yards (kinda like Mr. Burns is good at killing antelope at 700). Or, you only take shots from your sit at unaware deer that are walking by on that deer run 50 yards up wind - which sounds more like "shooting" than "hunting" as defined previously (not by me - you're all hunters in my book).

One of the better posts in this thread:


I've put in the hours to be good up close. But, a good deal more deer have been in the sights than I've pulled the trigger on because the light doesn't turn green unless I know I can kill him. Having said that, when the shot depends on skill it's rarely 100%. The meat cooler at the grocery store is 100%. Sure, there are unskilled hunters who take shots they shouldn't. It's our job to help them be better. But, when we decide to emasculate hunting to 100%-shot, zero-skill, participation trophy, consequenceless, no-animals-were-hurt-during-the-filming-of-this-movie play time, we will have destroyed what is meaningful about it.

OK, I feel better.

Yeah I have watched that one also.

Factory rifle shooting factory ammo without a spotter.

If we are talking LR shooting then using video of beginners shooting factory ammo in factory rifles is not indicative of the state of the art.

So when are you calling Jim to tell him you're up to it and ready to prove it ? Lotta big talk here. You'd think somebody would step up.

I stepped up a long time ago.

That's not 100 milk jugs in a row and doesn't really prove anything. For all I know you might put a bad hit on every third animal you shoot at.

Show us your skillz, player.

Or whine like a puzzy at those who do what you can't.

John;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope your part of Wyoming is getting seasonally appropriate and tolerable weather and that you're well on the last Wednesday of the 3rd month of what's turning out to be a bit of an exciting year.

As I mentioned to T, I know a couple fellows who teach long range shooting to LEO, civilians and maybe some military too, not sure about that last client or not, but for sure they're not using factory rifles, though the ammo often is factory selected I want to say.

Nonetheless I was impressed with the performance capabilities of the Tikka with the Hornady ammo, as you mentioned too without a spotter. That said, he seemed to be doing a decent job of seeing where he hit enough to make corrections and then make connections, so again not nothing.

In talking to the local guides for the past 40 years, I know that it's their job and that young fellow's as well to do what I've been encouraging everyone to do, which is go see if the animal was hit or not after the shot.

In his reply, T Inman mentioned it's often hard to find a particular spot after crossing a creek and/or a canyon and I'd say a hearty "Amen" to that thought for sure. We've found it helpful to carry trail tape and put a couple big strands where we've shot from since sometimes it's been necessary to go back at least once to get the bearings on where the animal was.

For sure too those times it's easier to accomplish with a hunting partner, but knowing exactly where I shot from has assisted me a couple times hunting solo too.

Anyways just a few thoughts from someone who admittedly cannot do what was in the video, but from a teaching perspective find the subject useful.

All the best.

Dwayne

Those skills would be worthless to me. There is no place to develop them or to put them to use where I live and hunt.

Blackheart is a EXPERT----Definition----He's quit learning---and he know it all. Rio7

Maybe we need to see this again??

There is no place to shoot long range around here you doddering old fool.

I do this more often than a guy would think. Sometimes I backtrack 2-3 times before I put the puzzle pieces together.

I remember one spring bear in WY, I had to go back multiple times to where I shot from and get my bearings. That shot wasn’t but maybe 150-200 yards in a steep but not very wide canyon. It took a few hours to find that bear and it fell at the shot and slid just a few feet before being wedged into a down tree.

It's apparent that a "spine shot just in front of the hips" from 952 yards is an accomplishment worthy of praise to the long range crowd. To the rest of us it's a major fuuck up.

Now I have never heard a long range hunter admit to making a bad shot! Never heard one tell of a cripple or a dead animal off 500 yds they left because they couldn't find it either. Ever heard of a long range hunter miss judging the wind? I haven't!

Blackheart, Yes I'm old 85 years old been shooting sense i was 6 years old when my uncle thought me how to shoot and be safe with a rifle started hunting when i was 8 years old killed my first Elk and Mule Deer that year in our hay pasture sense then i have hunted every year and i've hunted big and small game and Birds from Coast in the U.S. and Canada, and this old fool knows a FRAUD when he sees one your IT! Rio7