Ruger Forum banner

maximum distance

964 views 11 replies 12 participants last post by  Tommo 
#1 ·
Question You are hunting with your 308 bolt gun. You know it will give you hunting level accuracy to 400 yards. You hve the best premium bullet ammo. Does not matter whether hand loads or factory. You spot the moose of a lifetime 450 yards away. It will be a quartering away shot. You have to shoot from behind. Do you take a shot.
 
#2 ·
The gun itself may provide "hunting level accuracy", but can YOU confidently make a clean shot at 450 yards? Will the bullet performance be sufficient at that distance? A quartering away presentation usually makes for a large target area and a good opportunity to not be spotted by the animal.
 
#4 ·
No I'd hunt closer. The only time I would take the shot would be if he was wounded. I have no place to practice 450 yard shots so no idea how much bullet drop at that range.
 
#5 ·
.308, nope. Before touching anything else in this scenario, the .308 is not enough gun to even think about taking that shot. There will just not be enough energy to have 100% confidence that the bullet will be able to make it to the vitals. At 400 yards, you are looking at only about 1400+/- ft lbs of energy. So throw an extra 50 yards on top of it and the amount of penetration you are requiring, nope nope and nope.
 
#6 ·
Moose , 450 yards , moving away and all I have is the rear end ...I'll pass !

I don't think a 308 has quite enough penetration to go from stem to stern of a large moose at 450 yards...that's a long way .
My Daddy taught me to get close , hold steady and make that first shot count or pass .
"The first shot is the only one that counts...after that you just peeing in the wind."
Gary
 
#8 · (Edited)
I’ll pass on that shot and it has nothing to do with whether I can hit it or not. Most will say, (and no one has to agree with it) the minimum ft/lb’s of energy needed to harvest Elk is 1500. That said, a Nosler 180gr AB, (.507 BC) leaving the muzzle at 2575fps only has 1381 ft/lb’s at 450yds, 190gr AB, (.597) is around 1413 at the same distance. The numbers will only go lower as the bullet weight drops.
 
#9 ·
Nope. Almost anybody can hit a moose sized object at 450 yards but we're not shooting at a moose. We're shooting at a pie plate sized vital area and 450 yards is a long way away to hit a pie plate under field conditions. Punching holes in paper off a bench using a rest or sandbags is a lot different than establishing a hasty rest on a pack, rock or tree limb. Plus there aren't any flags downrange you can use to gauge the wind. Even if your rifle/ammo combo is a legitimate MOA rig you'd have to make a perfect shot to hit the mythical pie plate. Let's say you did make a perfect shot. Perfect sight picture, perfect breath control, perfect trigger control, stable position, and the shot broke clean exactly as planned. Plus/minus 1 MOA at that range would still put you right at the very edge of the pie plate. That's not even accounting for a gust of wind, hitting a twig, etc. If anything with your shot isn't exactly correct it will result in a miss. In this case a miss isn't just a hole in paper outside the black. The result is a wounded animal that's going to endure a heck of a lot of misery because someone decided they wanted to take a pot shot and hope they got lucky. That's not hunting. I'm not saying it can't be done but IMO that's not an ethical shot. Get closer.

Yeah, I know. People routinely hunt antelope and mountain goats at 400 yards. Got it. That's a particular skill set requiring particular gear and particular experience. Plus antelope are a lot easier to kill than moose. I also know a bunch of people are gonna chime in with anecdotes about long range shots. Like I said, it can be done but most of us have no business attempting that shot. I know I wouldn't take it and at the risk of sounding arrogant I know I'm a better shot than most of you. Yep, I said it. YMMV.
 
#10 ·
I'm with Bonk and others …. I was taught to actually hunt and stalk game, not to be like a sniper. I always held my fire until I was well within range for a one shot kill. I hunted deer and elk for many years but never moose. I don't think I ever fired a shot past 150 yards …. most were under 100 yards. I always filled my tag but not a "trophy of a lifetime".
 
#11 ·
Iowegan, Bonk and others are correct.

Spot and stalk hunting into the predominate wind heading is a good method in many or most situations, unless elevated stand hunting. Also, moose are often seen up close, blinds are rarely used or called for.

Killing big animals is best done under 200 yards. Under 125 is preferred.

Long range shooting is great for target challenge and original military use in saving human lives. .30 cal is great for these purposes but good for hunting at suitable ranges too. Regardless of bullet manufacturer hype.

Best to break 'big' animals down quickly and promptly finish the job if needed, so they dont get away wounded.

A friend dropped a 700lb bull elk at over 400 paces with a sub 30 cal ackley wildcat this past fall, he aimed at hoof and followed up to the shoulder and squeezed during no wind conditions, early. Even though he knew what he was doing as an advanced hunter and shooter, it is still ill-advised - animals can go a long way when wounded.

There could have easily been low cross wind at that range, hitting elk in non-critical flesh area. This is aside from the fact that most if not all small arms have low terminal energy, way downrange, regardless of case capacity propellant.

Target shooting on animals is a very poor practice. Regardless of what the parrots say.
 
#12 ·
We have a deer stalking qualification in BG (DSC1) of which there are six elements to it.

1. General knowledge of our 6 deer species

2. Legislation relating to shooting deer - minimum calibre, stopping power.

3. Safety

4. Shooting skills - minimum requirement is 5 shots in 4" @100m. Shot standing, kneeling and prone.

5. Hygiene - inspecting carcase for diseases etc.

6. Deer management.

Assessment is on the first 5 elements and the courses are over three days.

For example (No4.) legally you can't shoot large deer (Reds, Roe, Sika or Fallow( with anything less than .243 but .308 is recommended for Reds. Also the bullet has to weigh more than 100grains and have a muzzle energy of 1700 foot pounds. Chinese Water Deer and Muntjac can be shot with .22 centrefire rifles.

The pass mark is 85%. This course is not mandatory but most people who take stalking seriously do the course as a test of their skills. I did mine 15 years ago but there was no Hygiene element back then. Any Zoonotic disease has to be reported.

But, and only because I shoot very long distance target, and have done for 30 years, I have shot rabbit at 600m. But deer, never over 150m and closer if I possible.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top