"Good to a thousand" mentality??

[GreyGhost85]

Just got back from a very successful mule deer hunt. Helped a group take 3 mature bucks in 3 days. Anyways, it seems like every single hunter you talk to has a rifle that they deem "good to a thousand". is anyone else running into this? i heard more shooting in 3 days than i have in the past 3 years. NOBODY would try to get close animals. the country we were hunting is big and most of the canyons are 6-800 yards across. people drive down the road, hop out of their side by side and proceed to empty their gun. bucks running at 800 yards and still flinging lead. i glassed a nice buck that had been hit by someone after our group was all tagged out so i flagged down a hunter and asked him if he would like to shoot it. The buck was i think 1068 yards away and would have been very easy to close the gap and shoot him at 2-300 yards. the hunter looked at the buck and ranged it and said " i only have hold overs to a thousand" "if he was 60 yards closer i could kill him"...shocking to say the least. what happened to getting as close as possible? I've made my fair share of far shots, but only after still getting as close as possible. i must have talked to 10 different people that have rifles that are "good to a thousand". My brother made a nice comparison to all these people. "It's like buying a pair of Michael Jordan's shoes and expecting to slam dunk a basketball". Maddening to say the least. I had a few words for the man that refused to stalk in and kill the wounded buck.

[bgshooter]

They're going to have to hike to the animal to retrieve. Might as well get as close as possible to increase the chance of getting a hit. But that's just me.

[TOBY]

Mentalalittlety is closer. There a few guys here who can make that shot.....very few.

[ThomC]

All you guys that brag on the internet are reaping what you sewed. I have been complaining about this for years but no one wants to hear it. It is too late to close the barn door the horse is gone for good.

[Allforelk]

There is a lot here that bothers me. How many that claim they are "good to a thousand" have ever practiced at more than 100-200? Shooting steel one time isn't practice.

 

How many of these people even think about things like TOF? How much does an animal move in a second at a walk/trot/run?

 

If these people aren't willing to close the gap to a reasonable distance and greatly improve their chance at a good hit and humane kill, how many of them then walk 1/2 mile to even look for blood or cut hair?

[GreyGhost85]

That's my biggest gripe. Even if you are one of those .001% of hunters that can consistently make that shot, from what i have seen, animals might not even act hit at that distance and these people don't look for hit indications. Sad deal

[AzDiamondHeat]

Same issue with all the keyboard snipers whos rifle will shoot half inch groups "all day long" and proceed to post ONE 3 shot group to prove it.

 

It seems that these days it is more about the bragging rights to how FAR they shot something rather than how close they were able to get to it.

[Hoss50]

I hate it too. People are willing to fling lead. It is dangerous and unethical. I shoot more than most hunters do and I wouldn't want to take a shot past about 500 yards with the rifle I am most comfortable with, less with anything else. I am building a rifle now that I hope to be able to take an 800 yard shot with but even that will only be with tons of practice.

[GreyGhost85]

when i was walking over to locate the buck my dad killed there was a small 2 point around 50-60 yards from me on an open, grassy hillside without even a tree on it. a side by side loaded up with hunters slammed on their brakes and shot over my head 4 times from i would guess 7-800 yards out. scares me to think about it. i was caught in a serious crossfire, had to hit the deck and army crawl over to a tree until they stopped shooting. i hate to think it, but i would bet i was in their scope along with the buck. absolutely 0% chance they didn't see me.

[OpticNerd]

Every year I know more and more hunters that are good to 1000. Most of them don't realize that just because the gun is good to 1000 doesn't mean the guy shooting is good to 1000.

[Becker]

Well I have seen it both ways. Don't get me wrong the closer the better IMO. I shot my buck at 260 yards this year. I was set up on him at just over 1000 but the buck just wouldn't give me the "right" shot. Sooo I snuck over there and dumped him close.

 

Back to my first statement. Just because people get close doesn't mean that it is any better. I've seen people miss from close distances as bad or worse than I've seen people miss at long distances. Close or far people just don't practice with their equipment.

 

At the end of the day I think it's a problem with people having the wherewithal and restraint to know when the shots should be taken and when they shouldn't. I can't chastise anyone for trying to hunt deer or anything however they see fit. Guys blasting at 8-900 yards or guys lining up the firing line across the desert flats and blasting at running bucks as they blow out. It's really all the same no? If they can't already shoot them close putting a long range gun in their hands isn't going to really change anything. There will always been wounded and lost animals no matter what.

 

I would think everyone would be really surprised if they held a proficiency test for hunters. I bet the percentage that fail would be astounding. Lol

[Hoss50]

I would be willing to bet that most of the "good to a thousand" crowd would be hard pressed to put there first shot on a 36" steel plate at 500 yards, let alone on a deer size kill zone at 500 yards.

[firstcoueswas80]

Same as people that shoot deer at 100 plus with a bow.

[doogan]

LOL! A buddy of mine said those exact same words this weekend. We went shooting and he hit the target at 650. His first ever attempt at that range. He texted our other buddies yesterday that he was "good to 650" and that I was good to 800 (that's the furthest I shot that day). I had to call him out, you hit 1 target at 650! That does not make you Quigley. I practice those shots and the furthest I've ever shot a deer at is 500, most of the time you can get closer so why not try? Yes the gun can make the shot, and when you are practicing you have perfect conditions and are completely calm. When you put a deer in front of you that all changes, calm goes out the window. Practice the long shots, it makes the closer shots much easier. And be responsible, none of us are perfect and bad shots happen, but do everything you can to prevent it.

[Coach]

Yeah this has been a disturbing trend for sure. MOA at a thousand yards is a ten inch group and there are not a lot of people who can consistently shoot MOA in field conditions. Honestly, I haven't seen many people who can consistently shoot sub-MOA off of a bench with no wind. My guess is most of these people bought an expensive gun and a box or two of factory ammo, sighted it in at 100-200 yards and printed out some ballistic chart. Most of them probably would miss by feet on a realistic, in the field shot over 700 yards.

 

I'll be the first to admit - I reload and shoot a lot and I wouldn't shoot over 500 yards with any of my rifles. That's just my personal limit based on what I feel comfortable and confident with.

 

There are some very skilled shooters out there who put in the time and practice to be able to confidently make 700- 1000 yards shots, but IMO they are few and far between.