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Old September 15, 1999, 06:06 AM   #13
Long Path
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 31, 1999
Location: N. Texas
Posts: 5,899
There's no doubt to me that the sport gets questionable in a lot of the shots people refer to as "Long Range Hunting."

My interest is being able to accurately dope out ranges from high spots overlooking open range that has pretty straight-line winds, blowing over light scrub that well-shows the direction. I shoot a .30 cal 180 grain BTSP Game King bullet (which has such a high B.C., it has been used to win the Wimbledon Cup 1000 yard match) at 3100 fps. Out to 500 yards, a 10 mph crosswind dopes out to about 15 inches of drift. I'm not going to try a long shot at longer than that, EVER, unless it's to put down a wounded animal or it's a varmint (4 or 2 legs) that needs to be destroyed. The problem is, even with its superb wind-bucking ability and high velocity, things begin to drop really quickly beyond about 375 yards.

If you've got a steady rest from a high rock and see a good deer steady in your crosshairs at ~450 yards, and you have the above load in a rifle that's zeroed at 300 and shoots .75 MOA on demand for you, and the winds are steady from your 2 o'clock at 10 miles per hour as you watch the deer stop and feed in a batch of green, is it completely wrong to want to know the range to consider your shot? No. I don't have my tables here and haven't looked at it for awhile, but my shot would be 14" high and 4" to the right. With a good rest, I believe I can keep it in a 7" circle at that distance, every time.

M.P.B.R. is about 350 yards in my rifle. That's just the distance that I can hold dead-on with. Nothing more. If I use the same concept, I could never take a deer beyond about 150 with a .45-70, because I shouldn't hold over.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I just want the range finder to help me do what I already think I can do. I just like to be all the more sure, because I don't want to risk a shot that hangs a bit low, and, due to a bit longer flight time, falls a bit far back from the wind.

When you spot the game from this rocky hill, you've no chance of intercepting it through the brush, at that point. You either shoot, or change tactics.

[This message has been edited by Long Path (edited September 15, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Long Path (edited September 15, 1999).]
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