Taking shots at animals beyond 250 - 300 yards is not good sportsmanship.
You are not a sniper. You are not at “war” with wildlife.
600 yards is the outside limit for trained USMC “Dedicated Marksman” with some of the best most expensive & excellent equipment.
I have had met people over the years that bragged about their long shots taken; how many feet high and in front they had to lead the animal. Ridiculous.
Stalk within range or wait for a better opportunity. Or perhaps you just like to play sniper...
I am not shooting at animals beyond 250. I want a rifle with a large enough caliber to shoot Moose and Elk at reasonable distances but I also want to use it for long distance targets. Two different purposes with one rifle. I don’t have money to buy a rifle for every purpose. Thanks.
I am with coyote and feral pigs.
If it takes a 400 yard shot to get them, then that's what it takes.
/johnny
I hope you don't use anything other than a club, as that would be bad sportsmanship.
Hunting is harvesting, whether someone finds "sport" in it is secondary, and I guarantee you meaningless to the animal getting shot. Indeed, I'm sure they would prefer a clean, surprise kill at 600 yd to being chased down and clubbed to death.
If the individual is capable of making a good shot at 600 yards, there isn't a thing wrong with taking it. Taking your preaching somewhere else, where people like to be told how to live their lives by people who profess to know better.
Vacationed at Priest Lake, Idaho once.
Guy there hunted Grizzley Bears with a bow and arrow.
I said, “ No problem, just have a Desert Eagle strapped to your thigh”.
He said Oh no, you can have a knife but NO firearm during bow hunt season.
I thought, Whoa.
I kinda like that 300 yard shot with a cannon.
Actually, 600 yards is when the snipers begin to utilize the ballistic advantage of long distance shooting. The 600 yard zero is standard.
Heck, my wife uses iron sights with her M1A1 and places holes in the X ring at 600 yards, my eyes being a tad weak, i've went to glass for same.
When we go to depredate the local coyotes, unless we use a call, we don't see them very close in the open fields, but we know where the marker stakes are.
I do agree closer is better for the larger animal if using .308.
But if the round used will deliver the energy and transfer it, and the shooter is capable, the distance is really not consequential. Well, other than you must then go fetch the game that far away and back again!
What about the following set phrase do you not understand?
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
You are not a sniper. You are not at war with wildlife.
600 yards is the outside limit for trained USMC Dedicated Marksman with some of the best most expensive & excellent equipment.
Well said, and thanks for saying it. The most accomplished deer hunter I ever knew, who btw happened to be one of the finest gentlemen I ever knew, was a guy from Beckham County in western Oklahoma - wide-open rifle hunting country for the most part. His numero uno hunting rifle was a Remington model 742 in .243 Winchester. I once asked him what was the longest range he'd ever killed a deer at, and his answer was "Oh, I don't know... hundred and fifty yards, maybe two hundred..."
Sounds like the OP is a bit new to the rifle world and just needs to ask the right questions, which he seems to be doing. He'll probably end up needing more than one rifle, which of course is a good thing.
He might like a good bolt gun in .260 Remington to start with, JMHO...