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I’ve come across a few animals dead from their wounds over the years. Once I even found one still alive but gut shot and unable to stand.

I agree that the object is to kill them and not to have sport. However, minute of angle at 600yards is a 12” diameter. At 200yds with an appropriate caliber, a decent hunter can shoot a standing animal dead with one shot (though many still miss or gut them). At 600 you are as likely to wound or miss entirely. Chasing wounded game (especially large dangerous game such as moose and bears) is not fun.

15 years ago I guided for black bear. I saw alot of hunters with very expensive equipment miss and wound stationary animals. Our hunters were not allowed to use less than a 300 magnum nor shoot from more than 300 yards. Still ended up having to finish off lots of wounded bears.

No matter how accurate they are at the range, I don’t know anyone who hunts at 600 yards, and I don’t recommend it for a variety of reasons, especially in less than perfect conditions. Your mileage may differ.

I have a father-in-law that can’t seem to put a deer down hard at 25 yds. I know other people who simply shouldn’t take a 100 yd shot.

Between the ages of 15-25, I shot a .25-06 that shot much inside minute of angle. If my rounds didn’t overlap at 100 yds, I considered it a flier. My rifle skills were excellent. I shot prairie dogs at 500 yd and more than once I opted to shoot a standing deer in the upper throat at 200-400 yds (because I didn’t like a messy field cleaning job.

I never took a shot at a deer in excess of 500 yds, but I did pass on shooting a prone shot at a large buck that was laying down. To this day, I’m very certain that I would have hit heart and lungs.

So, what is an appropriate shot? One that the rifle and you can reasonably make with high confidence. I’m not as confident now as I used to be, but I wouldn’t hesitate on a 400 yd steady shot on heart and lungs.