Opinion on long range hunting

[big5ifty]

[Treeman]

Question is, is it hunting or shooting?

We go shoot Kudu at night with a spot light for the market. We hunt for Kudu, walk and stalk.

We shoot game at beyond the usual defence and wariness distances  --- the kinda thing that makes prey, game or quarry just a target--- my thoughts at least.

[oafpatroll]

I've shot exactly two bokkies in my life so my opinion is not exactly informed. I tend to agree with treeman re there being a question on whether it is hunting at all. Well seasoned veteran hunter friends of mine, one of whom was a PH for a long time, go on sprinbok 'shoots'in the Karoo and bushveld 'hunts'. They are of the view that if the animal has no way of detecting you before you pull the trigger it's shooting rather than hunting. That makes sense to me.

[big5ifty]

My personal opinion on the matter :

Hunting is about bullet construction, downrange energy and ethical conduct.

Will the bullet hold together reliably at impact velocity, and is the retained energy at hunting range sufficient for a quick kill if placed correctly. That is all.

The hunting rifle itself is important only in that the platform needs to perform reliably.

There is a mis-perception commonly known as long range hunting. There is no such thing as long range hunting. There is only hunting, for which you need to make sure of three things

        can you reliably place a kill shot at that distance

        will your bullet retain enough energy to make a quick kill if placed correctly

        can you reliably find the animal for a follow-up shot if you wound it

When the hunter honestly appraises those three points and acts accordingly, most hunting takes place within 200 yards.

There are numerous hunting exploits, documented and recorded on video and publically available that show shots on game taken at long range. This is unethical hunting practice. Even if you can reliably head-shot deer at one mile, you should not. That is not hunting.

When the range is ridiculously long, the time it will take to get to the point at which the animal was wounded to begin the follow-up means a lost animal. Leaving an animal that you wounded to die a lingering death because you are careless and indifferent, is not hunting.

When the range is ridiculously long, the retained energy of the bullet may not be sufficient to make a kill, even if placed correctly. A hunter's sole purpose is to make a clean kill. Hoping for a kill at long range is just using live animals for target practice. A hunter does not do that.

[oafpatroll]

I think there is also the 'chase' element to consider. Sitting on the back of a bakkie and taking a shot from a dead rest doesn't include any.