yep, true fair chase would involve a knife or a club ... Trazan style, loin cloth and all.

My foremost ethical concern in hunting is that the animal not suffer to the extent I can avoid it.

Some can make longer range shots with a very high degree of reliabilty to produce very clean, quick kills.

Conversely, watching people shoot at the range before deer season, a huge percentage struggle at even 100 yards.

So, the question of the ability to produce clean kills really is more about a person's particular proficiency than the distance.

Nope. Like everyone else, I pick some arbitrary line for what I personally consider sporting and go with that.

agree jeffbird ... never ceases to amaze me every time I go to a range to make sure everything is hitting like it should be to see other people spraying shots over a 12 inch area calling that good enough for hunting.

A ranch I was a guest on last September has a nice range, out to a mile. Every hunter has to qualify before hunting. Show a 100 yard zero inside 2", and hit a 10" plate at 300 yards. A man had his 21 year old son trying to qualify, and he was all over the place. No trigger discipline, not controlling the rifle, it was beating him up, and making him shoot even worse. I stayed 20 yards behind minding my own business. The friend I was with went over to the older man and quietly spoke to him. Then he came over to me and said "would you please go fix this?" When I got over to the 21 year old, everyone shut up, and let me help him. In 10 minutes he was way better off, and was able to qualify with the ranch's requirements. Point being, many people just don't know what they don't know, so they don't understand how to correct problems. If they can even recognize a problem.

Not sure how “ethical” but....200+ yds with a .22lr on feral goats. We were on a rise and they were in a field below and going away from us. Aimed high over the lead goat....second one from the back dropped on impact. Hit in the back of the head right at the base of the skull....

agree FiremanJG ... as I was once told "it's okay to be ignorant, that means you just haven't been taught" ... although I have been shooting & hunting for 55+ years, I am always open to learn something new.

Several years back a pro trap/skeet shooter was at a friendly backyard pre-dove season clay shoot, after I shot a few times he asked if I was coachable, sure, he gave me several stance pointers and I busted the next 5 or 6 clays in a row. just simple little tricks/tips can make a world of difference, can also calm nerves when under pressure.

very similar to my WT doe at 800+ yards story ... LOL

My buddy yelled “I can’t believe you got him!” I never told him I was aiming at the one about 10 yards ahead...we were 18....

Furthest shot for me was 323 yards with a Browning 7mm Mag, I was laying down with a small burm for a shooting prop.
Was it ethical? I felt comfortable taking a broadside shot on a doe and she dropped like a rock.

65 yds...Antelope with Longbow
400 plus a few times on elk....270, 135gr Remington BT.
15 years in Colorado and 5 in Montana gives you many opportunities at distance shooting each year.
Have missed elk at less than 20 yds with bow...shaking and looking at their head and shoot right over them.

Actually, there is even more time to consider. It takes about 0.2 seconds for most younger guys and up to 0.3 seconds for us older guys between when the brain makes the decision to pull the trigger and when the signal actually reaches to implement the action. So for your 7mm example, the animal has the chance to move for 1.55-1.65 seconds before the bullet arrives. Using 1.6 seconds as an example, if the quarry moves at just 1 mph, it can move just over 2'4". At 2 mph, it can move 4'8". Even such slow moves at such a long distance would result in horrible shots in regard to impacting the animal.

And just imagine a 2mph movement from an animal is simply an animal taking a single stride to graze or just a simple step. If an animal gets spooked it will move much faster than that, but thats not what we are talking about. Just a regular feeding movement from an animal could mean the difference between a good lunch shot or a butt shot. I know there are people who are comfortable shooting targets or steel at 1000 yards, but is shooting a game animal at that distance an ethical shot or just a hope the animal doesn't move long enough for the bullet to arrive?

tough question for me to answer since I don't shoot that far. Not trying to be elitist, just stating I don't have need to shoot that far and most likely won't ever. To each their own.

428 yards on a Gemsbok. Using a Remington 700, 300 Win Mage with 165 grain federal fusion ammunition.

Read that first sentence and shut her down.

Go up North and tell people you hunt in texas. You'll get laughed out of town. a lot of states do not allow feeders. Most deer hunters in the states do not stand hunt, much less over a feeder pen. They would call that unethical or non fair chase.

Read some books by Steve rinella and see what he thinks about high fence hunters.

It's all relative to what the hunters wants.

As hunters we should ask ourselves 3 things.
1. Will the animal be taken humanly
2. Will the meat be harvested.(baring predator or invasive species control)
3. Is it legal.

If the answer to those things is yes. We should learn to let our personal opinions of what others do go to the way side it's not our business.

Lots of on this thread. I had to raise my pant legs got so deep.

mine was a whopping 175 yards about 40 years ago on a Mule Deer hunts near Marathon

I don't care what anyone says, I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and I can shoot a deer over them there mountains. Brought to you by Uncle Ricco, and Stuart Smalley

Then again, lots of hunter "up North", and even in the SE, hunt in stands overlooking green fields. Saying "most" of them do not is ignorant. Most of these same experts don't even realize there are 8000ft mountains in Texas either. Finally, why should anyone give a schitttt what Steve Rinella thinks? If a guy enjoys hunting feeders and HF, I say get after it.

Here's one from a few years ago. TRG 42 in 300 WM with 208 grain A-max, ~280 yards on a walking doe. This was the biggest deer I have ever shot. Yes, biggest as in the heaviest weight. She was HUGE! We were set up on a high point covering 2 feeders, one to the left about 400 yards and one to the right at 305. She came out walking just in front of it.

Not my furthest, but we happened to get it on video. 560 yards, 6.5 saum. And before anyone ask's why it was so high, we were quite a bit above her and the exit was well down in the lungs. As Jeffbird can tell you a high shoulder will drop them as quick as a head shot.

IMPACT!!!!

281 yards as ranged by the guide sitting right behind me on an elk last year.

Every taboo form/method/restriction parallels ones self righteous form/method/restriction...

We will realize it when we are old and all hunting is gone.

Precisely what I said.

That's right.

Once upon a time, I was a hard line anti-high fence guy. After reading some of the experiences on this forum, of very large HF ranches, I have become more accepting of them. Therefore I just don't get into it, when it comes up.

The reason those of us that are equipped and skilled enough to make clean kills significantly farther than the average bear, have become that way is that we can cover more acres. Everyone has tales of rifle and bow hunting of they saw (fill in the blank) but it was too far away. Holding a compound bow and saw the deer of a lifetime at 200 yards. Maybe holding a scoped rifle and saw the deer of a lifetime at 500 yards. Some of us want the ability to make that clean kill at 500. But, as most know, it cannot be bought. Yes, money on equipment must be spent, but just doing that won't get any one there. Ya gotta put in the time, becoming familiar, then seeking mastery of that equipment, as well as, wind reading, and good marksmanship skills. Not to mention the observance of animal behavior and movement. 10 years ago I couldn't do what I can do now. It is 50,000 rounds later...