Long Range is all the Rage. Is this taking hunting in the wrong direction?

[SHOOTALL]

Getting close is a skill in itself some just can't master. And close is relative to conditions.

[Mikey]

Shootall:  No, I don't think longer range shooting will take hunting in the wrong direction.  You may notice that of late, like the last 12-15 years, everytime someone comes out with a new version of some light weight hunting rifle, the groups they base their success on are 3 shot groups, which they hope will give their rifle some credibility with hunters.  "Geez, if I can group 3 in under 2" at 100 yds, I should be able to hit a deer-sized target all the way out to maybe 300 yds", so I'll purchase that rifle and if I ever get a 300 yd shot I know I can make it. 
 
This is, of course, the wrong approach but it is the approach many take when considering a rifle.  They might never get a shot at over 75 yds but if they spot one out to 300 yds, well... take it from there. 
 
Is this taking hunting in the wrong direction - naw.  For every hunter who thinks of himself as a long range shooter there are probably 5 guys who think that stalking to within 50m, or using a muzzle loader, or a bead front sight on a shotgun, or a set of Winchester Buckhorn sights or a older Marlin 30-30, or the kid who gets his dad's hand me down 7mm Mauser camp rifle is best and are probably much more prevalent than the guy we overhear at the gun shop telling us about his 300 yd capability.  What snarls my boxers is the in-line muzzle loader with a scope mounted on it - it's not like this gun is going to shoot a 500 gn mini-ball out to 400 yds on a trophy buck and when the owner tells me that even with sabots his groups open up beyond 100 yds I wonder why he just didn't buy a slug barrel for his shotgun. 
 
I dunno, or as Will Farrel sang in the movie 'Casa de mi Padre', "Yo no se"......... but I don't see this taking hunting in the wrong direction, imo.

[D Fischer]

It's not the 300 yds shooter that bother's me, it's the three hundred to five hundred yd shooter that bother's me. it isn't the three shot group either. You don't put the animal down in two, your not gonna do any good with the third, fourth or fifth anyway. For those that like to claim great accuracy with their five shot group's, that is no proof of what you/your rifle can do. You need ten shot group's. A rifle shooting 1" ten shot groups isn't gonna make you a better shot at 300yds. A rifle that shoot's 3" groups is going to be deadly in the hands of the guy that refuse's to take a shot past 100yds or hunt's in an area where that's about all your gonna get anyway. There's a terrific difference between shooting and hunting. Most long range shooter are simply shooter's, not hunter's. Flame away!

[Land_Owner]

There are multiple genre of "long range" hunters that come to mind, notably coyote, antelope, and prairie doggers.  Charactisterics of these include smaller targets, extreme distances at times, and even some moving targets.   Consider the military, and every Marine is a long range hunter.

[SHOOTALL]

Land_owner good point and most all of them practice their trade. When a deer is the target some elevate their life way above other critters . Here deer are responsible for more damage than most any other critter and permits are issued to eliminate them in most any way you can. It is not hunting.

[Old Fart]

Shootall, just curious, where is the here where deer are so plentiful?

[ironglow]

Agreed Grouse;

  Most often there is a big difference between truly HUNTING game and just SHOOTING game..

[nomosendero]

Getting close is a skill in itself some just can't master. And close is relative to conditions.

Being someone who has bow hunted for years, I know that is true, but as someone who hunts at a distance at times I also
know this; Shooting at longer ranges is a skill in itself some just can't master. And distance is relative to conditions.

That's right, it cuts both ways!

[SHOOTALL]

I couldn't agree with that more. I shoot ground hogs out past 400 yards at times like when we can't walk in the fields due to wet conditions.