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575 Yard shot down the throat.

7K views 29 replies 11 participants last post by  tomlightfield 
#1 ·
After a days of hunting for a decent buck I finally spotted this guy at 600 yards. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. When I got down to him a half hour later there was no blood anywhere but a softball sized hole down his throat. I'll never see this again:

Great Basin Muley Hunt. - YouTube
 
#2 ·
Sorry but the ethics here are not what I condone and not something I would put on u-tube. My personal opinion as a moderator will be to delete the post, however, I will defer to popular thoughts on this one. This kind of post makes me sick especially the laughing and bragging like it was something all hunters do. I may be way off on my take but even the moderators get an opinion. Let know what you all think. I think the taking of the particular shot was just plain wrong even if the animal was harvested as the margin of error was off the chart.
 
#13 ·
The distance of a shot is not always and cannot always be directly related to ethical practice. I practice shooting my guns at 7,8, and 900 yards. It's all I do is practice, practice, practice. At 600 yards I can consistently hit a 6 inch plate over and over again. My shot on this deer felt ever so comfortable. That is how practice pays off. 9 out of 10 hunters should have never taken such a shot. I have never taken a shot at a deer that I did not drop within 20 yards of his hit. What is debatable was the positioning of the deer. It was facing me but my options were limited and I took the shot and I was successful.
 
#5 ·
Well I'm gonna get a little heat but I don't care, but for starts I would not have you tube'ed that ! That's nasty, and a 600 yard shoot? REALY ? Unless your some specially trained sniper I would never atemp a shot like that, thankfully since you made contact you were able to harvest the animal !
Now as far as the shot. First I live in ky so no open desert area here. Mostly hilly wooded area and most shots are under 60 yards and never over 100 yards, I've been hunting since I was about 12, I'm 35 now. I have filled or nerly filled my tags every year and I have never mounted any of them but they have all been ate by me and my friends n family. Well I grew up with you heart shoot and I hunted this way for years, and for years I destroyed the heart (wich I save and give to a friend out of ever deer now), front shoulders, and having to track n pack deer up n down thick hilly woods. So I started head shooting. Drop in their tracks, I don't destroy any meat, can usually get my truck to were I shoot them. I mean REALY people talk about ethics, shoot one in the head that drops dead, or in the heart that goes 20 yards and dies or lungs and runs 100 yards and goes and chokes on it's blood for another 10 mins then dies, then you cut out all than meat caz it's all bruised up. Now I wouldn't recommend my method if your one of them trophy hunters that only hunt for that one buck a year just for your wall. And as far as now hunting witch I mostly do I do still heart/ lung shot because the arrow does not cause the damage to the meat a bullet does. Just my 2 cent.
 
#6 ·
There are a few who with good practice with proper equipment can shoot that distance. My point is as hunters we should wait for a (proper shot) on a game animal at all distances. I don't want to run this too far, it's just that I got really ticked at the way we as hunters are sometimes misrepresented.
 
#8 ·
I don't think the range of the shot is in question here. if it is, then I think it is up to the shooter to decide what is ethical and or manageable. I have seen videos of clean shots taken at ranges of 1000 yds and more and these animals dropped on impact.
examples

Wyoming Elk at 1000 Yards Kill Shot - YouTube
1602 yard shot 338 edge - YouTube
Long Range Hunting. 1100 Yard bull moose kill - YouTube

Now if were talking about shooting an animal facing you as this one surly was then I agree there is questionable ethics involved.
 
#9 ·
I find it hard to believe that a "down the throat shot" was the intended target area. Disclaimer - I did not watch the video and have no interest to. These kind of "stories" give me a sick feeling (I've had my fair share of shots gone bad for various reasons which have led to situations that I will not discuss in a public forum). I know some are able to make shots out to way long yardage but its not hunting to me. I've stated this before and it has been weighing heavy on me lately that us Hunters need to be careful about what we put out there for the world to view.

I agree with you HM.
 
#10 ·
I agree with you HM, this looks to be nothing more than a failed attempt at making this guy look like a sharp shooter or hunter. :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:
 
#11 ·
You made a great shot, BUT

You made a fantastic shot that you will remember for the rest of your life. You can be proud of you ability to make it. The problem that I have with it is 99.9% of the shooters/hunters can't shoot that far. Watching your video someone else might think hea I want to try that, bad idea. Again you made a very tuff shot, I just hope others doing try to copy it. I have Elk hunted with a guy that shot his Elk at 450 yards. He got it on a shot that I know I would not have taken. My rifle was capable of his shot, I wasn't capable of his shot. It is very important for our sport that we all know our limitations and respect the wonderful animals that we are hunting. I know that you wouldn't have taken the shot if you thought you were past your personal limit.

Congradulations on a great shot...

Karl
 
#17 ·
I saw a video of a muley that was obviously shot in the mouth, i didnt see any long range shot like the post was titled, sounds like a crap story to me.
 
#20 ·
Your choice of words and tone seem to say more about "You" than the story. Your comments are not constructive but fueled by irrational thought and emotion. I put my first post up ever and you fire your mouth off. Wow! Welcome to forum I guess. I'm a big boy though and can respect you being honest, mean, but again honest. Be nicer:)
 
#18 · (Edited)
My only problem was you shot at a game animal with very limited almost no margin of error at a very long range with really poor shot angle and still took the shot, no game animal ethics. If the buck was facing you, I assume, could you have waited him out to move closer and take a better shot? 99.9% of hunters would have passed on the shot as too big of wounding potential. You got your buck, congrats, but I would have kept it to myself and not sent it all over the web, nothing to brag about to me. I have several rifles fully capable of that range but I give game animals the benifit of doubt when highly questionable shots are at had. You made the decision that any shot is ok, given the yardage and where you hit him, it won't pass muster here, sorry. To quote you" I had limited options" one option that you should have taken was to not shoot!
 
#19 ·
Constructive feedback. I agree. Thanks. Agreed too that the decision to shoot may not have been the best one. I am a new hunter an plan on making many more mistakes along the way. That's how you learn right. The clip was not to "brag". The fact that the bullet went down his throat was evidence enough that I was high on my shot. I shared this because it was a rare moment. And I don't only post my greatest moments on the web. I share them all and along as they are a part of my hunting journey.
 
#22 ·
Sometimes sharing things net less than expected returns. I appreciate you accepting constructive monday morning quarterbacking on your shot. We really try to steer hunters to err on the caution side rather than loose a game animal. As hunters we seem to always have to be able to justify our actions. Be careful in your future world wide web postings and good luck hunting.
 
#23 ·
Your Custom 300UM rifle...

I have seen a couple of long range rifles like yours at the range. I think most of them were from Lazaroni(sp). The rifles were all in their propriatry chamberings, warbird, firebird, ext. I do remember that there was no shortage of powder with a long barrel to burn it. Some of them had very noisy muzzle brakes on them. What scope are you using? I am guessing it might be one of the nightforce ones. I think they are considered one of the best but you have to pay for it...

Karl
 
#25 ·
It looks like you've removed the Throat shot Muley video, I think that was a very wise decision.
I wish you had posted your "Eastern Nevada Mustangs" Video or "Runnin With the Moose" or "How to Squeak in a Fox" video
Any of those would have been great introduction video's, All great for promoting yourself. just my opinion..
Good Luck and Happy Safe hunting always.
 
#26 ·
I think the main point mattinthewild is not getting is that he took a 600yd shot at a deer that he didn't have perfectly calculated and aimed and got lucky. That's what you are forgetting to say. If you took that shot 10 times, I'm betting you miss or severely injure that animal 9 of the times. The very quote came out of your mouth "I missed high". OK, in my book if you are shooting at 600yds and you practice practice practice like you said, then the only reason to take that 600yd shot is if YOU KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT you're going to kill that animal. You obviously didn't. Not saying you didn't have the confidence in yourself (you obviously did), but you did not know 100% if you were going to kill him or not.

that's our point. and that's hunting ethics. that video is also why "they" are trying to take our favorite pastime away from us.
 
#30 ·
Yeah, I think that mattinthewild has been "chastised" enough, he seems to understand that the video was not very smart. I agree with you HM and Bruce, stuff like that does not need to be advertised, we absolutely do NOT NEED to give the anti's more ammo with which to kill us. Especially with a president and congress who are fully determined to take our guns and our hunting from us. I personally refuse to even talk to non-hunters about hunting, there is no way to make them understand that the actual kill is only the last 5% of the whole deal. It just falls on very deaf ears.
 
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