The Long Shot

Growing up hunting the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and now the wood lots and farm fields of Wisconsin, I have never had to shoot much past 100 yards. Now that I am thinking of heading out west and trying my hand at Mule Deer or even Elk, I know I will need to practice shots at a much longer rang. With practice I think a comfortable shot might be 200-300 yards. In an attempt to find more info on improving my shot distance, I turned to the internet as I often do. Recently I came across some sites offering videos and DVD's that claim to have you shooting and hitting out to 800+ yards. HMMMM?

My first thought was the usual one for me, some guys trying to make a buck selling their products. Then I gave it a little thought. I know there are modifications you can make to your rifle and it will perform better. I know you can find or load your own cartridges that will perform better in that gun. You can also buy optics that perform better then what you already use. So, is it possible to learn to shoot and hit targets out to 800+ yards? I guess it can be done.
Many of our fine highly trained military personnel are trained to do just that. Although I am not sure that is the kind of instruction you will get from a video or DVD. Then I also pondered the idea, even if you never shoot out to 800 yards, maybe 400-500 is attainable with the right instruction and practice.

Now that was a long first thought. On to my second thought. I know some people and sure anyone that reads this does too, the guys that probably should never even attempt shooting that far. I am talking 200-300-400-500 or more yards. I am afraid that shooting courses being offered in a video format, may in fact have some people believing they can shoot whatever they can see. This of course, will lead to allot of misses or worst yet, wounded unrecovered animals. Is this something the sport of hunting needs? Just as sure as I'm sitting here writing this, someone will be thinking "I can shoot a mile if I learn what this video teaches.
Now, I am not saying you can not learn from a video or even that they are poorly done. I have not seen one of them yet. I just happen to know a little about human nature and tendencies.

With that knowledge, I can see many long range shots being taken in the field that should probably never be tried. Just because an instructor on a video can shoot 800 yards, does not mean everyone should, or can. I sure hope they also teach people to be responsible enough to know their limits...