12 year old smokes bull elk at 1376 yards

[rred]

Very Impressive

[BiG Boar]

The problem with head shots (brain shots) is that if you shoot low and hit the jaw, there is a possibility that the animal will not be recovered and it will die a slow death.... It will not be able to eat. This is not just a theory... A neighbor of mine killed a buck many years ago that had the lower jaw shot off. The buck was very weak and in very poor condition. This probably doesn't happen very often, but it does happen.

Ah, so as hunters we try to take as high percentage shots as possible, because we respect the animal and don't want to risk wounding an animal? Hmmm. I guess we aren't all in this boat. But I think it's a good thing to teach to young hunters in our community.

[cariboo crawler]

I didn't see any corrections nor did I hear the Dad give him any . Pretty risky stuff and no back up shooter
. Gut shot and we'd never be watching it

[Spy]

There is a thread on head shots, the kid did not take a head shot so I dont see how they are connected.

[1899]

There is a thread on head shots, the kid did not take a head shot so I dont see how they are connected.

The connection is this: head shots are generally frowned upon because there is a high risk of wounding an animal. A head shot, even witha rifle that shoots MOA should be doable out to 300 yards, yet they are still considered to be a poor choice. On the other hand, these long range shots have much more room for error and require a hunting weight rifle that can run neck-neck with a high level purpose built heavy barrel target rifle just to have a possibility of a lethal hit.
So his point is that since we can generally agree that head shots, especially at 300 yards are not wise - not ethical due to many better options for shot placement - then we should really be in agreement that a shot such as the one posted is unethical/improper.

[Weatherby Fan]

There is a thread on head shots, the kid did not take a head shot so I dont see how they are connected.

Big Boar is just making a point about ethical shots, not head shots, just about responsible and ethical shooting of animals is all.

[Dannybuoy]

Very Impressive

Hmm ? Not really ... In fact I find it rather unimpressive ..... there are probably alot of members on this site that own firearms capable of sending a projectile 1300 yds and with enough time and money could also hit a sheet of plywood sized target at that distance . But why would anyone ...*shrug* Just to say "i did it" ? *Yay *
Maybe the kids shakes like a leaf if he gets with 100 yds of a real live wild animal ? Just sayin .

[Rocky7]

My 12 yr. old would not be trying that shot. Period.

Neither would I. And if you did, we would not hunt together again.

ps: Best group I kept lately was .016" with my 25-06 but I've shot smaller with my 270 WSM. Yes, I can shoot. Hunting ≠ Shooting. Those who don't mind the likelihood that an animal will be wounded don't hunt with me.

pps: I don't care for hunting shows where animals were wounded/gut shot, either - at any range.

[swamper]

Has anyone taken the time to do a few ballistics calculations. I did. A 7mm shooting a 162 gr bullet at 3000fsp that is sighted in at 1000 yards will drop 300 plus inches at 1376 yards and will only have maybe 450 foot lbs of energy left. Yes he did have the fancy turrets on his gun, but there is no way a 12 year old has the experience to make that shot and there is not enough energy, in my opinion, to get proper penetration to kill a bull elk. I call bullshit.

[Spy]

Maybe he was shooting the new Nosler long range 175g Accubonds.