12 year old smokes bull elk at 1376 yards

[KodiakHntr]

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.

Care to show your calculations? Using Ballistic AE, that 7mm with the 162 (using a bullet appropriate for the range) has more energy and velocity at 1376 yards than a 30/30 does at 200 yards.... Pretty sure that if a big bull walked up at 200 yards that most guys here wouldn't think twice about taking the shot if they thought they could make it....

[Jack Russell]

Maybe he just "aimed" 25 feet over the shoulders and let a little bullet poke a hole in it, and the rest did its deed.

I suspect the 30/30 would provide more than adequate energy at 200 yds, so I"m not sure what you're thinking here.

[KodiakHntr]

What I'm thinking? It was a direct response to the quoted text.... Seems pretty straightforward. Swamper was indicating the cartridge wouldn't have enough energy. I am merely pointing out a comparison....

and I'm guessing you've never dialed in a long poke with turret equipped scope....

[swamper]

Most of us will agree that a bull elk is one of the harder animals in Canada to bring down. A moose will drop quicker than an elk shot with the same bullet. I personally don't feel that approximately 450 foot lbs of energy is enough to do the job. For my calculations I used JBM Ballistic Calculator. Using a ballistic coeficient of .534 and a muzzle velocity of 3000 fsp and sighted in at 1000 yards, the bullet will drop in the mid 300's inches. The drop compensation would be close to 30 feet. I just think this is an impossible shot to make for a 12 year old using a gun that he can actually handle shooting. And not just for a 12 year old, but probably for just about 100% of us here.

[hunter1993ap]

I don't see why you think a 12 year old cant shoot a 7mm comfortably. I have been shooting a 7mm rem mag since I was 9 and never had a flinch from it. I also think you are way off in thinking it wont kill an elk at that range. also if you have a turret shooting out to that range isn't too difficult. it is hard to make the first shot hit but you could definitely hit it if you know your rifle. i'm not saying I agree with what that show is about or shooting that range, but I have no doubt the rifle will kill and the kid can comfortably shoot it.

[KodiakHntr]

Hate to break it to you, but you likely aren't using jbm correctly....

And nobody that is setting up to shoot anything (paper, steel, or fur) is going to be using a bullet with a bc of .534, they'll be running a bc of .6, at a minimum.....

Regardless, it was a long poke, but at 12 years old there are a lot of kids out there that shoot exceedingly well. Put them behind a NightForce scope with a lot of magnification and an elk is going to be as big as a house in the crosshairs.

Evidently the kid knows how to squeeze a trigger.

[Elk-Aholic]

I wouldn't call this hunting, more like shooting.......not a hell of a lot of sport or adventure there IMO. Not hard to stalk within 1300 yards of a group of elk, heck, 300 yards isn't. No doubt the kid can punch a hole in a paper target or metal gong at a distance. Sad thing is there is guys who will watch this video and think they have the ability to do the same. Heck I've watched hunters "blaze" away at animals at long ranges, missing several times and eventually connect and literally tell themselves what a good shot it was......that's after they've empty their clip?????.......even a blind mouse can find the cheese too!

[Davey Crockett]

Hate to break it to you, but you likely aren't using jbm correctly....

And nobody that is setting up to shoot anything (paper, steel, or fur) is going to be using a bullet with a bc of .534, they'll be running a bc of .6, at a minimum.....

Regardless, it was a long poke, but at 12 years old there are a lot of kids out there that shoot exceedingly well. Put them behind a NightForce scope with a lot of magnification and an elk is going to be as big as a house in the crosshairs.

Evidently the kid knows how to squeeze a trigger.

i wasn't aware that one needed a min bc of .600 to shoot at fur. Wouldn't that preclude using just about all mid calibre hunting bullets or did you mean to set up to shoot at that range?

[GoatGuy]

Interesting debate.

Have a buddy that was a shooter in the military and won the Queens Medal for shooting @ 1000 meters iirc. We talked about the long range shooting as he has the $10,000 gun (more like a club) and all the fixings B&C reticle rangefinder etc.

Said he would never shoot past 500 yards at an animal and it would have to be an optimal situation to shoot that far. The difference, he said, in war is all you're trying to do is hit the enemy and the enemy is trying to kill you.


Seen and been in enough rodeos to know things can go wrong at 30 yards nevermind 500 or 1000.

[KodiakHntr]

i wasn't aware that one needed a min bc of .600 to shoot at fur. Wouldn't that preclude using just about all mid calibre hunting bullets or did you mean to set up to shoot at that range?

No, I just meant that guys who shoot long distance hedge their bets and use bullets with optimal BC's on long shots. Slip wind better, retain velocity better, ergo better accuracy.

Nobody sets up on a long shot to "almost" make it. And guys who make it a habit to shoot long distances generally shoot better and have a much better understanding of ballistics than the average hunter/shooter. Although I'll quantify that and say that by long range shooter I mean guys who actually have the equipment and practice with it, as opposed to the guy who uses his eyeball to 'range' a moose at 640 yards and lob a bunch of shots at it until it falls over.....