Debate
Long-range hunting : is it sporting ?
Switch on your computer , click on Google and then enter “ NZ long range shots deer ”. You ’ ll find a number of clips of hunters shooting game animals at long ranges , sometimes as far as a thousand metres or more .
These hunters are expert marksmen – no doubt about that . They have honed their shooting skills to a razor-sharp degree . They are skilled , accurate marksmen with specialised , top-quality equipment . Basically they are doing long-range benchrest shooting in the field .
But it would be unwise for the average shooter with average gear to try long-range shooting . After all , the NZDA Code of Ethics says we should ensure humane kills , with “ due regard to the welfare of the animals hunted , and prevention of cruelty to the same .”
I cite the example of a friend who is a fine hunter – a true stalker and a sportsman who gets up close to his quarry , and reckons he hadly ever shoots beyond about a hundred metres . Myself , I confess to having taken a few long shots in my lengthy hunting career , but never anywhere near a thousand metres . My idea of a long shot is anythingw beyond perhaps 300 .
Even at short ranges it ’ s sometimes hard to be sure whether you ’ ve hit , missed or wounded an animal . I recall such an occasion when my friend Graham and I spotted four deer probably 300 metres away on a hunt
Apart from the danger of taking a skyline shot at one of these deer , the distance should be well within the individual hunter ’ s capabilities in the Ruahines . As they filed into the beech forest one stopped to look back . I settled down to a steady shot using my pack as a rest and placed the tip of the post reticule on the middle of the deer ’ s shoulder . Gently I squeezed the trigger and the . 303 bullet sped on its way . The deer took a step , seemingly unhit , and walked into the bush .
Had I missed ? Doubt flooded in . But we had to check it out .
We reached the forest edge and my dog Sam hurried ahead under the trees , casting about for scent . We followed into the shade of the forest . There , 20 metres inside the bush edge , was Sam , her tail vigorously wagging , by the dead deer . It was a lung shot , the animal had been dead on its feet , but I had been unable to tell at 300 metres that it was even hit . Other similar instances come to mind . Heart-shot deer usually leap or sprint away only to fall after perhaps 20 to 50 metres . Bush stalking in the Waipunga many years ago , I fired at a stag at close range and my first reaction was a miss , but slow searching , finding blood and then slowly tracing the path led me to a heart-shot stag that had run a good 100 metres .
The point of relating these instances is that it can be hard to tell the difference between a lung- or heart-shot deer that is dead on its feet , and a wounded animal that will keep
Tony Orman , when asked to contribute this article , didn ’ t flinch from providing an informed critique of the practice of shooting game at long ranges . But he did seek some independent back-up as well ! – Editor
going and suffer for hours or days . At 1000 metres , often far across a rugged valley and up the other side , can the shooter always tell the difference ? And is he always going to walk all that way to check the shot out after the deer walks or bounds into cover , seemingly not hit ?
Even more importantly , the chances of wounding must increase at longer range . While the shooters I watched on Youtube were exceptionally fine marksmen , had done lots of target practice first and learned to make accurate sight adjustments for the conditions ( range , crosswind , etc .), I still have ethical and philosophical doubts .
For a start , I just never would contemplate a shot at that distance ; but then I don ’ t rate myself a top marksman . I know my limits and keep within them , for the sake of the animals . I reckon it ’ s irrefutably good policy to shoot at a distance less than your human limitations .
18 NZ Hunting & Wildlife 196 - Autumn 2017