As one of my friends remarked , “ I ’ ve seen shooters on the range who shouldn ’ t be shooting at any animal over 200 metres !” So that relates directly to the individual ’ s ability .
With bipods , portable benches and other stability aids , basically this is bench rest shooting at extreme distances and best kept to the range , where the worst outcome is a missed target rather than a suffering animal . Paper targets don ’ t feel pain ; animals can .
Physically and philosophically , shooting game animals this way is not hunting . It ’ s specialised , highly skilled shooting , more like execution than a sporting hunt .
It also sends the wrong message to other hunters , especially new chums who certainly don ’ t have the experience and skills to stretch out to those distances . In the field , compared to the rifle range , they are also more likely to be adversely affected by excitement , likely with some degree of “ buck fever ”.
The question of ethics can ’ t be totally answered by specifying maximum shooting range because this varies with individual factors such as equipment , shooting conditions , the species and the hunter ’ s marksmanship skills .
So I went searching for guidance – first , to the US hunter-conservation organisation the Boone and Crockett Club :
“ It is widely acknowledged that the likelihood of wounding , and the challenges of tracking , and recovering animals increase proportionally as shooting distances increase ,” it said .
The Club believes the term “ longrange ” shooting is more defined by a hunter ’ s intentions than by any specific distance at which a shot is taken . It says that if your intention is to test equipment and determine how far away you can hit a live target but have no motivation to risk engagement with the animal , you are not hunting .
The Club says that “ long-range shooting takes unfair advantage of the game animal , effectively eliminates the natural capacity of an animal to use its senses and instincts to detect danger , and demeans the hunter-prey relationship in a way that diminishes the importance and relevance of the animal and the hunt .”
Well , that ’ s fairly clear-cut : if there ’ s no stalking involved , the animal ’ s not getting a fair chance ; and that ’ s not sport .
I then canvassed the views of half a dozen experienced New Zealand hunters . Some are also extremely competent range shooters . I gave them no indication of my own views or what I was ” fishing ” for : I wanted their responses to be 100 percent independent of me and each other . And , because it ’ s a controversial subject , I promised them anonymity so they could express their views freely .
Shooter 1 : “ I can see things from both perspectives . There are some guys out there who have good gear and are very diligent and competent long-range shooters . At what range someone considers it ethical to shoot at a game animal , though , depends largely on their own abilities .
“ Personally , I don ’ t think that there are too many guys out there who have done the training and ground work to be seriously shooting at deer at extended ranges – there are some real dreamers out there for sure . Long-range hunting is not something I advocate for .
“ The vast majority of hunters have absolutely no business shooting at game over 500 yards away . However , there are a small percentage who can . I would just say it is not really something to be encouraged , or for just anyone to have a go at .
“ Practise shooting long range at steel gongs or targets for sure , but leave the ultra-long range 800-yardplus hero shots for the range , where it doesn ’ t matter if you only ‘ wound ’ the target .”
Shooter 2 : “ Even with the best equipment available ( and some of the equipment available in New Zealand today is of very high quality indeed ) it is morally and ethically
The hunter ’ s responsibility is first and foremost towards the animal . Running shots should not be taken , especially at long range . Extreme distance shots should similarly not be taken by the vast majority of hunters .
indefensible to shoot at a game animal at long range , by which I mean more than 350 – 400 metres . Shooting at game at 500 , 800 , even 1000 metres has nothing to do with hunting . It is sniping and , as such , has no place except on the battlefield or at inanimate targets as a test of shooter skill and equipment .
“ Boasting of 1000-metre shots sends out a bad , wrong signal to young and new hunters – and any hunter for that matter .”
Shooter 3 : “ There ’ s a high level of skill , accuracy , and the prerequisite of near 20-20 vision required for longrange shooting . From memory , I ’ ve never shot an animal beyond about a hundred metres . That ’ s partly to do with lacking all of the long-range skills listed above and partly to do with my preference for bush hunting .
“ However , animal welfare needs to be considered when it comes to reaching out beyond a few hundred metres . Wounding , and the nonrecovery of animals because of the difficulty in locating them , is far more probable . I guess folk might say that with my limited skill set it would be perfectly normal to harbor concerns !
“ That aside , and as caring hunters ,
NZ Hunting & Wildlife 196 - Autumn 2017 19