Okay guys, put on your thinking caps.
How far is it from the antelope to my Tahoe?

Well best I can tell about 2" on a map!

Oh...Oh...can I guess??!!

700-800yds

1800+-?

The first one is sho-nuff in longbow killin range!

Far enough to want to drive.

1100yds give or take

Well if H2OBug is right, each 1" on a map is 1 mile, sooo about 2 miles.

Your milage may vary! I tried using my Bushnell 1500 and it won't even register.

A Looooong way!

I'll bet I know.

1230 yards +/- 1 To 2 Millimeters* * *

Looks like about as far as it is from our huntin' shack to the fence tightener at the NW corner of section 8, Caribou township.

according to my calculated estimates.....it is roughly 1 1/2" straight up.

It is about a Crows fly!

About this far [-------------] on Google Earth. Probably had to put in a few minutes for that shot. Nice shooting Tex.

I have had a great time with Dan this week. I has been a joy to watch Dan experience a number of firsts and to meet and spend some time with his grandfather. Dan’s commitment to precision accuracy at longer distances has caused me to want to hunt with him for some time. This October has made that desire a reality. Even though I have several unfilled tags, I did not even bring any of my SP’s along until today, and it was never uncased. I had mentioned to Dan before he came out, that if he was willing, I wanted to mount a FFP Nightforce NXS 3.5-15 with the MLR reticle on “Lil’ Monster” and stretch its legs some on its first trip to Wyoming.

Lil’ Monster is a center-grip XP-100 built by Kirby Allen (APS/Allen Precision Shooting) chambered in 7mm-270WSM. Barrel is a 17” Lilja 1-9 twist with one of Shawn Carlock’s Defensive Edge Brakes. I also said, that, if he was willing I would like to use his XP for a LR antelope if the circumstances allowed.

First, I wanted Dan to get a lot of hunting in. Dan is an excellent shooter, but I will let him chime in when he is ready. Dan filled all of his tags by Wednesday, so we went back out to the ranch today, for his first shooting beyond 1K on steel and of course some pd’s. From the prone position, Dan got on the steel quickly and it was fun watching him hammer steel with the 162 A-Max’s. He started working on some dogs beyond 1K (from 1,047-1067 yards) as well and got so close several times I was shocked it missed, as I watched the vapor trail homing in on the dog. After awhile Dan felt the barrel and it was getting warm. He now understands how easy it would be to fry a throat shooting prairie dogs.

During Dan’s shooting at prairie dogs a buck antelope crosses in front of us about 4-500 yards away coming from the left and moving right. Not a big one, but the remark was made about filling a tag, and I said something of the nature that unless he moved out to where he was shooting dogs I wasn’t interested. Wouldn’t you know it, that buck turned shortly and began heading south in the general direction of this particular prairie dog Dan was shooting at, this took a period of time, of which a part of it was allowing Lil’ Monster time to cool down. For those of you who have seen this XP shoot or shot it yourself, it has a history of small groups @ 400-500 yards on a regular basis. This buck for some unknown reason to us was determined to head almost directly toward the mound where Dan had been shooting.

At this distance, since I am not a master at reading conditions, I will take a sighter shot, to make sure the drop and drift are correct. Then, the spotter (Dan) will give me correction in MOA, since that is the language the scope understands and I do as well. The wind had picked up some from the last time Dan had shot, but still less than 10mph, so I had already added more “right wind.” The distance was shorter than the prairie dog, but further than the steel set up at 1006 yards. When I am shooting on my own, I do all of this myself, but at this distance I wouldn’t consider it. With a two man team spotter/shooter, the shooter simply does what the spotter tells him to do and simply focuses on making sure the trigger is released in such a way to where you let the gun (in this case Dan’s Lil’ Monster) do the work. Communicating in MOA, is new to Dan, but he did a great job. I was very comfortable with Dan being in the spotter role, as he is good at communicating in field conditions.
It took more than one spotting shot to get dialed in, but that 162 A-Max “pole-axed” (Dan’s statement @ the shot) the buck with a high shoulder shot at 1,037 yards, and he went down fast. The buck did require to be finished off, but the high shoulder shot made him totally immovable.



Here is another pic that shows more of what we used.
Burris Tri-pod (really like this and have used for a year plus now), and Leupold 12x40 spotting scope. I bought a 12-40 the first year they came out and upgraded to the HD version 2 years ago. Swaro LRF mounted on a Slik 450G tri-pod. Harris Bi-pod (Swivel version).

It's great when it all comes together. Nice shot!

Nice shooting by both of you

Just like Ma-Bell.... reach out and touch some one.

That is amazing. I gots work to do.

Sounds like you men are having a great time. Nice shot.

Sounds like you guys had a blast. Awsome shooting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And to think I was excited about my 100 yard groups with my Encore (first non-revolver hunting handgun). I need more practice!

Impressive fellas! Nice teamwork!

Awesome shot, Ernie! Great hunting, sound as if it was a blast!

Here's to it boys--go get "em!

So Ernie, How far is it?

1037yds

Ernie could not have made a better shot on this buck. We all know as hunters that even sometimes a well placed shot will allow an animal make a run for it. In this case, the bullet was placed perfectly in the high shoulder and the buck dropped instantly....I had the incredible priviledge of watching the 162AM vapor trail into its shoulder. The buck was structurally broken but refused to pass-on. And as Ernie said, a quick finisher ended the hunt.

I must say that to call the range, sighter hits and watch the impact was very exciting. My heart was racing more than when I harvested any of my game. Having Ernie shoot my gun is like owning a nine-second race car and watching a professional driver pilot it down the track like going on a Sunday cruise. I hooped with excitement while Ernie just crawled off the ground and was calm as could be.

O.k. , I did not get that you guts was still by the Tahoe when he took the buck. Thanks Dan.

RUG1,
Sorry, I didn't clarify that in my post.
Both Dan and I were shooting just in front of my Tahoe for all of our shooting.
The spotter was set-up to where he was sitting, resting his back against my rear wheel and the shooter was directly in front of the spotter. This scenario was the same for the steel, pd's, and the buck.

I just got back from Wyoming and spent a day with Ernie and his son, Eric. Eric did a fine job on a long range antelope buck of his own with Ernie's 6.5/.284, I filmed it. I will let Eric and Ernie tell the details if they wish.

Ernie let me shoot his gun. What can I say.

Amazing! It really does work like he says.

I spoke with Ernie this AM....he said that you were a tad bit excited! Maybe we can try the same thing next year when YOUR gun is done but I can join you this time.

I don't know how to explain it, but there is a focused calm when I shoot like this.

Sorry, Just saw I wrote "guts" instead of guys. My typo.
Ernie, Thank you. For clarifying the distance. Nice shot.

How did you spot a dead antelope from so far? Must be good binoculars! Dang thats good!!!

As a born and raised "woods hunting easterner" I can understand the inability to comprehend seeing or even shooting game at those distances. But out there (in WY) there are NO trees, NO laurel thickets and a whole lot of what we would consider "barren" ground to spot game on...and they are EVERYWHERE!!

My grandfather was riding in the back seat on the day I killed my buck, badger and medium horned doe. Anytime we same game and started really glassing for a shooter animal, we would start talking distance and he would mutter "too far". He's likely never taken any game animal further than 100yds...which is not a bad thing, it just how we hunt in the east.

As for actually seeing antelope at 1K yds...it is easy! Their white parts stick out like crazy. It's even possible to tell a buck with the naked eye at that range. For deer hunters that seems impossible but those black horns against the tan grass are super easy to see. Then seeing a dead one...I watched through Ern's Leupold HD spotting scope as the bullet punched through its shoulders...an AWESOME show!!

Dan,
That was probably a better description than I could give having never even been to your part of the country.
The tripods pictured were used for stability in viewing or lasering, not just to hold up an optic for pictures. Earlier I used the back-packing Slik tripod for the spotting scope, but we had enough wind in the sitting position, so used the Burris tripod for the spotting scope and all was better. As you can tell, sometimes I carry a lot more gear, than would normally be needed.

Understatement of the day!!

Easterners are usually geared with a knife, sandwich and gun/ammo. That's if they plan on hunting until lunch.

BTT