In last week’ column, I mentioned taking a shot at a deer that was roughly 350 yards away. I’ll admit that the shot was, up to a point, inspired by the size of the deer. I can’t recall the last time I took that long a shot, but it would go back to the 70’s prior to my debilitating tremor. As of this past summer, the tremor in my right hand is under control thanks to deep brain stimulation surgery.

I took that shot because I had confidence in that shot. First of all, my rifle was rock solid. The forearm rested in the yoke of my tripod, and I gripped my rifle with a steady right hand. I don’t own a rangefinder as my hands have never been steady enough in the past to hold one, but I am a fair judge of distances thanks to thousands of rounds of golf in the past. I knew the shot was at least 300 yards, but probably not over 375 yards.

Most important, I had supreme confidence in a rifle that is extremely accurate. I sighted-in my rifle at the Pickstown range that features very solid concrete benches. I use a Caldwell “Lead Sled,” a device that cradles my rifle much like a vice. Equally important, my Steyr-Mannlicher rifle is equipped with a set trigger that allows me to fire with the slightest touch of my fingertip. I can regularly put three shots within a one-inch group with the bullet holes often touching each other. My scope is a quality Leupold Vari-X III in 2.5 x 8 power.

I sight-in to be dead on at 100 yards. This is a matter of personal choice, and many hunters sight-in to be dead on at 200 yards. I chose the former as I believe that most of the shots I take are within 100 yards. This puts me about three inches low at 200 yards and eight inches low at 300 yards with my .30-06. I knew that by holding my horizontal crosshair along the top of the deer’s back, my shot would fall into a lethal area between spine and lungs. This I achieved by holding the vertical crosshair on the notch between back and base of the neck. As my bullet hit midway down the buck’s body, I suspect the shot was longer than I anticipated.

I don’t know that what I’ve outlined is the right way to do it, but it has worked for me over the past fifty years. I’ve known a number of hunters who step off a hundred yards and put down a five-gallon pail. If they can hit the pail, they call it deer killing accuracy and head for the field. Others tack up a paper plate. If they can hit it, they once again settle for what they call deer killing accuracy.

To my way of thinking, this isn’t good enough. I want to put a bulls-eye in the center of the plate and know how many inches up and down or left and right I’m off. If I’m four inches off at 100 yards, I’m eight or more inches off at two hundred yards, and that can spell wounded deer. It’s not good enough.

Today long range sniper shooting is all the rage. With high-tech computerized scopes, 800 yard shots on deer, elk, and antelope have become acceptable. I don’t like it. For one thing, it takes the challenge out of hunting. Most animals will stand there and look at you from half a mile with no sense of fear. Second, we wouldn’t normally hunt elk with a .30-30 as we would feel under-gunned. At 800 yards, a slug from a .300 magnum isn’t performing any better than the .30-30 round at 100 yards.

I often wonder if I’m too “old school” or too old-fashioned to be writing this column. I don’t use range finders, trail cameras, full-body decoys, scents, scent killer, or computerized scopes. Hopefully you’ll bear with me for a few more years.

* * * * * * *

It appears that we South Dakota deer hunters will be able to continue using the current deer license application process. It took the voice of thousands of hunters and many of our state legislators to turn the Game, Fish, & Parks initiative around. The people spoke.

See you next week.