Making 1000yrd shot is not what I call hunting. Your thoughts

[Sabot]

My .02 :

1) I bet we all agree that throwing shots out beyond 500 yards without proper practice and knowledge is fairly irresponsible.
2) Most of us do not have access to a place to learn the craft of long range shooting with enough ability to actually hunt with it.
3) Those that do have the equipment and skill to hunt at long range are not taking wildly risky/irresponsible shots. Challenging, but their level of ability is different from the average guy.

I echo the sentiments of those that feel like we shouldn't be telling each other how to hunt or what hunting is or isn't. That's the exact mindset of those who are against it all together and would argue that hunting itself is stupid and unnecessary. I am well aware that every year a few guys will buy some expensive gear and think they can try long range shots. VERY FEW will connect on those shots. Unless you have tried it, you have no idea how hard a 1000 yard shot is. Then there are the idiots who will sling a shot out at long range hoping to get lucky...they wont. If they do and wound an animal, that is a shame, but they are the extreme minority and not worth even discussing. There will always be idiots like that.

The whole premise here is that somehow long range hunting is not really hunting because the animal is so far away. With all due respect to the animals, hunting is about the hunter. If he has the time, money, and skill to put himself atop a ridge and artfully bag an animal on the next ridge over, he's a hunter in my book and an elite one at that. Anyone can bow hunt or pop a deer at 200 yards. Very few will ever possess the skill to make a shot beyond 500 yards and I think that at least a small portion of the angst against long range hunting is that it is by its very nature something that few have access to trying to learn.