Ethical hunter challenge
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this video is for informational purposes only and is not intended as professional advice. The techniques and tips discussed are based on the personal experience of Erik Cortina. Erik Cortina is not responsible for any harm or damage that may arise from the use of this information. Viewers are reminded to always prioritize safety and comply with all applicable laws and regulations when handling firearms.
68/69 grain hornady or sierra bullets. There are several really good bullets in that weight class.
Just finished assembling my 22ARC with a faxon barrel. Im excited to see what it does.
The contestants should have to shoot with real hunting calibers (not 6 dasher, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6 Creedmoorand the like). They should shoot "REAL" hunting calibers like 300 win mag, 7 mag 30-06, 270 wby etc….
ALSO, they should have to shoot real hunting bullets like Nosler, Barnes, Swift, Terminal Ascent and the like. Sierra and Berger are NOT hunting bullets ! Sierra and Berger are a joke for hunting.
Erik Cortina: “alright I’m talking quarter MOA- I know all these people are out here like ‘well my gun shoots three-quarter MOA all the time’ I’m just being honest that’s not good”
Also Erik Cortina: “People think that 1 MOA is just massive and I don’t think so”
Off season practice is so important try prairie dogs with your hunting rifle
“Weeeell. Technically it’d be a dead deer. But you’re not ethical”. So dumb
Extend the stalk and not the shot. Hunting is much more than pulling the trigger. Great video.
500 yds is harder than it sounds. 1MOA is smaller than it seems at 500. Unless you can compensate for open air conditions (wind. drop, etc) with a well sighted gun, you’re gonna be off. Cold Bore is hard, unless you train cold bore.
Practice practice practice. Most people don’t have the time behind the weapon to be good.
@ 9:25 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Let’s try this challenge with actual hunting rifles, hunting calibers, and hunting bullets…
Seems like the wind is getting them all.
Awesome challenge!
Longest shot I ever made was 700 yards at a stationary target not live game with a 303 British Enfield target was a 12 x12 metal plate hanging from a tree limb. I personally have never taken a shot at live game over 150 yards due to ethical reasons. Have I had the chance at game past 150, sure but I have my personal limits to assure a clean kill. All it takes is a little breeze down range where you may have none from your shooting position and all you do is wound an animal making it suffer. That said to me any shot at live game over 150 is unethical at best. Edit was for a spelling mistake.
Lol, I’d try for it, if the conditions were good, stable rest, no wind etc
This is stupid. 100% kill shots and for him to say it’s not ethical . Not 1 hunting rifle. Range queens
I figured this would be with sporters not comp guns that no one would even walk 500 yards with. But I love the concept
rifle this and that, can determine from where comes the wind. ok.
Like the concept, but shooting PRS rifles/calibers isn’t a hunting scenario
The first 4 would have easily killed the deer
So it is a ethical shot seeing how they would all be kill shots. If this isn’t ethical then no one should bow hunt
I have an issue with the challengers they’re shooting cartridges that don’t deliver the energy at that yardage. 965 on the 107 bergers on the 6 creed is the raggety edge of dropping a deer that excludes elk. All of them about fail. based on cartridge choice alone.
My first ever shot past 200 yards with any rifle was on a deer at about 300, with a 1.5-4x scope. I obliterated its vitals, but I dont think Id want to shoot much past that with any scope. Shooting outside of max point blank range at game is not something I have much interest in doing.
Wow good job Derick with your Wolf Precision ACE rifle. @EricCortina why was that detail edited out? Some kind of beef with the ACE?
I didn’t see anyone check for wind. That’s crazy. This is good practice. I set up a 12” Target with a 2.5” circle in the center. Every year before my hunt I verify all my reloads and their drop data at 800 yards. If I don’t get 3 for 3 in a 2.5” circle at 800 yards then I start over from scratch. I’m pretty tuff on myself. If im shooting on a live target I want a good clean kill. This was a great video. If you want to get better, practice, practice, practice!!! Thanks for sharing.
Very, very few humans have any business shooting game at 500 yards, and target bullets from pip-squeak calibers at long range is simply unethical. That’s my opinion, and at 62, it’s not changing.
I know that your trying to prove a point but you seem mean spirited about it. Most of the guys admitted they would never shoot a target that far and you admitted most of them would have killed it with their shot placement. The one guy that does make it you have a snarky comment about taking his time.
Can’t really call it a fair challenge when the kill zone is 5 moa lol
Great video and really shows that 500 is too far for to be ethical. Some might argue that 1moa is smaller than the vital area, but when was the last time you saw a game animal with a clearly marked target on the vitals. Conditions here really favored the shooters and the majority missed left (throw out the 223 as that would be just stupid at 500yds), I’d guess that the only guy who connected did so because he saw the others shoot.
Hunted in four countries on three continents and never felt the need to shoot at more than 300 yards. My hunting tutors as a kid taught me to get as close as I could for a clean kill, which is a skill in itself.
Hi Erik, In New Zealand the NZ Deer Stalkers Association use a target called the Wilkinson’s Target for this type of match. This is a similar silhouette of a deer but without any specific aim point , because deer normally don’t have those. It is painted all the one colour and forces the shooter to determine where and how to place the shot for ethical hunting. There is normally a 5 shot groups and scoring is done with a template. Shooting can be done from different ranges from standing, kneeling, sitting and prone. I believe every hunter should give this a go before they decide what an ethical shot is for them. I’ve been shooting and hunting all of my life and I couldn’t believe how difficult this is.
Cheers for the excellent series.
lets face it, probably not many hunters out there in the woods, alone, follow ethics, most will just shoot what they see and once in a while they hit and even find the target and so fairy tails are borne about super long range one shot kills. I have heard how people do mountain hunts in places were lets say ethics are low and wardens are rare, its basically dump what ever we have in general direction of herd hoping to hit something.
I doubt there is a single person on the planet that can shoot 1 MOA 980 out 1000 rounds (98% as you said) in field conditions. Wind, heat, and other factors supercede shooter skill. There are however plenty of shooters who can hit a 10" gong 100/100 at 500 yards, and that’s all you need to kill any big game animal in north america except maybe small deer and antelope. With something like a 300 win mag and a berger I’d wager the kill zone is more like 15" on a deer.
I have a 300 win mag that I can shoot almost all 5 rounds into 1 inch at 100 yds with factory ammo. But I don’t trust shooting past 200. The slightest wind can throw you off big time!
There’s an alternate universe where that man with the AR makes the shot of the year
As a hunter….all those shots except the ar were kill shots all day. I wouldn’t take the shot that far. 300yrds is my max. But lets not kid oursleves. Those shots would have dropped that deer really fast
Eric making a point here😄 and he’s not wrong apparently😂
Wheres all the Ross MK3 with peepsights, true target/ hunting rifle!
Overall great shooting by the contestants, but the problem I have with this experiment is they are not using common off the shelf hunting rifles and calibers. Think about ammo availability when you travel out of your state and country. These variables should be considered. Most experienced hunters would not take this shot. If it was me using common hunting rifles and ammo and reloads, I’d consider my choice of not only the caliber, but type of bullet and weight and will there be enough velocity and energy to make that ethical kill with sufficient accuracy. Instead of limiting the 1 moa, limit it to a common defined kill zone on the body of a given animal. For me, the furthest I have taken a whitetail was about 300-315 yards using a Browning BAR type 2 in 308 WIn, LC77 case stoked with 43 gr IMR4895 lit up by a CCI LR primer, launching a 150 Hornady Interlock Spire Point back in the 1980s. The animal dropped in its tracks with shot around the shoulder. I would not have taken it any further because of bullet drop of the 308. After that, out to the distance of 400 yards or so, the bullet starts to drop fast and makes the ethical shot more challenging. If I could suggest a similar challenge using common factory off the shelf rifles and calibers.
this challenge looks fun. I want to test myself if I can bag a deer at 500 yards on a cold bore shot. How can I participate? What’s the location of the event? schedule?
If practiced up, yes, I would take this shot as long as I had a solid rest. I went to S. Africa in 2019 to hunt Antelope and I shot an Impala off sticks at 323 yards and made a heart shot but I practiced for 6 months off sticks twice a week leading up to the hunt. I was practicing out to 600 yards dialing yardage. I used a Seekins Havak 300 win mag with a Nightforce ACACR 5-25×56. If you’ve practiced and are prepared and have quality rifle and optics then it’s a makable shot. And my rifle is not a target rifle.
First, the vital zone of a deer is much larger than that. Two, you’ve gained quite a bit of notoriety ripping off other people’s ideas. The KYL challenge? C’mon. And this. People train in the environment they’re comfortable with. You put your money where your mouth is and lay down with your rifle.
How come kids always can shoot better.
This is a good way to humble a lot of people. a cold-bore shot will very often not land on your normal zero so you have to spend time with your rifle and and make notes (ammo dependent) on where that 1st shot lands. While I don’t agree that 1MoA is the standard above which it’s not ethical (I’d argue 1.5) but it definitely is good to remind people that hunting is not target shooting or even match shooting. You have one chance to get it right and 500yds is no joke even for people that have serious shooting chops. Realistically though, most guys there made deer killing shots just not perfect 1 MoA shots.
Shows the differences between ethical hunters and shooters.
Hi Eric, does this mean the 500yrd blackjack series is finished?😢
I would practice at shooting golf balls then go take the challenge
None of those rifles look like my 270 Mountain rifle lol. I did kill a big bodied Y buck muley with it at 320 and some change. Last day the guide said f it do it. Old Remington bronze tip performed surprisingly good. Still have a box
9:26… killed me lol
Thanks for doing this Erik! It really opened my eyes.
Ethical foot pounds of ene rgy at striking point are 1500 fp for deer and 1800 for bear and elk(black bear) I f an animal moves between the gun going off and the bullet strike and you get a bad hit and lose that animal,THAT was NOT an ETHICAL SHOT!!!!!!!!! Use your brain!!! 6.5 CM is very questionable on Energy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hahaha couldn’t give him the shot. 😂
Love it.