500 Yrds?

KandM said:

Thank you all for your comments. I guess we will have to see how good my approach skills are on a late season bull. My wife and I regularly shoot out to 500yrds, and we play at further. I guess my concern is not being able to make the shot, but whether we have enough energy for a quick clean kill.
We will brush up our shooting skills, and work on our stalking. And scouting. If the only shot we get is with the camera, the hunt will still be worth it. I don't want to take a risky shot and potentially wound an animal, as that will make this, my wife's first big game hunt, her last.
Thank you all again.

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Creedmore is fine at 500 yards if you can shot.

https://youtu.be/IOo6gprtKeA

haiku_rodney said:

I have a friend who always hunts with a partner. When they set up a stalk, one stays put and helps guide the "stalker". They use those 2-way radios with an earbud so the "conversation" is quiet. This way you don't have to keep trying to sneak a peak to confirm the animal is still where you think it is.

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Make sure to read the local regs, as this is illegal in some states.

KandM said:

Sorry, we are hunting 5a.

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It's pretty unlikely you'll need to take a 500 yard shot in 5A, the only exception I can think of being if there's a ton of heavy snowfall (odds are pretty low, I'd say) and they move north into the low country. I guess it's possible to shoot some in Leonard Canyon at that range, but I wouldn't envy your pack out if you do. Here's what I would recommend - start looking at maps and go to the unit and do some reconnaissance (it's gorgeous up there right now, minus the heavy wind days) and look at the terrain. Bring a range finder so you can check yardage on distances you can see. The unit has a lot of steep vertical areas on the south end (where the elk will likely stay until pushed out by pressure and/or weather) but there's not much opportunity for serious long range shooting. It's a little flatter as you move north but trees and rolling hills will usually cut you out of 300+ opportunities.

Finally, as you and the wife are practicing shooting during the year, figure out what your consistent (key word) effective range(s) are and format your hunt accordingly. If you're not good past 300, make sure you're in terrain that doesn't require longer shots and don't shoot past your limit. Some people are great at long shots, most are not (and some of those people even realize their own limitations). Have a great hunt and dress warm. My buddy and I got snowed out of his late bull hunt in 5A in 2016 and we called it after pulling about 6-7 other trucks out of danger.

scubohuntr said:

...I know for sure that I will never be able to afford the $2,500 Nightforce scope and the $4,000 Swarovski spotting scope, the $2,500 rifle and all the rest to make those super long shots a viable proposition. ..

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$600 Tikka and a $600 Vortex scope will do the trick just fine! After that, you're just spending money to show your buddies how "nice" of gear you can afford.

In all seriousness, practice further than you plan on shooting in the field. It really highlights the small mistakes we all are prone to making, and lets you tighten in your shots so that shot that is in your comfort zone feels like 1000% instead of 100%

Good luck on your hunt! Not being from AZ, I Would love to see photos of the terrain so I can try to understand why someone would say you've got to shoot so damn far!

$600 Tikka and a $250 SWFA 10x out to plenty far. Not much to go wrong.