No Regrets

Sooner or later, you’ll be faced with a long shot. Are you truly ready for it?

- Will Brantley

THE FIRST THING the outfitter asked after meeting me was what kind of rifle I’d brought and how far could I shoot. “A .30/06,” I said. “I’ve killed some deer at 300 with it, so I’d feel comfortable to 350 yards or so on an elk.”

My answer seemed reasonable to me. But I recognized the change in the outfitter’s tone the instant he responded. It was the same disappointed, authoritative voice I take with my toddler when he doesn’t pick up his toys before bath time.

“It’ll be tough for you to get an elk out here, then,” he said. “Pretty much all of them we kill are at least 500 yards away.”

Long shots were the conversation theme of the week. This was a post-rut combo hunt for elk and mule deer, and so we spent a lot of our time glassing distant meadows, waiting for something to step out. As we waited, the guides regaled me with tales of bulls killed at 600 and 700 yards. I wondered how every successful client they had was so practiced at long-range shooting when I didn’t even know where the nearest 500-yard range was back home. But those stories had another theme: lots of bullets in the air.