How far can you shoot?

There is always the debate over whose type of hunting is better. In the end we are all hunting and as long as it legal we should not criticize another as we have enough anti hunters to deal with.
Some people try the traditional muzzle loader while others use a bow and arrow. I like to get in as close as I can but then there are those who want to test their marksmanship skills at making kills at a distance.
I know of one such man and he has spent many hours putting bullets down range to fine tune his skills. He has some very nice equipment too. Shooting a Ruger precision rifle chambered in 308 win mag. His chosen ammo is Hornady 168grain interlocks and he has a very nice tactical long range Steiner M5 Xi scope sat on the top. For him, this all works very well.
He is quite happy to sit or to be more honest lay down for the day shooting gongs at distances of 300-600 meters just to feel comfortable with a shot if it presents its self in the field. At home in Switzerland, he practises consistently at the range which is in a tunnel into a mountain. Unfortunately there is no wind to take into consideration there which is very different from being out in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Due to this a gong range was set up for him on the property he hunts here, so now he has all the elements to contend with. Putting his skills to the test, which he is getting right.
On previous visits he has taken species such as steenbok (Raphicerus campsestris), common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), impala (Philantomba monticola), red hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and black wildebeest (Connocheates gnou) as well as springbuck (Antidorcas marsupialis). Despatching them cleanly.
On this particular trip his intended quarry varied from impala to waterbuck. All of which were for management purposes. This meaning old animals which had past their prime or animals which we considered to have inferior genetics and should therefore be taken out of the breeding population.
The impala rut had started so rams could be heard through the night grunting away. Making us all believe that the first mornings hunt would be a push over. We woke and breakfasted at 07:00 and then started our search. There were some rams about but certainly not the ones which fell under the category of management animals. We searched high and low but nothing. Finally we headed to a quiet area where nobody really goes due to the difficulty in trying to recover any animal shot. It is a small open area surrounded by shear cliffs and a dry river bed meandering through it. There are a few trees but not many. The distance is about 500 meters from one side to the other making it a perfect place to try out our long range equipment.
We sat at the edge of one of the high ridges from where we could see what was going on in the bowl. Nothing. Then all of a sudden at the far end out walked an impala ram. I would shoot him with any client but looking at the shape of his horns he was one for the long range man. He was a fully grown mature ram. His horns were open at the top but the shape made an hour glass type of a shape. He stood at the far end of the bowl making for a testing shot. The wind was pumping but we had the advantage. He then realised that there was something wrong and started moving around. Eventually he went and stood under a small tree. Facing straight towards us so not giving much of a target zone. My client got himself ready. Not able to lie down he had to sit and lengthen his bipod. They didn’t lengthen that much as normally only used when lying down. I took a steady hold on the animal with the cross of my rangefinder and pressed the button. The reading came up in red, 451 yards. I said out loud that this was going to make one hell of a shot if he pulled it off. Asking if it was ok to shoot I told him he could shoot whenever he felt comfortable. He quickly made the calculation and dialled his scope up. Aiming for the front on chest shot he said he was ready. After a moment his breathing steadied and the shot went off. Keeping a watch on the animal through my 10×42 Steiner binoculars I saw the bullets vortex. WHACK. The ram dropped on the spot. Not even moving afterwards.
We watched for a second and then readied for the descent. We reached the bottom of the cliff where the talking started. Both still getting over the shot and wandering where the bullet had struck. Getting to the lifeless body lying under the tree we noticed the small drop of blood on the front where the crosshairs had been placed. The shot had been perfect. Hitting the ram exactly where intended. It had exited out of the far rib cage showing there was a slight quartering towards angle. Looking at the information the bullet took just over half a second to reach its intended target and dropped around 1.2meters. The shot had been made many times before on the range but this was the real deal.
Helped by the technology provided in today’s modern hunting equipment and many hours of range time, we were successful.
We are now off to look for another quarry which may or may not be as impressive a shot but the chain has been broken and we know what is possible, if you put the hard work in.