If one goes the following website, they have an excellent video of some serious long range shooting in Africa. The longest shot was something over 1100 yards! The gun appears to be very high tech. I believe it is called Tracking Point.

www.ezulugamereserve.com

Click on the blog.

Enjoy.

Charles Price was talking to me about that in Reno. He said it's not quite as easy as it looks, but it's definitely an incredible machine and makes those shots much easier than with traditional equipment (or even equipment built for long range shooting).

I hadn't seen the video, very well done!

Me 'n R2D2 go huntin'... a exactly how is this different from the guy offering "remote hunting" over the internet?

I have a long range rig and I have shot game over 500 yds with it, but, this doesn't seem to offer the same type of challenge as actually putting some work into it. Now, obviously, they make it sound fall off a log easy (that in itself might be a problem) and it probably does require serious practice. Still, this seems creepy techno to me.

I shoot prairie dogs but prefer to hunt larger game...

I doubt this will get out of hand given the $17,500.00 price for the "entry level" unit.

Someone told me that the gun as equipped was $32,000. Not sure of that is true or not.

i stayed at the river lodge and there are extremyl long shots there charles is a great guy

April from tracking point won our prize draw at DSC. she was saying that having done no shooting before she was hitting targets at 700 yards.

Quite some feat.

K

This thing doesn't solve the problem of wind deflection, which is what separates the men from the boys. (He had some good hits, but that kudu was a bad shot - he hit it way too far back...lucky it hit the spine.

The only thing really new is the trigger that locks on.

Even if you buy one, I am guessing that there is significant risk such a system, esp the trigger, will be made illegal for hunting, at least here in the US.

quote:

Originally posted by brian simmons:
i stayed at the river lodge and there are extremyl long shots there charles is a great guy

Yes he is, and that camp is great (my favorite). All of their camps are great really.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Someone told me that the gun as equipped was $32,000. Not sure of that is true or not.

Their website says $20,000.

Ethics aside, that's a pretty neat toy. Looks like the gun locks on target, and fires when the crosshairs cross the game.

As AAZW said, the wind is your biggest factor. Wind blows from different directions in hilly terrain. You may have 5kt wind from 270 where you are but the bullet will travel through many different "wind zones" if you will, changes in speed, direction, not to mention updrafts and downdrafts.

This is where the ethics comes in.

First, some of those shots were clearly marginal kill shots. Too far back and high up on the Kudu, far back on the eland. You gotta wonder how many times they missed and didn't put it in the film. I wonder how many animals were wounded and lost?

Looks like a good tool for military use. Pig and varmint eradication, but I wouldn't personally use it for sport. But ... that's just me.

My Mcaffee blocks the site as malicious!

Guess I am old fashioned, but there is a difference between shooting and hunting.

in my opinion, this is shooting, not hunting. One could use a wire guided missile and achieve the same result, but it wouldn't be "hunting" as I (and, I would venture to say, a number of others) would opine. Not the same as the gentleman with the remote controlled, internet guided, deer "hunt" reported on these pages, but close. I am personally disgusted by this wanton display of technology for obliterating game animals.

I found that pretty unsettling. I surprised that some of you seem excited about this.

Even with very limited use I could see something like this really hurting hunting.

I hope this type of technology is made illegal for hunting before the antis have a chance to use it against us.

First drones, now this...what's next, some hunter asking his PH to kill the animal for him...oh..wait... nevermind...

Disgusting.

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
Disgusting.

Just wait until they perfect Doppler laser anemometers...then you can calculate the wind drift in real time...until of course, it changes during the more than one second it takes to fly 1000 yards.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
I found that pretty unsettling. I surprised that some of you seem excited about this.

Even with very limited use I could see something like this really hurting hunting.

I hope this type of technology is made illegal for hunting before the antis have a chance to use it against us.

Just to be clear - I'm with you on this. I don't think it's ethical or even considered hunting when you get into this type of technology. Mark my words, it will be illegal for hunting in the US and frankly I'm surprised they could clear customs in RSA with that kind of gun. The video had good production value (almost looked like they used a helicopter in some of the shots), that's all I was saying.

It's an interesting weapon, and would be fun to shoot at long range, stationary and non-animal targets. I like my gadgets as much as the next guy, but this thing takes it overboard when used in a hunting scenario.

Greg

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
I found that pretty unsettling. I surprised that some of you seem excited about this.

Even with very limited use I could see something like this really hurting hunting.

I hope this type of technology is made illegal for hunting before the antis have a chance to use it against us.

Jason:

I said this on the LR hunting site, but let's assume this thing kills every thing you aim at. The success rate on animals would skyrocket, esp big mature animals. That will force game departments to issue even less tags for rifle hunters, resulting in a loss of revenue (AZ gets $7 per application plus a non res hunting license if you want a P point). The lack of drawing odds and/or higher fees will discourage even more hunters from continuing to hunt.

We as hunters could easily convince game departments to make this illegal.

Great for a military application but it aint hunting!

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
I found that pretty unsettling. I surprised that some of you seem excited about this.

Even with very limited use I could see something like this really hurting hunting.

I hope this type of technology is made illegal for hunting before the antis have a chance to use it against us.

Jason:

I said this on the LR hunting site, but let's assume this thing kills every thing you aim at. The success rate on animals would skyrocket, esp big mature animals. That will force game departments to issue even less tags for rifle hunters, resulting in a loss of revenue (AZ gets $7 per application plus a non res hunting license if you want a P point). The lack of drawing odds and/or higher fees will discourage even more hunters from continuing to hunt.

We as hunters could easily convince game departments to make this illegal.

Interesting point. However the price tag will prevent this from happening anytime soon. This will be adopted by military ... Maybe not here but the developers will sell it to someone.

Even if the price drops by 50%, very few of your everyday Joe's would be able to afford, much less even want one.

Than goodness.

An interesting military setup for sure.A group of guys with these things in 50 cal could do some serious harm. But it is not hunting. I'm not sure that it is great shooting either if the gun does everything for you???
JCHB

I shoot every week at long range. This setup will do absolutely nothing for me. When I miss, it is due to wind. At 800 yards even a .338 300 SMK drifts 2.5 inches for every mile of wind. Even if you can hold 1/2 MOA, or four inches, you need to estimate the wind within 1.2 inches before you begin missing (because your bullet may be 2 inches to one side just because you can't shoot a one hole group). TOF is one second.

I watched the whole thing and have no idea how that thing works.

But it seems as though all the "shooter" does is wave it in the general direction of the animal and wait for it to go off.

Not my style. Way too high tech.

Great. More animals being shot at from ranges of a kilometer. Bullet flight times of a second or more, giving the target animal time to move several feet. More wounding, more lost game. That'll certainly improve the image of hunting and hunters.

Here it comes now..."As long as its legal, do what you like."

LEGAL OR NOT, I am certain that most hunters will agree that this is unethical. Shooting at steel or paper targets? Have at it. Military snipers? Everything's fair...it's not a game. But hunting? Please!!!

I'll say it (after all, name-calling is legal, isn't it?): The guy in the video, shooting at flighty animals like Springbok, a kilometer away...is an UNETHICAL, AMORAL JERK.

jwm:

I owe you a beer...

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
jwm:

I owe you a beer...

Cheers

I'll buy him another. Well said JWM!!

You know, until we start writing/emailing to the companies that sponsor shows like "Best of the West," it is just going to keep getting worse.

When I hunted in the Yukon they told me my hunt was done if I drew blood. Why? Too many long range "experts" have wounded too much game.

Boddington has an excellent story in the current issue of Rifle Shooter (I think it was that). I do admire the way he has come out against all of this.

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:

I'll say it (after all, name-calling is legal, isn't it?): The guy in the video, shooting at flighty animals like Springbok, a kilometer away...is an UNETHICAL, AMORAL JERK.

Inclusive of all those involved, i.e. Ranch owner/outfitter who had a vested interest in this promotional display.

The fall of Rome as demonstrated in modern hunting culture.

It takes the thrill of the hunt out of the experience for me :-(

Looks like they are close to being able to let you hunt off your PC and pull the trigger with your mouse. No need to travel. Just photoshop your mug in the trophy shot and send the trophy to you.

We'll never know how much game is wounded or lost, or both by the long range "wannabes". Anybody who says they can dope an inconsistent, swirling wind consistently is full of crap.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
If one goes the following website, they have an excellent video of some serious long range shooting in Africa. The longest shot was something over 1100 yards! The gun appears to be very high tech. I believe it is called Tracking Point.

www.ezulugamereserve.com

Click on the blog.

Enjoy.

has anyone hunted with this outfit? Looks like a place I can get the wife to go too.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
This thing doesn't solve the problem of wind deflection, which is what separates the men from the boys. (He had some good hits, but that kudu was a bad shot - he hit it way too far back...lucky it hit the spine.

The only thing really new is the trigger that locks on.

Even if you buy one, I am guessing that there is significant risk such a system, esp the trigger, will be made illegal for hunting, at least here in the US.

the 1100 yard spring buck he needed to add in about another mil and half of wind. he was way too far forward....As for the rifle its just a AI and a Surgeon action, nothing special there. But that scope, well i guess its nice till you drop it. Being a former Army bolt gun shooter, I like my stuff a little more robust then what that thing looked like.

I am hunting with Ezulu in September and I am bringing my wife. When my wife comes with me to Africa I tend to select nicer places so she is comfortable.

I talked with a rep from Tracking Point at SCI mostly because I was curious and had seen the promo on Ezulu's website. The rep told me that the military is definitely interested. I wouldn't hunt with it but I think it has great potential for our troops.

Careful what you are advocating here. This is not my cup of tea, but I don't think the answer is to outlaw it. That's the other side's argument. No "military weapons", "assault rifles", "high capacity magazines", etc. Let's not join their ranks.

We don't have to make it illegal. We just have to shun people who do it. The power of the group and not Government is needed.

C'mon guys. I do this on a regular basis with my .600 and 4-bore!
Seriously, this is an embarrassment to what is our passion. There was no hunting here. No tracking. No keeping the wind in the correct direction. In fact, there was no good shooting. Using high tech and computers and all the other gadgets takes the skill out of shooting. There was nothing here but a gent who wanted to prove himself. He can't hunt and he can't shoot so he takes the easy (albeit expensive) way out. Excuse my language, but an absolute piece of shit.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
C'mon guys. I do this on a regular basis with my .600 and 4-bore!
Seriously, this is an embarrassment to what is our passion. There was no hunting here. No tracking. No keeping the wind in the correct direction. In fact, there was no good shooting. Using high tech and computers and all the other gadgets takes the skill out of shooting. There was nothing here but a gent who wanted to prove himself. He can't hunt and he can't shoot so he takes the easy (albeit expensive) way out. Excuse my language, but an absolute piece of shit.
Cal

I agree with Cal, being a long ranger shooter, I can tell you it takes years of practice. Just to read the wind alone has taken years behind the glass. It's hunting when you do it your self, not when a computer says shoot here.