The link to the hunting (shooting) video.

http://youtu.be/yu2EqO1qbrQ

Tracking Point: How it works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvbyAcYjzlc


Best-
Locksley,R

This rifle while it may not be everyone cup of tea.

We need to sit back and look at what our younger generations computer kids are doing.

This rifle could bring a whole group of individuals into the hunting /shooting realm.

could that be so bad.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana338:
This rifle while it may not be everyone cup of tea.

We need to sit back and look at what our younger generations computer kids are doing.

This rifle could bring a whole group of individuals into the hunting /shooting realm.

could that be so bad.

My knee-jerk reaction to your post is that I would rather see hunting die out than to have it turned into some type of video game.

I have a 3yo daughter and I really hope she takes up hunting, but I'm not interested in her participating in that type of "hunting".

Jason, +1. I would be embarrassed to have my granddaughter even see that. I am proud to say that explaining to her exactly what was inherently wrong about the practice being portrayed in that video would be unnecessary...she would know it herself.

Yes, the computer generation is here, but we must keep hold of our history and tradition; which is rapidly dying. In the US history book I was given to teach from, the battles of WWII are mentioned in one paragraph but two pages given to a black woman who started a laundry business. Hunting by computer and video may be here but I will do it the old way (I do have one scoped rifle, however) and I will prefer to read a history of Iwo Jima rather than a politically correct story of a laundry business.
Cheers, gents. It is always a pleasure reading AR.
Cal

First, let me say I have no interest in doing this. That said, it is a remarkable demonstration of technology. It is shooting, not hunting. Shooting is a sport, too.

Anti-gun and anti-hunting forces win because they can exploit the disunity of those of us engaged in the shooting sports. Who needs those black guns, anyway? High capacity magazines? Don't need 'em. Just wait until they come for your "sniper rifle." Imagine, a weapon in civilian hands that can take out a target from more than a football field away.

If we don't hang together, we shall all hang separately.

Sorry, I can't buy that logic. Shooting is indeed a sport, but it is a sport which can be practiced with inanimate targets. Shooting at game animals at ranges like this, which introduces variables which cannot be foreseen or compensated for, is guaranteed to result in much more wounded and lost game than we should be willing to accept. I agree that we should be concerned about our image in the eyes of antihunters and nonhunters, but this does not mean we need to accept the tired old saw about "standing together, no matter what".

Antis are antis...there's no reasoning with them. Non-hunters can be swayed to one side of the fence or the other, depending upon how the two poles are presented to them. If I were discussing this video with a non-hunting person I think that the absolute best way to further my/our cause would be to condemn this practice as inhumane and cruel, and take the time to explain my position. Frankly, if I were to try to defend it I would feel like a hypocrite and an idiot.

I am concerned about the animals I shoot. I don't want to see them suffer unnecessarily, and having non-hunters understand this is crucial to any point of view which I might be trying to express to them. There are many types of hunting, such as hunting deer with dogs or night-time raccoon hunting, in which I have no interest in participating, but I would defend them unhesitatingly as legitimate sporting pursuits. The practice depicted in this video doesn't even come close to qualifying.

By the way...since the human element seems to be removed completely by this technology, how does this even qualify as a sport if it were done on the range at paper targets? There is no sense of accomplishment, no gratification at a task well-done or a difficult challenge mastered, nothing. These guys are feeling joy at killing something, maybe some pathetic vanity brought about by showing off expensive hardware that few can afford, and probably a heaping portion of greed as they shamelessly try to sell this to the sporting community.

I sincerely hope that they are talking to the wrong crowd.

First, I appreciate your well thought out viewpoint.
My point is, not that I think we should be doing this and calling it "hunting." However, addressing the consequences to the animals, I don't see a big difference between this and any hunter taking a shot that may be pushing the envelope of his shooting ability.
I certainly know guys who shouldn't be taking 200 yard shots at deer with a scoped rifle. We could agree that doing so is thereby unethical for that hunter, but we wouldn't be debating whether such taking a 200 yard shot with a scoped rifle should be universally condemned.
I wonder what the viewpoints would have been, had a forum such as this existed when optical sights were introduced. Unsporting? What about smokeless magnum cartridges and the rifles to shoot them accurately. Taking an animal reliably at 300+ yards? Is that hunting? It is to me, but I grew up shooting scoped rifles.
My point is simply that there is room for this in our tent. I don't want to see laws against it, and I wouldn't condemn a man for doing it, but I sure would not be one to encourage it.

I started this and I am sorry I did. The technology is amazing in my opinion. However, I have exactly zero desire to harvest animals this way. It reminds me of people asking me why I don't just shoot a turkey across a large pasture with my rifle. My response is always that is isn't hunting to me. This isn't hunting either. The technology, however, is incredible.

Marty, I see what you are saying here, and I am not trying to be argumentative, but there is a big difference between an unskilled shooter attempting a 200- or 300-yard shot (which would be an easy accomplishment for many hunters) and this yahoo attempting a 1-km shot. At those distances, NOBODY can perform adequately. It is not that the shot cannot be placed accurately, as we know that long-range shooting is something which can be mastered with sufficient experience, but rather that there is simply too much time between the bullet leaving the muzzle and its impact on target. During that time, animals can move significant distances, turning good shots into complete misses or serious wounds. Wind direction and strength can be altered three or four times over that distance. In a lot of cases, even finding the spot where the animal was standing could be difficult or impossible, let alone tracking it afterwards. A non-hunter could be forgiven for not knowing these things...a hunter cannot be.

Shoot at distance and test your accuracy and precision...on paper or gongs. They don't move unpredictably, and nothing is lost if you miss. Live targets deserve more respect than that. Forget about how it looks to the general public...a hunter's conscience should dictate his/her reaction to this stuff.

larryshores, you're right...this thread is getting carried away.

I'm going back to the light-hearted lunacy of shootaway's rifle-sighting tips in the other forum!

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I started this and I am sorry I did. The technology is amazing in my opinion. However, I have exactly zero desire to harvest animals this way. It reminds me of people asking me why I don't just shoot a turkey across a large pasture with my rifle. My response is always that is isn't hunting to me. This isn't hunting either. The technology, however, is incredible.

That is the problem with some threads and they spiral out of proportion.

There is a fine line with taking that long shot and the consequences after. Even those who get close up and personal screw it up.

Gotta take the rough with the smooth mate.

All these pop-ups lately of "extreme long range hunting" (read: shooting) make me sick. I get the whole "it's very challenging to make that shot and you need the right equip...blah, blah, blah!" That's bullshit! It's target shooting, only instead of paper or a gong, it's some bloody poor animal left to get gut shot or spined. How long does it take these "hunters" to walk from where they made the shot to where the animal is laying, alive and thrashing, perhaps? If these bastards really want a challenge, try doing the opposite of this- get so close that you give the game you're pursuing powder burns!



*Edit to add: Not intending to focus my disgust on the OP- looks like a fun toy nonetheless...

-John

Not my cup of tea, but amazing none the less!

Many years ago I shot a lot of 1000 yd competition and the two things that kill your shooting at such ranges is wind changing direction more than once down range, and Mirage from heat rising from the surface! No gadget can dope the wind completely at that range, and that is guess work on the part of the shooter, and this guy seems to have a knack for doping the wind and mirage! As was said this looks easy on film, but not easy in practice!

......................................................................

Larry

The video clip on this rifle you picked is way different than the one i saw.

This one shows the target being lit up and if the target is in the same place the rifle will shoot when the cross hares are on target again.... now for those of you the key words are animal still standing in the same place.

The video clip that i first saw was the animal walking and stopping and then walking again the rifle would not lock on in this case. and the continual computer check and reset would drive most individuals for a loop. This rifle is a 2 man operation.

As for long shooting there are 1000 yard deer clubs and that is the distance that you have to shoot your deer at to belong. no one on here is taking issues with this kind of hunting or it club.

Now what about the private game ranches that offer computer assisted hunting. You buy the tag and watch a computer monitor in another state or country and press the enter button when you see the animal in the scope that you want to shoot. The rifle is set up on a tripod with a camera attached to the scope for your viewing through the scope and when you log on and acquire access you are all set to go, you now have control of the rifle and where it shoots. You probably have seen these rifles on TV and the Movies.

Now for the returning and veteran snipers that practice all the time. When hunting they carry the rifle of choice and make shots out to 1000 yards. And as a few that i know have said that was as close as they were going to be able to get on that animal. When seasons are reducing the number of days that a hunter can be in the field the start up of long distance shooting schools are becoming a mainstay in society.

weather we like it or not it is here to stay.

And yes the younger computer generation would get into long distance target shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I started this and I am sorry I did. The technology is amazing in my opinion. However, I have exactly zero desire to harvest animals this way. It reminds me of people asking me why I don't just shoot a turkey across a large pasture with my rifle. My response is always that is isn't hunting to me. This isn't hunting either. The technology, however, is incredible.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bwana338:
.... now for those of you the key words are animal still standing in the same place....THAT is the main complaint with this whole idea...

...As for long shooting there are 1000 yard deer clubs and that is the distance that you have to shoot your deer at to belong. no one on here is taking issues with this kind of hunting or it club....Sorry, but it is exactly that to which some of us are objecting.

Now what about the private game ranches that offer computer assisted hunting. You buy the tag and watch a computer monitor in another state or country and press the enter button when you see the animal in the scope that you want to shoot. The rifle is set up on a tripod with a camera attached to the scope for your viewing through the scope and when you log on and acquire access you are all set to go, you now have control of the rifle and where it shoots....Does pointing to other reprehensible behaviour somehow make the subject of this video more acceptable?

Now for the returning and veteran snipers that practice all the time. When hunting they carry the rifle of choice and make shots out to 1000 yards. And as a few that i know have said that was as close as they were going to be able to get on that animal....Here's a shocking new idea...maybe, just maybe it isn't absolutely, completely essential that they kill that animal. It's supposed to be hunting, not shopping...

weather we like it or not it is here to stay....Here to stay? Maybe...but that does not mean that it should be considered acceptable...

And yes the younger computer generation would get into long distance target shooting....No problem...targets don't move unpredictably, suffer painful wounds, die lingering deaths after being lost in the bush, or make us look like sadistic monsters in the eyes of a world which could eventually legislate hunting out of existence.


Okay, I apologize...I said I was off the soapbox, and I jumped back onto it one post later. This particular topic has really struck a nerve with me. I'll go quietly now.