Long-Range hunting as we know it today, began in the Pine Creek area of North Central PA shortly after World War 2. The Pine Creek area along with the area I live (not far from Pine creek) has very high steep mountains for a good bullet backstop. Perfect for LR Hunting. A friend of mine named Lowell Amand showed me pictures and gave a complete history of the sport of LR hunting from his Dad and Uncle when he was growing up. After WW2 his Dad and Uncle returned from over seas duty where they had witnessed kills at what they thought was extreme range with 30-06 service rifles and snipers with scoped 30-06 rifles. They thought that if the 06 could kill a 150 to 200 lb man at those distances, a deer or bear wouldn’t stand a chance and they were right. The pics I saw of his Dad and uncle show one with a 270 rifle and the other with a 30-06 both had long stainless steel barrels and looked somewhat like a 40X of today. They had a spot they went to every year in Pine Creek and made kills regularly at 700 to 850 yards. Lowell told me he never knew any other way to hunt when he was growing up. In my book, he’s a real LR hunter with a lot of experience and has been a very good competitor at Williamsport over the years.

Williamsport began it’s existence in 1967 and was brought about by Long-range hunters who kept bragging how long of shots they were making on game and how accurate one caliber was as compared to another. A group of five men made it a reality and now Williamsport is the largest 1000 yard club in the World with many World Record groups and scores fired there.

As for me. I can honestly say that I started Long-range hunting when I was 12 years old and I’m 67 now. My best buddy lived in a lake front home which was also partially across from a swamp. There was always ducks on the lake, pheasants and rabbits moving in the dry parts of the swamp and the range was at least 250 to 300 yards at any time. We used a long barreled 22 single shot rifle from his upstairs bedroom window. The window sill made a good rifle rest and the person not shooting used a pair of binoculars (behind the shooter) to spot the shot out in the lake and swamp. You couldn’t see the vapor trail of the 22 shorts (all we had) but on a sunny day you could see the glare from the sun on the 22 jacket as it went toward the target. The arc of the bullet was something you had to see as you were holding very high over the target.

Surprisingly, we became very efficient at calling the shots and hitting our targets. We would then get in his canoe and paddle out to retrieve our floating prize’s from the lake or swamp.

Several years went by and after pounding (on foot) the big woods of Cameron County PA and killing a buck most every year, decided to give the long range game a try since a few of my friends were in to it. Many of those first LR friends are now gone but there are still many left to pass on some of the info about this interesting and “safe” form of hunting. Nobody has ever been wounded or killed by a long-range hunter and I hope it never happens.

Not sure of the year I jumped into Long-range hunting but it was well before I went to the Williamsport club to observe the matches in 1985 and started shooting in 1987. I tagged along with my LR hunter friends for a while because I didn’t have the equipment they did.

My first experience shooting a LR rifle was with two friends who have passed away now. After tagging along for awhile and earning my spotting merit badge, I was allowed to shot one of the big LR rifles that was set up.We were only shooting to 850 yards but that looked like two miles to me. I hit the intended target and the stage was set for me to reach very deep into my pockets and start a never ending quest to have all the equipment needed to make the hunting a success, at ranges people only dream about. My first rifle was a long barreled 264 Mag which I had Howard Wolfe re-chamber to a 6.5/300 Weatherby Mag. After shooting that one for awhile, I jumped to about three different 7/300 Weatherby’s followed by a host of long barreled 30 mags right up to a 30/378 Weatherby and then into the 338/416 Rigby Imp.

After Carol and I entered the matches at Williamsport in 1987 I met a very good friend named Jim Berfield who is still very much alive and we still hunt together every year. We started LR hunting in Cameron County PA where I live and then went to Colorado together for several years and killed many elk and mule deer at an average of 1350 yards each. The longest being 2100 yards on an elk. Jim has gone to Wyoming the past four years in search of a big mule deer and Carol and I continue to go to Colorado. I first animal I killed with the 338/416 Rigby Imp was a decent mule deer buck in his bed at 1500 yards. He never made a move, just fell over on his side. It seemed my guns were the ones we (Jim and I) used on most of our hunting trips in PA and Colorado. The first rifle we used in Colorado was my 37” barreled 30/378 Weatherby that killed many elk and deer for us. That rifle would spit out a 200 gr match king at 3600 FPS and the killing power on deer, elk and bear was unbelievable at ranges to 1360 yards and a bit further. A bear fell to that rifle and it was mentioned in Dan Liljas book on LR hunting. The 200 gr bullet tore up the bear terribly at 750 yards and Dan was impressed with the pic of the kill I sent him.

Everything changed as per distance when the 338/416 came around. The distance was much greater, the elevated killing power was very noticeable at all ranges and I felt sorry for deer (even mule deer) when hit with the 300 gr MK bullet at 1000 yards. My speed at the time was 3310 FPS from the 37” barrel on that rifle. At 1200 to 1350 yards the elk are usually knocked off their feet. My wife’s last elk was at 1350 yards just to give you some insight as to the yardage we shot at. To add to the list of kills--We met some very good people from California who hunt the same area as we do in Colorado. As of this date, they have taken 8 or 9 elk off my rifle. We liked these fellows and told them they could kill their game from the big gun when ever they found something they wanted to kill. This means I always take extra optics for them to use and they stay with us for the entire hunt which helps with the packing out process.

The guns and equipment have changed over the years and with the computer for ballistic improvement information, better gunsmith techniques, better barrel steel, better components, better optics, quicker laser rangefinders, the sport will get even more advanced. I’ve always tried to help a new long-range hunter as much as possible. One major bit of information to the new LR hunter is ------ he or she “must” know what the capabilities of the rifle they are using are, practice as much as possible at different yardages and make an accurate drop chart, buy the “best” equipment you can afford and learn to load your ammo correctly. You must have an accurate rifle to begin with and you should have a good compatible hunting friend who can spot the shots for you at extreme range and vise-versa.

My best hunting pals I’ve been with over the years have been my wife Carol ( in a special class) , Jim Berfield, Ray Romain and Bob Sebring. I could mention others and some who are dead now but, it would serve no purpose other then the fact, they were the ones who taught me the long-range way. They would drill me with elevation and wind-age clicks and what they represented at different yardages. I was thinking about clicks in my sleep back then but, it was a learning experienced that has never left me.

I hope to continue to hunt long-range as long as my eyes hold up. For me, my wife and several friends it’s a fantastic and safe way to hunt. I thank the original LR hunters in PA for developing this sport with rifles that looked like factory varmint guns with Unertl scopes on them. A special thank you to Lowell Amand’s Dad, Uncle and others for having the insight as to making kills at longer ranges then what most had thought was impossible.

Good Hunting to all and be safe

Darryl Cassel