Here's my thinking as far as my statement: it was irresponsible to take the shot, which the OP admits in hindsight. However, had he injured the animal, I have no doubt whatsoever that he would have tracked it and finished it. Which would be the ethical thing to do. I'm not a hunter, but I understand that it's not uncommon for this to happen. Had he injured it and not followed up and let it suffer, THAT would be unethical.

No, it would be unethical to wound the bear with a poorly chosen shot in the first place. Hunting ethics is not about whether the hunter collects the meat, it's about how the animal is treated. In this case, unethical and irresponsible go hand in hand.

I agree with LC. It's good the OP missed cleanly instead of wounding the bear, which was the next most likely thing to happen. That doesn't mean LC or I wish ill of the OP.

The takeaway here should be to get that rangefinder out and know the distances you're shooting at, don't just guess. Even guessing it was at 250 yards should be enough to hold the shot until confirming range; there can be a pretty big difference in POI between 200-300 yards, and most of us couldn't guess that range reliably within 50 yards anyway.

I admit it was irresponsible taking a shot at an unknown range. In my defense, I did take a shot at it’s head/neck (only shot I had) that if I missed would have missed everything else, and at the time felt comfortable taking the shot at that small of an area. I’ve shot this particular rifle and load at a 8” steel gong before out to 500 yards. Shooting targets and shooting animals are too totally different things. I know.

I’ve hunted for years, and this is my first miss with a firearm on an animal. I’ve tracked animals shot with a bow before. If I had wounded it, I would have tracked it. Nothing is ever 100% though. Based on the distance I assumed, I thought it was a cake walk. If I’d known it was 382 yards, I would have used the correct hold over and still felt comfortable taking the shot with my skills.

I don’t think shooting a bear with a .308 at 400 yards is unethical. That round will kill at that distance. Me underestimate the distance and taking a shot might be though. At least negligent. I’ve beat myself up about it already. The sketchy part is that a lot of hunters don’t have a range finder, and are horrible at judging distance. The idea of wounding an animal a losing it bothers me. That’s part of the reason I gave up bow hunting (easier to lose an animal in my opinion and greater risk of making a bad shot). I think to be a good bow hunter, I would need to practice more than I can commit to these days.

I think the big lessons I learned is that it’s stupid guessing, be prepared, and I need to either rely on my rangefinder or brush up/practice judging distance. Trying to take a negative situation, and by learning/humbling myself, become better and make it a positive.

I did some ranging practice today. Also saw another bear on the way home in a different area. No rifle with me (heading home from work). It was reassuring though that spending time in the field means more opportunities to see game.

The bear I saw tonight left a momento lol.

No argument was attempted. I was just putting out a feeler. To try to ascertain your level of understanding of the situation fom a hunters point of view.. When you're right, you're right, if I don't believe it. I merely need to ask you and you will surely tell me so. Thank you ever so much.

I'm not a hunter, but is it not possible to improve one's range estimation skills through the use of dry fire and known glass characteristics coupled with scaled targets? Pistol competitors who dry fire often use scaled targets to train the "eye" to recognize iron sight picture at various ranges, without having to go to the field.

It's always possible to improve. The best way I have found is to use a rangefinder in the field and guess the distance of an object and then check your guess with a range finder. The main diffuculty I have is the variety of terrains, and the way that it can fool you. On a wide open plain or across vast canyons, critters often look miles away when they're not. In brushy areas and when a target is moving, often times things seem closer than actual distance.

Practice estimating with a rangefinder helps. Whenever possible use one on game, or if stand hunting, range various objects around you so you have a good idea when a target presents itself.

Fortunately, or maybe not, with my crappy eyesight anymore, if I can see an animal without optics, it's close enough for me to shoot.

For me it has. I spent a few months shooting life sized deer targets at known distances. Got into the field was guessing ranges by 3-7 yards.

Smart training right there.

Here wdfw suggest there are scopes with range finder incorporated. Has anybody use one of those? that would have change this story.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/help/questions/69/C ... to+hunt%3F