The history of shooting is full of amazing feats and tall tales. Some of these are so unbelievable that it’s tough to tell where the truth ends and hot air begins. Having a credible witness never hurts, but if you’re like me, almost all of the most amazing shots I’ve made took place when alone.

I once encountered four coyotes together in a meadow about 200 yards away during elk season. After assuming a hasty sling, I took a good prone position. Lying on a flat rock overlooking the meadow, I flicked off the safety on my .30-06 and shot each coyote in turn. Four shots, four coyotes.

Another day I hit a spike bull elk on the run through the head at about that same distance. One year I shot a little 2×3 mule deer buck at almost three times that distance. It’s little wonder I call that rifle “Old Reliable.”

One time while fixing fence and armed only with my Single Six .22 revolver, I spied a rockchuck some distance away. Resting over the handlebars of my four-wheeler I squeezed off a shot, hitting low. The second shot was high enough but slightly to the right, owing to a breeze I had not accounted for. I hit the chuck through the heart on the third shot. I paced off the distance, it was 112 paces.

Another time I was shed hunting when an early spring rattlesnake decided to reveal himself. A quick shot from the hip with the Single Six peeled his viperous head like a banana. Believe it or not.

I shot a coyote on the trot with a .22 rifle at 125 yards, dropping him with one shot. I’ve shot coyotes that were in mid-leap, flying through the air, on more than one occasion. A few times I have gotten doubles on flushed quail with a shotgun. I once center-punched the bullseye, knocking the middle squarely out with a .375 H&H Magnum that only had a 3x scope on top.

I have shot ground squirrels with nearly every type of gun imaginable, including that time in Idaho that I used a Pietta Colt Navy 1851 .44 black powder revolver to do so.

Once with a .22 I shot through a ground squirrel and the bullet ricocheted into another one, killing two with one shot. I have also seen a bullet intended for only one ground squirrel ricochet into a nearby swather tire. Of course, there were witnesses on that one.

With my .25-06 I have shot several coyotes square between the eyes. With an especially accurate borrowed .223 I could shoot barbed wire in half out to 150 yards or so. The scope wasn’t strong enough to see the wire much past that distance.

I’ve rung steel at 1,000 with a .50 BMG, and shot sub-MOA groups at 100 yards with every scoped rifle I own as well as my .54 caliber muzzleloader. I once shot a .75” group on steel at 300 yards with my .30-06 from a benchrest.

I could go on, but you get the idea. The more time you spend shooting, the more outlandish the shots you feel confident enough to attempt. Witnesses or not, it always feels good to make an “impossible” shot.

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