This last October I killed my buck at 964 yards and never once had a doubt I wouldn’t make that shot. I hit him exactly where I was aiming and he didn’t take a step.
I’ve always thought of 400-500 as long range. 964 yards is the most amazing shot distance I've ever heard of. That got me to wondering what factors you had to consider to be confident in making the shot. Based on 160gr bullet at 3100 fps with a high BC, I calculated some of those factors:
At that range, the Coriolis/Eotvos effect is very real. The bullet will be over 3 inches off, either up or down, left or right in some combination (assuming the deer was in the western US somewhere).
Wind drift- the difference between drift at 5 mph wind vs 7 mph wind is 18 inches. That’s assuming the wind is consistent across the 964 yards.
A 10 degree incline or decline in shooting angle changes holdover by 4 inches.
The bullet's spin drift at 964 yards is about 8 inches.
A typical day’s temperature and humidity change of 20 degrees and 30% would produce an air density impact of 8” holdover.
Assuming 0.5 MOA, in perfect bench shooting conditions, that’s a 5 inch group.
At 964 yards, the bullet is dropping 0.8 inches per yard. The rangefinder accuracy and your hold were critical.
It took the bullet about 1.3 seconds to travel that distance. You were confident the deer wouldn't take a step or two forward.
I'm not a long-range shooter- I might have missed something you had to consider?
Congrats on an amazing shot...