First, a few exculpatory comments

This is not intended as a condemnation of LR BG shooting.As a western hunter for 40+ years I completely understand the occaisional need and urgency of certain circumstances when long shots are a necessary part of a hunter rifleman's agenda....reaching a long ways across yawning canyons or windy prairies is a skill set all its' own and I am mesmerized by the abilities displayed by those who can read conditions,and send a projectile where it needs to go and get the job done at great distance.I am not opposed to it.

OTOH,there is a great deal to be said for getting close enough to a bull elk to smell him;closing in on a whitetail buck or mule deer and killing them at handshaking distance.

Maybe the ultimate is being so close to a grizzly or brown bear in the wild that you can watch its' eyes roll and see the wind ruffle its' fur.And for those lucky enough to have done it,could there be anything more spine-tingling and shocking than having the bulk of a Cape Buffalo or elephant looming just yards ahead?

I know that this stuff may not be as interesting to talk about from a technical standpoint than the gear and tecniques involved in reaching 700-800 yards,but I bet it is more than made up for in adrenalin overload and excitement.

Thoughts?

That's why bowhunting is fun.

Totally agree.

For me, tracking and shooting a bull elk up-close and personal in the dog hair is the ultimate in BG hunting.

Bob, I'll let you know after archery season this year

Tanner, you know it isn't illegal to shoot them up close with a rifle as well.....just wanted to make that point...

I don't know if I've got the quietude mojo down yet to shoot 'em up close with a rifle...

Just like longer range....pool da trigga!

I don't really ever got off the roads or my ATV so I don't know if I should even weigh in. I've heard the big bucks and bulls hang out close to the roads.

Nothing like making a turn around a tree and smelling rut, blowing a call and bowling one over at 50 feet.

2 deer this year and the longest shot was 20 yards.

Scott: Fun...ain't it?

I like in your face stuff. Always laughed at the bowhunters that say it's more challenging than a rifle. Seems a person with a rifle can opt to not shoot at something past 30 yards if they wish.

I'll take up-close-and-personal every time - and, it generally is for the majority of the hunting that I do.

I dont mind gettin powderburns on them. At all.

The last two bulls I killed were under 50 YDS, yes it's a blast.

On the other hand I had a very good bull at 325 YDS with no where to go. (muzzle loader) Still have nightmares about it.

Yep

Repertoire......

A rutted up stink buck at 10 yards makes my socks go up and down.

I like the up close tight stuff.

I don't have much choice but to get close given that my hunting grounds don't allow me the option of shooting far.

Yes, shorter range is more fun

I prefer short, that's why I like unscoped .44s.

Favorite haunt is a perhaps 2 mile long u shaped ridge that has been patchwork clearcut. Skid-trails form a classic maze pattern. Edge cover is almost everywhere. Many guts that for the most part give protection from the wind on bad days. Deer love the place and most hunters don't because the topo lines get close once you get past the top third.

Almost anything can greet you on a given day. You can catch one bedded or bounce one, or a bunch out of the same, come up on them casually feeding without a concern. Hear a Buck grunting on a Doe. Come around a bend and have a ringside seat too a joust. What's that big black blob up ahead? Bear!!!! Hey checkout those bowling ball Cubs!!!!

Deer, Grouse, Turkey, Bear and Squirrels and for the most part they all will be close. I kinda like the place.

Bustin hogs, yotes, rocks, etc at long range is a blast. I got within 12 yards of a 190" bedded muley a few years ago and didn't get him killed. That was even better.

The LR groups get most of the glory, but I'm thinking us shorties have more fun.

Not my favorite way to hunt any more, but a well organized Deer drive when they are home can be a hoot for doing things up close.

However, I still like a little two man push. You get screwed more often than not, but sometimes it all comes together and it will usually be fairly close. Fun times with a knowing partner.


Addition: I just know one of you clowns will read something else into that. So get it out.

Aahhh....exactly!


When SOP is not working, wade in after them.

I am mostly interested in how folks feel about it.Some of my most "fun" hunts were when I encountered a hog buck(or anything else)at spitting distance,whether I killed it or not..

I was sitting in blowdown with my 10 year old son, up in Pittsburg, NH,rattling horns.Where he came from I have no idea,but I turned my head to the right,and there was a very big bull moose, staring down his nose at us at about 5 yards.I whispered in my son's ear.."turn right and look up.."He did,with no reaction.He was not looking "high enough".

I grabbed his head and tilted it higher...the moose came into focus,and I could see his eyes open wide with astonishment at the site of this beast almost in is lap..he has never forgotten it.

How I missed this huge animal approaching in that heavy cover,is a mystery...I must have been too busy rattling.

I enjoy "long range" hunting on right of ways, etc. that said, I've done almost all of my deer killin inside of 200 yds. I know exactly where I'm going to hit within that range. I am always a little surprised at the hunters I see who are willing to take pot shots without being certain of the results. long range hunting takes practice and, more particularly, practice with the right equipment.

bowhunting whitetails is good stuff, but I found to be successful you usually need to be 20-30' up in a tree (or these days you can buy a ground blind that will suppress your scent to some extent). also, it is hot as hades down here in the south during archery season. long story short, I end up deer hunting the same way every year. wait til' rifle season, carry a .250, .243, or .308, shoot deer inside 200 yds.

it works, at least. I kill at least one a year and I've not lost one (knock on wood)

I like BOTH.

Yes there is more to, gettin close, not letting them smell or hear you. The element of 'surprise' is a reward all of its own.

I had a blast this past season, on the ground and most shots were up close & personal. (5)

OTOH - I also enjoy reaching out there and touchin one. Now for where I've been hunting 400 yds is about as far as I've had the opportunity. 1 at 389, 1 at 399 (by rangefinder) and plenty between 200-300. It takes more practice and having the right equipment to reach out. Some can't hit a deer past close range.

Put be down for BOTH.

I'm seriously considering picking up a crossbow sometime soon to get in on the early season bowhunting, even though it is often hot throughout a Louisiana October. I'm a rifle nut, but it is fun when they come in close to spitting distance, even if you are in a groundblind or short-legged box blind. Scent control is often important for ass-sitters too! Lol....

i would say depends on the person.....i like hunting at shorter range cause i love watching animals up close.....some guys though are far more interested in the technical part of long range hunting and get the most enjoyment out of a hunt that way.....neither is "wrong" just depends on what you like....

Both ends of the spectrum....spot and stalk black bear taken at 20 yards. Nice 16" antelope taken with a long shot with my .338 Lapua. I like all of it.

Good post, Bob. I thought about starting a post on short shots the other day.

I shoot long range too - you need to be able to do so in NM - but short range is much more exciting to me.

In 2012 I killed my mule deer at 22 long paces while still hunting:


and a hog at maybe 12 steps, also killed while still hunting:


Before walking up on that buck, I walked up within 30 steps of an unaware coyote. That in itself was a lot of fun and very satisfying.

So far this year I've only killed one hog at 152 yards. Mabye I'm slipping...grins.

Congrats Pat:

Super nice antelope.

Well done as usual, Pat!

Yep! The stalk and up close shot, where the animals senses are most keen, are most certainly where it's at.

Shorter range hunting is more fun imo. But one should always be prepared for the longer shots too. It is a take whatever one can get (yardage within the individual hunter`s comfort zone for success) proposition.

I love both, but would rather kill a doe at 1000 yards with a rifle than a 3 year old 8 point at 10 yards with a bow. I am just basically a meat hunter though.

Yep, even Jim Shockey said of himself, "How can you miss a moose?" after missing a moose at close range w/a mzldr. I give him credit for 'integrity'. He let it be televised!!

Even the best of us miss. once in a while.

Big +1. And in CO, bowhunting is the only way you'll get a month-long season, during the elk rut. I haven't bow-hunted a lot, but spending a lot of time in close proximity and not getting a shot can be very motivating and will keep you going day-in, day-out. It's also when you tend to learn a lot about the animals. Lots of times when bowhunting, if I'd had a gun in my hand, the hunt would have been over before any of the good stuff happened.

I like it all, like scenar. But I love getting close.

I have shot critters from three to 450yards. Not long range by todays standards. And I do not have a real big desire to push the distance.

But I would like to come up to IB3 and play, but it it is during turkey hunting season, so I will be out hunting.

This. That said I think a definition of "short range" needs to be fleshed out. having been so close to a bunch of Cape Buffalo that you can hear their stomachs rumble and smell them IS a trip! Then again so was whacking a kudu at 350 plus. It's all good!

Put be down for BOTH.

+1 with jorge, stick & string or slinging lead, I like em both.

Won't catch me with a bow though Oh and full disclosure, I ususally pay to hunt...

jorge, we all pay one way or the other! While I prefer rifle hunting, the bow gets me out with more opportunities, and that's a good thing.

Took me a long while to learnto walk up to elk bedded, and it still stands the hair up onmy neck when I do. Doing it to a single bull is tough, 10-15 cows is tougher yet

Texas Photog: I remember you were pretty excited about that buck! Is that stuff in the background where the big one was hiding out?


Pat: Great photos! Thanks for posting!


saddlesore: You do a lot of close range hunting IIRC....right?

For me it's all about being on the ridges tracking whities or still hunting along trying to kill one up close. November days with light rain or snow or general soggy conditions are a still hunters dream and "killing days" as I say to my friends.

Short, medium, or long.

Blonde, brunette, or redhead.

I like em all.

I like my handguns and hunt with them often.

Bob,

It was a similar lava flow but the rocks were piled higher and had cacti in them too - not easy to sneak through. I'm counting the days until the 2013 season starts!

When the sight distance is miles, one can spot unlimited game on a good day and lob rounds until one connects with the aid of a good spotter...then grin at the camera like a briar eating jackass.

Some have no other choice than to hunt close range, as in the thickets and bays one can only see a few yards, max.
Then chances are the game will scent you and be gone way before you see him.

Both short and longer ranges are good.

Perhaps my most memorable shot was a buck I jumped on the hill near the camp. At first I though I did not have a chance as he saw me first and got the jump.

Then I shouted that secret sound and he turned and ran back uphill (slower uphill) past me. I made a good shot with my old Featherweight and he dropped.

It was a long and happy drag back to the camp. Easier with some snow on the ground.

Think a lot of this has to do with the nature of cover and topography wherever one might be hunting. Stand hunting in Georgia's Piedmont region may or may not provide for long shots, mostly not from my experience. Hunting in my present AO? Long is 75 yards or so and sitting on a stand is a colossal way to pizz away a lot of boring hours.

Still hunting is both more interesting and more productive if you have the cover and terrain. Powder burns, big swamp bucks, 'yotes, foxes etc. All critters stalked by a still hunter are faced with a an apex predator rather than the passive shooter. Had a run over about 7 years where the longest shot made on anything was less than 20 yards. Chase pigs today and the shots seldom exceed 10-15 yards, but the cover is very close. Excitement, sure. Rewarding more so I think. Personal best memories include still hunting a woods 'yote in Georgia and taking him at about 12 paces. Another was to move into the middle of about a dozen turkeys feeding the oak bottoms, then leaving without disturbing them. Dunno I have the stamina to do that anymore, but that one time gave a lasting memory. Was, I like to think, my Still Hunting PHD.

We miss you over on YOUR "jam" thread...

Short range is fun, but will wait for someone to start a thread on medium range and weigh in as more fun.

True that.

There is no greater rush than hunting with my recurve (or gun) and watching an animal closing in from 100 yards out, waiting an eternity for the animal to pass within range, thru a pre trimmed out shooting lane, attempting to control your breathing, hearing your heart beating rapidly before releasing a shaving sharp broadhead thru the vitals, hearing the hit, and watching the animal pile up within sight.

Tanner, what the hell you been sniffing

Ennui is taking over man... my mind wanders to September-October already.

Hope nobody thought I was serious... grin

Ha ha...

Don't really have an option where and how I hunt. 50 yards for the most part would be a long shot. Last year's buck was killed at 8 feet. I thought it was fun. him...not so much I'd bet.

Haven't done an elk by tracking in close yet, but have done a few desert muleys. My heaviest buck was a 40 yd. shot, my best rack was a 25 yd. shot. Both running.
There is no more exciting hunting than tracking a fully mature animal like that. E

JDK: 8 feet! Damn that's close!My closest was about 20 or so.

Nothing like the rush I get whenever I'm close enough to touch the game! Afterward I get the shakes whether I shoot or not. Bull elk do have a strong scent when you're at handshaking distance.

Results are better....

Close is good. The dead doe in the picture is actually only about 15 yards away. The picture makes it look further than it actually is. I have several logging roads on my place and I enjoy creeping along to see what's over the next ridge. When the wind is right, you can get right up on them as they funnel down the drains.

Scott, that kind of hunting is what causes a man to scratch his head and seriously consider buying a .30 WCF to do his work with. THEN, when he thinks about it some more, even that seems like too much rifle, and he considers hunting with a short gun full time.

Then he reads a page or two on the Campfire and starts thinking about rifles again.

It is a sickness. I just came in from doing some case prep on .257 Wby cases. (Like I have any real need for a cartridge like that.)

Deer are a close range affair in east Texas. 100yds is a long shot. Elk, I'm still practicing. One at 300ish and a few missed opportunity's close. My first encounter was with a 6X6, brother missed (he seen him first) I got on him, crosshairs were right behind the shoulder while he was all out. I followed thru and squeezed the trigger. All about 50 yds, I really wished the safety would have been off!

Everything unfolded fast, I was looking thru my binoculars, scanning when I saw horns on the farside of some brush. My brother shot about that time, I dropped the binoculars on their harness, flipped the scope covers open as I was pulling the gun up. I was on him fast but somewhere in there I boobed and never flipped the safety off. He dropped off the ridge in thick timber and on to private land. My heart fell. Buck fever got me big time, later that week I scored but will never forget that bull. We still talk about that hunt, so yeah close is fun!

To be a little more specific,

Short range hunting is more challenging/fun to me, but I prefer long range shooting...

Some will understand...

I like extremes.

Near, far. It's all the same as long as an animal hits the ground....

Hey Bob! Nice thread.

My long range hunting experience is very limited. Most of my hunting has been at close range- often VERY close range. The adrenaline surge when you are working to get a shot into a buck 20 yards away is incredible. I'd say it dwarfs a LR kill in that regard.

Hunting is fun, period, but put me in some thick woods with decent animal density and I'm a happy camper.

I like to see the critter drop, then hear the bullet hit. But I also enjoy drawing a bead on an eye, really close.

Still, connecting on a full out running critter, be it picking a sustained lead between trees or just "following through" the critter in an open space haunt my memories most.

Hell, I wish I were doing any of the above every day of the week!

Let me guess???
That secret sound was you trying to double feed an FN???
Ha ha dumb don
The only thing you know about "short" is that you're short on brain cells.

I love watching an animal go tits up at 500++ but i also love getting to under 100 and using precision, close range shots

There ain't nothing about them critters that says "stealth", is there? (But they do know how to play it.)

Probably been smoking that sarcaso weed.

Last year I shot almost a dozen marmots between 920 and 1156 yards. Last elk I shot was 20 yards. I've been shooting marmots with my elk rifle as far as 593 yards, but really prefer to still hunt elk. Bow hunted for a lot of years. Shot a few at bow ranges while still hunting. Bought a 454 this year thinking it must be about time to do some handgun hunting again. Have not yet been able to decide if the hunting skills of close is better than the shooting skills of far. Obviously more research is needed.

Damned straight!

quote=Steelhead]I like in your face stuff. Always laughed at the bowhunters that say it's more challenging than a rifle. Seems a person with a rifle can opt to not shoot at something past 30 yards if they wish.

[/quote]

I'm late to this post, but I agree. Tho I admire greatly consistently succiessfull bowhunters. I too have nothing against powder burns- like 'em in fact. Less chance involved. I don't bow-hunt - tho I am certified to do so- merely as a matter of being ready if it becomes advantageous to meat in the freezer, season wise....

The thing with a rifle at 20 or 30 yards, is that one has more options than with a bow. CNS means no tracking.... especially at last light..

I have blood-trailed one lung-shot moose by flashlight in thick stuff. Found him too. In brown bear country. Not a comfortable feeling. Which is why I favor CNS shots in thick stuff wikth moose.

[bleep] the "challenge" - I like my hide just the way it is, and meat in the freezer.

No it isn't. One is technical, giving one satisfaction in LR skills successfully executed. Short range is just plain fun! The meat is all the same, tho. Whatever floats your boat. I've killed critters in excess of 500 yards, but those close in ones are definately more fun!

Picture this: sitting on the ground, all camoed and scentless, and having a cow moose standing 25 feet away, with a puzzled look on her face, wondering where that calling bull was. Followed by 8 more.. Nothing killed, but I know more about moose bellies than I really wanted to know...

Or having a sub-legal yearling (he had 3 points on each side - spike and fork horn yearlings being legal) bull feeding for 20 minutes up to a measured 17 feet away close from my boot-tips, again seated on the ground. (The big one was too smart to show to my calls, tho 10 cows did- and my visual range was only about 30 yards..) Again, nothing killed, but an excellent adventure.

But then there was that huge caribou about 4 years ago.. The range was 262 yards, after an excellent stalk from about a mile away. The closest we could get before the moving caribou went out of sight over the ridge into timber. It was minutes to dark, with an unsteady shooting position though grass-tops. Absolutely the best shot I never made - but DAMN, it was fun!

I enjoyed whacking a deer at 500+ last year. The SOUND was awesome. Thwop!!!

But up close and personal rules.... Clubbing blacktail with a .358 is good times.

I forgot about the 3 year-old sub-legal bull that came to my calls, then bedded down 35 feet away and went to sleep for two hours... I got pretty stiff and cold, not moving much... That fuggin bigger bull just kept poking around out there, just out of sight 50 or 60 yards away.....

Don't feel too bad. The very first time I ever got "buck fever" was on my umpteenth (maybe 30th -ish?) caribou (400 yards, or so), and it was just a 3 year old bullbwith non-spectacular antlers- I was meat hunting - but except for a weekend Colorado mule deer at 15 yards the year before, I hadn't been hunting in 2 years. Tends to get the hormones going..

I now carry in excess of 10 rounds, and a range-finder (not then invented)... just in case the fever returns...

Yes. I prefer my shots to be within 50 yards and that's for rifle hunting. I just love the rush.

Agreed.

Didn't wade through all gazillion pages of this.

Long range - I get a great feeling of satisfaction, carefully setting up the shot and making it happen. Kind of a quiet "cool" when the bullet smacks and game drops. I'll grin a little, then start hiking over to where the critter fell.

Shorter range - seems much more intense to me, and I love it! Bigger rush for me.

I like both, and will take the opportunities as they come.

Guy

Seems as though a deer shot at close range is just as tasty as one shot at long range...

The last few deer I've shot with a rifle were closer than the last I poked with an arrow. I think I'm doing it backwards, but its a helluva lot of fun.

Up close and personal is more exciting for me. Mature bull elk at spitting distance is a freaking adrenaline rush!

The closer the better, wild boar at 20 paces makes you feel alive

If short range is so much better why does every goober behind a gun counter have to tell me about his longest shot in detail. Why does every one of those stories involve holding at the top of a deer's back and dropping him with his trusty 270

Some hunters are mesmerized by distance.

I prefer a short, but I am set up for the long ball too.

Ya, but that ain't nothing like steppin' on a copperhead.

'Cause they're goobers?

las, I have made a change since then. Those dang scope covers only go on in nasty weather, those are my excuse for not getting the safety off and I'm sticking to my story.

+1 BTDT on both

I watched a guy come almost running down a hillside across from one of my best elk spots. I quickly walked through the timber right into three cows. 75 yards... chip shot. I missed clean, no idea where the bullet even hit. They just stood looking. I didn't miss the second shot though.
Another time I had been hunting this exceptional 6x6 bull that used to come into my horse pasture. I caught him and probably 60 other elk crossing one evening and got ahead of them. Too many to move once I got in position, and the bull passed about 40 yards out. I shoot my bow regularly to 50 yards, but I was so durned excited (spelled buck fever) that I couldn't take the shot. I was shaking like a leaf. Wow! was that cool though.
Year before last the turkeys came walking by right behind the barn. I grabbed a suitable rifle, and proceeded to miss 4 shots.
I had never heard of turkey fever before.
But other than that, I can hit anything!

Short range is more nerve racking.
I remember glassing an Alberta mule deer with a heavy rack and extra junk on both sides. He was with four does and they were slowing moving out of some trees into another grove. I got into position where it seemed they would come out and they did except for the buck.

They were just slowly meandering around and getting closer to me, sometimes they would look back where they came from and I just knew that buck would come out. After about 20 minutes of this they were browsing within 10 feet of me as I maintained a freeze position. They finally busted me and gave some loud snorts and the buck didn't come out. But it was exciting.

This antique Marlin with open sights is still effective!

Sherwood

Short range is fun but it's not always possible or practical, especially on those hunts when I've spent my time helping my buddies try to fill their tags before I even thought about pulling the trigger.

A typical range for me is between 50 and 250 yards but I've done closer and further. The ones I've been most proud of, for various reasons, were actually the longest ones.

In any case, my main focus is on filling the freezer and helping my compadres do the same. To that end, long or short makes less difference than efficiency - too much time spent on one is unfair to the others.

DD, is that TC chambered for 22 Short specifically or a LR barrel shooting Shorts? Are cans legal to hunt with in FL?

DMc

My deer last season was at 10 yards with my .375 Ruger. Just what I had with me for that hunt what can I say. And yes, it was damn fun watching that deer go down!

I do think there's some thought to put into gearing up for short range, just like long range. Cartridge, rifle, bullets, scope, trigger setting, even point of aim can be pretty different.

I run my 20" M7 .358 with a heavier trigger than any other of my hunting rifles for instance. And a really frangible bullet holds NO interest for me up close.

Damn, did you get any on you???

And another good reason to live in Alaska.... If you step on a brown bear, at least you can see the damned thing.

DMC, short match chamber they claim.

Limit on cans down here is 6 after noon in the winter and 12 during the summer.

Wait, THOSE kinds of cans!....I don't think so. Mebbe on private land? Dunno...

Hahahaha

Or getting bit by one of Colorado's Western rattlers while dove hunting.

90% of my hunting now is the short range stuff. With the areas I hunt that is just where the deer are. That explains why I'm such a levergun nut.

I used to do the whole shooting house overlooking long green fields thing, but even then a long shot was 300yards. Nothing compared to what most LR guys are shooting.

I've found I tend to prefer the short range stuff, but I'll take a hunt any way I can get it!

Not intending to dismiss anyone�s opinion but it would seem hard to make a judgment if you have never done both the short and the long aspect.

If you have never snuck within 30 yds on the ground it is hard to understand the adrenaline rush.



By the same token if you have never made a perfect long range (700 yds plus) shot it is hard to understand the feeling of satisfaction when all the practice and hard work payoff.



For me both styles peg the fun meter pretty hard.

John my two longest kills on bull elk were about 500....was I 200 yards short of where the fun starts?

How will you ever live with yourself?????





Was it fun?

520 was fun!

Watched one come in from over 100 yards and shot him at 2 steps. That was pretty fun.

Well of course it was fun!

Tongue in cheek to minor degree, my longest was about 1,000 meters. 12.7 mm sending basketballs my way. It is fairly distracting but one helluva lot of fun. In a twisted kind of way. General Electric brings good things life.