#2272946 - 06/24/08 02:45 PM
Any one else hunting at short ranges?
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Mannlicher
Campfire 'Bwana
Registered: 11/08/03
Posts: 10282
Loc: Gainesville, FL
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Here in North Florida, I find my longest shots at whitetails are usually less than 75 yards. Most seem to be taken at 35 to 40 yards.
The terrain is usually fairly flat, but heavily wooded. The vegetation is very dense, and often you absolutely cannot walk through the cover. There are many creeks, small rivers and swamps. The swamps offer more open shots, but the deer don't stand still long, the light is subdued, and the animals just blend in so well with their surroundings, that a deer can be literally yards away, and you can hardly see them.
As a result I hunt with short, handy Marlin lever guns most of the time. The calibers I find most effective are the .44 Magnum, .30-30 and .35 Remington.
If I know I am going into the thickets, I will carry just an iron sighted revolver in .45 Colt or .44 Magnum.
I read so much here about 'cross canyon' shots, and other long range hunting on flat prairies or across fields, that I feel left out. 
Is anyone else hunting this type of heavy, thick cover? What choices do you make when it comes to optics, rifle action, or calibers?
_________________________
Sam.......
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so"..........Ronald Reagan
The Bonnie Blue Flag; may it wave proudly forever.
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#2272996 - 06/24/08 03:17 PM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Mannlicher]
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Puddle
Campfire Regular
Registered: 06/12/01
Posts: 710
Loc: Everett, WA
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I'm kinda going in the opposite direction. I'm going from hunting West Coast wheat fields to where I've been invited out to some peninsula somewhere in Virgina next year to take pokes at whitetail. Based on the terrain description I'm leaving my usual rifles home and taking the 30-30 with the scope set on 1.5x.
BTW, is it really true that there are places on the East Coast where you can wack 7 - 8 deer? jeez.....
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welcome, from the violent ward
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#2273226 - 06/24/08 06:07 PM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Puddle]
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Mannlicher
Campfire 'Bwana
Registered: 11/08/03
Posts: 10282
Loc: Gainesville, FL
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at one of the small farms I hunt, they killed 8 deer last season. The whole place is about 60 acres. This part of the State is over run with Whitetails.
_________________________
Sam.......
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so"..........Ronald Reagan
The Bonnie Blue Flag; may it wave proudly forever.
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#2273235 - 06/24/08 06:11 PM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Mannlicher]
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SAKO75
Campfire Ranger
Registered: 12/25/03
Posts: 2070
Loc: Used to be Merritt Island
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in georgia you can shoot 12 deer/ year and i sometimes hunt 100 yards or less thick areas and thats when i dont want the deer running into swamp privets at dark
Edited by SAKO75 (06/24/08 06:12 PM)
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http://www.americanpatrol.comIllegal Immigration is the greatest threat we have to our culture, language, future Last people to ignore immigration-American Indian
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#2273397 - 06/24/08 07:27 PM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Mannlicher]
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tzone
Campfire Ranger
Registered: 02/23/04
Posts: 2005
Loc: just south of the Youpers
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Last 5 of 6 deer I shot with a gun were 35 yds or less with two of those being less than ten yds. So yeah, I hunt at short ranges.
This past deer season, I hunted a new area in WI and shots had potential of being 250+. I felt out of place and the two deer I saw were at about 40 yds.
I too wonder how these guys are taking shots at 400 yds. Sometimes I wonder if the internet streches the range a bit.
_________________________
"I'm gonna git dat, turdy point buck"
'SKOL VIKINGS 'SKOL
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#2273782 - 06/25/08 04:47 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: tzone]
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Boggy Creek Ranger
Campfire Outfitter
Registered: 01/27/01
Posts: 8768
Loc: Leon County Texas
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Depends on where on the place I go as to how short it is. Some are 50yards or less some as far as you can see. I don't make any consessions as to what I use to shoot with.
BCR
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Nothing will do any good here but a first class killing and I am the little boy that will give it to them.
Ira Aten
Texas Ranger
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#2273873 - 06/25/08 06:00 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Mannlicher]
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5sdad
Campfire Guide
Registered: 01/22/05
Posts: 3302
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How we hunt and where we hunt keeps shots under 75 yards or so. This is Iowa and we are shooting slugs.
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Not a real member - just an ordinary guy who appreciates being able to hang around and say something once in awhile.
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#2273878 - 06/25/08 06:02 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Boggy Creek Ranger]
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TCKILLER
Member
Registered: 08/01/07
Posts: 142
Loc: Georgia
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I hunt north florida for the better half of the season and central alabama three or four weekends each season (Jan. - rut)
Very thick and alot of cover. Rut is the only time the big boys come out of the thick stuff so you have to go in there to find them. I shoot a .280 with a 24" barrell 3x9 scope. 1.5x would just fine.
The lease i hunt in ala. is even thicker. Lots of mixed pines that are almost impossible to access, but if you can get in there and find a good funnel that deer are using heavily you can get shots on them. Wont be more than 20 or 30 yards. I'll shoot my 30-30 when i hunt there most of the time, which was the first gun i've ever had, passed down from the ol man when i was eight years old. We have a couple of big food plots as well where i will either shoot .280 or 7mm.
Happy Hunting
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#2273902 - 06/25/08 06:11 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: TCKILLER]
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7mm08
Member
Registered: 07/23/03
Posts: 61
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I hunt a lot at short ranges also. I have a variety of places to hunt, but my favorite spot in the whole world, you are doing good to see 50 yards. I never hunt this spot until the rut hits because there are so many deer traveling thru the area, and I do not want my scent to get dispersed all over this spot. I kill a good buck every year off of this spot around the week of Christmas. I have a few places where I could get a shot that is several hundred yards, but I always seem to kill my better bucks in thick stuff. Most of the time I take either my .30-06 or 7mm-08 for this type of hunting, but this year I plan to take mostly my .45/70 when hunting thick stuff.
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#2273932 - 06/25/08 06:23 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Coyote_Hunter]
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diamondjim
Member
Registered: 02/10/08
Posts: 218
Loc: Eastern Nebraska
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I hunt here in eastern Nebraska and some in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Have taken 5 deer in two years with firearms. No shot over 75 yards. 4 with a Savage 219 30-30 and a Burris 2x7 short scope and one with a Savage 220 16 ga single shot, bead sight. That one was 10 yards. Keep it simple and light. Good luck next year.
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#2273933 - 06/25/08 06:24 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Coyote_Hunter]
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Texas99
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Registered: 12/09/07
Posts: 31
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I have a small property in Brazoria County, Texas, in the San Bernard River bottom, that is as thick as any I've seen. I have a winding right of way road that could offer some shots of near 100 yards, but inside the "jungle", where you can literally only see a few feet in a lot of places, I'm going to be limited to my .44 Contender or Mossberg 12 gauge pump with buckshot or slugs. For the "open" stands, will probably use my old .300 Savage, leave the .300 Mag at home.
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#2273951 - 06/25/08 06:32 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: tzone]
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rost495
Campfire Outfitter
Registered: 01/05/05
Posts: 9480
Loc: La Grange, TX
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Internet may lie BUT there are plenty of places for long shots where I hunt.
A new lease, I can easily see over 600 yards of wide open and since we are not allowed to simply roam like I prefer, I have feeders, 2 of which are over 200 yards away and the 3rd which will probably end up at around 350 plus yards.
I also hunt in public land in the pines where you'd be lucky to find a 100 yard shot.... If I lived there and never saw any other country I could understand how others wonder.
As it is at home I have planted fields for the deer, food plots basically, and though I can get to 300 yards of them easy and generally sneak up to 100 or so, I also have access to shoot them from appx 700 yards if need be...
Jeff
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Get as close as you can, but use your skills as required
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#2273986 - 06/25/08 06:41 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Mannlicher]
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Okanagan
Campfire Ranger
Registered: 01/25/01
Posts: 1767
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I'm kind of a short range hunter at times, mainly due to hunting style and some due to thick cover. I've killed a pretty fair number of big game critters inside of 40 feet, several inside of ten feet, from moose to whitetails with elk, mulies and bear thrown in. All of that is still hunting on foot, not tree or other stands. Your description of ghosts in dim light forest fits blacktail hunting in coastal Pacific Northwest.
My short range big game rifle is the same as my long range one: 30-06 bolt with 3-9x40 Leupold, though for 20 years it was a 2-7 Redfield. I liked the feel and fit of the 2-7 a little better.
I do have a serious close range rig, my dedicated predator calling rifle, a model 600 Rem in .243 with a 2-7 Bushnell 3200 on it. Killed a whitetail at 60 yards with it and so far all called predators at less than 20 yards, except one coyote that may have been closer to 25.
I'm not a great shot so like close shots, don't like shooting at running or moving critters if I can help it, and hunt pretty much the same way as I did bow hunting. So for me, it is style of hunting that leans toward getting close shots more than terrain or heavy cover. Last Fall I shot a mule deer at 40-50 yards in a big canyon of open sage and some pine in the Far West. Also shot one with a long shot for me, 230 yards across a clearcut. The previous year it was 115 on a mule deer and 18 yards or less for my first shot on a whitetail, that one rattled up in timber. Blacktail shots have ranged from 12 feet out to 35 yards unless I'm forgetting one, all in forest. Sooner or later I'll get a shot at one I want in a clearcut and it could be a long shot then.
A handy short rifle is a good idea for the conditions you describe, with a low powered scope my preference, sighted to keep the bullet as close to line of eye as possible for the first 75 yards. I fudge that a smidge on my .243 and have the low mounted scope sighted about 3/4 inch high at 100, which should keep the bullet within an inch of line of sight from bore to about 150 yards. I'm more concerned about threading a bullet through a small hole my eye is seeing through than I am about bullet drop at longer distance with that one. When I hunted mule deer thickets with my open sighted Savage 340 carbine in 30-30, I had it sighted dead on at 75 yards with 150 grain bullets, and moved that to 60 yards the last year.
As with your hunting, Mannlicher, I've deliberately picked a clear hole and shot at a critter through it on a number of occasions, from a black bear at 10 yards to a recent bobcat at 15. On the bear, the problem was figuring out what piece of anatomy the patch of fur I could see covered, but once that was solved, it was an easy shot at a palm sized patch of hair. On the bobcat, I could see the whole critter behind a screen of brush and had an opening the size of a soccer ball with part of his lower back showing through it.
I must admit that I have bounced some bullets off of brush on the way, and I HATE that so much I will not shoot through brush unless it looks like I have a clear hole. There is no telling where a bullet will go once it hits a twig.
All this morning meandering, west coast time, to pretty much agree with your choices, except I need to carry a rifle to cover every possible shot distance from muzzle to 300 yards, as I can step out of a thicket into a clear cut or canyon rim.
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#2274267 - 06/25/08 08:34 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Okanagan]
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BigDaddyK
Member
Registered: 05/13/08
Posts: 167
Loc: NE Texas
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I shoot my 44 mag Ruger Carbine with a fixed 4X.
I have killed deer out to 300 in a hay medow. I used an 30.06 on one and a 7 mag on another. I shot another deer in that hay meadow with my 44 at about 50 or so.
But on my lease, its thick. A lot of clear cuts. Hard to even see deer. I have my stands set up on logging roads but shots are still close. My 44 is good to every bit of 100yds is needed. I shoot Winchester Supremse in 250.
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#2274288 - 06/25/08 08:42 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: BigDaddyK]
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SnowHunter
Campfire Regular
Registered: 02/23/07
Posts: 898
Loc: Stuck in GA
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Here in GA, where we hunt, shots will probable be 70 yds or less...more around 25-50 yds. Between the briars and thick pines, just aint possible to take a longer shot.
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#2274314 - 06/25/08 08:58 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Mannlicher]
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Youper
Campfire Regular
Registered: 01/25/01
Posts: 942
Loc: Negaunee, Michigan
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About four years ago I changed where I hunt, and this changed the ranges. The last three things I shot at the old place were a deer at 19 yds., a bear at 9 yds,. and another deer at 10 feet. Twenty to fifty yards there was pretty typical. There are places there where you can see 400 yards, but the deer have no need to be out in the open at that range, and you would rarely see one.
At the new place fifty to 100 is typical, but you can also set up for some short shots.
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#2274431 - 06/25/08 09:52 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: Youper]
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SnowHunter
Campfire Regular
Registered: 02/23/07
Posts: 898
Loc: Stuck in GA
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Thinkin back to this past season, the farthest distance Hubby had to shoot a deer was about 20ft, and when we were still hunting in the briar patches, we had a doe come through and stop about 7ft from us. Farthest distance a deer came was 45yds.
Also just realized that there's a chance for some "farther" shots on the property..couple of the trails have a clear shot for about 100-150yds, and through the hardwood bottom you might could get a shot out to 175yds
I'll be keepin my shots within 100yds though till I can work on my shootin skills
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#2274452 - 06/25/08 10:01 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: SnowHunter]
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High_Brass
Campfire Ranger
Registered: 01/09/04
Posts: 2500
Loc: Havelock, NC USA
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Yeup, in Eastern NC it's very thick. I use a bow, 41 and 44 mag handguns, and various rifles. I've found that a 100gr bullet from a 243 Win. kills as well at 20 yards as it does near 200.
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"It starts when you begin to overlook bad manners. Anytime you quit hearing "sir" and "ma'am", the end is pretty much in sight."-Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men
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#2274565 - 06/25/08 11:01 AM
Re: Any one else hunting at short ranges?
[Re: High_Brass]
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mideerslayer
Member
Registered: 05/14/08
Posts: 26
Loc: Michigan
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Well I hunt farm land in the thumb of Mi, and we can have shot's that are out there, but most are 50 yards or less. I shot a buck last year that was about 6 feet away, I was walking thru some corn when I jumped him. that's about as close as I have got
12 gauge or muzzle loader is what I use
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There are two things that you cant take away
My guns and My love of god
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