Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Average shooting distance

Sixty elk... That's a pretty fair number. Congrats!

Guy

I've only shot 8, average range almost exactly 200 yards. The closest two at 25 and 23 yards and the two farthest at 350 and 475 yards. All were taken with a .30/06 and a handload featuring the 180 Accubond and H-4350 at essentially factory standard velocities.

Wyoming 200 yds
Idaho 240 yds
Wyoming 22 yds
Arizona 440 yds
Arizona 120 yds

You don't. Instead of an uber-mag you need a rifle you can shoot well. If you shoot your uber-mag well there is little or no downside to using it.

Probably shot at least 35-40 head of elk, never really bothered keeping track of the number. Probably 70% of them have been cows to fill the freezer with, my closest shot being about 20 yards away and my longest shot being 879 yards away. The greatest number of them being between 200-400 yards. This has all been in Colorado, I tend to like hunting big open parks or walking ridges where I can look across canyons easily. Most have been taken with flat shooting rifles, started with a .270, that quickly got replaced with a 7mag, that got replaced with a .300 Ultra Mag, and I now waver between my 7mmSTW and my .338Edge.

Inside of 250 yds more than a couple less than a few..

Two elk under my belt. First one at 225 and second one around 275. Don't keep track of shooting distances much so these are estimates.

Closest 25 yards. Farthest 519, measured.

Average, around 300 yards. I'm up to 25 elk, but haven't kept stats. For years I shot at one ridge from the other, watching an escape route. Closest shots would be about 300, but it was reliable.

Longest running shot, 270. Longest offhand 268.

170, 135, 110, 160. 180 gr SST@ 200 yd Zero, 300 WM, 3 not more than 5 deg of incline from horizontal, one at 30 degree/110 yards, one shot on all, one pass through...

8 elk killed in Colorado. Longest shot 411 yards. Shortest 65 yards. Average 156.27 yards. The one long shot adds a few yards to the average.

Perry

That's a long shot, 411 yards. Would bump the average up a tad eh?

Guy

In slightly over 50 years of hunting elk the distances have varied from feet to a measured 540 yards. I hunt an average of two western states annually with canyons and meadows. It seems as though I am either standing on them or prone setting up across canyon. I have kept a loose record, and would say my average is around 300 yards. Nearest was in Idaho in the middle 90's at 17 and 22 yards, farthest measured, Oregon 540 in 2011, a longer one was killed in Idaho but that was prior to my purchase of a range finder in the late 80's.

I love hunting the timber, so my shots are pretty close. Longest around 125yds, and the shortest about 25yds. Average is 50-60 yds.

That's why I can get away with using a 30-30, or a muzzleloader.

I scratch my long range itch by shooting coyotes.