Theres an awful lot of conversation these days about long range shooting on big game. I'd like to have folks share their closest gun kill distance. We all know bowhunters need to be close, so this thread is about gun hunters.
I took a black bear at 7 yards with an 8" Dan Wesson 44 magnum revolver. That was as cool as my previous close encounter of a white tail doe at 15 feet as she walked down a trail.
Let the stories begin...
"Life's too short to hunt with an ugly gun." U.S. Coast Guard, retired
While still hunting hogs on the edge of a field a heard a sounder grunting and feeding towards me. I waited and gave one of them the good news at 5 paces.
I stalked last years mule deer buck and killed him at 15 paces.
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that lightening ain't distributed right." - Mark Twain
Too slow to take a shot, but I had a doe mule deer jump over my legs. Could have reached out and grabbed belly fur.
Had another walk by me at fishing rod range.
Had a whole herd run by me. Stepped back because I thought the nearest one was going to run into me. She veered and missed by a yard or two. Was hunting elk and didn't have a deer tag.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
I've shot a number of them at < 25 feet, but the closest was one I shoved away with a shotgun barrel and did not pull the trigger. Had a couple others just about as close.
Killed one at 15 steps and once had a small button buck that still had his spots walk up so close I smacked him over the end of the nose with my hand and shooed him off.
Last edited by hillbillybear; 10/01/18.
Member: Clan of the Turdlike People.
Courage is Fear that has said its Prayers
�If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.� Ronald Reagan.
Less than 10 feet on a 3x3 Mulie buck with a 12 gauge 1 1/8 ounce load of 7 1/2 shot.
A few years ago I was pheasant hunting a few days after the opening of the general Montana deer season had opened, and this little buck jumped up in front of me, ran a few yards and fell down. I could see a bullet wound on his right hip and he could not use that leg. I switched to the full choke barrel of my Miroku O/U shotgun and slowly walked up to him. I walked to within about 10 feet of him and he started to try to get up again, so I put the load of 7 1/2 shot in the center of his forehead, and my deer season for that year ended before my first deer hunt.
Pig died between my feet late one afternoon. Shotgun slug fired pretty much straight down hit it between the shoulder blades. Guess it was askeerd and not giving much thought to direction because I'd capped a medium sized boar about 3 seconds prior. Got a lot of blood splatter on the jeans.
I am..........disturbed.
Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain
Whitetail from treestand about 20 to 25 feet. A spike elk....about 30 feet (walked-up on him asleep)! Failed to get a shot on a black bear (handgun) , at about 10 to 12 feet....had a thick conifer between she and I. Got her later at about 30 yards! memtb
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
Last fall I was on pvt property bordering BLM land watching/ waiting for a small group of mule deer, that included a nice 4x4 buck, in the neighboring pasture. I was set up perfectly by a tree waiting for them on a small rise overlooking the fence line where I had seen lots of tracks and scat. They were ~700yds away slowly making their way towards me when something spooked them and they of course moved away from me. As I watched, I saw them turn towards the neighboring BLM land. I hauled ass over there to head them off and was about 50yds on to the BLM land when I heard some movement in the trees in a draw in front of me. I immediately took a knee and didn't see anything. About 15sec later a doe and 2 youngins trotted out of the trees ~25yds away. They stopped, stared at me and the doe trotted back the way they came; the 2 youngins continued past me. I waited to see if anything else would come towards me before making my way to the edge of the draw where the doe retreated. I took a knee and as I peered down in to the draw I saw movement and antlers ~50yds away in the trees moving to my left up the draw. About 20sec later the buck trotted out of the trees from the draw and turned directly towards me. I immediately shouldered my .308, placed the cross-hairs on the chest and fired a 150gr Barnes TTSx; it dropped immediately about 25yds away. Unfortunately it wasn't the 4x4 I wanted, but everything happened so fast I just reacted. The TTSx penetrated all the way through the chest cavity and was lodged in the muscle film of the left hind quarter just inside the hide.
We have enough youth, how about a fountain of SMART???
Whitetail doe at about 5 yds. with the 270. She popped out of the brush at the edge of the field, I shot and she dove back into the brush where she died and got her revenge by rolling down the bank all the way to the creek bottom.
