Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Closest shot on a Deer - distance & with what ?

I shot my first deer from about 10 or 15 feet when I was 17. It was only the second time I had ever gone deer hunting and I didn't have a clue as to what the hell I was doing. I didn't even have a knife on me. I was by myself but I ran into my neighbors who also hunted on this farm and I told them that I forgot my knife and I'd whistle for them if I shot anything. Those old guys probably walked away saying that that kid ain't gettin anything. It had snowed about 4" the night before. I was basically still hunting because that's how I used to squirrel hunt. One of those guys shot, so I stood still. A minute later a doe walked out in front of me. When I shot her, she went down and started balling. I wasn't ready for that and it freaked me out. So I reloaded the old single shot Winchester 12ga and gave her another one. I whistled for those guys and they whistled back. When they got there, one of the old guys handed me his knife and said here ya go, have at it and laughed. He knew I didn't know what to do, so he showed me how to gut it. They left to go look for the other guy's deer and I drug it back to my car about 1/2 mile backwards by the hind leg because I didn't have a rope. It's a damn good thing there was 4" of snow on the ground. I loaded her into the trunk of my 1970 Camaro RS and filled the trunk with blood. When I got home, instead of being happy for me, my old man yelled at me for getting the trunk of my car all bloody. Kind of knocked the wind out of my sails.

I've done the Identical shot. Could've went commando and jumped on him with a Bowie knife.

Not counting the one with three broke legs that the GW in Texas told me to shoot with my 22 pistol? About 3’ off the muzzle of a ‘06......was napping against a rock at mid day, with buttstock on top of my shoulder, and forearm in the fork of a tree. Deer jumped over the rock by me and turned broadside. I leaned over and saw shoulder hair, and he rolled down the mountain. Worst recovery ever on a whitetail I’ve killed....rolled 500’.

Shot an 8 point last week with a 168AMAX under the chin. 1/2 inch below his white patch. He wasn't more than 20 yards.
Sitting on the ground with a Steyr scout. No exit. Not even a fragment.

5 feet.....Remington Model 8 .35 Remington with 200 grain CoreLokts. Damn thing almost ran into me

I have two candidates. The first was a buck at 19 yds. with a Winchester 94AE 30-30. The other was a buck at 9 yds. with a Turkish Mauser in 8x57, but that was the second shot as he ran toward me after the first.

Somewhere around 5 feet. I was walking down to a cut bank and see if what was in there. When I got to the edge he was just below me. He stood up and swung around to see me. I had pulled the gun up and looked down the side of the barrel and shot. It flatten him immediately.

Shot two bucks at really close range with a 20ga using #3 buck. My first buck ever walked under my tree stand that was only 7' off the ground, shot straight down and blew one antler off and the other was hanging by a thread. The second one was the next year and it was pouring rain and I got under a cabbage palm and a little buck walked right up to me. I thought the barrel was going to hit the buck before I shot. That buck let out a high pitched squeal while jumping sideways right before I shot him in midair. 55 years ago and remember it like it was yesterday.

About 20 feet. A nice sized doe Browning BLR 308 165gr Gamekings

same distance with buckshot, 270 win

I’ve shot a doe straight down with a rifle one time.

My very first buck at shot about 7-8 yards away with 12 ga buckshot. Every pellet hit him. I counted them.

Laid down a scent trail with doe pee on a rag that I drug behind me as I walked. Later that day I was walking back out and this buck was double timing right at me (on the scent trail) with his head down sniffing as he went. Popped him at about 5-yards!!

Closest shot with a rifle was 7 yards on a big eight point that was quartering towards me. Shot him on the point of the shoulder with a 9.3x62. With a bow it was 5 yards on a 6 point.

No more than 10 feet from the tree my stand was in. I was in a homemade stand in the woods of our family farm about 25 years ago. I was about 22. I had shot a doe and was climbing down the steps which consisted of pieces of 2 x 4 that I had nailed to the tree. About halfway down, I heard a noise that I originally thought was a squirrel. Turned out, it was a nice 8 pointer in full rut moving along at a trot. I had my rifle (Remington 700 .30-06) shouldered with rounds in the magazine but none in the chamber as I climbed. So I unshouldered the rifle, laid it across my left arm which was clinging to the tree, worked the bolt to chamber a round (180 gr. Core-Lokt in those days), and shot. By the time I fired, the buck was nearly underneath me. Not exactly the model of safety, but it resulted in 2 deer in under 5 minutes. It's a damn miracle I didn't either scare away the deer or fall and hurt myself.