Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Survey, I have killed most of my deer/elk UNDER xxx yards .......

95% under 100yds....

Closest was with muzzleloader. Was so close that the plastic sabot bounced off the deers chest and flew back over the top of my head.

The trend in this thread is interesting. Apparently nobody in the known universe ever shoots deer beyond 200 yards, and most shoot 'em at less than 75.

I've seen this before in other threads. Somebody starts out by talk about how close, or how far, or how they only take does and "cull bucks," or how they only shoot bucks that score at least 150, or whatever extreme. Then everybody else follows along, and the first poster never "wins."

Have followed threads where very few people ever admitted to liking anything under .338 for elk hunting, and threads where nobody ever shot any big game animals at under 300 yards. Now we're got one where shooting a deer at over 100 yards is some sort of "failure," not matter the terrain or species. Amazing.

I have hunted far more with bow and arrow than anything else so when I do hunt with a rifle it's up close.
Usually a whelan, 45-70 or similar for elk and .260/25-06 for deer.

Always on public land so show me the dark timber!
I shoot far for fun but hunt as close as I can get.

The majority of mine have fallen in 250 to 340 yard range.

I didn't do a detailed analysis but it seemed like most of the people who responded have hunted less than open country. Doesn't really suprise me. I had a friend in CA who went to AZ to hunt Coues deer. He was primed by people who "knew" to be ready for 450-550 yard shots. He shot his at bow range and said he that getting a 250 yard shot was easy...of course he really is a top notch hunter.

Yep.

I've now deer hunted in about half the American states and Canadian provinces, and ranges vary according to terrain and vegetation. But there are very few places where a 400-yard shot is normal or "necessary," even when trophy hunting. But there are indeed places where a 200-yard shot is average.

What the heck is going on here. Almost no one on the fire would ever keep a rifle that will not stay under 2" at 100yards, but I'm now reading that most kill elk/deer etc. at under 250yds. Why then the obsessing over bug hole groups? Moreover, who the hell needs a 4x14 powder scope for a 200yd shot on an elk ? Maybe we all need a strong dose of reality.

Never shot an elk, the majority of deer hunting (read all) has either been in Alaska or southeast US of A. I'm not a greenfield hunter and stick to the timber. SE Alaska is about as thick as you'll find, and with the exception of early season alpine, all is close quarter buck fighting. A goodly percentage at 25 yards and under.

I'm not ashamed that they come readily to a call during the rut.


Mtn goats are a bit different but that weren't the question. I have no doubt if I lived in Wyoming the number would be different, but I don't.

Seriously! I cant get any of my guns to shoot under MOA even most of the time. I am ecstatic if they average 1.25! Of course, I admit that its probably my problem and not my firearms.

Scott,

My point wasn't about individual reality. I killed my first deer here in Montana at age 13 at 30-40 feet, not yards, and have killed some even closer since then, both here and elsewhere.

My point was how threads often follow a trend, as if we're sheeple instead of people: Mostly those who conform to the thread respond.

Either that, or we start arguing viciously about tiny differences in bullet diameter, weight, group size and scope magnification.

Gotcha.

On the flip size John, I'm happy to have found that Buffalo Trace comes in 1.75's.....

I looked in my Journal, I kept one since 1965 or so. Out side of one Mule deer outside of Jordan Mt. That was a tad over 350 yards as far as I could and my guild could tell. Before that I considered 200 yards a long shot, the rest under 125 yards. Almost 275 head. Mostly Deer sized game with some Elk Moose , african game etc. These days I hunt mostly white tails, and the distances are not long, 80 yards would be a long shot, 45 to 60 yards about average. Come to thing about it, a 30-30 winchester would be plenty, rather than the 7mm and the 6.5's I currently shoot.

My longest shot was 308 yards. Most were less than 100. Almost 50% were measured in feet rather than yards but that makes sense if you kill more with a handgun (iron sighted, not scoped short one-handed rifle) or a bow.

I have killed most of my deer under 75 yards. They are blacktail. I'd say 90%.

I have hunted all of my deer except two in a shotgun only state (or handgun/MZ).

I have shot and have seen very large "scoring" whitetails shot almost every year.

I'll leave it at that.....

One elk at 330yds. One deer at 175yds. The rest are 100 or less.

Mostly under 300 yards. Not many under 100 yards. I hunt mostly in fairly open country, and used to hunt mulies in the alpine.

Most well under 100 yds. One good muley at about 350.

Ideally, prone off a bipod in the 150 to 250 yd range, most satisfying. For many years now, if I can't see that it's a pretty sure one shot kill, I don't shoot.

Regional conditions matter....but tend not to be consistent.This will make you paranoid (at least it does me).I live in the northeast and this is supposed to be short range timber shooting,but the biggest buck I have killed here had to be shotat 300 yards across a swamp....two years ago at 330 yards;and before that at maybe 15 yards in the woods.

Out west,again it depends and mylast two "worth it" mule deer bucks were at 330 and about 80.On the breaks of the Peace River,you see bucks in the farm fields (long range),but the big ones don't linger there long,and the breaks themselves are steep,and thickly timbered.....you can't see far generally and have to get into the trees with them much of the time,so distances can be short,and the biggest one I have seen in recent years was at about 20 feet.

Bottom line for mule deer (at least where I hunt them) is that the bigger,older bucks tend never to be far from cover or terrain that hides them, and distances even in open country tend to be moderate,which is why I have gotten away with killing most of them with a 4X scope....I didn't really know how handicapped I was.