Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Is Short Range More Fun?

I prefer short, that's why I like unscoped .44s.

Favorite haunt is a perhaps 2 mile long u shaped ridge that has been patchwork clearcut. Skid-trails form a classic maze pattern. Edge cover is almost everywhere. Many guts that for the most part give protection from the wind on bad days. Deer love the place and most hunters don't because the topo lines get close once you get past the top third.

Almost anything can greet you on a given day. You can catch one bedded or bounce one, or a bunch out of the same, come up on them casually feeding without a concern. Hear a Buck grunting on a Doe. Come around a bend and have a ringside seat too a joust. What's that big black blob up ahead? Bear!!!! Hey checkout those bowling ball Cubs!!!!

Deer, Grouse, Turkey, Bear and Squirrels and for the most part they all will be close. I kinda like the place.

Bustin hogs, yotes, rocks, etc at long range is a blast. I got within 12 yards of a 190" bedded muley a few years ago and didn't get him killed. That was even better.

The LR groups get most of the glory, but I'm thinking us shorties have more fun.

Not my favorite way to hunt any more, but a well organized Deer drive when they are home can be a hoot for doing things up close.

However, I still like a little two man push. You get screwed more often than not, but sometimes it all comes together and it will usually be fairly close. Fun times with a knowing partner.


Addition: I just know one of you clowns will read something else into that. So get it out.

Aahhh....exactly!


When SOP is not working, wade in after them.

I am mostly interested in how folks feel about it.Some of my most "fun" hunts were when I encountered a hog buck(or anything else)at spitting distance,whether I killed it or not..

I was sitting in blowdown with my 10 year old son, up in Pittsburg, NH,rattling horns.Where he came from I have no idea,but I turned my head to the right,and there was a very big bull moose, staring down his nose at us at about 5 yards.I whispered in my son's ear.."turn right and look up.."He did,with no reaction.He was not looking "high enough".

I grabbed his head and tilted it higher...the moose came into focus,and I could see his eyes open wide with astonishment at the site of this beast almost in is lap..he has never forgotten it.

How I missed this huge animal approaching in that heavy cover,is a mystery...I must have been too busy rattling.

I enjoy "long range" hunting on right of ways, etc. that said, I've done almost all of my deer killin inside of 200 yds. I know exactly where I'm going to hit within that range. I am always a little surprised at the hunters I see who are willing to take pot shots without being certain of the results. long range hunting takes practice and, more particularly, practice with the right equipment.

bowhunting whitetails is good stuff, but I found to be successful you usually need to be 20-30' up in a tree (or these days you can buy a ground blind that will suppress your scent to some extent). also, it is hot as hades down here in the south during archery season. long story short, I end up deer hunting the same way every year. wait til' rifle season, carry a .250, .243, or .308, shoot deer inside 200 yds.

it works, at least. I kill at least one a year and I've not lost one (knock on wood)

I like BOTH.

Yes there is more to, gettin close, not letting them smell or hear you. The element of 'surprise' is a reward all of its own.

I had a blast this past season, on the ground and most shots were up close & personal. (5)

OTOH - I also enjoy reaching out there and touchin one. Now for where I've been hunting 400 yds is about as far as I've had the opportunity. 1 at 389, 1 at 399 (by rangefinder) and plenty between 200-300. It takes more practice and having the right equipment to reach out. Some can't hit a deer past close range.

Put be down for BOTH.

I'm seriously considering picking up a crossbow sometime soon to get in on the early season bowhunting, even though it is often hot throughout a Louisiana October. I'm a rifle nut, but it is fun when they come in close to spitting distance, even if you are in a groundblind or short-legged box blind. Scent control is often important for ass-sitters too! Lol....

i would say depends on the person.....i like hunting at shorter range cause i love watching animals up close.....some guys though are far more interested in the technical part of long range hunting and get the most enjoyment out of a hunt that way.....neither is "wrong" just depends on what you like....

Both ends of the spectrum....spot and stalk black bear taken at 20 yards. Nice 16" antelope taken with a long shot with my .338 Lapua. I like all of it.

Good post, Bob. I thought about starting a post on short shots the other day.

I shoot long range too - you need to be able to do so in NM - but short range is much more exciting to me.

In 2012 I killed my mule deer at 22 long paces while still hunting:


and a hog at maybe 12 steps, also killed while still hunting:


Before walking up on that buck, I walked up within 30 steps of an unaware coyote. That in itself was a lot of fun and very satisfying.

So far this year I've only killed one hog at 152 yards. Mabye I'm slipping...grins.

Congrats Pat:

Super nice antelope.

Well done as usual, Pat!

Yep! The stalk and up close shot, where the animals senses are most keen, are most certainly where it's at.

Shorter range hunting is more fun imo. But one should always be prepared for the longer shots too. It is a take whatever one can get (yardage within the individual hunter`s comfort zone for success) proposition.

I love both, but would rather kill a doe at 1000 yards with a rifle than a 3 year old 8 point at 10 yards with a bow. I am just basically a meat hunter though.

Yep, even Jim Shockey said of himself, "How can you miss a moose?" after missing a moose at close range w/a mzldr. I give him credit for 'integrity'. He let it be televised!!

Even the best of us miss. once in a while.

Big +1. And in CO, bowhunting is the only way you'll get a month-long season, during the elk rut. I haven't bow-hunted a lot, but spending a lot of time in close proximity and not getting a shot can be very motivating and will keep you going day-in, day-out. It's also when you tend to learn a lot about the animals. Lots of times when bowhunting, if I'd had a gun in my hand, the hunt would have been over before any of the good stuff happened.

I like it all, like scenar. But I love getting close.

I have shot critters from three to 450yards. Not long range by todays standards. And I do not have a real big desire to push the distance.

But I would like to come up to IB3 and play, but it it is during turkey hunting season, so I will be out hunting.