Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Average shooting distance

I kill six elk out of seven trips from TN to Colorado on Public Land . I beat the odds six times .

First one was shot at 48 yards. I practiced all summer on a 600 yard range because we know all elk are shot from one zip code to another. Others have been clean out to 260-275 yards. Like everyone else, tgat 100-150 yard window seems to be the average. That being said, every shot I've taken has appeared to be much longer than it appears..thank God for rangefinders.

My main elk gun is a 1960 Remington 721 with the original Weaver 4x scope so I don't even consider long shots. My 3 rifle elk have been killed at 100 yards, 30 yards, and 100 yards. They were all on public land in Colorado in unit 23 / 24.

I had one other elk with a bow, last year, at 20 yards in Colorado on private land.

Elk #1...New Mexico....175 yds....pretty open
Elk #2...New Zealand...110 yds....totally open
Elk #3...Wyoming.......154 yds....totally open
Elk #4...Wyoming........27 yds....self defense!

donsm70

I appreciate all the replies.

Some time ago, I asked about the caliber rifles everyone was using and the distance they covered in a day. Between that thread and this one, I've learned the following (which was my goal): As mentioned above, elk aren't shot from one zip code to another and I don't need a 416 Rigby to kill an elk.

I'm from East of the Mississippi, and some hunters from the East sure have some funny notions about what it takes to kill a large animal. It reminds me of someone's sig line on the fire; Joe Average is over head stamped, over scoped and under bulleted......that about sums it up.

I've got a BIL that hunts Saskatchewan regularly and the outfitter recommends a 300Win Mag and up. I asked him if the deer preyed on humans and wore body armor up North. ;-)

Wow, that's a lot of elk!
How many elk licenses a year do you get?

11 bulls, mainly hunting the Cascade range in Oregon. Pretty thick.

Closest, 40 yards, farthest, 125 yards, average under 100 yards.





P

You need a license?

I've taken almost 40 elk. The closet kill was about 15 feet, the farthest was only a tad over 100 yards. Most of my rifle kills have been under 30 yards.

Mine have all been no further than 125 yards. Only about five elk though. I hope to get to hunt elk for 40-50 more years!

145, 410, 300.

I can only recall one long kill (350 yards) that I chose while hunting the way I typically hunt. In that instance I was probably too eager and I think I'd have found it more rewarding if I'd made the effort to move closer and earn it.

I've killed 15 elk at about 100 yards distance. The shortest being probably 60 yards or so. These are all DIY, public land, usually close to timberline or above. Those type are the most rewarding to me.

I've killed five more on either damage control hunts or ranches. Those were always at lower altitude, longer shots (long for me), and in nearly every instance I was urged to take the long shot by the hunt coordinator or ranch staff. The longest shot was at 496 at the urging of the ranch staff. I didn't like it. To me it didn't really feel as much fair chase or as sporting as I'd have liked. Being a private ranch I thought there was opportunity to get closer with some added effort but it was their ranch and their rules.

My closest elk was probably 35-50 yards.. Hunting in a mix of aspen and pine.. I mostly hunt very open country.. When I was much younger and meat was a very important part of our economy, I shot several elk at around 600 yards.. Then for a number of years, I had a sweet spot that probably produced 10-12 elk most were shot between 300 and 425 yards.. It was an evening spot, I could get too after work.. I always had a dead rest, and standing shot.. In those days before turrets and range finders, a flat shoot rifle was very important to my success..
I would say in the last years, most of my elk have been about 250 yards give or take a bit.. Last year was the longest shot I have taken for a while I think I guessed it at about 425 to 450.. Used a .375 and 260 Accubond.. Would have been better
off with one of my .300's that trip.. Don't have my notes with me right now, but many of the elk I did measure fairly close..
I do know I hope to cap the 50th one this fall, or maybe next..

Most of my kills have been bow under 40-yards, but my one rifle kill was 75-yards. Too thick where I hunt to shoot past 200-yards as many have said.

5 bulls and 5 cows in 14 years - closest 11 yards twisted back pointing rifle almost one handed and way back from the scope. Longest 350 yards moving bull dead on his feet already but headed for private boundary.

I figured my average out to about 270 yards only 2 real close shots the rest between 250-300. I practice out to 700 yards getting ready but try to set up for 300 yards cross canyon when sitting in open country.

Closest with rifle 30 feet, farthest was 376 yds. Average distance around 100 yds.

Live and hunt North Idaho. This is logging country, its either dog hair thick, or cut flat and burnt black.

304 yards is my average of 9 elk. Shortest was about 30, longest was 553. I really don't seek out the long shots on purpose, it just kind of shakes out that way. All in western CO, most with my .300RUM. Most were spot and stalk, I'm not good at hunting the thick stuff.

The terrain I hunt varies from heavy brush or timber to light cover to open sage, The change can occur within a few steps.

Closest has been about 40 yards, excluding finishers where an elk got back up but didn't move, in which case about 10 feet.

Farthest was 487 yards, followed by 1 at 400, 1 at 350 and everything else at or under 300.

Average of all others? Probably 150-ish.

Out of 60 I've shot:

Closest 11 yards
Farthest 629 yards

Average: 153.35 yards

There was a similar thread not too long ago, IIRC most elk were shot @ between 150- 200yds. So why do I need a super uber magnum again??????????