I shot a cow elk from 6 feet while standing on a high deadfall with a recurve bow. Almost straight down and into the top of the shoulder. Shot a 5 1/2 year old Shiras Moose with .54 cal. muzzleloader from 7 yards.

8-10 ft age 16 on buck with recurve while on the ground.

Blacktail doe at about 7 feet, forky buck about 12 feet.

8ish feet away from a Sitka blacktail with a 25-06 and a 117 pro hunter. Hell of a bullet test.

Almost the same as plumdog. Whitetail buck from a tree stand. Five feet below my feet and straight down with a recurve bow. Got another one at almost the same range with a .38 Special.

Hit a little fork buck with a 20 gauge shotgun slug out of a Mossberg 500 from about 10 yards.

6 yds on a Roosevelt 6 pt bull with a bow.

I've drilled a couple or three whitetails at 15 feet from
a tree stand with bolt action lightening rods.

In fact, I've never missed at these ranges or lost a deer.

Six feet, twice. Two different deer. One I literally stepped on and the other was apparently running from another hunter. Came running past me in full panic mode.
PJ

Bull elk at 20 yards with a 375 H&H.

10ft, last day of deer season, sitting against a tree with rifle on my knee, doe walked right up to me trying to figure out what I was. Right between the eyes with a 120nbt.

20 yards maybe less, on the fight and closing fast. 35 Whelen and 275 grain RN Hornady.



Not big game but called in a coyote and killed him at eight feet and still coming.

Since the hood of the car doesn't count...20 yards on a mule deer doe with my British .303.

About 8 feet on a spike buck in PA that ran past me and stopped on the other side of a bush.

Bow, 12 yards. Slug, 18 yards. Handgun, 15 yards.

Probably 8 yards in the timber on a mature buck. 168 TTSX. Walked right up on him in his bed. I think we both were equally surprised.

White tail does are generally too smart for me, but I have shot two of them:
a) 629 yards
b) 20 feet

Close enough that when the little 4x4 buck took two jumps, I had to turn a full 90 degrees to face him again.

I was riding a horse through an aspen grove when the buck stepped into the trail in front of me. As I pulled the Win 670 in 30-06 from the scabbard and slid from the saddle to the ground, the deer took those two jumps.

All I could see was hair in the scope at 12X. I lifted the rifle and found an antler tip, then followed the line down and shot him in C-2.

18 inches. Black bear, 30-06.

Tracking it in the Canadian bush as my uncle had shot it and "made a good hit" - I came across it in the dark/shadows of the lantern. I didn't see it till the last second when it moved towards me and I put one in his back/spine with the barrel between its ears. I don't think he charged me, prob didn't know I was there - just was moving away from my cousin and I happened to be on top of him.

10 yds on a 5x5 bull elk with an arrow from my recurve bow,

Another about 10 yard shot on a Chamois in New Zealand with a 12 ga load of 00 buck,

And a <10 foot shot with a 1 1/8 oz load of #7 1/2 on a 3x3 muley buck that someone had wounded and lost. I was pheasant hunting and jumped the buck, he tried to run but fell down and I could see a fresh wound and broken back leg.

A buck at around 15-20 feet, with an original M1861 Springfield, .58 Minie ball. DRT, and the bullet created a hellacious exit wound - it looked like someone tossed a bucket of blood all over the bushes. My first thought was "Holy sh*t, they used to shoot people with these things." The kill was right on the edge of the Antietam Battlefield so when I was invited I thought "what other rifle is perfect for that event?"

As a teenager, I shot my first deer straight below me from a homemade wooden treestand, so probably 15'.

I've been closer a handful of times, the closest being the time one opening morning when a young doe panicked and ran straight at me over a small hill. She didn't see me in time to swerve, so I sidestepped and poked her in the side with the muzzle of my 243 as she went by. That deer was out of her mind with panic.

Excepting mountain lions in a tree and called coyotes, both of which I have shot within bayonet range, I think my closest was a mule deer at 10 yards.

At about 5'.

Several at 10-15 ft or under my stand.

Have had countless deer within a 5 yard circle. No great super human feat.
Don’t smoke, don’t move, don’t smell like Waffel House, gasoline or aqua velvet, try to keep your face covered.

If pigs count then I'll say about ten yards.

A doe at about 3-4'
Climbing into an old homemade treestand, on 3rd step and she was directly under me.

Cow moose at 15 yards
Grizzly at 13 yards

I shot my biggest buck at 30 feet. I shot a large WI doe that ran right up to me at 20' or a bit less.

Had a buck sniff my rubber boot while turkey hunting one spring afternoon. That was pretty cool.

You have a twin brother here in Michigan.

Whitetail at about 40 ft.

My dad's record is 0 inches, him and my Grandpa were out hunting rabbits and whitetail buck came busting out of the brush next to my dad and he touched it with the end of his shot gun and pulled the trigger, the deer was still alive but stuck in the snow so he jumped on its back and sliced the bucks throat.

My Grandpa was mad as hell my dad took that chance but was glad to have the meat as they were on week 3 of no meat on the table.

Far as I can remember
A spike at about 5yds with a inline 50
A 7 at about the same distance, same gun
A bear at 10-15 yds with 06 from a Valmet O/U
A eight at about 15-20 yds with 721 06
Kenneth

Snuck up behind a 120lb hog feeding into the wind and put a 9mm into his ear from about 6" away. Young and stupid, I guess, but definitely made a memory......................

Charging bull elephant in Zimbabwe. Frontal brain shot with .470 NE. Don't know how many feet it was, but we counted 13 paces between his carcass and my empty casings. Fired an "insurance" shot after he was down. That's why there were two (2) casings.

Inches... maybe 7

Two different elk at about 15 yards. Another at around 25.

Sounds like your dad grew up a lot like mine did.

First deer at 14yo. 4pt that was nearly directly under my stand in a black cherry tree...probably 2-3yds from the base of the tree.

I remember how I hadn’t practiced drawing and shooting at such a severe angle. The angle plus nerves, I had a hell of a time drawing the bow back.

32yrs ago and I can still picture that deer coming in and stopping just as I drew back and fired. Hunting has provided me with a ton of wonderful memories.

About 14-18 inches. The muzzle blast blew a cloud of hair off the antelope I shot with a 9.3X74R. That was about 7 miles from my house here in Wyoming

My closest deer with a rifle was a mule deer buck at about 4 yards with a 270 in Elko County Nevada

My closest elk was an Idaho bull in the Selway. I shot from the hip at about 8 feet with my 375H&H.

This. Standing on a live oak limb 16 years old 6 ft above a doe. She ran about 15 yds behind me, stopped and looked around and started feeding again. I couldn't see her well through some brush. I knew I missed and looked down for the arrow and couldn't see it. It was like the Twilight Zone. I'm thinking WTH is going on.

A bit later I strained my neck looking backward and saw the doe lay down, head up, looking around.

A bit later her head went down and she started kicking and died. When I got down and turned around I jumped a bit as my arrow was suddenly right there standing straight up. I finally figured I had been looking for the arrow laying down but it was pointed straight away and it had blended in with the leaves.

My First deer with a bow.

About 6 feet. A 3-point blacktail. It stood up out of a big fern. I had been standing there over a minute.

While slipping along a trail, a dog spooked a deer over the next hill and it came loping along the same trail I was on. As he was running straight at me thru stuff I really couldn't get a good shot. I was standing between two trees and he was on a collision course with me. I finally fired out of self defense. The 308 bullet caught him just under the left eye and he slid up to where his nose almost touched my boots. I guess he was probably 6-8 feet when the trigger broke. A nice 8 pt....

None super close. A few deer with rifles and bows between 10 and 12 yards.

Elk…about 10 yards! Though, I did shoot a fox at about 5 feet! memtb

Don't know if hogs are considered big game, but with a knife.

Most definitely yes

They classify turkeys Big Game in Tenn lol

I'm new to hogs. Went to a preserve to hunt from treestands, guide showed us video of a guy spearing a big one. Know a lady that knifed one! Not gonna do it, will stick to .44 mag for that.

Their eyesight isnt great, but have a heck of a nose. Mine hang close to feeder, more than one occasion I ran a test on the feeder and piglets and mama come surround our feet within a minute or two, momma usually dies before she gets too close.

I shot a whitetail buck while hunting in mountain laurel in PA about 20 years ago. It popped up right in front of me and I just raised the 30-06 and fired. I took 2 steps and stepped on the deer.

The shot went in it’s open mouth and blew out the back of the head. Muzzle blast singer his whiskers.

Muzzle to deer was probably 2 ft.

About 6 feet from a 6x7 elk at ground level while hunting with a bow and about 8 feet from a mountain goat while hunting with a rifle.

Deer at 20-30 feet, lifted its head looking at me over a sage brush, it must have been laying down as I approached.
Never couild find a entrance wound, bullet had to have been between the lips, straight out the back of the head.

Buck about two feet off the muzzle of my rifle. I was at a friends lease and he gave me directions to a stand in the bottom. I couldn’t find the stand in the dark so I just sat down against a tree. Needed to take a dump really bad so started slipping back towards the house. I hadn’t gone too far when the buck came down off the hill and started down the creek in the opposite direction. I couldn’t get a shot but I burped when I tightened up. It was a decent grunt ! The deer stopped dead and turned. Buck came straight to me and I thought he was going to run into me. He stopped two feet from the end of my rifle and raised his head slightly turned with his eye bugged out looking at me. I shot him in the throat looking over the top of my scope.

Antlerless deer, about 3-4 feet from the muzzle. Not sure why she would not look at me / could not see me. No cover, no concealment.

Small 4x4 blacktail .. 12 feet from the muzzle. It was nose-down chasing a doe and she deliberately walked right past me trying to rub him off. (I've seen 'em try to do that using traffic as well.) She went right under my armpit, he got shot through the top of the noggin.

I passed a bear on the trail one time and had the muzzle of the 629 within a couple inches of his head but he never moved, just tracked me with his eyes, so there was no shooting done. That was pretty spooky.

Oh .. closest might be a negative number. One time I grabbed a wounded doe by the ear, shoved the muzzle of my sister's .357 in the ear hole, and pulled the trigger. F-u-c-k-ing near separated my arm into two pieces at the elbow joint. HURT. Made me kinda sick at my stomach. So word to the wise: don't do that. Holding on to things you're shooting at, not with, sucks.

Shot a bobcat at 5' once. Several deer straight under me with a bow and once with a muzzleloader.
Once while elk hunting I was sitting against a tree and a bull came up and was feeding so close his antler hit the tree trunk I was on the other side of. Shot a cow a minute later at 10 yards. First bear I shot twice, first shot was 25 yards, second shot at 15' and he slid to within 8'. That one had a little pucker factor to it

8 point whitetail walking toward me in a hard snowstorm. Decided to see how close he would
come. 7 paces and I decided "close enough". 7x57 130 grain, think trajectory was quite flat.

I've been told I have doppelgangers in a few states. I was in a bar in Richland, WA one evening when two attractive girls sidled up next to me and each kissed me on the cheek saying, "hi Kevin." The stunned look on my face must have cued them. They both turned red and said, "you're not Kevin are you?" I said I could be. They claimed I looked just like Kevin, whoever he is.

Shot a spike bull and a couple 2 point bucks at less than 10 yards, both with a rifle. I also had a herd of elk jump over the log i was taking a nap behind. They got spooked from another hunter up the hill from me. Luckily i wasn't trampled. It sure did wake me up thou.

About 10-15 yards to a 4 point for my first deer with a bow.
Two 5X5 bulls, my first bull at 23 yards and another at 25 yards.

Shot a small buck from a tree stand with my bow at 4 feet from the base of the tree. Angle was so steep that it went in behind the near side backstop and came out nearly straight down only getting one lung. My rope had literally been hitting his back a few seconds prior.

Big doe at 8-10' with a 243

Gobbler at 10-12' with a shotgun.

Shot a muley buck at about 20 feet.

About 3 inches on an elk that ran over me in a thicket. I didn't quite get the rifle to shoulder and cheek. When I fired I was twisting away and jumping back to keep the bull from hitting the muzzle with his shoulder. Big powder burn on his shoulder.

Whitetail doe with a 4" Ruger .357 couple years ago. Had to wait for her to walk away from my stand so I didn't mess up and hit the stand. She walked between the tree and my ladder. Was more worried the muzzle blast would mess up my boots.

This bull elk at 7 yards.

I'd chartered home from Naknek after a very busy fishing season bearing D&D pizza's and refreshments. We took the jetboat up the Copper to see the salmon (about 300,000) and bears. My wife said there was a bear that was coming around every evening but hasn't messed with anything yet, I really enjoy my toddies but I held it down in case of bear duties. After Jay Leno it appeared the bear wasn't gonna show so I made a serious highball or 2. Next thing was my wife shaking me in my chair and yelling can't you hear that,,,,,, I grabbed a rifle and headed to the ruckus,, we had a dozen meat chickens in our old rabbit hutch's about 50yds away. As I neared the noise stopped and being pretty close I shouldered my 425 Express and clicked my flashlight,,the bear was just rising up and had a white chicken in his mouth,,I shot and the fire from my muzzle reached his throat. I immediatley retreated to the house and regroup and turned the genset on to see he has died instantly! At that point I was free to freshen my drink.

I've shot three whitetails at less than three steps away, two with a muzzle loader and one with a scoped .308. All from the ground while moving about/still hunting. Two were running towards me, both shots were almost "self defence". One deer died at my feet, the other swerved and died a couple steps away. I also stalked up to one that was under the lip of a river bank, I pretty much poked the rifle barrel into its neck and pulled the trigger. Quite satisfying hunts in all three cases. Shot a bull elk at about 4 or 5 steps away, but that's a significantly longer distance than those deer.

I shot a running buck at about 12 or 13 yards with a 6" .357. I cut an aorta out of his heart with the bullet and he ran about 100 yards and dropped dead.

kwg

Whitetail doe with an old Bear Grizzly recurve at the length of my cedar arrow plus about 6 inches.

She was coming right at the white oak I was standing behind. I drew and side-stepped .........she threw on the brakes with an "OH, SCHIDT !!" look in her eyes.........

Gobbler at 6 inches. He was crazy in love I tell ya.

Maybe 25 yards. Muley stepped over the hill after I stepped out of the truck and was taking a wizz. One-handed shot with a 300 win mag across the back of the tailgate put him in the freezer.

Little buck last Saturday. He damn near bumped into the tree my stand was hanging from. Has to literally let him get far enough past the tree so I wasn’t shooting straight down. Some doe’s had passed through a little earlier and he was hot on the trail.

Bull elk at 11 paces. Coming down a trail hot right behind me. Turn and blasted him.

Bout 12 to 15 ft

Area 41.
11pt chasing a doe full blown retard.
Kinda a shoot or possibly get plowed over type of thing
With the old school TC Renegade 50 cal.
Head on shot just below the white spot on his neck.
Not fun dressing that one out.
Pretty much centerline shot thru the chest , abdominal cavity and lodged inside the hip.

Another was a 8 pt at around 20 ft late October
Fuuuking grunt call didn't stop him out around 30 yds for a shot.
He reacted and came in head down picking up speed.
That was another Renegade 50 cal kill.
Shoot him right above the divide in his shoulder blades about 4 inches down from the top of his length wise back line.
Clipped his spine and raked down the underside of it thru his upper chest cavity then into his stomach and intestines.

Not fun gutting that one out..

Shot a raghorn at 20 yards or so.

I shot a blacktail buck at about 18" from the barrel of my rifle as it ran past me. Didn't even have time to shoulder the rifle, hip shot it through the chest and sent it rolling. Dang near ran me over.

Had two does come running up and stop about 10ft in front of me. Had my Ruger 44 carbine. 3 shots in 2 seconds had them down (3rd shot was just to finish the one deer that was dead on its feet).

Point blank, as in barrel inches from his skull. Black bear that wanted either my seat in the tree or me. Either way, he lost.

276 yards on a running antelope buck. I felt bad cause I was trying to sneak further away when he spotted me and started to run.

Literally
.2 ft..
7 pt ran up across cut corn to irrigation pivot I was sitting in...
310 gr APB ...full length penetration..went about 18"...
Chest was smoking..

A couple of different wounded bears over the years. Plenty close.

Osky

I'll see if I can get a picture of him next time I see him. I hope you took advantage of both of them.

Whitetails, several, within 10 or 15 feet. Have also missed a couple that close too, but I was much younger.
A younger person will sometimes pick their head up off the stock to watch the deer fall.
You gotta get in the habit of keeping your cheek glued to the wood, no matter what you’re shooting, or what you’re shooting at.
It’s very easy to lose that contact if you’re not concentrating, shotgun or rifles.
Trigger time is very important if you wanna shoot good.
It’s a self discipline, but you’d be surprised how many hunters and shooters lack it!
Like the old saying says, “practice makes perfect”.
One thing that has made me a much deadlier hunter is hunting squirrel with a rifle. You learn to be patient, waiting for a shot to present itself. Squirrels are pretty forgiving, Deer ain’t so much. But I’ve learned on squirrels, and I’ll pass up shots on deer if I’m not certain.
Not bragging, but 95% of my deer shooting is bang-flop because I have developed that discipline by hunting squirrels.
There few things more heartbreaking than losing a crippled deer, and time spent trying to recover wounded critters is aggravating. I’m getting older, and going home empty handed is a better choice than blasting one and tracking or losing it.
7mm

Killed: Deer at ~10 feet. Rabbit at ~5 feet.

“Could have killed” deer at the end of a .22 rifle barrel. Raccoon at the end of a .357 revolver muzzle.

I guess bow and bangstick both ?

Bow from a ladder stand as the deer walked
between the tree trunk and the legs of the stand.
Gun about 10-12 steps in a heavy AM fog

Squirrel right underneath a ladder stand as
it was barking at me for hunting out of his
favorite (?) tree. Lucky shot and skewered
it to the ground with an arrow as if I'd done
it by hand

Somewhere around 4 feet. Whitetail doe was in a blackberry thicket was walking by. Saw her head pop up. .308 just below the head into the neck. 150 gr SST almost took her head off. Skin on each side was all that was holding it on. Worst part was wading into that thicket to retrieve her.

A 6 x 6 bull elk at 12' as he came steaming through the dense aspen coming to a bugle. Upped the heart rate a bit.

About 2 feet, whitetail doe walking up a trail

Boy....its happen several times....once hunting on Federal Preserve anterless muzzleloader only hunt had to take a dump when I just got to a good spot had my waiters down and a doe walked up to me shot it at like 4' in the head had to wait until the smoke cleared to find it almost at my feet...shot a buck in the UP was sitting with a very large tree to my back the buck walked up from behind me as it passed less than 2' away I just brought the gun barrel enough to shoot didn't aim or shoulder the gun....buck dropped at the shot with a neck shot....was duck hunting on a State Game Area draw hunt only needed one more duck for our 3 man limit a drake mallard came buzzing the tops of the corn I fired a shot from my hip blew the ducks head off at about 5' with my Browning O/U it was the last hunt that lead shot could be used....never use that gun ever again duck hunting.....

12 feet on a whitetail with a then new .22-250...so at least I learned it shot flat out to that range....

Cow elk at 10’ or so.

6-8 feet on deer.

Even closer if you don't count the downward distance from a tree stand.

About 10’ on a deer.

I could have shot a decent young 8 point Whitetail at about 5 feet once, but I just couldn't see the challenge in it. It would have been 100% legal, but it just didn't seem right at the time. I was sitting against a tree and the deer just walked up on me staring to the point I thought he was going to charge or use me as a pin cushion. I just waved my arms and he took off like a scalded dog. I think he was just curious and was trying to figure out what I was. I was looking for his Daddy anyway.

Point Blank Range - Black Bear.

Black bear at about 10 feet that i wanted to chase away and was not leaving so he filled one tags.

Black bear at about 30 feet, i wanted this big boy.

Bush pig at 30 yards.

Cape buffalo at about 25 to 30 yards.

White tail at about 15 feet, just stood there and had a sign on him that said shoot me.

Antelope at about 20 feet. Ran up and stopped broad side to me.

My first deer, back then we hunted them with hounds she bounced out of a wall of briers about 10ft in front of me. Buckshot in the face. DRT.
Deer were considered a pest back then. Now the land owners are enjoying good money leasing to clubs.

Kind of surprising you even have some of those bullets. I think Hornady dropped them prior to 1964. I got lucky and found a few at a gun show and think about working up a load if I can find a few more. I have all the Hornady load manuals including #1 which shows that bullet as discontinued. I'm guessing probably 1962 or 3 is when they dropped it.
PJ

Couple of deer inside 20 yards, and more than a few hogs inside 20’. There was one dink at about 20’ but I never considered them to be big game. Kinda like the coyote I nailed one day at about 10-15’. Medium game at best.

1st deer

It was a nice 6pt.

I was 13 hunting with my older brother, he stuck me up in a old pine tree that had a perfect place to sit about 6 ft off the ground. He figured I would stay put and not wander off.

Hour or so later this buck comes down the trail and stops directly under me, 20 gauge pumpkin ball stopped him for good. Shot was 6 ft down

They show up from time to time on GB and the gun shows. Gun shops that buy whole estates or sell collections on consignment are good sources sometimes for some of the old stuff.

We used to have a few of us close friends together for elk hunting on my buddies ranch. He always got a dozen or 2 depredation permits so if we didn’t connect during the general elk season we’d come back and take a few with the depredation permits. It was a damage hunt… when the elk would tear his hay barns apart we’d come over and haze them after harvesting a few and hope they’d stay away, they didn’t. We started a game where the goal of the game was to touch an elk. Usually we were lucky to be as close as 10’ but once in awhile we’d get a winner. The year I won was after a harsh eastern Washington winter with ice storms that took countless trees down and the ranch was a rutted mess. I was tucked into an old rotten lodge pole pine with buckbrush all around it. I sat there calling softly listening to the bulls return the conversation as they searched for their girlfriend. Several large bulls were moving in my direction so I stayed still. As the last bull sauntered on by I reached out and touched his left rear ham and said something like “I win”. I startled that bull which in turn startled me but I was one of the very few “winners” of that game. My good buddy was the ranch manager and he passed away shortly after that hunt and my other buddy that was an integral part of my hunting and fishing circle died a couple years later….both had cancer and died in their 50’s. 2 great conservative, God-fearing men that never met a stranger and were always happy to help anyone.

When I was young I pulled the trigger on a 7 mag that was 2-3 inches from the nose of a button buck. He stretched his head out to explore the muzzle…..bad idea

3 feet. Hip shot on a doe that came blasting by me after the initial shot.

Ruger .22 auto mark 2....3 inches behind the ol does right ear. She just walked past as I was leaning against a big redoak, taking a leak... My rifle was propped against other side of tree. Worked fine!

When I was a young kid after I got off the school bus,changed out of my school clothes and put on my camo,grabbed my rifle and pedaled my bicycle down to some woods about a mile away that belonged to a farmer I worked for sometimes.By the time I climbed up that big live oak tree I made a stand in,I only had about 45 minutes until dark.I had a couple of small pieces of cloth hanging on some branches that I juiced up with buck lure.I sat there and had not seen anything and it was starting to get dark.I was debating about getting down and going home,but something in my mind said wait just a couple more minutes.About a minute later a five point buck popped out of the brush fifteen yards away,walking straight to me.I was afraid to move be cause he was so close.He walked up to the trunk of the tree I was sitting in ten feet up.He smelled the tree trunk where I climbed up,snorted,ran ten yards and stopped.I couldn't shoot him right handed like I normally shoot,I shot him left handed right in the neck and he dropped right there.I quickly gutted him and drug him about two hundred yards to the edge of the woods.By then it was dark,I didn't have a flashlight and I remember loosing the buck a couple of times looking for the best trail out of the woods,but I managed to find him each time.After I got the buck to the edge of the woods,I got my bike and went to the farmers house and he drove his pickup down to get my buck and take me home.Talk about a happy kid.I was on cloud nine for sure.

I was in Alaska hunting black bear. It was a Spring hunt, lots of fun. I spotted a nice bear; I made a stock on him within 10 yards that's when I let him have a dose of 338, he was down and out.

I missed the herd bull, roosevelt elk, bowhunting. 8'. He didn't follow the rest of the herd going by in front of me single file at 15 yards, he came up directly behind the tree I was leaning against. He had his head down in the huckleberry bushes when I simultaneously pivoted around the tree and drew my bow. He threw his head up, his eyes were like saucers and he was "Oh schit mother f'r wtf is that thing it's gunna kill me omg wth" as he swung as fast as he could away from me. I knew if I wouldn't have a chest shot so I let go at his neck and zipped right under because he was moving so damn fast.

I’ve shot several with buckshot running in front of dogs at less than 10ft.

Got out of my stand once in IL after watching a BIG buck run a couple of does in a group of 11 does in the back of a field. Stalked to within 60 yards and got a little luck when he ran one past me. I stuck him at less than 10 yards…. 7 1/2 yr old buck that weighed 286 lbs. luck is good

a couple of whitetails straight down with a bow.
1 muzzleloader shot through the top of the skull on small buck.

Standing in front of a large pine tree watching a doe with a six pointer running right at me. Took safety off the 7600 .35 Whelen and pulled the trigger from the hip. If I extended my arms the barrel would have touched the buck

Whitetail at about 12 feet. Right under the stand.

Killed deer within 10 yards with rifle,ML, and recurve bow. I have poked my gun barrel out at deer on deer drives to make them swerve when blocking because I thought they might run into me. Deer I didn't want to shoot.

16 feet, "yearling " moose, .338WM 275 gr. Speer GrandSlam.

Sow grizzly, 9 feet, binoculars. Lacks penetration. Saved the Canon Rebel for backup.

Minus 1/2 inch. Brown bear…

About 10 feet, nice 8 point

Plumdog: Black Bear, shot to the head at 4 feet - as it came growling out of its den.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

About a foot away, with Dan Wesson 357 magnum. 3 point blacktail stuck in a barbed wire fence.

Years ago it would have been under a foot but only the primer went off on the old muzzle loader. The doe came unglued and all I could do was laugh.

I’d say 10’ or less? We were on a ranch to shoot some feral pigs. Sow Walked out of some brush, turned her head side ways and I put a 30/06 180gr corelokt under her ear. My surprise there was no exit hole.

Deers, elks, so what. Wait til you shoot a skunk between your feet.

Grab ‘em by the ears and hit ‘em with a rock.

LOL. Someone will be along shortly to whine that your hunting over bait.

Basket 8 pointer, 10-12 yards, looking straight at me in the treestand, trying to figure out what I was, trying to blend in with smaller cedar trees below me. Head to toe camo, face netting, etc... and I blended in with the tree branches behind me.
Reflex Highlander compound bow, 100gr Thunderhead broadheads.

Brown bear at two yards, several deer at about the same.

Fork horn this year. 10 feet.

4 steps on a cow elk shot with a 54 caliber round ball. Came around a tree and there she was. Not sure the actual distance but 4 steps took me to the first blood. She went about 60 yards and piled up. She was my first elk with a muzzleloader.

Ranch lady called a few years ago, there's a spike buck caught in the hogwire fence by the house here, would you come and help me get him loose? OK be there in 10. Got there, he'd gone haywire in a panic had a compound fracture and cuts. Schidt, damn, hell, she says, I guess we just gonna have to eat 'im. She gets her rifle, does the dirty deed at 6 foot right in the earhole, we're skinning the poor little guy, and she, a woman of few words, looks me in the eye and says, I know you're going to talk anyway...so if people are going to hear about this, I'd appreciate if you'd mention I'd made a hell of shot at least.

One mule deer buck, middle of forehead, son's 308, ~5yds. (Antlers fell down to the sides)
One mule deer buck, rear of left shoulder, 243, ~7 yds. Lost much meat on the right shoulder, due to bloodshot.
(Shoulda used the Blackhawk .45)

Straight down one hand shot 12 ft up in a tree dink 8pt 30-06

10' on a charging wounded buffalo the other hunter had gut shot several times. It fell dead on top of me and broke some bones in my back...spondylolisthesis now...it hurts all the time and gets worse with age.

Shot a Javalina with an arrow at about 2 yards one time......................

Several deer within 5 yards of my tree over the years.

Does shooting hogs that are in traps count?

In high school shot a 4 point whitetail with a bow at three feet on the side of a haystack. He had been chased there by coyotes. Shot as he got up from between the bales.

Similar here a couple of times. Though seemed closer by a couple of feet. Amazing to have a leg shaking uncontrollably with buck fever & still manage to have them continue to come in & allow me to make a shot.

Remember when I wished for more self control & now I wish I still got that jacked up when they get close. Buck fever happens after the shot, now for me.

Also whitetail deer, straight down under my treestand.

Archery black bear, straight down from 15 feet

I have shot several deer within 50 feet while on the ground, closest I can remember are a couple bucks (40 years apart) that came trotting down a trail, stopped and didn’t have time to think, “Oh schitt.” One with.45-70 and one with 16 gauge slug. Have shot quite a few from close up from tree stands in the woods.

Killed a doe several years ago that was less that 20 feet from me

2021 Crossbow kill @ 15 feet.
First day out, chained a Summit tree seat to a tree at a good crossing.
Sat down, didn't like the setup. Got up to shift the seat on the tree and presto, here he comes.
Walked right to me like he was on a string. Game over, first day out.

but if you have to get spondylosteis thats the way to get it! ( sorry face)

Cow elk with a muzzle loader from about 5 steps.

Straight down from my tree stand. Literally at the base of my tree that I had climbed 50 feet up. Entrance was between the shoulders and exit on bottom. After I shot it appeared he was still standing looking down at him. Then I realized his legs had simply folded up and had gone straight down and never twitched. After climbing down had to hop over his body to dismount my stand.

Have shot numerous deer that were 5 yards or less from the base of my tree but i was far higher in the tree than they were from the base. Closest I've killed one from the ground was about 8-10 yards.

Guy from hunting camp arrived after dark cos he had to work late. Wanted us to see what he killed on the trip to camp. We followed him to his truck and trailer and lo and behold a nice 6 point buck was standing, tho wobbly on the trailer beside his Big Red. We surrounded the trailer and the fight was on. Two grabbed him by the rack and were slung off. Two more heftier ones replaced them and the wrestling match was on. I had a large Case folder and was the designated throat cutter. It took a while to do the deed and in the melee one had his finger cut to the bone and had to go to the ER 30 miles away. Us, the Big Red, the trailer were bloody making a trip to the car wash necessary. Seems 2 ladies ahead of the guy hit the 6 point, he aided them and thru the deer on his trailer thinking it had been killed. Memberable kill at very close range. We talked about it for years.

22 Steps, Cougar!!!

Whitetails within 10 feet.

First buck I ever shot, I was 11 or 12 and out squirrel hunting alone.
I was sitting behind a big log and he was running straight at me, shot him in the neck as he jumped the log, maybe 3 feet from the end of the barrel of my 20ga Ithaca single shot.

The paper wadding from the low brass #8 was in his neck, he was a little forked horn Whitetail.

About 3 1/2 feet.

Big doe coming at a fast walk, straight at the tree I was standing behind. Using a 55# Bear Grizzly and a cedar arrow with a Hilbre broadhead. I drew and side-stepped from behind the tree. She slammed on the brakes with an "OH CRAP !!" look in her eyes. Arrow was AT MOST 1 foot off the bow when it hit her.

Mine was a small whitetail buck at maybe 10 yards, tops. Closest me or any of my buddies had ever got one. But the following year one of my buddies outdid me. He was sitting in heavy wooded cover on the edge of his field handgun hunting. Just before dark a big 10 point comes walking down the edge of the woods. He held his 6" Colt Python in both hands with arms outstretched from the bushes, waited until the buck came by and dropped the hammer and put a 180 gr. Hornady XTP on it just as the front shoulder went by. He said there was less than a foot between the muzzle and the deer. He had a full shoulder mount done and the taxidermist backed up his story with his questions about how the hide got powder burned so bad.

I have taken two whitetail does, one at 10 yards, one at 625 yards.

Came to post this.
When stalking cornfields with a handgun.



That's close enough!

Doe 8ft. Straight down, doe at 10ft bow also 10 ft on the ground. Coyote 10ft. Coming to my turkey call.

On different species...

"Yearling" moose, at about 15 yards, head on. Steep uphill angle and his head was stretched high reaching for browse. .338 275 Grand Slam took him just under the jaw, nearly decapitating him and almost flipping him on his back.

I took my first Dall ram at about the same range.

Once flicked the butt of a Mule deer forkie with my fishing rod as he came sneaking by me, wondering where I had disappeared to. That resulted in McManus's "FBLP" on the deer's part. When he bounced off a tree, he changed direction, failed to clear a brush patch, picked himself off the ground, changed direction, and last I saw of him he was about 18 inches high and 20 feet long. He might still be running. 40 years ago, and I still laugh when I think of it. I'm counting it!

Oops- I forgot the black bear. We had spotted it while caribou hunting in the Kenai Mountains, and no caribou in sight, so I tried to get my son on it.

We got over there and no bear. I left him on stand against a big rock while I eased down slope to see if I could find the bear, which I figured had worked it's way down some, over the contour of the slope. He was still tight there, laying down in a 2' deep depression, about 10' long, 4 foot wide, covered in blueberry bushes. I found him when he stuck his head up about 15 feet from me.

No hesitation on my part! Right between the eyes.

A Co mule deer buck at about 10 yards.

About 6 ft on a Shiras moose with my recurve bow.

Cape Buffalo at 11 paces.

2 does?

What's rong with doe meat? Some years I've taken 9 or 6.

A 4 point whitetail at 15 feet. He was walking straight at me and never knew I was there. I was hoping he would turn to get a better shot angle. He just kept coming, so I put a 12ga slug right in the center of his chest. Needless to say, DRT.

when lion hunting in Botswana back in the 70's I had a huge black maned wounded lion charge out of the brush and pounce on me. At the same instant he enveloped my entire head in his mouth, I stretched my arm as far as I could back and stuck my middle finger right up his ass. Amazingly the lion let go of my head momentarily giving me a split second to draw my 10mm glock and shoot him right under the throat and into his brain. The guides still talk about that hunt around the campfires to this day.

Just curious if your timeline is correct. I thought the 10mm was introduced in the 80s.

I bet your finger stunk for days.

About twenty feet on a four point whitetail. I was squirrel hunting, stopped to eat lunch in a clearing, propped up against a stump in the sun and went to sleep. Woke up and there it was.

Just curious if your timeline is correct. I thought the 10mm was introduced in the 80s.



TESORO: I bet your favorite rock group is Freddy and the Dreamers.]

I shot an 8 point whitetail with my bow at 12’. He ran 75 yards and died.

The first animal ever killed with the then brand new 40 Super cartridge was at about 4 feet.

I was laying prone behind some thick brush when the hog, following the trail, came around the other side and nearly ran into the muzzle of my pistol.

Tony Rumore
Tromix

3 yards on an 8 point whitetail with a bow

8 steps from my stand with a bow on a whitetail.

About 12 foot straight down underneath my loggy bayou with my clearwater xl.

About 10 feet from the muzzle. Taking a break, eating lunch right at the bank of the Chickahominy River, sitting on a log beside a cypress tree. I hear trotting in the water to my right. Set my food down, pick up my slug gun, and a doe comes out out past the cypress tree, stops and stands. Shot her, she plopped in the water, not more than about 30 yards from my truck. Easiest kill and haul-out I ever had.

I once shot a mule deer buck at less than 10 yards as he ran right toward me in the woods. And I shot a big boar pig at about 5 yards in the brush once.

about 88 yrds in Nov '11

360" late Utah bull Elk

Two shots from a 308 & 180 gr Swift boolits

Closest?….maybe 10-12 feet. In fact the average distance of the last 3 deer I’ve killed, 1 mulie and 2 Blacktails, is around 18-20 feet. All 3 were shot with my .308 using a 150TTSX and 2 168TSX. I recovered 1 of the 168TSX’s just under the hide on the rear hind quarter after traveling the full length of the deer and it was the perfect picture of expansion. None of the 3 deer took so much as a step, their legs just folded and they were done…DRT.

straight down from climbing tree stand quite a few times with bow and once with rifle thru the top of skull.

Necro thread, but I guess I'll add some of my own nonsense that doesn't address the original question, as per 'Fire tradition.


I was out hunting for the fourth day with a backpack and surplus tent on ole Billy Washington's chunk of land. Did pretty well with squirrels, but no deer by day four. I also slept like crap, and was exhausted. Ate good, but I just stayed awake through the night in the tent except for intermittent bouts of sleep. So I decided after a few more hours of stalking the land that I was going to take a break. I fell asleep under a tree, telling myself I was just going to take a rest upwind from a clear deer trail. I woke up with a young doe touching my nose with her nose in the late afternoon as the sun was going down.

I didn't kill it, but I don't know anyone else who was "nosed" by a doe during hunting season.

As to answer the original question, my closest kill was probably 30ish yards.

Shot a doe in the face at five yards, she was first in line, was on track to step on me. Killed a buck later that week at seven feet, he was walking right by. Surprised he didn’t have a burn spot at the entry wound. Never got a turkey that close, but killed a bunch at ten yards or so, none were past twenty.

Most of the deer I have killed have been at twenty yards or less, mostly a function of how I hunt. Been times I wondered why I even use a rifle, when I have a SBH .44 that would do just fine. Planning to do just that this year and see what happens.

VLB, Just saw your post, and had to laugh. I sat on a stump in the river bottom one morning, that sun hit me, and I nodded off. Woke up a bit later, heard something move. next to me. My eyes came open, and without raising my head, I could see multiple sets of deer legs. A group of does had moved up around me and were feeding as they moved. With three of them close enough to touch, the thought occurred to me that if I spooked them, I was liable to catch a kick in the head. So I let them move on a bit, and then shot one at ten feet or so.

Killed a doe 30ish years ago at 4 yards
Killed one over the weekend at about 7-8 yards.

Spike elk about 30 yards with 7 x 57 tang safety Ruger and 154 grain Hornady spire point. One shot, DRT.

An elk at about 10 yards…..but my closest wasn’t big game.

Many years ago when deer hunting in Louisiana, I was standing in some bushes for concealment, when I sensed something behind me. A fox was slipping up on me from behind, stunned and a little startled…..the shot was around 5 to 6 feet! A hit from a .308 Win. that close, left the hide unsalvageable! 😂 memtb

I was sitting on a bucket, watching a trail intersection when I smelled a deer. Then I felt his breath on my face. He had come up behind me. It was right in the rut and this spike was all sex-addled. We all been there. It was freezing rain and my arrow rest got messed up with ice so when the spike got about 20 feet in front of me I took a shot but the rest was all the way down and I missed by 3 feet. I could have cried. I got another arrow and the same thing happened. The deer wandered off and I think I did cry. Either that or some freezing rain on my face ran past my eyes. I then figured out the rest problem. Dang that sucked. I once had a squirrel tapping me on the face to figure out what I was. It was a tiny grey squirrel and I couldn't bring myself to shoot it. He didn't know what was sitting against his tree that morning.

Bayed up bear in a ground fight at 7 ft,Black tail buck at less than 10 feet,Archery Roosevelt elk at 6 yds.

About 10 feet on bull moose. 1st shot to shoulder (210 NP!) at @ 100 knocked him down, but blew up on the blade, peppering nearside lung with bb bone and lead. Never found the back part. No damage to far side lung. Haven't used that bullet since.

Walked up on "dead" moose, from the front. Don't do that! 2nd one sorta up the nose worked tho.

2nd closest was also on a wounded bull my partner had shot- probably 25 feet or so. Again it was down, but jumped up at my approach.

3rd closest was a "yearling" bull at 16 yards, frontal just under the chin with 275 gr .338 GS. flipped moose over, nearly decapitated it.

Way mo better than #1!

A friend was sitting on a ridge top rock on a caribou hunt, rifle resting on knees, when he saw a cow coming up ridge toward him. He never even moved the rifle, just triggered it from his knees when the cow walked by about 3 feet off the muzzle.

I bounced my binoculars off a sow griz at 3 steps. Does that count? (rifle was some yards away, still in the boat).

Lacked penetration....

Quite possibly the one I took a week ago Friday, 7.3 yards lasered, with my xbow, aka 22 feet. Just crushed him, and AFIK that arrow is still sailin’…….

About 10 feet straight under me, I was in a tree stand and the deer fell up against the tree I was in.

Several whitetail deer with a bow almost directly under my tree stand. Shot a large 8-point buck on a push drive about 38 years ago that nearly ran over me. Shot him twice and the second shot that dropped him was less than 5 yards.

5 yards on a whitetail buck. But a couple times I have had deer close enough to actually touch but didn't take a shot.

It is generally thick woods where we hunt. My longest shot was 70 yards down a hollow that was narrow but fairly open. This is a long shot in these woods.

In the Allegheny National Forest there is more old woods and shots can be longer but still a lot of bush in between.

That doesn't mean you can't set yourself up for a long shot on a power line, cut field, etc. But I prefer the bush.

MAGA!

Forkhorn mule deer maybe 15 feet from the Ponderosa pine 🌲 I was in. Standing on limbs as big as my body. Absolutely incredible Utah hunt for a 21 yo flatlander from Alabama. Groves Flame Hunter 50# Easton 2018 and Bear Razorhead. X through the heart.

Probably 20 yds , a good sized buck in northern MN, just south of International Falls.

It was 20 below that morning, but temp shot up in short order around noon, almost 50 degrees to about 30 degrees.

Sky was clear and the winds kicked up to like 60 mph. Was just standing there and this buck walked by, in a confused state
with all the wind. Never even looked at me.... I was headed back to our rally point with the family party.

30/06... bang/flop....probably was using a 220 grain RN. Used a lot of those in that time period... Early 1980s.

15 feet straight down several times. It's easier if they're more than 20 feet away from my tree though. Better shot angle and a bigger target.

Black bear in Manitoba, 6 paces w 45-70 govt.

40ft, whitetail doe I missed.

Kickapoo Caverns SP, drawn hunt. I had been standing quietly for a few hours on the other side of a big low juniper tree off of a dirt road downwind of a game trail about 25 yards to my left on my side of the road, Marlin 336 at port arms.

The doe walked out started moseying in my direction. Ever so slowly so she didn’t catch the motion I brung the rifle up. My mistake was, when I had her lined up on a clear line through the branches, I leaned forward to clear the branches and shot in one quick motion.

A kazillion years of deer evolution in reacting to sudden ambush; she was faster than I was.

las, you may be the ultimate winner on this topic! 👍 memtb

I shot a doe with my bow, straight down below my treestand.

For "not-too-bright" anyway.

I shot this Blacktail in '99 at about 6 yards in the creek bed behind where the pic was taken. The part that sucked was that my scope was turned up to 9X from when I first spotted him.



Years later I canoed a sow coming up the trail I was on while dove hunting. Was kind of surprised on the amount of damage from 1 1/8 ounces of 7 1/2s on her skull.

I killed 3 bull elk with my rifle that were all 5-10 yards! But I have never got one with my bow. YET!

Two at less than six feet. The first I was walking up a trail with a couple of kids who wanted to tag along. I literally stepped on the little deer and shot from the hip' The muzzle couldn't have been more than two or three feet from the deer when I shot.

Deer number two was shot in the same canyon a couple of years later. My buddy was workin the top of the ridge and kicked up a little spike that ran down toward me. Another shot literally from the hip. I had my buddy come down and told him he could have this ne if he wanted which he did. it was one of the hunts that was like a first for him out west as he was from NYC. He must have POed someone back there at the bank he worked for as they'd transferred him to Winnemucca Nevada. It was fun teaching him that there really were deer that lived out in the desert. He never quite got ovr the fact that they did.
PJ

Probably a bull elk at 10 yards with my whitetail II compound bow.

Buck, chasing a doe @ less than 10 paces.

That's about the toughest shot with a bow. Can't tell you how many times I've missed trying to do that.

About ten yards on a black bear. I was hunting, in the great state of Alaska.

15 yards. Cape Buffalo charging me head on. A 300 grain soft in the face turned the charge.

A caribou at 8 feet.

Less than 3 feet on a boar pig, through the forehead with a .30/06. I had wounded him (shot him in the arse as he was galloping away) and he had gone to ground in some low cover. I circled round to find him, crossing a small creek. As I moved in he leaped up and charged from only a few yards away. I didn't have time to aim, just shot him from the hip and jumped back as he crashed into the ground where I'd been standing. He certainly got my attention.

I shot another in similar circumstances in a lignum swamp one time. Lignum higher than my head, and so thick you could only see a few yards. The pigs were moving through "tunnels" through the stuff. It was very exciting, because you could hear them but could only see them at the last moment. This big pig had taken a load of SG (00) buckshot, but it had only served to rile him up. I could hear him grunting and squealing, clacking his tusks and crashing around just a few yards away, but I couldn't see him. Suddenly he charged in and I gave him another lot of SGs in the face from a couple of yards off the muzzle, which took the fight right out of him.

Had a smokeless ML built so I could take deer out to 400. Chrono'ed and made a drop chart. First deer I shot was at 20 yards.

Wild boar at the tip of my boots - the dogs were on him and I had just decided to sling the rifle and stab him, when he broke the bail and came straight at me. By the time the rifle had come back down, he was almost there. Got him straight down in the head with my .45-70.

Talkeetnas back in 07 - Grizzly at 12 yards - also with a .45-70.

:-)

Doe at about 40 yards.

About 5 yards. The deer was running straight at me and died at my feet.

I guess hogs at about 30-40 yards.

About 5 feet. A 6x7 elk and I were talking to each other. I ran up the hill and stopped behind a skinny, 10 foot tall fir tree. He trotted up to the other side of the tree. We were both looking at each through that skinny tree. I drew my bow while wondering how I would take a shot when he turned sideways and stepped from behind the tree. I double lunged him and broke one of his ribs as the arrow went clear threw.

I was hunting in southern Iowa which was shotgun and muzzleloader only, years ago. I was posted on public because we were pushing the private ground next to it. A guy comes walking along the public and calls my shotgun a punkinballer. He said his muzzleloader was good out to 200. I said ok. He goes down aways and stops. A Bambi comes behind me about 20 yards and walks past down to muzzleloader guy and stops in a creek. I could see that deer perfectly at 60 yards. This guy shoots at Bambi and hits the mud and water below it, which caused a pretty good spray up. I died laughing, he had missed by 2-3 feet at 15 yards. The deer came back passed me and stopped to look at him. He asked me to shoot it because it was wounded. I said no way, my punkinballer wouldn't hit it. He went after it to track it and I told him he missed by 3 feet so don't bother. He couldn't accept that, I was still laughing.

Negative 2 inches. I grabbed a doe by the ear, shoved the muzzle of my sister's .357 down her ear hole, and pulled the trigger.

Hints:

1) The "slam" of the bullet into the skull [bleep] near dislocated my elbow.
2) There is good potential for muzzle blast along with skull parts to pepper the hell out of you with burning powder pieces and skin/bone chunks. I got lucky and had the ear sorta rolled / twisted so my hand wasn't exposed to that.

Archery deer, 12 yards. Shotgun deer, 18 yards.

A few moose at under 10 yards. If their under 10 yards broadside and not moving and I have a rest and a little time I never miss. Also, their lot bigger then a deer.

I didn't take this shot but I really wanted to. I was sitting on a rock pile in northern Wisconsin, waiting for a buck. I hear a crunch right behind me. I knew it was a buck and I had to be ready, so I put my finger on the safety and slowly turned my head. Here's a super fat black bear about 10 feet away. It was only 250# maybe. I wanted it to charge me so bad. It turned it's head, hoping I would be gone when it looked back. I wasn't so when it looked back at me, his nerve broke and he took off back where he came from. He looked like a black bean bag bouncing across a beanfield. Boy, they are beautiful animals, until they run and look ridiculous.

Maybe he was just being goofy for some reason. A bear can flat out cover ground when they want to and unlike a deer they can keep up that pace for a long ways. Can run uphill on mountain rock as fast as going down and look fluid and effortless doing it. Lots of adjectives would come to mind about a running bear but I can't say looking ridiculous was ever one of them. Impressive on a large scale would be more like it.

I have shot two whitetail does. One at 629 yards, one at 20 feet without looking through the scope.

Whitetail buck & a doe from a tree stand roughly 5 yards nearly straight down in each case. Roughly a decade between encounters.