At what range do you typically take deer?

The area we hunt for deer here, anything over 100 we wouldn't fire. Usually we are in heavy timber areas. Always try to plan for an uphill shot, but more often than not it will be an offhand downhill. Just the way it seems to happen.
 
I hunt pretty thick woods, so always under 100yds. Out west I'm told there's a lot of hilltop to the next hilltop hunting, so I can see getting 500yds+, but up here I'd have to look pretty hard to find a shooting lane much longer than 100yds.
 
The longest shot I've made is about 350, but I've taken them as close as 50. These are elk, mind you, not deer. I long ago gave up trying to draw for a deer tag, and the last deer I got was when you could still buy the tags over the counter here. That was at 150 yards with a TC Hawken. Somehow, I hit one lung on that deer. I'm not sure how I did that. I was about 9 when that happened. Fast forward darn near 20 years, and I'm looking at moving to Florida, where the deer are numerous and I know people who have lots of land. There, the shots may be somewhat shorter, but I don't know. I have a 12 gauge and a .270...between those two I can make it work.
 
Usually under 200 yards. Even though I live in the woods of the Idaho panhandle there are quite a few clear cuts and such that provide the occassional long-ish (200+yds) shot. The last two deer have been under 100.
 
I have been hunting since I was 12. Both foul and 4 legged. I have hunted the California coast, the Sierras, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, the rocky mountains states and Alaska. I now reside in Alabama. Most of my game has been taken between 100-300yds. There have been a few that were closer and some further away, but that is the nature of hunting. One thing nice about Alabama.....now that I am 65, I dont have to pay for my license.
 
This is going to vary widely based on geographical location, IMO. When I lived in CA, the farthest I ever shot was about 125 yds, IIRC. Most were 60-100 yds. Then I moved to TN, where shots were about 60-100 yds. Then to NV, where 300-400 yds was not unheard of, and my longest shot on deer was about 325 yds. Then to ID, where I usually shot at around 100-150 yds. Then to OR, where about 100 yds was average. Now I live in western WA, where I think 100-150 yds would be a long shot, I shot a little buck about 10 years ago at maybe 10 yds and another a few years later at about 80-90 yds.
 
I hunt in the bluff country of western WI.
Between the hills and the timber, we can rarely SEE more than 200 yards, often more like 100.
Almost all of the deer I have killed have been shot at less than 75 yards. My longest kill was a 160ish yard shot thru the engine room of a large doe a few years ago.
 
For the one deer I've taken in my life the shot was about 160 or so yards with a 30-06, I have missed a few deer before that some being as close as 100 yards buck fever really affects me and that's that I'm practicing a lot lol
 
Most of the deer killed in our woods are under 100 yards. However, there are enough clear-cuts and bean fields that a goodly percentage are killed over 100 yards. My deer stand look over a pipeline crossing that is a measured 130 yards from my stand. I killed three deer from that stand during the 10-11 hunting season.
 
My daddy, he killed deer so far off he had to put salt on the bullet so the deer wouldn't spoil before he got to it.








Sorry. Just a character defect. :D
 
Long range hunting - opinions

While I do not hunt anymore due to medical reasons, when I did hunt, 50 yards was a long shot with a shotgun & deer slugs. With a 243 centerfire rifle, my longest was 175 yard headshot.

As a 50BMG owner and competitor of long range, I hear all kinds of reports of shooting game animals at extended ranges out to 1400+ yards. I do NOT agree with this type of hunting! Too many misses, too many injured animals, too many assumed misses with injured animals crawling off to die miserably.

Now some will strongly disagree with me, because they use a 5 man crew and a special benchrest piece of equipment setup for long range shooting and have 3 very powerful scopes setup to find and verify shots are properly made. BUT the vast majority of shooters do not know their ballistics properly to know where the bullet will impact at that range.

With modern rifles, scopes, and cartridges, the range YOU shoot is determined by the range YOU know YOU can make a safe humane kill.
 
By and large, I doubt that many hunters who are not dedicated shooters can figure the range and the wind--or trajectory--beyond 300 yards.

FWIW, Jeff Cooper wrote that he didn't want to have to take a shot on a game animal out beyond 300.
 
It's always best to take the closest shot possible,but the plan doesn't always go that way.I hunt some very large bean fields with fence rows, draws,and creeks on a large farm,the shots might be 20 yards on out to 506 for my longest shots taking 2 deer in the same field. I try and set up for the closest shots possible within 100 yds,but have taken many in the 300-400 yard range...Did I say I love my 7mm mag. :D
 
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