Typical Range of shot (deer and other medium game)

F

fisherman66

New member
I am typically behind a pile of logs or in a windowed outhouse. Usually there's a corn station, but we have done a couple pushes when windy.

Normal shots are about 100 yards (90%). I have had one 50 yard shot. I passed on a 200 yard shot last year as the 3 point cull buck was walking directly away from me in a narrow clearing. I had about 5 seconds to make the call and I have never taken a risky shot (nor missed, knock on wood). I got mildly chewed out by the old man for passing. I had a neck shot, nothin else. I should probably push myself a little more to become more skilled, but I take pride in my effort to be humane. I'm more limited by my comfort level/ability than my firearm.

What's your typical range? Do you ever feel limited by your firearm at those ranges?
 
Seems typical of 90% of hunting. So why do some people think they need magnums and high powered scopes.

Answer: Because it is easier to blame an inamate object for failures than to blame the screwup using same object.
 
Re:fisherman66

Which system of measurement are you refering to? Is it the accepted one or the one that would puts the length of a football field at seven hundred yards?:D
 
100 paces method. I've never needed a rangefinder. I wouldn't mind having one.

I don't lie about my fish either. 6lb is my largest black bass (weighted on hand scale).
 
Fish, when it comes to long shots (more than 200 yards) I feel more constrained by my lack of shooting ability than anything else.

I'd like to be able to blame it on the gear, but that would be just too convenient.

Average range that I usually end of trying to take the shot? 50 to 100 yards.
 
Usually about 50-75 yards, with most of the deer I've taken being 50 yards or less. I hunt a lot in pine forests in eastern Georgia and haven't had the opportunity to try a longer shot yet.
 
Anything over 200 yards would be very impractical for me, I simply do not have the experience shooting beyond that distance. My average is probably around 100-125 yards. I've taken longer shots, I've taken shorter shots, but most seem to end up right around 100 or so.

The longest shot(s) I ever took was around 350 yards, and was not the plan. I was hunting (actually I had just gotten out of the pickup) around an oat patch and I took a shot from about 75 yards hitting the doe in the front leg. It was just a bad shot, I'm not sure to this day what went wrong. It began hobbling up a hill. I somehow managed to jam a Remington bolt action, but luckily had my Winchester '94 close by in the pickup.

This is going to sound bad, but I really had no choice. The deer was heading up a steep hill, and if it made it up and cleared the fence, there was no way I would ever see it again. About 10,000 acres of mesquite thorns would have seen to that. I had 6 rounds in the '94 and unloaded that levergun as fast as I safely could.

By the time I got to the levergun, the deer had hobbled quite a ways up the hill and was a LONG way off from where the encounter began. I was taking shots that I wasn't capable of in an effort to keep that deer from running off. I didn't stop the deer, and believe it or not, it jumped the fence, never to be seen again.

I tracked that deer a long time. I didn't find any signs of blood while crawling through the brush and thorns. I felt bad about that for a long time, but I learned a valuable lesson: don't rush. That first shot was the cause for a deer to die a painful death. :(
 
I hunt pigs in Central California using a Model 70 Winchester in .270. The shortest shot I have taken was about 150 yards and the longest was 227 yards.(I have a rangefinder now.) We have lots of rolling hills with Oak trees and patches of chapparal. Some shots are from ridge top to canyon bottom, some are from one hillside to another, some from an Oak tree to a brush line. Most shots I have seen are over 100 yards but some as close as 30 yards...
 
Since I started bowhunting, I've started gun hunting much the same way. Most of my stand setups are in thick country where you really can't see much past 50 yards or so. Most of the shots I've taken in the past 5 years or so have been within that range. The longest deer I ever took was a 350 yd. beanfield shot. I've taken several in the 100-175 yd. range. Lately it's been the thick country for me though. :)
 
Never farther than 60 yards for me, I hunt the thickets of Northwestern PA. A Marlin in either .30-30 or .44 has all I've ever needed.
 
For deer hunting my closest shot has been 10 yards and the farthest was 160yds, everything else has been in between. If you consider coyotes medium game then my one and only coyote shot was 220yds.

I've never really felt limited by my firearm, my rifles or shotguns handle the ranges I normally hunt quite well and beyond if need be with the rifle. I have had to pass on shots while using the muzzleloader but thats a part of muzzleloading. I practice out to 100yds with it but consider 70yds my max comfort range in field conditions and wont shoot at any moving deer or odd angles with the muzzleloader, I wait for broadside with that. I enjoy the muzzleloader the most because of the restrictions it places on me, it puts more emphasis on the hunt, stalk, and shot placement.
 
Typical range is 35-40 yards. Typical long range shot is 80-90 yards. There's a few fields where ranges could in theory be in the hundreds, but the deer are smart enough to stay in the woods during the day. Long range rifles & skill are interesting, but not needed where I currently hunt in Eastern OK. I applaud your good ethics, fisherman. :)

My maximum effective range is 5-10 feet
Click to expand...

Pffft, lol. :)
 
FF, I've tracked a few wounded deer for fellow lease members early in my hunting adventures (and recently). It was rare to actually recover the deer. The gut shot ones were the most difficult to track. Finding bits of grass and corn mixed with blood spread over many hundreds of yards is hard on the soul. I promised myself I would do my very best to avoid being behind the rifle in that situation. I've had one flinch where the easy boiler room shot moved to the neck. I was pretty shaken up by that even thought the doe fell in her tracks. I spend many hundreds of rounds with the old 22lr right after that. I also have shunned heavy recoiling rifles ever since. It's just the right choice for me.

Stinger, thanks for sharing your story. I've seen that type of scenario play out several times. I appreciate your honesty and I think I can understand how you feel. I love single shots. There is a nagging voice that says "make this ONE count."
 
My longest off hand shot is at 175 yds, my girl (daughter) was with me for the very first time to see an animal shot. For some reason a voice went off in my head and said dont screw this up or she will never go again, and the doe fell just as fast as the gun went off, daughter gave out a little laugh, and the deer never moved an inch. I just stood there thinking to myself, how in the world did you pull that off. No i am not bragging, because i'm not that great off hand, and just got real lucky at the right time. Give me a shot within 100 yds. with me in a stand, and the animal not even knowing i'm there. Even on my way to the stand in the dark i use an old plan that i used back when i bowhunted, i tell myself over and over, pick a spot, pick a spot, pick a spot, pick a spot, 95% of my shots are between 45 yds. to 85 yds..
 
My farthest shot was right at 300 yds. The first shot was a clean miss (I didn't hold high). The deer ran about 50 yds right, did a 180 and ran right back to where it was and stopped broadside. The second shot dropped it in its tracks (I held too high and hit it just below the spine).

Most of the southeast is a patchwork of farm fields, powerline right-of-ways, pastures, thickets and woods. I'm just as likely to see deer 1000 yds away as I am to see them 10 yds away. As such I've made shots under ten yards, out to 300 and everywhere in between.
 
Most of the places I hunt, 50 yards is the longest shot I will have.
The longest shot I've taken is about a 100 yards. DRT.
 
In Louisiana the woods are thick. Unless you hunt on pipelines or high line clearings, you generally aren't going to shoot farther than 50 yds, and that's stretching it a bit. Most deer I've shot at have been within 40 yds.

Jason
 
Texas Hill Country, about 75-100 yds. South Texas you're looking at 250 yds + to probably 600 yds. West Texas you're lucky to see any deer closer than 300 yds and shots way out there are common.
 
I've always wondered where these places are that deer roam leisurely around out in open fields in broad daylight. But, then I see them do the same thing on hunting shows - private ranches & such. Must be a lot less hunting pressure in other places. 'Round here, only time you might see a deer in a field is at first crack of dawn or last shred of dusk, or if you spook one out of the woods and it's trying to get away from you.

fisherman, well-said about the ethics/tracking issues. I agree.
 
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