I'd like to get an idea of what your REAL field experiences have been. To do so, and to keep it fairly simple, list:

1) Your closest, farthest, and average successful shot on your favorite big game animal(s).

2) The distances at which you took your three best animals and the weapon/cartridge used.

3) After reading Gatehouse's post, I'm adding; the distance of your most memorable shot be it success or failure.

I'll start -

Successful shots:
Closest - 4 yards (down) with a bow
Farthest - 175 yards
Average for ~20+ deer - Under 100 yards

Three best:
1) 8-point buck. 17 yards with a bow.
2) 8-point buck. 60 yards with a 300 Wby.
3) 7-point buck. 4 yards with a bow.

I have a tie on the most memorable shot - One failure and one success .

Failure - I missed the nicest buck I've ever seen during firearm season when shooting a 300 Wby at only 250 yards. Looks like the flat-trajectory wasn't flat enough to make up for poor marksmanship!!! Note - That deer was wounded in a hail of gun fire after my first shot. Three people shooting and nobody made a successful shot. Saw the deer limping in the distance...what a sickening sight. Ended my season right there as I couldn't make myself take another deer after I just witnessed one get wasted as a direct/indirect result of me not making the first shot successful. Since then, I've passed on a nice 8-point buck at 300 yards because he was walking. I hope I never witness something like that again!!!

Success - First deer ever taken with a bow after 5 years of pitiful self-learning experiences. It was a perfect heart shot at ~10 yards (ground level) on a forky buck. I was raised as a road-hunter/poacher and that shot changed my view of what hunting really is, forever. No matter what trophies I take in the future, none will ever top that first deer taken with a bow. After the shot, he ran about 50 yards and stood there looking around for what made the noise. I watched him standing there with his breath steaming into the cold air. He went to take a step and fell over dead. I sat there thinking "I did it! I actually did it! I did everything right and did it the right way!". I'll remember that moment for the rest of my life!!

[ 04-23-2003, 21:18: Message edited by: Nebraska ]

Closest- Black bear, about 12 yards

Farthest- 250 yards, mule deer, neck shot.

Most memorable- 175 yards, mule deer, neck shot after 3 rounds of realizing my scope was off and putting the crosshairs low and to the right.

Average- about 150 yards on mule deer, body shots.

Most embarrassing miss- 75 yards on a black bear. I nailed a pop can at the same distance in the dark (to check my scope)- no excuses.

My closest kill
5 feet ,bow, whitetail. Arrow barely left the knock, and it was in the deer. I did'nt use my pins
Farthest was 380 yards on an 8 pt whitetail with a 300wby.
Average is between 25 and 50 yards with the 12 gauge slug.
Trigger

My favorite game is elk; so
Closest-20 yds.
Farthest-300+
Average-120 yd.
Largest-7 pt. at 90 yds. with 243 Win
2nd -6 pt. at 300+ with 35 Whelen
3rd-40 yd. with 35 Whelen

Favorite is Mule Deer.
Closest 20 yards .280 150gr Nos partition.
Farthest 320 yards .280 150gr Nos partition.
Average distance 250 yards appx. 20 deer taken.

Best deer 20 yards .280.
Best elk 20 yards .300 win mag.
Best antelope 487 yards .300 win mag.
Best bear 300 yards .300 win mag.

Closest: Whitetail at 30 feet

Furthest: Whitetail at 490 yards, .270 Win/130 Nosler Solid Base, Sako Finnbear, Leupold 3-9 II (a cow elk with a .338/200 Nosler B.Tip was futher, but the circumstances did not allow actual yardage verification and I would NOT do it again, despite the urging of the guide).

Average: Whitetails, elk, and antelope: 175 yards (I generally hunt in rather open territory).

Best elk: 150
Best whitetail: 125
Best antelope: 160

My closest shot 10 yards/Caribou
My farthest shot 400 yds./ Elk
Average shot/ 100 yds.

Best 3 animals

10 pt. Whitetail 85 yds.(running flat out)
Kudu at 300 yds.
Red Stag or Asian Buffalo both at 175 yds.

My longest shot was on a coyote
310yd .243
shortest was a white tail about 8ft straight down between my feet. 270
Average for everything I have shot as far as big game, probably averages less than 100yds. Since I live in a shotgun only state, for deer hunting.
Since I don't trophy hunt I don't really have three best animals. Probably the best shots I have made were, about 60yds on a whitetail doe running flat out, with a 12ga slug gun, and roughly 150yds on a running coyote with a .243. When I am coyote hunting with that particular rifle, ('64 model 70 push feed) I have come to expect that if a dog gets within 100yds he's mine no matter what. I don't know why I don't use it for much else.
DGK

[ 04-23-2003, 20:55: Message edited by: 375hnh ]

Great thread!

Closest - 9yds 10 point (150 class) Whitetail - .243Win / Rem700
Longest - 265yds Kudu - .300Win / WinMdl70

Average - 20+yrs of Whitetail hunting in KS – 120yds

Best 3
1. Whitetail – 9yds
2. Impala – 130yds
3. Springbok – 180yds

Most memorable – 590yds at a moving Coyote (rather be lucky than good anytime!)

Regards
Carl

Based on 40 years of hunting; age 16 to 56.

Closest shot. Several whitetail deer, bucks and does, at less than 20 yards.

Best whitetail buck. A trophy quality at age 17 or 18 taken at a range of about 50 feet. I almost stepped on him. (30 06 out of a 1917 Enfield still set up with the military stock.)

Longest shot. A white tail doe taken at exactly 440 yards. I was on one boundary line shooting across a field at a doe on the other boundary. The owner of the field was there and saw the shot. He measured the field for a new fence and knew the distance.

Longest shot on Elk. 175 yards. (300 Winchester Magnun. Hand loads. 165 grain bullet over 72 grains of RL-22.)

I had a second long shot at a deer. 400 yards with the same Enfield.

The other shots all average around 120 yards. Very few long shots.

I don't have a lot of hunting experience unfortunately but I try every chance I get.

Successful shots:
Closest: 40 yards with a 6.5x55 on a Whitetail
Farthest: 180 yards with a 6.5x55 on a Whitetail
Average for 2 deer 110 yards

Three best:
1) 4-point buck. 40 yards.
2) 4-point buck. 180 yards.
3) 350lb. Blackie. 75 yards.

Hey, wow! I just summed up half my big game hunting career! Add two doe and a moose, and that's it for me!

Most memorable shot - 100 yards on a squirrel that decided to run up the tree my target was stapled to. It was climbing over my target just as I pulled the trigger. I was scratching my head for a few minutes trying to figure out why my target turned all red. Walked over and sure enough there was a .22 rimfire-like hole right through this poor squirrels head! Bet he never saw that coming!

Closest - 50 yard antelope and elk

Furthest - 300+ yards mule deer and elk

Average - 200 yards

( most of my hunting is in sagebrush flats, and the close shots come in canyons )

Best shots were all around 200 yards on deer and antelope. The longer I do this, the shorter the shots get.

Memorable shot - missed an antelope at 50 yards from resting rifle on barbed-wire fence between posts. What was I thinking, and it was good for a 5-mile hike to be sure that it was a miss and not a crappy hit.

Tom

Firearm white tail. Closest 10yds from the base of my tree. Average 50yds. Longest 175ydsacross and through a thick swamp that had been knocked down from spruce bud worm with my Ruger M77 270WIN 150gr Fed. I could see a hump that would be my last chance if he walked onto it. He did, he scored 172&5/8gross 168&1/2 net. That was 15 years ago and I can still see him so it is memorable! Most memorable was not even a shot, it was close to the same stand, 5 years earlier but I had a bow. Had an absolute monster walk under me as I climbed and was straddling the branch I was going to sit on. I�m talking 24� wide, heavy beams, a minimum of 10 heavy and long tines, and when he curled his lips, raised his head, and tried to scent what was around his scrape his tines rolled the fat and fur on his back. Before I break out in a cold sweat, my most memorable shot was 15yds with a bow on a nice 10pt. My only other big game animal than whitetail was a black bear 30yds 300WSM.

my closest was a whitetail at 7 feet with a bow.
my farthest was a whitetail at 120 yards with a shotgun.
best shots were; an eight point with a .357 mag. pistol at twenty yards.
a six point buck with sidlock, open sighted muzzleloader at 15 feet.
eight point at 120 yards, open sighted shotgun.

Closest: 3 meters with a 8x57 mauser on a pig
Farthest: 120 meters with a 6.5x55 on a pig
Average: is about 20-30 meters in my neck of the woods.
Most memroable would be a running fox at 70 meters with a .22mag.

Bakes

1. Closest : 100 yards with a rifle
2. Farthest: 300 yards

a. The largest moose I have killed: Antlers measured 57" across. Killed with a quartering away shot through the lungs, at a range of approximately 200 yards.

b. The smallest moose: Maybe 22" across, killed at approximately 100 yards.

I have killed about 7 moose, most at a range of approximately 200 yards, perhaps because I still hunt as follows: I watch for moose to step into a large field of birch, willow, and low growth. The field is approximately 450 to 500 yards in diameter. I have killed most of my moose near the center of this field, as I stay out of view on the outskirts of the field on a rocky knob. I have killed three moose in this area, and a few more within a couple of miles from it. One moose with a 250-grain Nosler Partition bullet, and the rest with 230-grain FS. The rifle is a very lucky Ruger M-77 MKII in .338WM, and the scope is a Leupold Vary-X III 2.5-8x, that have dropped most of my moose with one shot each.

[ 04-24-2003, 07:16: Message edited by: Ray, Alaska ]

Nebraska,
Don't you realize all hunters speak the truth, it just comes out a lie.
Closest: Have two that are hard to believe. About six feet for a blackbear near Portage, Alaska with a .30-06. (Not with dogs) The second was a measured 16' on antelope north of Casper, Wy. with a 6.5mm 06. Longest shot was on an antelope with a .264 Win Mag. Although I had three witnesses, game warden, rancher and his wife, all I'm going to say is that it was too darn far. I should have had my butt kicked.
Three best heads: A 62" bull moose in Alaska with a sporterized '03 springfield in .30-06 at about 80 yards. Buck antelope with a 17 1/8" and a 16 7/8" horn at 345 yards with a .270 Win and the third was a 32" spread, four point mule deer taken with a .30-06 in the Kiabab in northern Arizona at about 250 yards.
My most memorable shot had to have been the brownbear I took on Kodiak Island. I used a .30-06 at about 150 yards. Not that the shot was so great, but God that bear got bigger the closer I got to it! At one time I took great pride in making long shots. As I got older I got a little smarter. It seems that most of my shots the last twenty years or so have been between 100 and 125 yards.
Remember the old adage, " all hunters and fishermen are liars, except you and I, but sometimes I wonder about you". Have fun all.

[ 04-24-2003, 08:47: Message edited by: BigBob ]

Closest- 1ft.black bear in the swamp
Farthest- 300 yards,Whitetail
Average- 100 yards
My three best to date
Hog- 50 yards 290lbs 4" tusk,Thompson Contender 14" 45 Win mag 260 hand load
Black Bear- 200 yards 500lbs,Rolling Block No-1 in 45-120/700 grain flat base lead
Deer- 62 yards 190lbs, only had one horn 6points
10ga triple-0 buck

Thanks for all the great replies so far!!

BigBob....I like that adage.

Dave James....1 foot...yikes!!

[ 04-24-2003, 11:34: Message edited by: Nebraska ]

Closest - 40yds., 8pt. Whitetail, 7mm Rem.
140gr. Nos. Bt.
Fatherest - 409yds., 9pt. Whitetail, 25-06
120gr. Nos. Solid Base
Average - 150yds.

Most memorable - !60yd shot on a 19" 8pt. sitting
in a hayloft in a barn in SW Ark.

1. Closest, Furthest & Average

Closest: about 10 yards

Furthest: 905 yards

Average: about 175 to 200 yards

2. Distances at which you took your three best animals.

10 point Whitetail buck in Wisconsin at about 10 yards, recurve bow & cedar arrows. (First archery kill)

8 point Whitetail buck in Alberta at about 175 yards, 338 RUM with 300 Sierra MK. (First Alberta buck, 147 inches)

11 point Whitetail buck in Maryland at about 60 yards, 50 caliber Thompson Center "Hawkins" & Buffalo Bullets.

3. Distance of your most memorable shot be it success or failure.

I have vivid and clear memories of many shots but none seem to be the "most memorable" as each offer something unique. Shot a flying pigeon with a 22 rimfire, groundhog at 700+ with a 6mm-06, whitetail doe at 526 yards with a 243, elk in Colorado at 905, whitetail doe with a 44 mag revolver, feral hog with a Colt 1911 in 45 ACP, 136 inch 8 point whitetail buck with a Remington 50 cal muzzle loader on New Years Eve, spike whitetail buck with a bow which subsequently rolled into me. Non-Hunting, winning a 1000 yard match in 29 Palms Ca, winning a 600 meter sniper match at CFSAC in Canada, 940 yard offhand shots onto iron maidens, and more

Closest: Straight down with a bow, 15 yards with a rifle. Both whitetails.

Longest: 275 Mule deer with a 30-06.

Most memorable: About 75 yards on a nice whitetail buck I jumped in a bog. He was running, I was running, the early morning sun lit him up like a Christmas ornament, I was down to my last round, he was almost to the edge and safety...

3 Best: Mule deer 275 yards (rifle)
Whitetail 35 yards (shotgun)
Whitetail 80 yards (rifle)

Jeff

[ 04-24-2003, 20:00: Message edited by: Skibum ]

Lots of variety. I've killed one mule deer at 15 feet. And some more between 10-40 yds. All rifle kills. My B&C Pronghorn was 176 yds.
I've taken a few deer at 300 plus yards, and some more stuff well beyond that. One beyond 600 yds.
My average shots are all on the order of 75-100 yds. I often hunt some very open, rough country. E

Closest:coyote, didnt measure but the plastic buffer in the buckshot stuck in the fur and he had powder burns on his head.
Farthest:Blacktail at 308 yards with a .35 Whelen scope set on 3x
Average:150-200 for deer, lots of pigs at 50-100

Most memorable on game:The blacktail at .308, tough hike in and tougher out with a load of meat.
Most memorable on target:800 yard moving silhouette with a Rem 700 .308, Navy seal instructor claimed cops could not shoot past 100 yards with rifles, cost him his extended weather jacket.

One I would like to forget: coyote at 200 yards from a prone position, still have no clue why I missed and still hear it from my buddies.

Gentlemen,

Closest - Blacktail buck at 7 yards, .303 British
Farthest - Kudu at 379 yards, 7mm RM
Average - Oregon, 50 yards, Namibia - 200 yards or so...

Joel Slate
Slate & Associates, LLC
www.slatesafaris.com

7mm Rem Mag Page www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm

CLOSEST SHOT- I WAS bent over gutting out a deer in the bottom of a steep sided ravine choked with brush. I heard a this fast crashing coming towards. I drew the model 19 S&W I was carrying just as the 4 point exploded out in front of me at 5 feet and then as I ducked down shot UP into it as it went airborne to clear me and the dead deer. PRobably cleared the hooves by a foot as it went by.

Longest game shot- I was off duty but heard on my radio about a car/deer with the deer still alive about a mile from where I was. (I got out of the ghettos and now work a rural Mi northern county where everybody helps everybody because there aren't a lot of us badge toters around in these parts.) I got there just as the trooper arrived and we could see the deer struggling (back and back legs broken, front legs pulling) to get to the treeline across the plowed field, several hundred yards away. The people who stopped asked the troop, "Aren't you going to kill it?" NOW the MSP carry 9 1/2"bbl H&K 93s in .223 for car guns. He could see himself chasing that deer and never catching it because he KNEW he could never hit it from there with his rifle. That and he also admitted he had never shot over 100yds in his life. He asked if I could help, since I kinda have the rep of carrying enough crap to fight a war with me in my jeep. I pulled out my .308 10FP in a custom glass stock and Shepherd scope that is my "police critical interdiciton rifle." Ranged it at about 575-600 yds. 175gr Matchking dropped it clean.(either that or the deer finally succombed to it's injuries in a VERY timely fashion. But, since no one wanted to go out to see, I claim my shot killed it)

My deer hunting usually consists of the usual Mi close bush with the average shot under 100yds.

Memorable game shots...
moose hunting, shooting a custom 300Win mag on a Sako action. 250 yds across a river from a moving rocking boat. knocked it down first shot, anchored it on the shore line with the next 2.

Last day of caribou hunt last year, finally find the one I want, shooting .340wby, a walking caribou, in stiff crosswind at about 400yds. Thanks again Shepherd scopes. One shot.

All my best deer have been under 50 yds.
All bear and pigs with handgun. 41 Magnum using the 220gr Sierra sillouette bullet traveling 1400+fps out of Redhawk..

ELK...can't hit what you don't see

DAVE JAMES....
REALLY like to hear more about the black bear at 1 foot. Did you have to allow much for windage at that range???

Longest shot:

1 roe calf at 150 meter.

Closest 1 bull moose at 20 meter.

That all biggame I have shot.

I have also missed a shot on a moose cow at over 200 meter. I should never have fired. And I will not fire at that kind of distanse again.

Johan

My closest kill was from 0 feet! I was archery hunting whitetail, and fell out of the tree on to the back of a doe that was under my stand. I broke her back, and finished her off with my knife. The longest kill was on a Dall Sheep at 537 paces(probably between 475 and 500 yards). My most memorable shot was my first ever deer, a whitetail buck, a 2X2 shot from 40 yards.

My closest shot was 18 yards on a Bull Elk with a .300 Win mag, my longest 319 yards on a Whitetail Buck with a .300 Win mag, my average shot distance on my favorite big game animal, Elk is 150 yards. ---------------- My best shots have been, 90 yards on a 91/2 Brown Bear with a .300 Win mag using 200 grain Nosler Partition handloads, a huge Moose in Alaska at 175 yards with a .340 Wby using 250 grain Nosler Partition Gold handloads, and a Bull Elk at 300 yards with a .340 Wby using the same Nosler Gold load as the Moose. ------------- My most memorable shot was the Bear, a one shot kill that aroused three more Brown Bears within 50 yards. A good question from the original poster. Good shooting.

Lawcop, nope windage was right on,I was helping the local PD and Correction Felony recovery unit hunt down two that had decided to take off from one of the centers out here,it is kinda funny now looking back, my partner was a transplated Cop from NYC good guy just didn't understand about the swamp, aginst my better judgement I didn't carry my 590 stoked with the berneeke{sp} slugs,I carried instead two handguns my model 27 31/2" loaded with 145 grain silvertips and my old model Ruger dragoon that had been cut back to 5" bbl stoked with 300 grain cast. He was toteing his issued S&W 9mm," I can hit any thing I see", so I tended to keep him on my right,I'm left handed. If any one has been in true swamps you'll know what I mean when I say it was part the brambles and thorns and look through and then step through, it was mid July and hotter then hell, we had been into the mud and muck about 4 hours when I called a break,had to grap him and pull him off a stump, the copperhead had already claimed it
as we walked up onto a little dry nole he gave out and just sat down I mossyed over a few feet and promtly fell into a rotted out sweet gum hole, at which time the bear that had decided to nap there made up its mind I didn't belong,as I was up to my waist and couldn't back peddle the only choice was to shoot it in the head,I drew the Ruger which was in a cross draw holster on my right and as the bbl clear my waist line it was ontop of his head, that was the quickest two rounds i have ever fired, Thell Reed couldn't have beat me that day

Closest: about 30 paces on elk, mule deer, black bear. Give or take a step or two. Longest was 380 yards on a cow elk (won't ever do that again.)

Average: about 50 yards. Most memorable shot was when I took my 10 year old out after coyotes. We jumped one, and I killed it, running flat out at 150 yards. The lead was about 8 feet. The kid wanted to know how come I missed the first shot...... Dutch.

My favorite is Whitetail deer.
Closest 3yds. bow Spike
Farthest 226yds. doe 7mm Rem Mag.
Average Its hard to say maybe 90-110yds.
Most memorable 8 point at 25 yds. muzzleloader, its a T/C Scout. It was pouring down rain. I guess I am lucky it fired. It has never miss fired though....knock on wood.
Worst miss 12 yds. I missed a 10 point with my bow.

closest-10 yards whitetail with bow
farthest-480 yards(lasered)pronghorn 7mmstw
average- 200 yards

best animal-180+lb cougar-40'with 30-30
most memorable shot-whitetail-434yards(lasered)7mmstw.My father was with me and thought it was too far.He has changed his ideas about ranges since seeing me take this deer and several others well in excess of 300 yards.

My closest was a mulie at under 10 yrd.

My farthest was 400yrds give or take a couple.

Average, I would say about 80.

Most memerable would be a failor.

I was on a deer hunt in northern B.C. on a private wood lot and came across the deer of a life time. He was about 32 to 34 wide with serious mass. I Rattled him out of the woods and he rattled me to the ground. I laid down prone and squeezed off a shot. Nothing. He was just standing there broadside at 80 yards and nothing! Five more shots and I was out of ammo. Big mistake not bringing more.

He hung around for five more minutes while I cried. After he wandered into the woods I went over to where he was standing and I found some belly hair. I was close.

Today I'm taking that rifle to the Range. I have not hunted with it since that trip four years ago.

My friend who lives in the area of that hunt missed the same bad boy last year and the indians who night hunt there missed him once also. He's a survivor. At least we know he has had lots of time to spread those monster genes.

Closest about 8 yds on a Blacktail
Longest 550 yds on an Antalope
Best 250 yds on a Marmot, with a .22 mag handgun
Avg. about 80 yds

Well....looks like the average for the longest shot so far is ~330 yards. If you include David King's 900 yarder, it's ~345 yards but I consider a 900 yard shot to be a very specialized (and legitimate) type of hunting that is well beyond the means and abilities of most hunters (especially me ).

Wish I had time to come up with the average for the closest shot and an average shot on the best animal for everyone. That would be very interesting. Maybe later!!!

Maybe a tally and average for each catagory might be a little more descriptive. Anything to get out of studying!!

closest- about 50 yards offhand w/ a 22-250 on a mule deer doe.

Furthest and most memorable(first deer) estimated @500 yards. There was a group of three does angling up a steep hill. I picked up the lead doe in my scope and led her like you would a duck. I was prone with a bipod out and took a shot(7 mm mag w/ 140 gr BTip). I remembered taking the shot and looking towards the deer, then watching her drop. My brother meanwhile was shooting at one in the next draw w/ same caliber. He shot her three times before she dropped- 2 shots were a little too far back.
After I got the doe home, my Dad chastized me for taking such a marginal shot. I then realized how lucky I really was that I didn't injure one of the other deer that was running w/ her.

I'd say average shot was right around 200 yards.
Also got my first elk a couple years back @ 50 yards withe same 7mm w/ 160 gr Nosler partition

Closest shot...30 yards...8 point red stag (9.3x62, 285 grs softpoint, forgot which make)

Longest shot...250 meters...roe buck (9.3x62, 247 grs RWS Cone Point)

Average shot...oh, under 100 yards.

Most memorable shot...that would be that roe buck. He was part of a group of 15 does and bucks. Two bucks stood out, one clearly heavier than the other. While I found a good spot in the tree line, the rest of our party drove around to the other side of the huge field the roe were resting and feeding on. They were unapproachable, they stayed away from the road, they stayed away from the treeline, except probably at night. When the other guys showed themselves, the group became restless and tried to make a break for it at the far end. Our host, the local forester, jumped in the truck and raced the pack to the treeline. He won, he jumped out and waiving his arms prevented the deer from escaping. They slowly started to go back to where they came from and further towards me. I tried to keep an eye on the big one, in the melee of deer. They came ever closer, 500 meters, 400, 350, 300....250-ish. The big one stood broadside and clear. It looked like they were not going to make another step. There was a fierce wind blowing from 2 o'clock, and the 9.3x62 starts dropping fast beyond 200 meters. I finally decided to hold for the brisket, and level with the back. At the shot the buck wheeled around 180 oC. He looked ever so proud and alert. I figured I'd missed, not wanting to shoot again. If that shot had missed, where was I to hold? After what seemed an eternity the buck began to sway, and his hind legs gave way. Then slowly he went down.

The taxidermist estimated between the buck to be between 8 and 12 years old, people who know roe deer will appreciate this figure. It wasn't a huge trophy, but huge for that region.

But the buck at 200 meters that made a backflip when hit I'll never forget either...

Frans