shortest shot on a big game animal?

[tzone]

My biggest buck to date was shot at 20 feet. My field pics of him are before the "digital age" so this will have to do.

Shot on the Iron Range of MN. 227# dressed. For those that like the score sheet, 138"

 

[WalkingBird]

~30' is about my shortest on a big game animal, a doe whitetail that walked up behind me. Closest on a buck would be about 45' on a 5pt buck. Both were while hunting from the ground. All i saw before the buck popped up was the tips of his tines coming over the knoll. Both were with a 7mm-08

 

[Brian in Montana]

I shot a cow elk once with a .300WM at about 8 yards. I could have spit on her. The funny thing is I nearly missed. I was aiming for the heart, but didn't account for the mechanical offset of the scope. The bullet passed just barely over her sternum, did the job though.

 

[WyoDoug]

No pictures but shot my first antelope last year less than 30 yards from my blind on F. E. Warren. The herd spooked initially when I went to full draw but then froze in position giving me a clean shot for my doe license.

 

[Europe]

Wow, some very enjoyable stories. On a consistent basis the Javelina provided many close shots. The scariest close shots were Sable Antelope, Lion, and Buffalo. The lion wasn't even that close in yardage but he seemed very close, too close to
me (-;

I have walked up on an animal in the woods that made both of us jump ( the animal and me ) but they were gone before I could compose myself or it was not hunting season.

Have any of you looked at where you had been and saw that a Cougar had been following you ? One of the advantages AND disadvantages of riding in on a horse. You will know when a cougar is around. (-: )-:

 

[Gerald Martin]

Three yards on a cow elk for me.

 

[ShortAction]

Whitetail 10 feet horizontally, 15 feet vertical out of a tree stand with a 30-30 with 150gn core lokt. Just one of several reasons I am bored with MN deer hunting.

I guess I'm the opposite. Close in is what makes it exciting for me.

 

[Nameless Range]

Quite literally 2 yards with a bow.

Post #167 if ya wanna skip the fluff.

A Poor Elk Hunter With A Good Elk Tag

Awesome. I may need to hear this story in person.

www.hunttalk.com

 

[nrpate05]

I shot a cow elk at about 15 yards or so a couple years back. One of the coolest hunting experiences to date. Slowly tracked the herd in the snow for over a mile and finally caught up to them in a small clearing. Most of the elk busted me but there were a few that didn't quite get the memo in time. She was quartering heavily away, so I threw the scope on the last rib and pulled the trigger. She went about ten yards and buried herself beneath a fallen tree.

 

[44hunter45]

A Raghorn bull at 6 yards with my old M77 .30-'06.
I've posted the pic before in a thread about shooting raghorns.
I walked right into him on an old logging cable drag full of blow downs.
Nothing but fur in my scope at 3X.
It was a rodeo, with him taking all 6 rounds and finally expiring with his legs under him in the blowdown tangles.
I left 3 quarters there overnight and a bear took one. I followed the drag trail and retrieved it.

 

[88man]

I have two misses one under 8 feet at a coyote as I was pumping up a tree and basically just got off the ground and he came right under the platform. The other mis at a deer about between 3 and 4 yards no comment on that one.

 

[Zootownelk]

Probably about 10 yards on a mule deer doe. Shot her with my .300wsm 180gr. I was young and shot her right through the shoulders. Haven't made that mistake again. She didn't go far, though.

 

[Europe]

I guess I'm the opposite. Close in is what makes it exciting for me.

AND, this is what makes the world go around and exciting. We do not all like the same thing but are able to respect what others enjoy, even if it is not our cup of tea.

I have to be honest and admit, I never enjoyed tree stands or even blinds ( except for ducks LOL ). But I did enjoy "stalking" when I was young enough to do it. I have no problem with those folks who can shoot game at longer distances, as that is also a talent, just like stalking IMHO. I must admit I never was a long range hunter and was not willing to take the time necessary ( practice, practice, practice--and in all weather conditions ) to become one.

I have enjoyed the comments on both threads. longest shot and shortest shot

 

[SaskHunter]

I shot a 42 inch bull moose 2 yards away from the base of my tree stand.

This was my first moose hunt and it lasted a whole 15 minutes. I was far from the hunter I am now; I was 100% a gun hunter back then with little hunting experience/knowledge. I had decided to pick up archery the previous summer to extend my seasons. Back in Quebec, you cannot hunt with a bow without a two day course and practical exam (shooting targets at 10, 20, 30 and 40 yards), being in the army, I ended up going away on exercise and courses which kept me from taking the bow course (but really it was just an excuse at the time). So, as I was now pretty much an archery expert but couldn't hunt with my bow, I decided to do the next logical thing and spend my monies on a crossbow. I found a partner and we prepared a week long moose hunt at his tiny off the grid cabin. I had a horrible night of sleep, slept like shyte, being woken up by mice running up and down my sleeping bag, and woke up late. We had slept in on the moose opener... I got ready in a matter of minutes and made my way to my stand, making the world's longest cow scent trail, because when in doubt, use more?! As I was climbing up my tree stand, I started hearing branches cracking in the distance and moments later, out came this horny bull moose. He stayed at the base of my stand for what seemed like forever, looking for the horny gal. As soon as he cleared the base of the tree, I raised my crossbow and let one fly. The high angle shot made for a non-existant blood trail, to make things worst, this was early September and the leaves were still up and we're hunting in thick green stuff. We "tracked" this moose for over two hours with no blood or success. At this point, my partner figured he would go back to the cabin, get in his truck and drive home to go get his dog in an attempt to find this moose. He didn't get very far until he found it, dead in the trail, not 80 yards from my tree stand... "That'll make things much easier" he said, well, it really didn't. This was supposedly the second time he'd quartered a moose so I followed his lead. The next 6 hours involved us swearing, chainsaw projected ground moose meat, blood up to my forehead and 80F temps. We finally had this moose "quartered" and loaded in my truck. We made it to town after dark to register the moose and drop it off in a cooler. I learned A LOT that day; my biggest lesson was to never jump into a hunt unprepared and with no knowledge. As a reference, I quartered, packed and loaded my next moose several years later, alone, with nothing but a knife and hand saw, in 4 hours.

 

[AggieHunter]

Closest is about 20 yards with a bow but could have shot a bobcat at about a foot if I had a furbearer license this year.

 

[LongCut]

First whitetail with a bow was straight down from my stand. 18'??

Had a group of does on the other side of the tree I was leaning against shot would have been 3-4' but couldn't draw.

Missed a buck at about 10' with a rifle (I think we scared the crap out of each other)

Had a doe about 2' from me but couldn't shoot due to backdrop....tried to slap her on the rear as she went by.

 

[2rocky]

Close Quarters Stillhunt

• September 1991, Marin County
• Columbian Blacktail Deer
• The last weekend of the A zone Rifle Season, I made an evening still hunt along the edge of the Mercury Mine canyon at a ranch near the coast. I snuck up on this buck at 20 yards and put the cross hairs on his white throat patch. This was the hunt that made me first consider archery as a possible hunting method.
• Ruger M77 .300 Winchester Magnum. Redfield 2-7 scope 150 gr. Remington Core locks

The first animal I killed with that rifle was a fox I called about 15 feet away.

I can think about 3 rifle killed elk from Wyoming that I killed at 30 yards, 50 yards, and 70 yards

 

[deer_shooter]

I think shortest with bow was a doe at around 12'. Another hunt I was kneeling in high grass watching a field edge and a doe walked by close enough she would have knocked my arrow off the rest had I not slowly leaned back a little. That spooked her but stopped broadside at 30 yard so I was able to get a shot.
With rifle, I shot a buck in his bed at 15 yards, one from a tree stand about the same distance. I shot a doe with a 44mag revolver at about 10 yards too.

 

[Pucky Freak]

10 feet from my perch on a tree limb. Avatar pic. In hindsight I should have gave her more distance to get a double lung rather than straight down thru 1 lung. No blood trail. She bedded down 70 yards away in standing corn and expired. I gave it a couple hours, then spent nearly 3 hours walking corn rows to find the carcass. It was hot so I snapped one quick picture, which luckily turned out pretty decent.

 

[Irrelevant]

11 ft.