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Jason, you're absolutely right for the hunting you do, in the area of your "playground". Trouble is, that's not also true for a lot of folks in the western states.
Where I hunt, populations are sparse. Mule deer don't wander around during the rut nearly as much as white tails. You gotta go walking for them. to save your legs, you hunt areas where Ol' Bucky is most likely to bed down. It's easy to wind up with a ten- or twelve-mile day.
Shots may range from right under your feet to 300 to 400 yards. Even more, for optimists and the highly skilled.
My longest have been at 350 and 450. The first was a high heart/lung hit; the latter was a center-punch to the heart. I've never shot at a running deer beyond about 175 yards, but the couple or three I shot while running went down and stayed put.
I mostly go for neck shots. I want to tweak and fadiddle with my rifles so I can justifiably have the confidence to take those shots. That's what my father and uncle impressed upon me, back in 1950.
Art
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