What's the CLOSEST you've ever shot a deer? - Page 3

Donutfish · October 31, 2009, 02:50 AM

Hows this for close:
I've had fellow hunters serve up on a silver platter a giant 10+ point buck to me we all knew was up along the bluffs this year. The property caretaker had seen him around the bluffs recently. The boys decided it was time, everyone else had their deer, and it was time to do the final drive with me getting the honors...They told me where it would come through...down the face of this particular bluff. They told me where to stand even for the best shot.
I did.
They made the mile long drive keeping the deer between the bluffs and Lake Superior. The deer finally went up the bluff along the ridge like they said would happen, and it came down the trail right where they said it would come. I watched in complete anticipation seeing this giant rack ridgelining the bluff and reflecting on all the time spent...countless hours of range time I had accumulated that summer on my new lever action rifle as it did come down the bluff. I cocked my hammer on my lever action 45/70 constantly admiring the enormous rack on this dude. The buck came down the hill...stopped...giving me a perfect broadside shot. I put the front sight right behind his shoulder blade standing 10 yards directly in front of me. This baby was mine. I squeezed the trigger, and BOOM the deer slid down the hill the last 2 feet....and...well it made a motion to me that maybe I had hit a vital cause it jumped back up and started running kind of like a heart shot. I didn't shoot another shot because I was certain he would go down in 20 paces... suddenly he wasn't going down and the cabin was behind him with youngsters and woman within... He didn't go down and I had to hold another shot! He kept on running. I went over to look for the certain blood that must have been there... only a small patch of fur could be found... We searched for a blood trace for hours into the night never to find anything. It was 10 yards away...maybe less and he ducked!

Needless to say, the boys never let me forget having lost one of the greatest bucks we've ever seen on the North Shores of Superior. I still have no words to this day how it was conceivably possible for me to miss from that range.

N.H. Yankee · October 31, 2009, 06:02 AM

I live in N.H. and where I hunt is semi open with thick patch's. I was sitting in the crook of 3 trees one morning and had a 4 pt run right up to me. He was so close his breath was hitting my face! We were like that for about 1 minute and I wasn't going to take him 1st day of blackpowder. I said Hi there, he went vertical with full afterburners, I guess he never had a tree talk to him before lol.

The actual closest shot was about 35 yards, most of my shots are 50+ and usually on running deer. I just pick my window through the trees and wait for the deer to get there. I have about a 90% success rate for 1 shot 1 deer every year for the last 30. I have only shot 2 deer standing still, that's what hunting in N.H. is usually like, with all the tight rolling hills and thick woods, twigs and leaves, its hard to sneak up on a deer. As far as waiting for one to come by, with 1 deer per square mile where I live you may wait a long time.

skydiver3346 · October 31, 2009, 08:23 AM

Well, it happened to me last hunting season (2008). I was bowhunting in a ground blind over a well traveled deer trail. I actually had a big 7 point walk right up to the blind (3 yards from me). The wind was perfect (coming to me) and I made a double lung shot on him with my Mathews bow and Rage broadhead. Could not believe I could draw on him that close but it was very dark inside the blind and had it brushed up pretty good on the outside. Actually shook me up somewhat having him so close (I got Buck Fever) and was shaking pretty bad after the shot. Didn't go 20 yards before folding up.

wyobohunter · October 31, 2009, 12:03 PM

Mule Deer ≈ 10 yards with my recurve.

langenc · October 31, 2009, 12:34 PM

Bow- I have missed deer at less than 9 yards. Different hunt than below.

I once killed one with the 4th (fourth) shot at about 20 yards. First 3 shots missed starting at about 10 yards. The deer hopped a little after each shot and kept grazing-I kept shooting-2 shots for a quarter. Finall hit it in the L femoral artery.

Farmland · October 31, 2009, 02:25 PM

The closet was just over 5 feet with a 30-06. We were driving some laurel and this doe just stood up in front of me and didn't move. What seemed like forever we both just looked at each other. I just pointed the gun from the waste towards the chest and pulled the trigger. The doe dropped as the bullet tore through a lung and the heart.

My friend who was about 20 yards to right of me said what are you shooting at. I said I killed a deer and he said what deer he didn't see anything run out of the laurel.

To this days he tells everyone that I planted a dead doe in the laurel.

chow chow · October 31, 2009, 07:18 PM

20 yds away. I was on the side of a riverbank and the deer walk in the middle. Bang flop with my .2506 !

hunter33 · November 1, 2009, 12:28 AM

Happened today. About 2 feet away from my barrel. 20 gauge slug. 5 pt buck Running right at me, probably because I was on his trail

bacardisteve · November 2, 2009, 06:36 PM

I routinley carry a 1911 longslide while i hunt. Last year i used it on a nice fat doe that was maybe 10 feet away no lie. she was pre occupied eating apples that had fallen from the tree i was hiding behind

Countertop · November 2, 2009, 11:11 PM

farthest I ever shot a deer was 550 yards. He was a 10 point beauty.

The next morning - about 13 hours later - I shot a nice 8 pointer from about 10 feet away.

Both occurred last fall.

jimbob86 · November 2, 2009, 11:48 PM

Once, I was on the ground watching over a bean field with a 600 x 800 field of fire...... scope set on 9x, rifle on sticks in front of me and heard a noise in the trees behind me. I turned to see a 4x4 whitetail coming up a trail...... I had to wait until he paused behind a tree to get turned around and get the gun up. All I could see was hair at first...... found his front leg and went up before touching the trigger........ I found that when a .277 Winchester Silvertip hits a rib at 3100 f/sec it comes apart pretty violently....... the deer went 100 yards before collapsing in a creek........ wound was wide enough to put my fist in, but only 3" deep...... I stopped using Silvertips after that.....

The second one was when I was trying to push deer down the same creek to my nephew..... a button buck got a little confused and did not understand the program...... he tried running back my way...... right by me...... I led him a bit far as he leaped fallen tree. The 150 gr Sierra hit him just behind the eye and he spun around 270 degrees and slammed into a tree sideways.....

Scout · November 3, 2009, 09:22 AM

About 3 yards with my Shakespeare recurve.

XD Gunner · November 3, 2009, 09:38 AM

About 5 yards with a .30-30 and hollowpoints. First day of season, 8" spikes, I had been in the woods 10 minutes at most. Ruined my hunt but put venison in the freezer.

flyboy14 · November 4, 2009, 10:04 PM

Closest deer with a rifle was 15 paces, scoped 7mm rem mag. Came out of nowhere, drt.

RedneckFur · November 4, 2009, 10:55 PM

My guess would be about 6 feet. I was 12 years old, and huning with a NEF 12ga singlebarrel gun. I spooked the doe behind a gallberry bush in the swamp and I manged to raise my gun at the same time she stood and I put the load directly into her chest. She was facing me and in less than a second fell back into her tracks.

I've never made such a close shot since! Funny thing, that was also my first ever deer as well.

mes228 · November 5, 2009, 10:04 AM

I'll tell you the closest I've ever missed a deer. Tree stand, already evening and quite dark. Huge buck comes out, essentially under the tree. May be 15-25 feet away. I could see him clearly in the scope. The 30-06 went off practically in his ear. So startled he fell down. In a heart beat he was up and gone! No blood, no hair, searched for hours. All I could ever figure was that, even though I could see him clearly in the scope. The cross hairs must have been off his chest. No way to miss - but I did. I really don't know how.

bowtekhunter · November 6, 2009, 12:21 AM

last year about mid november id say i was hunting in the cascades out of and i shot a 8point buck at 10yds on a dead run straight towords me. i shot him on top of a ridge infront of me through both lungs and he decided to come down the hill right for me i threw up my 270 and fired broke his back at 10yds and he droped right at my feet. that was the easiest deer id ever had to track

this was my first deer i might add, i was alone as my dad stood about 500yds away watching the whole thing threw the spotting scope

cnimrod · November 9, 2009, 02:51 PM

what a thrill for your dad to see - Bowtekhunter
my closest shot was also 10 yards came up a slight rise walking out of thick pines and bumped into a buck walking in. Hello! sometimes it does come down to luck.
I still remember finding him in the scope even tho I had those raised open sight mounts on my gun. That deer made me take them off. get your head down on the stock in a consistent fashion and don't have your magnification set too high when you're walking.

ssilicon · November 9, 2009, 05:53 PM

The closest I aver shot a deer was at... well pretty much close to point blank range. Of course that was just to finish it off to end its suffering. I dropped it with my 1st shot but it was immobilized on the gound but not dead. It was horribly scared and probably in a lot of pain when I approached but it could not get up (not for lack of trying). I popped one right in the brain. I actually felt sorry for the deer as I approached it. It did not have to suffer long though.

petemo · November 10, 2009, 05:57 PM

Did not shoot the deer but one summer we started putting corn down in the wood along a running trail on our property. My wife would go down and 3 or 4 deer would watch her from maybe 50 feet. They got so tame that when she walked down and rattled the plastic bag they would come running. Close as they would come was maybe 5 /6 feet. We tried to get em closer but they would just stamp their feet. One was a little braver than the others. She had a fawn into the spring and it got pretty tame too. Don't guess we done em any favors because they would be easy pickens for hunters

infntryblu · December 7, 2009, 03:46 AM

In the 70's I was an Army recruiter in my home state of Maine. Light snow, and a 3 day stalk. This was a smart and wily buck right up until the moment of truth. One shot at 6 or 7 yds. He stepped out from the brush and behind a large tree. Bang, one shot from a Frank Pachmyr tuned Colt Govt model Mk IV series 70 with a hot load 200gr H&G 68 swc with 308 trimmed brass.Two jumps, and it died in it's tracks. Very large and heavy. I was more surprised than he was.

camper4lyfe · December 7, 2009, 09:37 AM

I shot a button at around 15yds. It was quartering toward me as it came up the hill in front of me. I hit it just behind the left shoulder, it ran maybe 50 yds and dropped. When we skinned it, we found the slug between the hide and the meat at the right rear hip...the slug still had the wadding attached to it.

Satanic Toaster · December 7, 2009, 10:57 AM

not sure if this counts...

I was driving home from work one night and hit a 6 pointer with my chevy. I stopped to check on it and the truck was a little dinged up but ok and the deer was laying in the ditch twitching and unable to walk/move/etc. I shot it with my 1911 from about 3 feet away. I felt bad for it so I had to put it out of its misery.

Drummer101 · December 7, 2009, 11:15 AM

about 6 feet with an airsoft gun from the kitchen window

He was eating my moms plants

He did not die

crimsondave · December 7, 2009, 09:46 PM

I shot a doe last year between the eyes with my 06 at a smooth 20 feet. Blew her eyes out, but I got all the meat.

October 31, 2009, 06:02 AM	#52
N.H. Yankee Senior Member Join Date: October 17, 2004 Location: Rural N.H. Posts: 1,586	I live in N.H. and where I hunt is semi open with thick patch's. I was sitting in the crook of 3 trees one morning and had a 4 pt run right up to me. He was so close his breath was hitting my face! We were like that for about 1 minute and I wasn't going to take him 1st day of blackpowder. I said Hi there, he went vertical with full afterburners, I guess he never had a tree talk to him before lol. The actual closest shot was about 35 yards, most of my shots are 50+ and usually on running deer. I just pick my window through the trees and wait for the deer to get there. I have about a 90% success rate for 1 shot 1 deer every year for the last 30. I have only shot 2 deer standing still, that's what hunting in N.H. is usually like, with all the tight rolling hills and thick woods, twigs and leaves, its hard to sneak up on a deer. As far as waiting for one to come by, with 1 deer per square mile where I live you may wait a long time. __________________ The real danger to America is not abroad but within.. Having an open mind is a good thing, but not so open that your brains fall out! Save America, abort liberalism.

October 31, 2009, 08:23 AM	#53
skydiver3346 Senior Member Join Date: December 22, 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 1,222	Closest shot deer? Well, it happened to me last hunting season (2008). I was bowhunting in a ground blind over a well traveled deer trail. I actually had a big 7 point walk right up to the blind (3 yards from me). The wind was perfect (coming to me) and I made a double lung shot on him with my Mathews bow and Rage broadhead. Could not believe I could draw on him that close but it was very dark inside the blind and had it brushed up pretty good on the outside. Actually shook me up somewhat having him so close (I got Buck Fever) and was shaking pretty bad after the shot. Didn't go 20 yards before folding up.

November 1, 2009, 12:28 AM	#58
hunter33 Senior Member Join Date: September 19, 2007 Location: oregon Posts: 289	Happened today. About 2 feet away from my barrel. 20 gauge slug. 5 pt buck Running right at me, probably because I was on his trail __________________ My information might not be helpful but just think of it as a bump

November 2, 2009, 06:36 PM	#59
bacardisteve Senior Member Join Date: September 5, 2006 Location: West virginia Posts: 653	I routinley carry a 1911 longslide while i hunt. Last year i used it on a nice fat doe that was maybe 10 feet away no lie. she was pre occupied eating apples that had fallen from the tree i was hiding behind __________________ Kill em all and let God sort em out! USAF

November 2, 2009, 11:48 PM	#61
jimbob86 Junior member Join Date: October 4, 2007 Location: All the way to NEBRASKA Posts: 8,722	10 paces, two different times..... Once, I was on the ground watching over a bean field with a 600 x 800 field of fire...... scope set on 9x, rifle on sticks in front of me and heard a noise in the trees behind me. I turned to see a 4x4 whitetail coming up a trail...... I had to wait until he paused behind a tree to get turned around and get the gun up. All I could see was hair at first...... found his front leg and went up before touching the trigger........ I found that when a .277 Winchester Silvertip hits a rib at 3100 f/sec it comes apart pretty violently....... the deer went 100 yards before collapsing in a creek........ wound was wide enough to put my fist in, but only 3" deep...... I stopped using Silvertips after that..... The second one was when I was trying to push deer down the same creek to my nephew..... a button buck got a little confused and did not understand the program...... he tried running back my way...... right by me...... I led him a bit far as he leaped fallen tree. The 150 gr Sierra hit him just behind the eye and he spun around 270 degrees and slammed into a tree sideways.....

October 31, 2009, 02:50 AM	#51
Donutfish Junior Member Join Date: October 26, 2009 Location: Minnesota Posts: 12	Hows this for close: I've had fellow hunters serve up on a silver platter a giant 10+ point buck to me we all knew was up along the bluffs this year. The property caretaker had seen him around the bluffs recently. The boys decided it was time, everyone else had their deer, and it was time to do the final drive with me getting the honors...They told me where it would come through...down the face of this particular bluff. They told me where to stand even for the best shot. I did. They made the mile long drive keeping the deer between the bluffs and Lake Superior. The deer finally went up the bluff along the ridge like they said would happen, and it came down the trail right where they said it would come. I watched in complete anticipation seeing this giant rack ridgelining the bluff and reflecting on all the time spent...countless hours of range time I had accumulated that summer on my new lever action rifle as it did come down the bluff. I cocked my hammer on my lever action 45/70 constantly admiring the enormous rack on this dude. The buck came down the hill...stopped...giving me a perfect broadside shot. I put the front sight right behind his shoulder blade standing 10 yards directly in front of me. This baby was mine. I squeezed the trigger, and BOOM the deer slid down the hill the last 2 feet....and...well it made a motion to me that maybe I had hit a vital cause it jumped back up and started running kind of like a heart shot. I didn't shoot another shot because I was certain he would go down in 20 paces... suddenly he wasn't going down and the cabin was behind him with youngsters and woman within... He didn't go down and I had to hold another shot! He kept on running. I went over to look for the certain blood that must have been there... only a small patch of fur could be found... We searched for a blood trace for hours into the night never to find anything. It was 10 yards away...maybe less and he ducked! Needless to say, the boys never let me forget having lost one of the greatest bucks we've ever seen on the North Shores of Superior. I still have no words to this day how it was conceivably possible for me to miss from that range.

October 31, 2009, 12:03 PM	#54
wyobohunter Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2008 Location: Back in Wyoming Posts: 1,125	Mule Deer ≈ 10 yards with my recurve.

October 31, 2009, 12:34 PM	#55
langenc Senior Member Join Date: August 19, 2007 Location: Montmorency Co, MI Posts: 1,551	Bow- I have missed deer at less than 9 yards. Different hunt than below. I once killed one with the 4th (fourth) shot at about 20 yards. First 3 shots missed starting at about 10 yards. The deer hopped a little after each shot and kept grazing-I kept shooting-2 shots for a quarter. Finall hit it in the L femoral artery.

October 31, 2009, 02:25 PM	#56
Farmland Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2009 Posts: 869	The closet was just over 5 feet with a 30-06. We were driving some laurel and this doe just stood up in front of me and didn't move. What seemed like forever we both just looked at each other. I just pointed the gun from the waste towards the chest and pulled the trigger. The doe dropped as the bullet tore through a lung and the heart. My friend who was about 20 yards to right of me said what are you shooting at. I said I killed a deer and he said what deer he didn't see anything run out of the laurel. To this days he tells everyone that I planted a dead doe in the laurel.

October 31, 2009, 07:18 PM	#57
chow chow Senior Member Join Date: October 6, 2007 Posts: 157	20 yds away. I was on the side of a riverbank and the deer walk in the middle. Bang flop with my .2506 !

November 2, 2009, 11:11 PM	#60
Countertop Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2004 Location: At the diner Posts: 125	farthest I ever shot a deer was 550 yards. He was a 10 point beauty. The next morning - about 13 hours later - I shot a nice 8 pointer from about 10 feet away. Both occurred last fall.

November 3, 2009, 09:22 AM	#62
Scout Senior Member Join Date: August 9, 2009 Location: Central Florida Posts: 510	About 3 yards with my Shakespeare recurve.

November 3, 2009, 09:38 AM	#63
XD Gunner Senior Member Join Date: October 18, 2006 Location: Central Kentucky Posts: 636	About 5 yards with a .30-30 and hollowpoints. First day of season, 8" spikes, I had been in the woods 10 minutes at most. Ruined my hunt but put venison in the freezer. __________________ I've had 1911s and carry a mutant CCO-sized 1911-ish thing. -Jart If handguns cause crimes, mine's defective.- Eric Shelton

November 4, 2009, 10:04 PM	#64
flyboy14 Senior Member Join Date: February 24, 2008 Location: south dakota Posts: 175	Closest deer with a rifle was 15 paces, scoped 7mm rem mag. Came out of nowhere, drt.

November 4, 2009, 10:55 PM	#65
RedneckFur Senior Member Join Date: January 14, 2007 Location: Central NC Posts: 1,424	My guess would be about 6 feet. I was 12 years old, and huning with a NEF 12ga singlebarrel gun. I spooked the doe behind a gallberry bush in the swamp and I manged to raise my gun at the same time she stood and I put the load directly into her chest. She was facing me and in less than a second fell back into her tracks. I've never made such a close shot since! Funny thing, that was also my first ever deer as well. __________________ In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. -George Orwell

November 5, 2009, 10:04 AM	#66
mes228 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2005 Posts: 628	deer I'll tell you the closest I've ever missed a deer. Tree stand, already evening and quite dark. Huge buck comes out, essentially under the tree. May be 15-25 feet away. I could see him clearly in the scope. The 30-06 went off practically in his ear. So startled he fell down. In a heart beat he was up and gone! No blood, no hair, searched for hours. All I could ever figure was that, even though I could see him clearly in the scope. The cross hairs must have been off his chest. No way to miss - but I did. I really don't know how.

November 6, 2009, 12:21 AM	#67
bowtekhunter Member Join Date: November 4, 2009 Location: coburg,oregon Posts: 54	last year about mid november id say i was hunting in the cascades out of and i shot a 8point buck at 10yds on a dead run straight towords me. i shot him on top of a ridge infront of me through both lungs and he decided to come down the hill right for me i threw up my 270 and fired broke his back at 10yds and he droped right at my feet. that was the easiest deer id ever had to track this was my first deer i might add, i was alone as my dad stood about 500yds away watching the whole thing threw the spotting scope

November 9, 2009, 02:51 PM	#68
cnimrod Senior Member Join Date: September 24, 2009 Location: NJ/NY Posts: 152	what a thrill for your dad to see - Bowtekhunter my closest shot was also 10 yards came up a slight rise walking out of thick pines and bumped into a buck walking in. Hello! sometimes it does come down to luck. I still remember finding him in the scope even tho I had those raised open sight mounts on my gun. That deer made me take them off. get your head down on the stock in a consistent fashion and don't have your magnification set too high when you're walking.

November 9, 2009, 05:53 PM	#69
ssilicon Senior Member Join Date: May 5, 2005 Posts: 459	The closest I aver shot a deer was at... well pretty much close to point blank range. Of course that was just to finish it off to end its suffering. I dropped it with my 1st shot but it was immobilized on the gound but not dead. It was horribly scared and probably in a lot of pain when I approached but it could not get up (not for lack of trying). I popped one right in the brain. I actually felt sorry for the deer as I approached it. It did not have to suffer long though.

November 10, 2009, 05:57 PM	#70
petemo Member Join Date: February 20, 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 49	Pretty darn close Did not shoot the deer but one summer we started putting corn down in the wood along a running trail on our property. My wife would go down and 3 or 4 deer would watch her from maybe 50 feet. They got so tame that when she walked down and rattled the plastic bag they would come running. Close as they would come was maybe 5 /6 feet. We tried to get em closer but they would just stamp their feet. One was a little braver than the others. She had a fawn into the spring and it got pretty tame too. Don't guess we done em any favors because they would be easy pickens for hunters

December 7, 2009, 03:46 AM	#71
infntryblu Junior Member Join Date: December 4, 2009 Location: i'm a new snow bird south in the winter north in the summer Posts: 9	In the 70's I was an Army recruiter in my home state of Maine. Light snow, and a 3 day stalk. This was a smart and wily buck right up until the moment of truth. One shot at 6 or 7 yds. He stepped out from the brush and behind a large tree. Bang, one shot from a Frank Pachmyr tuned Colt Govt model Mk IV series 70 with a hot load 200gr H&G 68 swc with 308 trimmed brass.Two jumps, and it died in it's tracks. Very large and heavy. I was more surprised than he was.

December 7, 2009, 09:37 AM	#72
camper4lyfe Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2008 Location: Fairport, NY Posts: 165	I shot a button at around 15yds. It was quartering toward me as it came up the hill in front of me. I hit it just behind the left shoulder, it ran maybe 50 yds and dropped. When we skinned it, we found the slug between the hide and the meat at the right rear hip...the slug still had the wadding attached to it.

December 7, 2009, 10:57 AM	#73
Satanic Toaster Senior Member Join Date: June 29, 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 153	not sure if this counts... I was driving home from work one night and hit a 6 pointer with my chevy. I stopped to check on it and the truck was a little dinged up but ok and the deer was laying in the ditch twitching and unable to walk/move/etc. I shot it with my 1911 from about 3 feet away. I felt bad for it so I had to put it out of its misery.

December 7, 2009, 11:15 AM	#74
Drummer101 Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2009 Location: DFW Posts: 943	about 6 feet with an airsoft gun from the kitchen window He was eating my moms plants He did not die

December 7, 2009, 09:46 PM	#75
crimsondave Senior Member Join Date: September 30, 2009 Location: North Augusta, SC Posts: 490	I shot a doe last year between the eyes with my 06 at a smooth 20 feet. Blew her eyes out, but I got all the meat.