At What Range Have Most of Your Big Game Animals Been Shot At?

[Dave James]

Hunting for meat, no matter the weapon no more than 200 meters, pest eradication out to 400 meters,

 

[GREENSWLDE]

It's the Stalk that counts not the kill. 200 yds is My max.100 better (unmentionable.)We can't shoot with BP here. O.D.

 

[tenngun]

All my game has been less then fifty yards. This century has seen few times my rifle has been in the woods as my TFC has been my principal game taker

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Did all of my deer hunting in NW Pennsylvania. Lots of trees! Longest shot probably 60 yds!

 

[smoothshooter]

I think he recommended 14 bore with very large powder loads as the minimum for deer sized game .
I don't recall of he ever wrote if that was "in case" one ran into a tiger (SxS would give him a defensive shot after using the first to down a deer) since he was in India, or simply he wanted no tracking in the jungle.
LD

I was under the impression Forsythe used the 14 bore double as a general purpose gun.
I had his book, but it got lost in a move years ago. Need to replace it.

 

[Rod Man]

Up here in Northwest Arkansas most of my hunting is in the hollows and ranges are mostly under 100 yrds.
RM

 

[cynthialee]

every deer I have shot and seen shot was taken inside of 60 yards
pretty much why I switched to the .56 Renegade smoothbore. I really don't need a rifle for the range at which I hunt.

 

[nkbj]

Yep, cynthialee, some day there will be old corroded GPR's being rebored to .56 smoothies and turned into fine hunting pieces.

PS,
And maybe uncorroded .54 GPH's.

 

[Stykbow]

Gun kills only I probably average right around 120-140 yards. Keep in mind that I’ve yet to kill a deer with a traditional ml. I have dropped my max. acceptable shot distance down to 100 yards or less. I’m approaching it like I’m bow hunting.

 

[SciAggie]

The VAST majority of animals I've killed in 50 years of hunting have been 50-75 yards. Some memorable shots should have left powder burns. In other rare instances 200 meters with an unmentionable. With a ML i"ve never shot anything beyond 120 yards or so.

 

[LME]

Since the advent of, and rise in popularity of, the inline muzzleloading rifle, if one listened to the gun writers, and their constant drivel; you would be hard-pressed to believe that anything but a modern inline m-l rifle shooting a light-for-caliber bullet out of a plastic sabot was capable of humanely harvesting North American big game animals.

It is my contention, as it was Jack O'Connor's, that the vast majority of all species of North American big game animals are killed within 150 yards. If you want to use the metric system, then 150 meters (165 yards).

If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that at least half of those 150 yard shots are under 100 yards.

This means that there is no reason that a muzzleloading firearm cannot be used to humanely kill any big game species in North America. And, as far as I am concerned, with a patched ball of at least .45 caliber. If you can own two rifles, then a .45 caliber, and a .58 caliber will humanely kill everything but the big bears.

Feral hogs
Javelina
Brocket deer
Whitetail deer
Mule deer
Coues deer
Blacktail deer
Sitka deer
Keys deer
Caribou
Moose
Sika deer
Elk
Bison
Musk ox
Coyote
Wolf
Black bear
Bobcat
Canadian lynx
Oceolot
Mountain lion
Dall sheep
Desert Bighorn sheep
Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep
Stone sheep
Mountain goat
Pronghorn antelope

The three exceptions that I might posit are the polar bear, the coastal grizzly bear (brown bear), and the inland grizzly bear. Not because a muzzleloading rifle is incapable of killing them in the hands of a very competent, fit, calm-minded hunter; but because there are better weapons choices to make for hunting animals that are apex predators with little fear of man. That will WILLINGLY, and EASILY kill you.

And, because most states won't allow a hunter to take a double-barrelled, muzzleloading rifle into the field during hunting season. And, if I was going to hunt a grizzly bear, then I would want the muzzleloading equivalent of an African, double-barrelled, big bore, cartridge rifle in my hands to do so.

So, in YOUR hunting lifetime, at what ranges have you generally shot your big game animals?

Thanks for your replies.

With my B.P. rifle about 60 yards. modern rifle 150 yards.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I was under the impression Forsythe used the 14 bore double as a general purpose gun.
I had his book, but it got lost in a move years ago. Need to replace it.

WELL, until you do get a hard copy, here's one online
Hathi Trust: The Sporting Rifle and Its Projectiles 1867

LD

 

[BJHabermehl]

WELL, until you do get a hard copy, here's one online
Hathi Trust: The Sporting Rifle and Its Projectiles 1867

LD

Since the advent of, and rise in popularity of, the inline muzzleloading rifle, if one listened to the gun writers, and their constant drivel; you would be hard-pressed to believe that anything but a modern inline m-l rifle shooting a light-for-caliber bullet out of a plastic sabot was capable of humanely harvesting North American big game animals.

It is my contention, as it was Jack O'Connor's, that the vast majority of all species of North American big game animals are killed within 150 yards. If you want to use the metric system, then 150 meters (165 yards).

If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that at least half of those 150 yard shots are under 100 yards.

This means that there is no reason that a muzzleloading firearm cannot be used to humanely kill any big game species in North America. And, as far as I am concerned, with a patched ball of at least .45 caliber. If you can own two rifles, then a .45 caliber, and a .58 caliber will humanely kill everything but the big bears.

Feral hogs
Javelina
Brocket deer
Whitetail deer
Mule deer
Coues deer
Blacktail deer
Sitka deer
Keys deer
Caribou
Moose
Sika deer
Elk
Bison
Musk ox
Coyote
Wolf
Black bear
Bobcat
Canadian lynx
Oceolot
Mountain lion
Dall sheep
Desert Bighorn sheep
Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep
Stone sheep
Mountain goat
Pronghorn antelope

The three exceptions that I might posit are the polar bear, the coastal grizzly bear (brown bear), and the inland grizzly bear. Not because a muzzleloading rifle is incapable of killing them in the hands of a very competent, fit, calm-minded hunter; but because there are better weapons choices to make for hunting animals that are apex predators with little fear of man. That will WILLINGLY, and EASILY kill you.

And, because most states won't allow a hunter to take a double-barrelled, muzzleloading rifle into the field during hunting season. And, if I was going to hunt a grizzly bear, then I would want the muzzleloading equivalent of an African, double-barrelled, big bore, cartridge rifle in my hands to do so.

So, in YOUR hunting lifetime, at what ranges have you generally shot your big game animals?

Thanks for your replies.

I’m primarily a white tailed deer hunter, until last year, all my harvested deer were shot at doable archery ranges. 25 to 30 yards or less. No matter what tool I used, primarily flintlock muzzloading rifles. However last season I had a foolish deer come out on a food plot at a overestimated range of 100 yards or a bit less. With to my mind perfect conditions of light and my steadyness. The deer went down at the shot at 77 yards. Range findered from the deer to the stand. The conditions were perfect, I don’t believe I would have fired otherwise. I’m very fussy about the shots I’ve fired on game. BJH

 

[nkbj]

Dang it. Too bad you have to sign up to download a copy.

 

[morehops52]

The vast majority under 50 yds. Past that only a few to 75 and possibly a couple out to 100. I don't practice and won't take a shot beyond that distance.

 

[kipcarter]

I hunt in the woods in GA and SC. 50 yards is as far as I ever get a shot. I use a .45 cal. flintlock mostly. The longest shot was on a Zebra in Botswana and that was 177 yards with a .58 cal. double rifle that was a caplock.

 

[kelljp]

I've been keeping track of the shot range ( bow and gun) of the deer taken over the last 25 years since around camp one evening years ago the question came up. To my surprise my average shot is under 20 yards. Normally that's two sometimes three deer a year. Now if I just had that discipline while hunting turkey.

 

[Lakeman]

All of my "big game" hunting has been done in the Texas Hill Country where "big" is a relative thing. Our whitetails run on the small side. So do shooting distances. I've dropped a few at as much as 100 yards away but most were within 50. Pigs are harder to kill and I doubt I've shot one much beyond 50 yards.
John

 

[Rifleman1776]

Whitetail deer are the biggest game I have ever shot. None were more than about 75 yards away but I would take a 100 yard shot if needed. All but one were one shot kills. For the record: the two shotter was down a steep hill and the deer was running. I hit the spine and it went down instantly. The second shot was a cous 'd gras. All my deer were taken with a .45 cal. flinter.

 

[Walkingeagle]

'Whitetail at 550 meters [metres?]' on a 'called neck shot'? That's almost 600 yards, Sir. I doubt I could SEE a Whitetail at that distance, except as a blurry blob.

Lol, they are easy to see when in southern Saskatchewan. That was with modern obviously. My longest muzzleloader was a mullie at 100yds. Cast .490 wheel weight ball tore the lungs out and exited far side.
Walk