Average distance to deer

[radman]

well done roundball! and ive told you before but your pics with those deer and guns make me green with envy.

 

[tenngun]

All close ,dont think I got one over 50,lots at 15 -25 one at 7 paces.Seems to be the most popular short range. I hunt on the ground,have never been in a tree stand.get near trails and hide. Always shoot the closest and first I can draw a bead on.

 

[Lonegun1894]

With ML, I trust my groups from field positions to 125yds with my .54, and 110yds with my .50. Having said that my shots with MLs have ranged from 3yds out to 85yds, with most being 20-50yds.

 

[crockett]

Rather than an average, maybe consider a range. Mine have been mostly 35 to 70 yards.

 

[Billnpatti]

For me, with a muzzleloader, it would probably be in the range of 50 yards but I have shot one as close as 10 yards and one as far as about 125 yards. I would not attempt the 125 yard shot again because I am now of the opinion that, ethically, all shots with a muzzleloader should be limited to 100 yards or less. It is my opinion that a patched round ball looses too much energy beyond 100 yards to guarantee a clean kill and the chance of a non-lethal shot is too great to suit me. Add to that the fact that I am using open sights and that increases the possibility of not putting the shot exactly in the right place for a clean kill. That's just my personal opinion. I am not so much in need of killing a deer that I am willing to risk making a non-lethal shot that could well cause the deer to wonder off and die slowly and painfully. That just ain't my cup of tea.

 

[crockett]

Couple of things- on another site some guy said Elmer Keith argued that nothing was more destructive than a round ball on game- unless the velocity had dropped down due to range etc. That's new to me- I always though a conical shape drove deeper into game and was better. Thing is, it was a "Jimmy says Billy says" type thing- don't know if Keith ever said it.
Now on the ranges- a couple of years back one guy who's persona was a Mt Man was carrying a double barrel shotgun. Well, you get two shots for sure. At 30-40 yards I'm wondering how well a single ball would group/pattern.

 

[S.Kenton]

15 yards was the closest... 95 yrds was the furthest..I would guess most of M'ler deer have been killed at around 50 yards or less.

 

[tenngun]

Conicals are better then prb, no doubt about it.Round balls kill and every prb hunter can tell stories about doing it.Prb is the right projectile for mst ml,kills well shoots great is cheap and fun.You cant get deader then dead,and prb will kill any animal in on land.Maxies,reals'buffalo balls are made to sell to the unexperinced ml shooter.and unneeded in a ml

 

[Loyalist Dave]

With muzzleloader shortest was 7 steps, longest 115 yards. On average, though, probably 30 - 50.

Here in Maryland I have had a similar experience. My averate is from 30-80, longest was 110, and shortest, ..., yeah, about 7 steps.

FYI folks in 1867 Forsyth in India made the same observations:

"Moreover, most men who have shot much in the forests of India will agree that it is only on the open plain that such long shots [between 150 and 200 yards] even as this will be likely to present themselves. In the jungle, at least one-half are under 50 yards, three-fourths are under 75, and all, with scarcely an exception, under 100; that is to say, these are the distances at which animals are usually killed in jungle shooting, and I imagine that the case is very much the same in other forest countries." Lt. James Forsyth The Sporting Rifle and its Projectiles pp. 8-9

LD

 

[crockett]

I've shot two deer that were really close- once on the ground- about 10' away and once when one walked right under my tree stand- I was 15' high. Both times I was amazed the deer were unaware I was there. Wind or no wind at that close range I was amazed they didn't detect me.

 

[jamesthomas]

I'm with ya on the long shots, ie 75 yards plus. I probably couldn't see one well enough at 125 yards to even think about a shot. That said the only deer I've killed was around 35 yards, heart shot an went 25 yards in the woods where I heard him hit the ground. That's why I want to go hunting more (4+ times) this year. Its hard to put one in the freezer when you only been able to go once or twice a year.

 

[buffalo]

99% of my kills are under 50 yards in eastern Nebraska from either a ground blind or tree stand.

I prefer to whack any old doe possible. Can't eat the horns and I get two does for the price of once buck tag.

 

[Trench]

Okay, my shots or encounters with deer while hunting were 60yds, 40yds, 60yds, 15yds, 10 yds, 20yds, and all on the ground.

Average is 31 yards. I hunt in mostly Indiana hardwoods that bump up against farmer's fields which occasionally offer a farther shot, like 60 yards which is my personal limit.

 

[Rat Trapper]

with an iron sighted muzzle loader, I pick stands that provide 50 yards and under shots.

 

[KyFlintlock]

Under 50 yards 90% of the time. A good bowshot in most instances which is the way I like it.

 

[gunner69skmc]

We have dense woods in Alabama, I would have to go with 30 to 50 yards. Two years agoI shot a 6 poing from about 15 yards. :thumbsup:

 

[Patocazador]

Here in Fla. distances are usually short .. 25 to 60 yards. I limit pistol shots to 35 yards.

 

[vthunter52]

In the Mtn thickets here ,my shots range 15-45 yds. Most are on walking/feeding, or bedded deer,

 

[George T.]

With MLR's and bows I keep the setup short. We use stands and I put them on trails where 50 yards is a long shot.

Here in Texas I have killed many deer over 200 yards. But not with the above mentioned weapons.

Geo. T.