Average distance to deer

[VEARL]

What is everyone's average distance to deer when they are hunting in their home state? Here in Oklahoma I would say the distance would be less than 75 yds and more around 50 yds or less. (Lots of dense woods and small openings) In the extreme northern portion of the state it would be probably 100 yds or less.
Vearl

 

[radman]

well for me it would probably be 30-40 yards with about 60 being my max shot. now this is probably because i do alot of bow hunting and am programed to try to set up for 25 yard or less shots so i kinda set my ambushes up that way. i dont hunt ner alot of open fields etc. my gun has the capability of shooting accuratley further but thats about as far as i like to shoot.

 

[biliff]

Mule deer in eastern Oregon have "averaged" about 80 to 100yds. Ranges have been 20 to a max of 140 yds.

If I have a bedded animal to work with, sub 50 yd shots are the norm. Animals that are up and grazing as a group are easier to spot but harder to get close to, hence the 80-100yd average.
Picture is to show the country. Ignore the suppository shooter.

 

[stinkyfeet]

If I am hunting my favorite stand which is back home in Michigan in the middle of a huge swamp you won't have a shot over 20 yards, then again you can't see more than 30 when gun season is in play. But overall from being in the Army and hunting all over the country my average deer kill range is still around 25 yards on average. Keep in mind I am a huge bowhunter and most of the stands I hunt from are set up for close range shots, and hunt the same stands gun hunting. But I rarely shoot a deer much over 50 yards with a gun, not that I can't make the shot I just do my scouting homework and set-up my stands and blinds for the best shot possible. Then I pray..

 

[smo]

I would say 90% of my shots have been 50 yards or less over my 40 years of hunting in the S.E.

 

[roundball]

I hunt hardwoods with MLs and the average would be about 40yds...some 30, some 50, one at 60, and one at 70 paces.

 

[410-er]

Under 50yds.Got a couple in the early Oct.season in the corn fields at 5yds.

 

[wattlebuster]

30/35 yrds average. Not over 50 in the thickets I hunt in :thumbsup:

 

[will5a1]

25 yards - like some of the others above I hunt in pretty thick brush and can't see'em till they get close.

 

[BrownBear]

We're kind of all over the map. In open timber it's generally less than 75 yards or so. In the alder fields it's usually less than about 20 yards.

In the high country crags and tundra (imagine mountain goats that live in the same terrain with our deer) the average first sighting is probably between 300 and 400 yards. Kind of a neat challenge to use terrain and guile to cut it down.

 

[mooman76]

I shot two in UT at 100y and all others were under that.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I average 35 yards with firearms. 15 yards with bow.

Years ago they opened a spot I had hunted to rifle so I worked up practicing at 150 yards with one of my 7.62 x 54R rifles. Took two deer one day apart. One at 10 yards and the other at 11 yards (while I was sitting on the same stump). I was just off a clearing in the thick stuff . . . and so were the deer.

Plenty of long opportunities - just not in the daylight. Local deer are heavy hunted and they stick to cover during hunting hours.

 

[AZbpBurner]

Now that I'm fat, old and lazy, anything over 50 yards is too far to drag back to the truck...

 

[capt_turk]

Now that I'm fat, old and lazy, anything over 50 yards is too far to drag back to the truck...

I've been trying to figure out how to get them in the back of the truck before I shoot them so I don't have to drag them at all..... :blah:

 

[Spikebuck]

With muzzleloader shortest was 7 steps, longest 115 yards. On average, though, probably 30 - 50. Even though I was a bowhunter-only prior to starting this game, and my bow shots would average only 15 yards, I actually set up to be around 30 yards away from the place I expect to shoot to with ML as that's still a pretty close shot, but gives me a little more wiggle room on being picked out by those sharp-eyed old does.

 

[stinkyfeet]

You got that right I would rather try to draw the bow on a mature buck, then try to get a draw on the old hag doe. Same thing with the gun the old cranky doe will bust you twice as fast as a mature buck. Theres a reason the bucks always follow the does around or let them lead first, the does are just plain smarter then us dumb bucks.

 

[radman]

ive said it for years and ill say it til the day i die the smartest deer in the woods is a 3 plus year old doe. shes a flat out survival machine, programed that way by nature.her only concern is eating detecting danger and the safety of her fawns.she doesnt get distracted by sex etc 1.5 year old bucks are absolutely stupid during the rut sometimes.some of the proudest deer i have taken were big headed old does.

 

[hanshi]

Shortest was about 7 feet, longest right at 100 yards or maybe a bit more. Typical distance around 20 to 30 yards.

 

[okawbow]

In southern Illinois, sometimes it's hard to see more than 50 yards in the woods. You can set up on a field edge and get a longer shot, but most of mine are around 50 yards.
This one was about 40 yards


2007flintdeer by okawbow, on Flickr

 

[roundball]

"...the smartest deer in the woods is a 3 plus year old doe. shes a flat out survival machine, programed that way by nature.her only concern is eating detecting danger and the safety of her fawns..."

Reminds me of an old Doe that aggravated me so much during the 2007 season that I wrote this about her:
===============================================
Fall 2007

There once was a Doe on “Neighborhood Watch”,
who stomped and blew and snorted a lot;

She watched over my stand like it belonged to her,
and delighted in warning when she saw me stir;

She was real proud but it went to her head,
stepped out of cover today and I shot her dead!


( Should have known better than to mess with a guy who hunts with a Flintlock! )