What range for deer hunting?

[VEARL]

Now I know there are hunters who bragg and enlarge the distants that they bag deer at. Heard to many of them in the past.
What is the most comfortable range from experience, that you feel that you can make a successful shot?
Here in Okla. we seldom have a shot past 100 yds. I would rather take my shot a 75 yds max. Closer would be nice too.
Sighted my Lyman GPR to hit dead on at 75 yds.
2 more weeks till blackpowder season.

 

[Amikee]

Hello

I haven't hunted with muzzleloader yet, but I have hunted with bow and arrow, and rules here apply for the most part. And to tell you the truth, if I spot the deer withing 50-75 yard in the woods, I'm lucky. It is kind of hard to notice a deer at about 100 yards unless the area is like wide open, with not much trees, bushes, etc. Then, I stalk it and get as close as I can. Now, if it's winter, the situation gets better of course. I shoot the bow up to 30 yards accurately, meaning staying within 6-10 inches circle. I'm pretty sure, that most guys take the shots around 70-80 yards or less, one- because of the terrain, and two- because it's freaking hard sometimes to use fixed sights past certain distance and be very accurate (unless of course, you shoot a lot and get great at it). This depends on rifle and the shooter, so...... Personally, I will be hunting with .54 rifle and .62 smoothbore using patched roundball, and I am not going to go probably past 50 yards, maybe even 35 or less, because my region is strongly wooded and have a low number of "blank" spaces.

Good luck!

 

[roundball]

I mainly deer hunt woods here in North Carolina, and approach all my deer hunting as a 100yd activity considering the occasional long loggers road, adjacent clearings/small fields, etc.
So I zero everything dead on / center hold at 50yds, and know I only have to hold 3-4" over the heart to drop it in at the very rare 100yds.

We have the good fortune of a large deer herd with a minimum of 6 tags / year with our hunting licenses (plus extra bonus Doe tags are available) so we get a lot of deer over the decades...but I've only shot 2 over 50yds (60 & 70yds), and all the rest have been in the 35-50yd range.

 

[hawk]

I say the the one closest to the truck or barn but the first one or two will do just fine!LOL

 

[Walks with fire]

With a .50 caliber roundball and 80-90 grains of 2f I will shoot at a whitetail offhand to about 50 yards; I will shoot with a rest and a calm/stationary deer to 80 yards if my sight picture is good. Roundball at this distance requires a sure heart/lung hit IMO. With a .54 roundball I would go to about 100 yards and feel very confident.

With a .50 caliber 358/410 grain conical over 80-90 grains of 2f I will shoot to 125 yards with a stable sight picture. I am sure that this weight conicals have plenty of power well beyond this range but this is where I personally draw the line. I think anyone who shoots any firearm knows very well what range limit they should and should not shoot at.

 

[rabjr]

I've taken deer with muzzleloaders from 15 yards to 105 yards but the last 6 or 8 years I've tried to make it a point to stay within 75 yards because the eyes just ain't what they used to be. If I avg all my shots I get just about 40 yards so most of the time I've been shootin them under 60 yards or so.

 

[VEARL]

My gosh Hawk 2 !!
Where did all those deer come from? Is that two people way down the road at the top of the pic?
The closet to the truck would work for me.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Most of my m/l deer (whitetail) have been taken at 35 to 40 yards. Furthest with a m/l was 120 yards (Maxi-Hunter back when I used those). Closest - several at or around 5 yards from ground blinds.

My practice is to find a spot 20 yards from a funnel or trail and sit in a ground blind or ground-level tree seat and wait for one to come to me. When I get cold I still-hunt to another such spot.

 

[Deadeye]

Yep, there's hunters who may brag about their shots and some that deserve to brag about them but what you do has nothing to do with them. It only has to do with your ability. You have to practice and make that decision for yourself.
If your a good enough hunter you won't have to make a long shot.
Deadeye

 

[Mad Professor]

Looks like winter deer feeding which promotes CWD

 

[Mad Professor]

With a 50-54 caliber, what your ability, dictates to 100 yds.

Can you hit a silver dollar? How about a pie plate?

Can't hit a dollar at 100 yds off a rest, don't try it in the field.......

Hit a pie plate at 50 yds, off hand, that will work.

Try it at 100yds.

 

[BrownBear]

Now I know there are hunters who bragg and enlarge the distants that they bag deer at. Heard to many of them in the past.
What is the most comfortable range from experience, that you feel that you can make a successful shot?
Here in Okla. we seldom have a shot past 100 yds. I would rather take my shot a 75 yds max. Closer would be nice too.
Sighted my Lyman GPR to hit dead on at 75 yds.
2 more weeks till blackpowder season.

Pretty much reading from the same page. Both my GPR's (50 and 54) are dead on at 75, and I know where they're hitting at 100. Only trouble is, I tried a dead rest shot at a measured 97 yards and missed clean. Go figure. I'm good to about 75 offhand, but prefer a rest.

A couple of years back I jumped one from its bed at about 20 feet and without thinking I rolled it on the dead run at around 20 yards. I have a lot of experience with running shots, but prefer not to take them with a muzzleloader. It's old habit from days in tight brush with a lever action and a quick second shot, but not so good an idea with a one-shooter. If a deer's walking I have no qualms about a 50 yard shot, but running is out.

 

[Trench]

I've only shot one deer in my whole entire life. Hoping to change that this year. I was kneeling and the deer was taken at 40yds. I think I could shoot unsuported out to 50yds if I had to. I would feel comfortable shooting a deer out to 60yds or 70yds supported.

I think if you're patient and you let that the deer work its way towards you, then a shot under 50yds is almost always possible. My two other encounters with deer were 20yds or less and I was on the ground. A doe was kind enough to let me flash my prime 4 times before walking away. (Compromised main charge). Deer do the funniest things. You're always worrying about being busted, but then you have times when they're almost on top of you and just stare at you as you try to shoot them. My father got two shots off at the same group of does last year. They watched him reload and try again. His sights must have been bumped and they also walked away. They were also about 25 yards away.

 

[Brent]

Depends on the rifle, bullet, and situation. With a roundball gun, I consider a long shot 100 yds. With a long range muzzleloader, 200 is not a problem. Just depends.

 

[SCRUBS]

I`d have to say the range will be determined by your load combo and shooting ability.

 

[roundball]

PS:

As an aside to the discussion, it would be an absolute rarity for me to take a shot at a deer without SOME sort of rest, regardless of the distance...have never done it with a Flintlock.

99% of my shots are from a seated position, leaning against a tree, left elbow braced down on my chest...and that whole seated/braced shooting position with a hefty Flintlock is surprisingly solid...and the couple of times I've shot deer standing, I was able to simply take a step and lean against a tree, etc.

With my approach always using some form of rest or another, and using the strong PRB loads that I do, I wouldn't hesitate to take a 100yd shot on a standing broadside deer.

 

[longcruise]

Given that you are shooting a GPR, then it's probably a given that your caliber is at least .50.

So, with deer, that caliber loaded with PBR and, say 70 or more grains of powder, will effectively kill deer out past 100 yards. Therefore, it comes down to your own shooting ability under field conditions. It's different for everybody.

If you have a place where you can go to the woods and shoot in the fashion of archers who go roving or stump shooting, that's as good a way as any to find out what your own limit is.

Saw a guy on TV last night make a 75 yard shot with a wheelie bow on a caribou in some serious brush. I would not take that shot with my ml, but he is either that capable or that lucky. :haha:

 

[Stumpkiller]

If you have a place where you can go to the woods and shoot in the fashion of archers who go roving or stump shooting, that's as good a way as any to find out what your own limit is.

That's where I got the camp name "Stumpkiller" :hatsoff:


Another GREAT practice is to make a full-size cardboard silhouette of a deer and shoot at it from varying ranges. It teaches you to pick a spot and gets you used to threading a ball (or arrow) through cover. I also like to stop at garage sales and buy cheap pans and skillets. Hung from branches they make great woods targets for practice.

Target shooting over a mowed range at a known distance from a table rest is not hunting practice.

I used to (and occasonally still do) make field archery shots out to 80 yards with traditional (sightless) bows & wood arrows. That's at a two-foot "bullseye" though. But my deer limit is a self-imposed 25 yards. I can hit the 3-D deer target out my back door in the vitals almost every time at 65 yards (my "point-on" distance with my hunting bow - a parlor trick only useful when you know the exact distance).

 

[BrownBear]

Good additions.

I'll add my favorite form of "practice." I use reduced loads in my guns to stalk and head-shoot snowshoe hares. I can guarantee that if you're able to smack heads consistently to 30-35 yards or so, deer vitals seem ridiculously large by comparison, even out a lot further.

I spend a lot of time in the woods "hunting" for deer in the 3 months of deer season in the vicinity of my house, but am particular because we only need one deer a year. Even with all that opportunity and time in the hills, I spend as much or more time chasing snowshoes. We probably eat more pounds of them than venison, and it sure adds up to a whole lot more field shooting- the same kind of bending, twisting, leaning and crouching shots you also need to make for deer in cover.

No amount of range time can prepare you for that if you use a bench or stand in exactly the same way each time and shoot the same old distances. Get out where the cover is in the way and the ground is uneven and the footing is rotten to do your practicing, and you'll be ready for most shots on a hunt. If a bunny head happens to be under the ball when it lands, so much the better!

 

[gsday]

My longest shot out of 10 or so M/L kills has been 75 yds. Most have been between 30 and 60 yds.

I'm pretty sure I've passed at least one big fat doe each of the last three seasons at 80 to 100 yds.

I just don't want to be tracking a poorly hit deer all day or night.

I can hit a pie plate fine at 100 yds. off the bench, but it's different when you're resting on a maple limb 10 minutes before dark.