Close rifle shots.

[Timberstalker]

With so much talk about how far we can shoot, I would like the hear some how close stories. My personal best on an animal I put a stalk on was my bighorn, I shot him at 18 paces with my 25-06. I shot a deer at 13 paces with the same rifle once back when my brothers and I would make drives. My biggest bull elk was shot at 27 paces with my .300 win mag. Let?s hear some of your close rifle shots, I know there has to be some good ones!

 

[Gr8bawana]

I once shot a sage grouse at about 20 feet with my 7RM and it looked like I had slit it's throat with a razor blade, cleanest kill ever.

 

[JimP]

I have shot a deer at a short 10 paces from the hip and a elk at a little over 25 yards that happened to be in the right place for me at the wrong time for him.

 

[kidoggy]

CLOSEST ON DEER AND ELK, ABOUT 50 YARDS, with .270

closest on a coyote, about 15 feet with my .223 he came in to my call so fast I really thought he was gonna run right over me.he literally rolled right to me

 

[Extractor]

Shot a 10'9'' brownie at 17 yards with a 416 Rem Mag. Dropped him backwards on his ass from front on chest shot.

 

[BuzzH]

I've shot a fair number of elk that were inside 50 yards with a rifle.

Was glassing below me into some openings from a rock outcrop, turned around to leave and standing about 30 yards away, not sure how long he'd been standing behind me, but he stayed a bit too long. Shot him with a 250 gr partition from my .338:

This one was probably the closest, barely 10 yards. A buddy and I had been dogging elk all morning, passing on a few bulls and chasing some bugles. About 1 PM or so, decided to take a nap on a little open slope on a north side. Something made a couple "thumps" and woke me up...looked below me and saw antlers moving uphill right toward me. Slapped him behind the shoulder when he got to 10 yards, again with .338:

Didn't get a chance to hunt until about 4 days into the season. Went to my usual general tag area, walked in the dark for an hour and was greeted by a lot of bugling. Chased bugles until mid-day and heard a couple bulls sparring. Slipped into about 40 yards or so and shot this bull through the heart with my 7 RM and 160 partition:

Same area a few years later, I heard a bull bugling and carrying on opening day. The wind absolutely sucked and there was no way to approach him without getting winded. So I backed off and put him to bed. The next morning the wind was out of the East on a typical downslope fashion for the area...perfect. When I got within 200 yards of where I thought he bedded, I put a round in the chamber and just put my pack on...and saw him walking right toward me at 50 yards. I shot him when he was still getting closer, right on the point of the shoulder at 20 yards with my 7 RM and 160 partition.

 

[Timberstalker]

Dang Buzz, bugling bulls with a rifle! That would be awesome!
Cool stories, I?m reminded of a coyote I shot at point blank with a .380 pistol. I saw it while scouting one time and he was already close and didn?t know I was there. I made some squeaky noises with my mouth and he came running in. I hid behind a tree and when he got to it I reached my arm around ithe tree and shot him.

 

[Timberstalker]

Shot a 10'9'' brownie at 17 yards with a 416 Rem Mag. Dropped him backwards on his ass from front on chest shot.

That would be intense!

 

[BuzzH]

I drew a LQ tag this year so was without a general tag, but did have a type-6 cow tag. I heard a bull bugling right at daylight, figured it would have cows with it. The wind was good, so figured I'd head that way and see...turned out being a lone 6 point and he just stood there at 75 yards raking a tree and bugling...not a cow to be seen. I decided to hunt a familiar ridge back toward the truck, didn't make it but 1/4 mile and saw an elk moving in the lodgepoles...walked right past me at maybe 15 yards, a small 5 point. I just kept moving down the ridge and peeked just over a slight roll in the landscape. Finally found a small herd of cows and shot the closest one, 25 yards below me with 7 RM and 160 Partition...my 50th elk. I shot form the 2 large aspens behind me, just over my right shoulder. I rested on the side of the larger aspen.

A number of years ago, I rigged up my 7 RM to shoot long range. Bedded, floated, new stock, started shooting 160 AB's, turret, new trigger, yada yada...and spent a crap load of time at the range. Was sneaking along, just below the top of a ridge looking below me on a North facing slope and this guy was feeding at 25 yards. Glad I spent all that time at the range and getting rigged up for longer shots, paid off big at 25 yards:

 

[Tim McCoy]

A big Cougar at about an arms length, he was headed my way fast, I got lucky, bad day for him.

Big ole muley at about 25 feet, I was actually sitting and resting mid day, he walked up on me, heard a click, knew it was a hoof on a rock, there he was. Still one of my favorite looking MD.

Then there is a black tail doe I shot as a kid. I decided to see how close I could walk up to her while she fed in a meadow. Grass was fairly tall, 12-18", so she had her head buried eating some forb or what ever right at the ground level. She'd look up, I'd freeze, and so on. I finally decide to shoot her at about 20 feet. I can't find jack in the scope, too close. So I go from back of the fur to the front, hit air, swing back to what I know is the chest and bang flop. Promptly gut shot her, way too back, 150 gr. 30 caliber, about a 90-100lb. Deer, instant death and a smelly mess I'll never forget gutting.

 

[NE69]

Shot a coyote at 3 ft with my recurve bow in a milo field. I was in one row and he was walking towards me in next row. Shot him behind the shoulder when he came broadside.

In 2012, I saw a herd of elk in the Bighorns on next to last day of the season at about a 1/2 mile in a break in the snow storm. I was able to get in to 25 yards of one of the 10 or so bulls and I had cows at less than 10 yards. It was very cold, -3. First shot just clicked, very stiff firing pin. Nearest cow heard it and I saw her head move in my peripheral vision. I jacked another round in my 25-06 Savage without ever taking my eyes off the bull and it went off that time. There were about 35 elk in the herd and all still in their beds when I shot him. I checked the misfired round later and it was dimpled on the primer, just not enough to set it off.

 

[tttoadman]

Blacktail buck at 20yds. Had to put down my snack. Lucky he was on my left so I didn't have to shoot left handed.

 

[mallardsx2]

Both of the bucks I killed in Georgia rifle season last year were under 20 yards.

I'm new to hunting here....next year I'll be using the flintlock or my bow instead for more of a challenge.....

 

[go_deep]

Second closest I had was 4 paces with a recuve, on bedded sleeping whitetail buck.
First closest I have had was another whitetail buck at about 30". I was in one corn row, he was 2 rows over. When I shouldered the muzzle loader the end of the barrel was in the next row, and he was in the row directly next to it, funny thing was there was a handful of deer right around me and when I shot I about got ran over by another deer bolting.
A close runner up was an antelope I shot in its bed about 4 years ago, that was 9 paces.

 

[El Serio]

Closest for me with a rifle was an antelope I stalked and shot at 30 yards. Felt good after I failed to get a shot the year before with my bow. Close shots are way more fun than long ones!

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I missed a 180? buck at 100 yards a couple years ago.
We had snuck in on hands and knees for about 500 yards to get close to the bedded buck. He had 8 other bucks and a few does with him too. The spot we had marked we were sneaking to would have put us about 250 yards from him. We got to that spot and waited for him to stand up. The area we were in was a high desert flat with brush about waist deep and knowing I couldn?t shoot for crap off hand I wanted to use the tri pod for my spotter as a rest. I removed the spotter and extended the legs and stood the tri pod up while all of us were still on our knees, which were bleeding from the long crawl. Once I stood the tri pod up we hear the deer all stand up! I jumped up and saw the deer a 100 yards away at the same time I jacked a shell in and set my rifle on the tri pod. With all of this happening in a split second I picked out the buck and pulled the trigger. Miss, I knew I pulled the trigger and shot over his back! All the deer ran to about 400 yards and stopped giving me another chance. I had time to settle down while they were on the run and made a good shot on the wrong buck but he was still a 170? deer.

 

[ScottR]

I killed my first elk, a spike at 30 yards while working a relatively broken timber hillside. That was a fun hunt, lots of elk have died since then.

 

[Work2hunt]

Ive shot several whitetails at less than 5 yds. Some with a bow, some with a rifle.

 

[ivorytip]

Awesome thread!
Many deer under 100 yards but closest was a young cow elk, I was walking through thick timber to get to an opening during a late cow hunt with lots of snow, I was making lost cow sounds when I got a response, 10 yards with a 338! I don't recommend that! It literally threw her backwards into a big boulder.

 

[ivorytip]

With same 338 I missed a great buck at a steep incline at only 50 yards!!! Deer was standing still, perfect broadside position. I was so confused at how I missed I just watched him run into the aspens without attempting another shot.