Thread: Average range of deer shot?

Most of my regular haunts you be lucky to even see 50m.

So my distances are often much less. Am planning to spend more time up tops this year though (once weather improves slightly).

I'm definitely more of a Bush Gremlin though.

Most of mine have been in open country. Average probably about 250m.

Since 2007 my average range is 307yds. Longest 634 closest 20yds. About 40 animals.

Certainly seems so far sub 200 is still the norm, with @GWH and @stug breaking that trend.

Here's a similar thread from last year. https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....animals-64280/

Since I commented on this post I have shot a range of deer between photos at 4m and longest shot 427 yards. Average would have to be sub 100 for the last year, with most of my deer sub 50 though with the odd outlier dragging the average up.

sub 50 yards is the normal for me in the bush.....have shot less than a handful of fingers worth at over 300 yards...
looking forward to bagging one with open sights again...its been a LONG time since the last one...which actually would be the first one LOL.

Being predominantly a bush hunter (no sniggering please!) the majority of my shot deer were 10 to maximum of 40 yards.

Longest range? That long ago I can’t remember!

Originally Posted by Cigar

My last three deer were all under 20m. The young fellas I take hunting both shot two at 150m, one had a miss at 200m, and between the two of them have had three deer standing still at 15m or less and never fired a shot!

wow under 20m? Its really fun getting that close to them.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

sub 50 yards is the normal for me in the bush.....have shot less than a handful of fingers worth at over 300 yards...
looking forward to bagging one with open sights again...its been a LONG time since the last one...which actually would be the first one LOL.

Im keen on trying open sights at some point, probably after i get my eyes fixed. Saw a deer within 75m standing broadside and i thought it was a log as my bad eyes could not make out the legs and head, was all blurry. Iron sights would be great in rainy or damp weather, already missed many animals from fogged up rained up lenses.

Originally Posted by JessicaChen

wow under 20m? Its really fun getting that close to them.

Yeah, but it’s a bit frustrating having them within 15m and the young fella with the rifle is busy looking where the others ran, or has a tree blocking his view! Gotta laugh about it though, and say “well at least we are doing things right and getting our chances”

Never shot one over 60m away.

I’ve shot a bunch more animals since I commented on the other thread that’s been linked in here, but the general gist is the same. I’ve shot animals out to 350m but have only shot a few past 200. I’d say 90% of my animals taken have been within 100m. The last deer I shot was 8m & the one before that was roughly 30m.

Ultimately though it comes down to taking sensible shots- I’m comfortable pulling the trigger on anything out to 400m, though I’ve refrained from pulling the trigger on many animals much closer than that if I wasn’t confident in the shot due to lack of a stable rest in the moment or something like that.

@Nick.m really like those pics mate! Great perspective.

I always tend towards most of my deer being at 50 yards or less with the odd one or two being around the 250-300 yard mark.

Mostly because I don’t like open country hunting too much and long range deer don’t do much for my dog.

How long is a piece of string? Depends on what country you hunting, the cal, the area etc.
Results dont mean much between a guy that bush stalks thick bush using a 44mag to the guy that uses a 7m mag in the tops. Cant really compare results, just a fact if they a bush stalker
its safe to assume its under 60m(me) and will be much longer if they a long range open country hunter.

What seems to be common nowadays is the hype of long range shooting. So much gear available to suit this except the shooter may not have the experience or ability to shoot long range. Bigger scopes and more powerful rifles are the norm. Over the last 50 odd years of hunting haven't shot a deer much over 300 yards but the majority would be under 100 yards.