Thread: Average range of deer shot?

pity this wasnt a poll...........purely to give newbe a chance to see some real world figures from fellas who arent still wet behind ears...counter the sales person hype or utube unreality shows.

Originally Posted by hebe

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.

oh if only I COULD LIKE THAT MORE......like about 1000 times more,the dog gets a tiny bit of work in final 50 yards helping to locate animal...but in the thick crappy vine infested scratchy slippery damp bush with limited visibility is "HOME of the bush hobbit" and your dog and you can gel and life is good.

Originally Posted by deer243

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.

I would have thought that was pretty obvious, the whole point being to see if overall, as hunters, if ranges of animals shot has increased. Seems to be a resounding no, with the obviously very small audience reached here.

Originally Posted by mawzer308

I would have thought that was pretty obvious, the whole point being to see if overall, as hunters, if ranges of animals shot has increased. Seems to be a resounding no, with the obviously very small audience reached here.

Still, hunters need to be hunting areas where longer range shots are on. Just because rifles, optics,ammo have got better doesnt me people are going to increase the ranges of animals shot unless they changing
how they hunt.

Yeah that's a given, I was in that same boat, with basic gear hunting in the Longwoods when shots were rarely past 50yds. Gear got better and cheaper, my hunting style changed and so did the ranges. But despite this average ranges still below 200yds.

50m today, looked further in the bush but the GPS said 50-51

I used to keep a diary of all animals shot, but haven't kept up with it in the past few years. I would say given the country I generally hunt, I would think my average would be around that 250-300 yards or thereabouts.

@mawzer308 - your averages are in line that with the infamous LR shot at 186 yards

My first deer many years ago was around 200 meters with a really flogged out 303 and open sights. Since then they have all been closer and at a guess the average is 30-40 metres. I have shot open country a lot but for me bush hunting gives more enjoyment

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

pity this wasnt a poll...........purely to give newbe a chance to see some real world figures from fellas who arent still wet behind ears...counter the sales person hype or utube unreality shows.

It can be disturbing, when you talk to young guys who truly believe that those vids/shows, are the norm. this ties in with the new breed of hunter, who doesnt have any Family-experience of real/normal hunting/stalking. They really should be 'strongly' encouraged to join NZDS, or at least a club , for a year or so , upon receiving their license. This might also translate into safer practices, and therefore, less knee-jerk-reactions from Govt.

Originally Posted by Pop Shot

I used to keep a diary of all animals shot, but haven't kept up with it in the past few years. I would say given the country I generally hunt, I would think my average would be around that 250-300 yards or thereabouts.

@mawzer308 - your averages are in line that with the infamous LR shot at 186 yards

Haha yip going back a few years, just starting to stretch the barrel back then.

I love seeing the camo legends on social media and YouTube shooting deer at 600+ with chassis rifles then pulling hand signals at the camera. Probably be like lost lambs if they had to go into the bush to hunt.

Note: I am definitely no expert hunter but I don't think it is a good look if that is what new hunters are seeing and thinking is the norm

agree its like watching maimai with 5 people all empty berretta's/Benelli's at 4 mallards...20-25 shots later 3 drop.....if enough people think thats the normal way of doing things,the ammunition companies make a huge profit...maybe why the TV shows are sponsored ammunition.. really easy to shoot off stuff you didnt have to pay for.

Up until about 15y ago the the vast majority would have been under 150y and most of them under 50y.
Over the last 10 years I struggle to think of one I have shot outside of the roar that are under 200y with most shots 200-400 and a couple out just over 500y.
Due entirely to improvement in my gear enabling a different style of hunting and generally letting someone else get the first animal.

It’s nice knowing the gear we have is good gear indeed. My poppa couldn’t ‘hit a barn door at 50 paces’ and that’s hardly an exaggeration lol.
These scopes and projectiles change it all really and it’s a real treat, when I do my south trips each year I put the time in for longer ranges.
Where and how I hunt my furtherest shot over the last few years would be 300m and the 90% would be well under 50m.


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