My first German Roe was real close. I was giving up hope, it was getting real dark (German dark) and when I was considering packing up and leaving deer stand, I glanced down and a young buck was nibbeling just below me.

I had to wait until he was walking away so he wouldn't be so danged close. On 3x he filled the scope so much I really had to stiffle a laugh, I felt so bad for him, I almost let him go..............but I didn't:eek:


I didn't even consider it in yards or meters, but feet, good thing I was only armed with a .222Remington.

Where I hunted in the Aderondacks, the average range is 25y, or less. There isnt many spots where you could a get 50y shot, even if you wanted to. Ive stalked deer as close as 15ft. Most of them were doe. Doe are quite aloof in my area. They must know we arnt permited to shoot them (shrug).

The closest I have ever shot was straight down from the tree I was in. so maybe 15-20 feet. The closest I have ever stalked was maybe 10-15 yards. The deer was just over the crest of a knoll and I was able to get to the top of the hill and just broke the crest of the hill on my belly crawl when I took the shot.

Had a buck about three or four years ago that started to eat my ground blind (made of fresh foliage). I had to scare it off so I could shoot it.

The closest I have taken one is about 10 yards myself. Such a shame that I was squirrel hunting and lost the whole right shoulder because of the damage the buckshot did. (I always keep a couple o buckshot in my watch pocket when squirrel hunting.)

GoodOlBoy

Two years ago I shot a small buck (225 lbs) at 6 feet while I was a watcher on a drive.

Once while still-hunting in a light rain with splotchy snow still on the ground, I was about to put my foot down on a patch of brown grass, when the grass turned into a doe, and got up and ran away. I didn't have a doe tag, so had to let it go.

I suppose my closest still-hunted animal kill was around 10-15 yds.

Closest i have stalked one is about 30 yards or so during BP season.

The funniest/most irratating, and closest one was about 8 years ago in SW oklahoma, south of reed crossing, near magnum/altus oklahoma.

very heavy mesquite, and ravines. was a long day kinda wet, and cold. bad bad day over all, everything that could go wrong went wrong.

was walking back out close to dusk, follwing a ravine. Cussing up a storm, smoking a cig, making all kinds of racket, i just didnt care at the time.

I still have no idea how this doe didnt hear or smell me, but as i came around a corner in the ravine, she was barreling down it going the other way. actually ran into me, and with being offbalance from being so surprised, knocked me down, and she kept right on pounding ground as fast as she could.

the bad part is that a friends dad saw the whole thing from up on top of the hill not far away.

he teases me that i had one jump into my lap, and i still couldn't catch it :P

after that, and an incident i had with a cougar, and another where i stepped into the middle of a covey of quail before it went up around me, in that same ravine, he calls it "frank's place"

I hunt the cedar and balsam swamps here in Michigan where long shots are measured in feet. I`ve shot 3-4 deer close enought I could count the whiskers on their muzzles while useing a old brush blind I built 30 yrs ago - under 10-12 ft. I had one doe around 10 years ago come up stomping her foot with a fawn in tow so close I could have rapped her with the rifle. She knew I was there but until she got a good whiff of me just kept comeing one step closer. She finally decided she didn`t like what she saw and as far as I know is still running. I couldn`t have took her if I wanted, no doe tag, and she was watching me from the instant she stepped from the brush.
For a moment I was thinking of moveing over and offering her a seat next to me in the blind, she was almost in there with me.

not even five steps. the first deer i got with the bow was a spooked doe who came running at me looking over her shoulder as she came, we were both on the same trail in some real nasty stuff. when i realized she wasnt seeing me i drew back. at about 3X the length of my arrow she stopped and when she looked forward through my peep sight all i could see was her white through patch. off with the arrow a big exit between the shoulder blades she turned around and fell inside ten yards
exciting
kt

Kodiak Handgun Deer
 

I hunted Kodiak for most of the 27 falls I lived in Alaska, usually with a handgun. On a trip ten years ago I was sitting under a large spruce tree with my hunting partner eating lunch when he asked if I thought I could call in a deer. I gave a few blasts on the varmint call and went back to eating my sandwich. Five minutes later a buck walked around the tree and stared at us from about ten feet away. He couldn't decide what we were, and I pulled out the .300 Savage Contender and drew down on him. About this time he figured things weren't right and started to walk off quickly. I found the front of his neck in the 4x scope and dropped him at under 20 feet with a broken neck. Finished my lunch then got busy with the knife....

Quite a few years back, I was woodchuck hunting with a .22 rimfire rifle. Sitting with my back to a tree along a hedgerow, alfalfa field in front of me, woods behind me. Heard something behind me, but didn't move.
A young deer walked up beside me- he was looking out into the field. I gently reached over and poked him in the ribs with the muzzle of the rifle.:D
He went straight up into the air, came down, and tried to run in 5 directions at once.
I suppose it doesn't count as a shot, but it kept me laughing too hard to shoot for the rest of the evening.

Was 10 to 15 yards. The spectacular thing about the encounter was that the wife was carrying my deer rifle, elsewhere.

I had to make due with my Elk rifle. It's a 375 Holland & Holland.

That doe threw off a cloud of steam that was hard to believe. At close range, the wrath of that caliber can be a frightening thing to behold.

round here we got a 5 month deer season with a limit from september thru january.( bow then muzzleloader then rifle:) )
couldnt imagine huntin all year long. addamn! thatd be awesome:cool: !

5 months


weve got 3 months if you work it right and spend 300 plus on tags, one a resident tag and the other a noneresident take. thats the only way for us to get 2 deer tags within the state.

Short shots
 

I have taken two deer at inches range. One the gun was almost touching if it wasn't. The other I walked into a bunch(12-15) of deer laying in some ground cover. Was hunting on crop damage permits at the time and shot 3..one was so close I burned the hair on it's side. One heck of a big buck in the bunch but I couldn't shoot him at the time.:eek: