I Know This Is LRH... But What Is The Shortest Distance You Have Taken A Live Target?

I live up in the Ozark Mountains and there are trees everywhere here, therefore we get extremely few shots past 100 yds on deer, but that also means that deer can come right up on you in no time without you even realizing it.

My shortest shot that I have ever taken a whitetail deer is about 5 feet! Yep, 1.666 yds with a crossbow. What is your shortest shot?

This isn't the doe I shot at 5ft, but it shows how close they get.

Many decades ago and as a young man living in the South, I actually hunted on rare occasions with a spear. It was during my decade of being into survival training and such practices. I never killed a deer under 3 yards, but I have shot several small game animals with a handgun at 3-4 feet.

Mine was about 5 yards with a 28 Nosler on a small mule deer. Still-hunting through some timber during a major wind storm. All his senses were in shambles I'm sure. I didn't bump him or anything. Unslung my rifle and shot him almost point blank while he was still feeding.

del2les said:

Many decades ago and as a young man living in the South, I actually hunted on rare occasions with a spear. It was during my decade of being into survival training and such practices. I never killed a deer under 3 yards, but I have shot several small game animals with a handgun at 3-4 feet.

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Many people tell me I ought to try a spear out of this stand, but I'm a meat hunter and I want to make absolutely sure the animal is going to expire as quickly and ethically as possible. I wouldn't trust my aim and arm enough anymore... unless I jumped down on it, and I'm far too old now to try any of that nonsense hahahahaha.

Pastor Gun.zales said:

Many people tell me I ought to try a spear out of this stand, but I'm a meat hunter and I want to make absolutely sure the animal is going to expire as quickly and ethically as possible. I wouldn't trust my aim and arm enough anymore... unless I jumped down on it, and I'm far too old now to try any of that nonsense hahahahaha.

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LOL......Yea, I would not recommend jumping down on one, especially at our age now.

Like you, my throwing arm now isn't the arm of that young 20 something I was then, but back in those days, I spent a fair amount of time throwing a lot of various weapons. Let me just say, a good, balanced and very sharp spear is extremely deadly. I handmade one with a 10" African style steel blade point that was about 2-1/2 inches wide at its center and very sharp. Few, if any, arrow heads bled a deer faster, but I always kept the potential throws fairly short.

Last fall, shot this buck at about 3 feet with a longbiw during the rut. I grunted just before I entered the woods and he came tearing out of the woods charging right at me.....I only got to about 3/4 draw before letting it rip. Hit him in the neck and (lucky for me) it nicked the spine, he dropped in his tracks.

del2les said:

LOL......Yea, I would not recommend jumping down on one, especially at our age now.

Like you, my throwing arm now isn't the arm of that young 20 something I was then, but back in those days, I spent a fair amount of time throwing a lot of various weapons. Let me just say, a good, balanced and very sharp spear is extremely deadly. I handmade one with a 10" African style steel blade point that was about 2-1/2 inches wide at its center and very sharp. Few, if any, arrow heads bled a deer faster, but I always kept the potential throws fairly short.

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I built this for a grizzly hunt but the Covid pandemic hit and my trip got canceled.

wvbearhunter said:

I built this for a grizzly hunt but the Covid pandemic hit and my trip got canceled.View attachment 569637

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I would remove the T section, so the blade and shaft can penetrate much deeper. But that's just me.
Nice blade though.

About 9", groundhog in its hole. Gun muzzle was about 1' down the hole in the ground

FrogFire7 said:

About 9", groundhog in its hole. Gun muzzle was about 1' down the hole in the ground

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Concussion kill.

I was about 17, hunting my first deer season since getting married, hunting in Louisiana behind my Grandparent's house. It was raining……this should surprise no one that knows anything about Louisiana.

I was in rain gear, hunting a small power line right of way, standing, backed into a bit of brush to hide me.

I'm sure that I just sensed the presence of something behind me, rather than having heard it…..rain drops on leaves and all.

I very slowly turned my upper body to the left…..there at about 3 or 4 feet was a Fox slowly inching toward me. Very surprised and even a bit startled…..moments later it received a round from my .308 Win. This stopped it's advance!

I'm not certain of why it was coming my way, just pure happenstance, maybe I had made a slight sound and it thought there was a small animal nearby, or was it rabid.

It didn't appear to be rabid…..but, who knows!

There have been a several of others….. all predators!

Another fox….I had climbed into a tree using it as my deer stand. I was only about 10 feet or so above the ground, when a fox came sneaking by right beneath me! Same .308 Win…..same results!

The wife and I were elk hunting in Lincoln County, Wyoming. We had split up, I was on an elevated edge of a large Willow covered bottom. I was standing on a vertical drop of about 10 to 15 feet, with the bottom of the drop covered by loose rock. I head hooves on rocks to my right, out of sight around a bend in the drop I was standing on.

Suddenly a doe Mule Deer ran past directly beneath me. Only yards behind her was a coyote in pursuit. The coyote came to an abrupt stop directly beneath me….I guess he winded me. Looking straight down on him, a 300 grain Sierra from my old .375 H&H ended his deer chasing career!

The last, another coyote, was called in by my mouth call. He appeared from nowhere, right in front of me at about 10 yards. I'm not certain who was more surprised him or me. Perhaps him, when his hide was perforated by a 285 grain cast bullet from my .375 AI. To date…..my only coyote with cast bullets from that rifle!

I'm not certain if the stories should have been told, saving the closest encounter for last or place them in chronological order…..as I did! memtb

del2les said:

Many decades ago and as a young man living in the South, I actually hunted on rare occasions with a spear. It was during my decade of being into survival training and such practices. I never killed a deer under 3 yards, but I have shot several small game animals with a handgun at 3-4 feet.

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I wanted to try bear hunting over bait with a spear…..but, a call to the G&F determined that it was illegal in Wyoming! memtb

About 20-30 feet on a bull elk that had been spooked, it was self defense, he was running right at me and stopped, using a 7mm short mag with a 140 tsx, shot him in the chest, bullet exited out the back quarter somewhere.

del2les said:

Concussion kill.

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Whatever it was, it sure made the whole front end pretty mushy