I had some friends over discussing past hunts and the subject came up about memorable mule deer......
Ive found that most guys I hunt with should never attempt a shot over about 300 yards simply because they have never had the opportunity to shoot at similar ranges, and have zero experience making shots at similar ranges.
first some back-ground info...It was back in the early 1970s and Id just gotten my 340wby the year before this and I was young , gullible and believed a great deal of the elk hunting articles Id read , Id spent a great deal of time at the local range, sighting in my rifle and finding the best hand loads, etc. and Id printed out and laminated a matching ballistics drop chart that was taped to my rifle stock. I had a bi-pod similar to my current ,Harris 27" swivel bi-pod mounted and a good sling and Id sighted in exactly 3.5" high at 100 yards , the weatherby rifle was pillar block bedded professionally and easily kept 1"-1.2" groups even though my skill level was not nearly what it would be later. I had a baush and lomb 4x12x scope mounted in weaver rings, and I was convinced that anything I saw inside of 600 yards was easily shot.
http://www.harrisbipods.com/HB25CS.html
most of my elk were shot from a sitting position with this bi-pod at over 100 yard but under 250 yards, or at very close range shooting off hand (usually under 60 yards)
now we (JACK AND I) had been hunting rather hard near eagle co. for several days for mule deer and on this particular morning I had walked up a logging road several miles in the predawn darkness ,occasionally stopping to eat an apple that was 90% frozen, and being amazed at how hard it was for a florida guy used to near sea level to walk more than about 50 yards up a old road grade without stopping to breath, and after about 2 miles of walking I reached what in the darkness appeared to be a rather open field, in the occasional moon light thru the cloud cover,I was now sitting on a large fallen tree trunk and leaning against my day-pack as the sun barely lit the horizon, it had snowed very lightly last night and there was what looked like beads of ground styro-foam on the ground in spots (snows not always in flakes) I was resting and wishing Id known too opened my jacket more, when walking because Id begun to perspire , due to exertion, and thats not good once you stop, and need to stay warm.
I was watching a large, older clear cut that had begun to grow back, and had found a spot where I could remain just below the ridge line , looking over the crest into a shallow sloping clearing and I was seated under some sparse conifer branches for cover,making me very difficult to see from the clear cut area, I was watching as I was actually not on that areas slope but just over the ridge line
I was mostly wondering why, Id been rather stupid too rush up here, to this location and then sit and freeze to death as a result when, I heard muffled gunshots in the distance.
after about 15 minutes the light was good enough to make out the far slope , but nothing but a few chip monks were moving so far.
after about 20 more minutes I spotted several doe deer in a group trotting/briskly walking away from the direction Id heard the shots from earlier.
I was keeping busy watching my breath smoke in the bitter cold crisp air and wondering if my partner had even gotten out of the tent yet, as when Id gotten up earlier I decided to get dressed and walk in rather than listen to him snore any more (try never to hunt with guys that snore loudly, you don,t get a good nights sleep)
over the next hour I saw several does and a few small mule deer bucks but nothing I was sure was worth shooting, until about 8am.
the wind was just starting to pick up enough so you could barely feel it, when I noticed a couple more does out on the far slope, I was watching them , when I eventually noticed a large legal mule deer buck walking behind the group, , I placed my day-pack behind and under the rifle butt and extended the bi-pod and snuggled into a prone position, and watched the deer which were at about 600 yards out but moving diagonally a bit closer, just then my hunting partner started walking over, he could see I was looking like I was about to shoot so luckily he didn,t make a great deal of noise as he approached but I was afraid the deer would notice him,but he and I were effectively barely into the drainage the road we walked in on was in not the drainage and shallow clear cut I was watching, just over the crest.
he sat down and got out a spotting scope and tri-pod I pointed out the deer which was now looking in our direction, I don,t think he could see us but he may have heard us, the wind was not in his favor so he darn sure could not have scented us.
I decided to take the shot and judged the range to be just over 500 yards so looking at my drop table and assuming the deer was 3 feet tall at the front shoulder, I steady the vertical cross hair on the front leg and judged the horizontal one to be exactly the same distance as the deer was tall from hoof to back line above the deers back line and slowly squeezed of a shot ......(this is where you learn not to shoot a 340 wby prone crawling up to close to the scope and yes I got a good weatherby eye-brow scar and blood on my new jacket)
The deer was no ware to be seen, I never saw him fall and I never saw him run, so I asked my partner who, said he was so busy watching me flop around and bleed, that he had not noticed where the deer went either, (that was a lie, he saw it drop on the spot but I did not find that out until months later) so I held a couple napkins on my eyebrow to stop the blood and told him to go look for the deer while I directed him to the deers location, as I could clearly see where he was standing when I shot...he walked out to the location following, what I'm sure he thought was, my frantic orange vest waving directional support,as a guide. but kept indicating he saw no blood or deer.. frustrated I walked the 545 counted paces to where I found him sitting on my mule deer ....still swearing with a big grin that he had zero Idea where I was shooting, because this mule deer he was sitting on must have died laughing at the ridiculous idea I could actually have punched him thru both lungs at that distance, there was no other logical explanation for the dead deer!
now I didn,t hit that deer exactly where I aimed the bullet hit a bit further back and a bit lower than I had planed , but it zipped thru over the heart and under the spine and about 6-7 inches behind the front leg, but I was still rather pleased with my shooting (YES I later found out It was partly luck trying to duplicate it on targets at 500 yards where keeping a 6" group for 5 shots is reasonably good field shooting) but when your young you just know you can do almost anything. Ive since tried to limit shots to no more than 350 yards and where I usually hunt thats not an issues as shots over 200 yards are rather rare!
THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE AREA I HUNT FREQUENTLY FOR ELK
LOWER CANYON
upper canyon
Ive hunted DEEP CREEK, and GRIZZLY CREEK and several surrounding drainage areas in the white river , and similar canyons for DECADES
for decades most years when I hunt ELK in Colorado,Ive hunted most of the canyons around EAGLE,DOTSERO,GYPSUM, and those areas north and south of RIFLE,CRAIG and MEEKER
http://www.mapquest.com/satellite-maps/gypsum-co/
If you stuck a pin in a map of Colorado in dotsero and swung a 70 mile radias arc around it, Ive probably hunted the vast majority of the canyons inside that 140 mile diameter circle, several times over the years that those individual areas were available to hunt, having experience in how game moves when under hunting pressure and where it tends to move too as it retreats to the more remote, less easily accessed and protected areas gives you some advantages
don,t get the idea youll need a long range magnum for most elk hunting, larger male elk are seldom stupid enough to hang out in open fields during full daylight hours , your far more likely to need to sneak thru thick timber slopes to locate elk, shots tend to be hurried and not at long range.
its been decades since any member of out elk hunt club has killed any elk at over 250-300 yards, and the last time we actually took the effort to calculate the average distance, it was in the high 80-90 yard range , thats probably got a great deal to do with the gradual shift from the 7mm and 300 mags many of the guys started with,to calibers like 358 win, 35 whelen, 45/70 and 450 marlin, and shorter carbine length weapons that has slowly taken place.
yes a good many guys started with a 30/06 and 180 grain-200 grain and 220 grain bullets and many of the older guys have stuck with that combo, and at least in our group the remington pump action 30/06 and 35 whelen, and BLR in 30/06 and 450 marlin and 358 win are very common.
my personal average is probably in the 70 yard range with several shot at under 35 yards
I usually have my 35 whelen, and 450 marlin rifles along, sometimes my 375 H&H carbine,
most of the areas I hunt look like these pictures
Ive found that most guys I hunt with should never attempt a shot over about 300 yards simply because they have never had the opportunity to shoot at similar ranges, and have zero experience making shots at similar ranges.
first some back-ground info...It was back in the early 1970s and Id just gotten my 340wby the year before this and I was young , gullible and believed a great deal of the elk hunting articles Id read , Id spent a great deal of time at the local range, sighting in my rifle and finding the best hand loads, etc. and Id printed out and laminated a matching ballistics drop chart that was taped to my rifle stock. I had a bi-pod similar to my current ,Harris 27" swivel bi-pod mounted and a good sling and Id sighted in exactly 3.5" high at 100 yards , the weatherby rifle was pillar block bedded professionally and easily kept 1"-1.2" groups even though my skill level was not nearly what it would be later. I had a baush and lomb 4x12x scope mounted in weaver rings, and I was convinced that anything I saw inside of 600 yards was easily shot.
http://www.harrisbipods.com/HB25CS.html
most of my elk were shot from a sitting position with this bi-pod at over 100 yard but under 250 yards, or at very close range shooting off hand (usually under 60 yards)
now we (JACK AND I) had been hunting rather hard near eagle co. for several days for mule deer and on this particular morning I had walked up a logging road several miles in the predawn darkness ,occasionally stopping to eat an apple that was 90% frozen, and being amazed at how hard it was for a florida guy used to near sea level to walk more than about 50 yards up a old road grade without stopping to breath, and after about 2 miles of walking I reached what in the darkness appeared to be a rather open field, in the occasional moon light thru the cloud cover,I was now sitting on a large fallen tree trunk and leaning against my day-pack as the sun barely lit the horizon, it had snowed very lightly last night and there was what looked like beads of ground styro-foam on the ground in spots (snows not always in flakes) I was resting and wishing Id known too opened my jacket more, when walking because Id begun to perspire , due to exertion, and thats not good once you stop, and need to stay warm.
I was watching a large, older clear cut that had begun to grow back, and had found a spot where I could remain just below the ridge line , looking over the crest into a shallow sloping clearing and I was seated under some sparse conifer branches for cover,making me very difficult to see from the clear cut area, I was watching as I was actually not on that areas slope but just over the ridge line
I was mostly wondering why, Id been rather stupid too rush up here, to this location and then sit and freeze to death as a result when, I heard muffled gunshots in the distance.
after about 15 minutes the light was good enough to make out the far slope , but nothing but a few chip monks were moving so far.
after about 20 more minutes I spotted several doe deer in a group trotting/briskly walking away from the direction Id heard the shots from earlier.
I was keeping busy watching my breath smoke in the bitter cold crisp air and wondering if my partner had even gotten out of the tent yet, as when Id gotten up earlier I decided to get dressed and walk in rather than listen to him snore any more (try never to hunt with guys that snore loudly, you don,t get a good nights sleep)
over the next hour I saw several does and a few small mule deer bucks but nothing I was sure was worth shooting, until about 8am.
the wind was just starting to pick up enough so you could barely feel it, when I noticed a couple more does out on the far slope, I was watching them , when I eventually noticed a large legal mule deer buck walking behind the group, , I placed my day-pack behind and under the rifle butt and extended the bi-pod and snuggled into a prone position, and watched the deer which were at about 600 yards out but moving diagonally a bit closer, just then my hunting partner started walking over, he could see I was looking like I was about to shoot so luckily he didn,t make a great deal of noise as he approached but I was afraid the deer would notice him,but he and I were effectively barely into the drainage the road we walked in on was in not the drainage and shallow clear cut I was watching, just over the crest.
he sat down and got out a spotting scope and tri-pod I pointed out the deer which was now looking in our direction, I don,t think he could see us but he may have heard us, the wind was not in his favor so he darn sure could not have scented us.
I decided to take the shot and judged the range to be just over 500 yards so looking at my drop table and assuming the deer was 3 feet tall at the front shoulder, I steady the vertical cross hair on the front leg and judged the horizontal one to be exactly the same distance as the deer was tall from hoof to back line above the deers back line and slowly squeezed of a shot ......(this is where you learn not to shoot a 340 wby prone crawling up to close to the scope and yes I got a good weatherby eye-brow scar and blood on my new jacket)
The deer was no ware to be seen, I never saw him fall and I never saw him run, so I asked my partner who, said he was so busy watching me flop around and bleed, that he had not noticed where the deer went either, (that was a lie, he saw it drop on the spot but I did not find that out until months later) so I held a couple napkins on my eyebrow to stop the blood and told him to go look for the deer while I directed him to the deers location, as I could clearly see where he was standing when I shot...he walked out to the location following, what I'm sure he thought was, my frantic orange vest waving directional support,as a guide. but kept indicating he saw no blood or deer.. frustrated I walked the 545 counted paces to where I found him sitting on my mule deer ....still swearing with a big grin that he had zero Idea where I was shooting, because this mule deer he was sitting on must have died laughing at the ridiculous idea I could actually have punched him thru both lungs at that distance, there was no other logical explanation for the dead deer!
now I didn,t hit that deer exactly where I aimed the bullet hit a bit further back and a bit lower than I had planed , but it zipped thru over the heart and under the spine and about 6-7 inches behind the front leg, but I was still rather pleased with my shooting (YES I later found out It was partly luck trying to duplicate it on targets at 500 yards where keeping a 6" group for 5 shots is reasonably good field shooting) but when your young you just know you can do almost anything. Ive since tried to limit shots to no more than 350 yards and where I usually hunt thats not an issues as shots over 200 yards are rather rare!
THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE AREA I HUNT FREQUENTLY FOR ELK
LOWER CANYON
upper canyon
Ive hunted DEEP CREEK, and GRIZZLY CREEK and several surrounding drainage areas in the white river , and similar canyons for DECADES
for decades most years when I hunt ELK in Colorado,Ive hunted most of the canyons around EAGLE,DOTSERO,GYPSUM, and those areas north and south of RIFLE,CRAIG and MEEKER
http://www.mapquest.com/satellite-maps/gypsum-co/
If you stuck a pin in a map of Colorado in dotsero and swung a 70 mile radias arc around it, Ive probably hunted the vast majority of the canyons inside that 140 mile diameter circle, several times over the years that those individual areas were available to hunt, having experience in how game moves when under hunting pressure and where it tends to move too as it retreats to the more remote, less easily accessed and protected areas gives you some advantages
don,t get the idea youll need a long range magnum for most elk hunting, larger male elk are seldom stupid enough to hang out in open fields during full daylight hours , your far more likely to need to sneak thru thick timber slopes to locate elk, shots tend to be hurried and not at long range.
its been decades since any member of out elk hunt club has killed any elk at over 250-300 yards, and the last time we actually took the effort to calculate the average distance, it was in the high 80-90 yard range , thats probably got a great deal to do with the gradual shift from the 7mm and 300 mags many of the guys started with,to calibers like 358 win, 35 whelen, 45/70 and 450 marlin, and shorter carbine length weapons that has slowly taken place.
yes a good many guys started with a 30/06 and 180 grain-200 grain and 220 grain bullets and many of the older guys have stuck with that combo, and at least in our group the remington pump action 30/06 and 35 whelen, and BLR in 30/06 and 450 marlin and 358 win are very common.
my personal average is probably in the 70 yard range with several shot at under 35 yards
I usually have my 35 whelen, and 450 marlin rifles along, sometimes my 375 H&H carbine,
most of the areas I hunt look like these pictures