Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Easykeeper on February 17, 2012, 07:44:00 AM
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What is the closest you have had a deer, or other game animal, and been able to pull off a shot?
Closest for me was not that close, I'm usually in a tree and like them out a bit from the base for a better shot angle. About ten yards is my closest. I really like hunting from the ground though, and intend to do it more in the future. Very intense. I have yet to get one from the ground and usually get busted. I hope to remedy that soon.
A recent thread on the big archery site rubbed me the wrong way. It was about the longest shot you had made on a deer or other game animal. The whole idea seemed to be the opposite of what bowhunting is about. Lots of chest pounding answers about 60-70 yard and longer shots that sounded more like luck than skill and certainly showing less than good judgement. There were a few sensible posts but they got lost in the idiocy. The whole thread seemed to epitomize the disturbing trend in archery hunting the last few years.
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My closest shot with a recurve was this year--8 yards from the base of the tree. I started to shoot at 4 yards but I could see the Doe's eyelashes and figured she'd also see mine.
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Four yards from the ground. The ground hog only went five yards.
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I have video of a 6x6 elk that I tapped in the nose with my video camera...no shot as me and my hunting Buddy had already tagged out...best hunt experience of my life :)
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A buck deer from 3yds on the ground while I was standing against a tree....I grunted him in and I could see his eyelashes as he walked by...drew and shot faster than ever....he went 20yds and flipped over a deadfall and it was over!
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I have stalked and shot 2 different mulie bucks in their bed at 6 steps each. Heart pounding!
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8 yards. Once on a hog from the ground and a few on times deer from trees.
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Inside of 15 yards from base of tree. Black bear in Northern Ontario. Learned something that day for my first time ever in a tree stand. An archer has to bend at the waist or his/her arrow goes over the bear's back :knothead: Actually took me two bears to figure that out !! Think I should change my Trad name from Osage to Todd No Bears :banghead:
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6' feet on an old doe
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about a yard and a half on a wild pig. from the ground.
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A buck I snuck up on. He was bedded in CRP. I had to get to about 4 or 5 yards before I could shoot.
Bill
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A Squirrel at approximately four yards.
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9 Feet. I had stalked near a group of 7 whitetail and was watching them while using a huge white oak to hide behind. A year and a half old 7 pointer came walking by and I was able to " squirrel" around the oak as he came down the trail. Wind was perfect and the ground was wet and silent. He held up behind the giant oak, I actually could see his back legs sticking out behind the tree and had to time it when he started to move so I could draw. I never thought it would come together. I remember seeing his eyes say "oh crap" as the arrow was released and hit tight to his shoulder. One of my most memorable hunts. Just a lucky situation with a reverse handle Robertson longbow.
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A hog at 5 feet, was not my idea it was hers.
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A coyote at about 2 steps. One very surprised coyote. Her eyes got big as saucers when she figured out her problem.
And a turkey at about 4 yards.
But the biggest adrenaline rush was a huge black bear at 7 yards, from the ground.
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I shoot a deer at 4 yards but past on his smaller buddy at 2 yards.
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I set a goal for myself that has kept me from using any kind of blind.
I had the hardest but the best hunting this past season hunting from the ground with nothing between me and my quarry but air.
It was very hard to get a shot especially when more than one animal was present.
I only dropped my string twice all season and had clean misses on both.
There were a bunch of heart pounding moments with deer or turkeys under 10 yards of me, with the closest being a matter of a few feet.
Man! What a ride!! The rush was awesome!!
I met them on their level and in my mind counted coupe on several.
It didn't do anything about an empty freezer but I know where the store is if I get real hungry...lol
God bless,Mudd
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I forgot about the turkey at 1 foot. I was in a blind, and had to stand up part way and shoot through the window almost straight down.
I also called a badger in and shot it at 2 yards.
Coyote at 2 steps centaur! Sweet!
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I think I could learn a lot from some of you guys. Stalking a shooting a deer from a few feet...wow. I have a hard time getting that close when they come to me...LOL.
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Called a 5x5 bull elk in to 7 yds and heart shot him with my longbow. Missed a 200# boar hog at 4 yds. . . .I thought it was 5.
Mike
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I was set up in some rocks overlooking a small draw while hunting muleys along the Snake River breaks in southeastern Washington. Does and fawns had been moving up the draw all morning. I was feeling pretty good about my set up. Suddenly I felt a gust of wind focused on the back of my neck. I slowly turned my head to come face to face with a massive 8 pointer. He was young, but his rack was easily 30 inches wide; they grow em big in SE WA. We stared each other down for a few mintues. He was so close I could have reached out and poked him with an arrow. I never raised the bow to take a shot, but it was still one of the best days I've had hunting. I thought I was the hunter, but that muley stalked into within licking distance and I never new it. Good thing they don't eat meat! :D
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In my early compound days, 20 or so years ago (think I was still shooting fingers and aluminum), I was hunting from a 10' ladderstand and shot a doe about 4 inches from the ladder. Right between the shoulder blades...in retrospect it was a shot I never should have taken because of the angle. Fortunately, she only ran about 60 yards before she went down, we live and hopefully learn. I haven't had an opportunity yet with the trad equipment (just switched over last summer), but looking forward to some close encounters from the ground in the coming season.
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I guess 3 yards for a shot, but I have had deer sniff me while sitting on the ground. I often get deer close enough to touch with an extended arrow.
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My doe was 4 yds from the tree this year. Wouldn't recommend it but it worked out.
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Bull moose from the ground @ 6 yds. in Maine. 15 yd. recovery.
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gringol "Good thing they don't eat meat! :D "
I am so glad I wasn't drinking my coffee.....lol
Thanks for sharing.
God bless,Mudd
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I've arrowed hogs from the ground a number of times from 6 ft or closer.
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I've had some really close no-shot encounters. A hen turkey steped over my legs as I sat with them extended out in front of me. I touched a small white tail with an arrow once. I was tracking a buck I had shot and crept in on this one thinking it was him. The closet shot has been 2-3 yards from the base of the tree 12 feet up.
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Two seasons ago I was standing by a big oak along a old logging trail watching some deer in a field close to dusk.
I heard a noise behind me and a small doe walked so close to me I could have touched her with my bow. She was fixated on the deer in the field and had no clue I was there.
As she passed I pulled back but didn't loose the arrow. That was good enough for me and it was SO cool!!!
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I've had lots of animals closer but for actual kills, a deer at 3yards and a turkey from a blind just over a foot from my arrow before i drew the bow.
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Good stuff, Lefty. Getting close is the best part! Putting them on the ground is just a bonus.
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Deer=~8yards.
Squirrel=~1 yard lateral distance.
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this buck directly under me
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5214/5386380566_d1b9ce52bb.jpg)
I also shot a moose from 6 paces off the ground!
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A bear at seven yards and about the same on an elk. Once I had a nice bull elk so close I could have poked him with the end of my bow but couldn't shoot through the brush.
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Good stuff here. I shot a few deer and pigs inside the 10 yard mark. It’s really exciting when you get a critter close......stabow
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I shot a bear at four yards and a Javelina at 3-4 yards.
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4yds on a deer........2yds on a javi!
Bisch
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Originally posted by Bisch:
4yds on a deer......4yds on a turkey.......2yds on a javi!
Bisch
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A small buck at about 18". I had to lean backwards to draw my bow. Ran a snuffer through him and he went about 15-20 yards.
Hap
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Less than 6 feet on a whitetail doe. She was walking a field edge along a shallow ravine. I was tucked into some brush just below the lip. I was in full Camo with face paint. She spotted me and was curious. She walked right up to me and was getting ready to move into the ravine to get closer when I shot. I swear it was self defense! She was getting ready to sniff me at point blank range.
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The only times I have had a deer real close [less than 10 yards] I was tote'n a gun. One shot at a deer at 25 yards and that was in 1971.....I'm still at it!!
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My first deer kill back in 1977, I feel asleep sitting on a stump in the late afternoon. As I woke up a few cows were moving down a trail followed 2 young does. One bolted from the herd in my direction stopped about 6 feet from me. Shot and hit. Surprised both of us.
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The first "stickbow" deer I got was at 8 yds., I was in a tree stand back then.
While sittin' on a stool with my HBS on I had a big doe come up and sniffed me from behind. I can't seem to turn around slow enough for them. I spotted her peel out. She was at less tha 5 yards when I saw her.
2 years ago I had a big 6 pointer come over and check me out while I sat on the ground under a big cedar. We've gotta 4 point rule up here so he was safe. He came over to 8' and checked me out good. I think he was smellin' the cinammon gum I was chewin'. I just held my gloved hand in front of my face and tried to hide behind my bow. I think I need a fatter bow. :archer:
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With my compound, at 8 feet from a deadfall blind in N. Iowa. During the rut and he came in from behind me, downwind on a straight line to my decoy.
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Had a raccoon that climbed into a treestand with me, shot it at @ 3 feet when it jumped onto a limb beside me did not even get to full draw just picked bow up and shot.
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I've shot a number of deer still hunting (10-15')including a couple bedded down with rifle and muzzle loader (almost been run over a couple of times by deer being pushed by other hunters). I've been trying to duplicate it with my longbow and I'm getting close enough but the brush is so thick I haven't taken a shot - all would have been a sure thing with a rifle. FUN STUFF!
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Glenn
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Grunted in a young buck while sitting on the ground. He walked by at 3 yards and a chundoo arrow, Hunters Head shot from a Shadow longbow put him down in 30 yards.
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My first mule deer in his bed at 10 feet
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Originally posted by Jerry Jeffer:
I guess 3 yards for a shot, but I have had deer sniff me while sitting on the ground. I often get deer close enough to touch with an extended arrow.
This happened to me too. It was after dark and I was packing up my climber to head out and heard something coming up behind me. I froze, and even though I had my headlamp on it kept coming until I heard it sniff me from behind, just inches away. Bolted immediately, I turned and all I know is it was a deer, doe or small buck, hard to tell with the headlamp and it leaving at warp speed.
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Hey Todd!
You putting in for a Maine moose tag this year?
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4 yards from a tree stand. The arrow went in about two thirds the way up the body and came out just above the breast bone on the other side. The shot took out both lungs and nearly cleaved the heart into. It is my most memorable hunt as it was my first deer with a traditional bow.
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with a trad bow, I shot a hog at about 12 steps. for a deer, about 8 steps. I was in a treestand both times.
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Big cow Elk at 8 feet-she stopped on the other side of the bush, eyes wide and said uhoh!
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strait down from a tree. 5 yards from the ground.
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Mt. Goat 5yds
Stone Sheep 7 yds
Moose 3yds .............too close!
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Back in my wheelie days I had a doe stick her nose in my log pile ground blind, no way could I draw that awful contraption before she left.
Close to the same thing happened years later after I went totally selfbow, a canted bow and a quick snap shot put a nice 4 point in the freezer.
I hate to think of how many deer escaped unscathed from that boat anchor looking thing before I went traditional.
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Zero.
I had a caribou walking down a gulley and I was on my knees in the bottom. There was a puddle about 6-7 yards in front of me and I figured when I heard him splash in the puddle I would come up shooting.
What I didn't know was that my buddy spooked him and when I came up, he was at a full run right at me. I actually had to lean back as he went by. I shot with my string hand about my belly button and the arrow was in him befor it left the string.
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I snuck 80 yards to a bedded buck. I shot him at 8.
A pair of fawns ran at me in a clearing in a thicket. I shot the first one at 3 yards, and had to wave off the second.
While squirrel hunting, I had a 6 pointer pass within a bow length of me. Why not during deer season?? :knothead:
Killdeer
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12 feet all vertical . Had to put the lower limb between my legs to shoot straight down.
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Originally posted by LKH:
Zero.
I had a caribou walking down a gulley and I was on my knees in the bottom. There was a puddle about 6-7 yards in front of me and I figured when I heard him splash in the puddle I would come up shooting.
What I didn't know was that my buddy spooked him and when I came up, he was at a full run right at me. I actually had to lean back as he went by. I shot with my string hand about my belly button and the arrow was in him befor it left the string.
That's what you call up close and personal...
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Killed a bear at about 7 or 8 ft. a couple years ago at Bearquest. I was in a treestand but if you have ever been there you know Tom doesn't set them very high. I think the stand was maybe about 6 ft. high.
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A 6x7 elk- 8 to 10 feet
More hogs than I can remember at four or five yards
A whitetail buck on the ground at five yards
Many does that close
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I have had many, many deer within arms reach but like a stupid kid was always looking for big horns. Now I wish I could get one in within 20 yards and offer a shot. Usually its the latter that gives me problems, but next year is my year.
With that being said......
I shot a frog at 3 yards. I stalked up within inches and then backed off because i was too close :readit:
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Doe at 2 yds, buck at 5 yds. Havi at 4 yds.
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I love it! Great little stories all!
This is what bowhunting is about to me, how close you can get, not how far you can shoot.
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Closest for me was a small buck at about 3' on the ground. I had went hunting when the wind gusts were unreal. Decided to ground hunt, soon gave up and decided it was a waste of time so I just stretched out laying on the ground with my bow leaning against the tree at my feet. Here comes a small 8 pt walks right down the hill and stops beside me. I was laughing inside thinking any minute now he's gona make me out and bust out of there. Heck it's the first time I was looking up at a buck and see his man hood! Then I got worried his busting out might involve hurting me! He slowly looked at me laying there, then at my bow leaning against the tree and then just started walking off. Something clicked in me, figured what the heck jumped up grabbed my bow as the arrow was already nocked and fully expected to see him 50 yards farther down the hill. Suprised to see him standing on the other side of the tree my bow had been leaning on, drew back and let him have it. He never knew what hit him and ran down the hill and stopped at about 30 yards. Looked back up the hill towards me as if to say "what just happened" and then tipped over right there. I always called him my "laying down" buck.
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I guess a doe at 10 ft, or a coyote at 20 ft.
Both taken from the ground.
Both were over the top for exciting!!
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A wild pig at about 10 feet.
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Black bear at about 3 feet. He was a lot closer before I shot. Had to BAP him on the nose to get his head out of the blind. Shot him as he retreated.
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4 yards ground shot, 4 yards treestand, my closest "almost" shot, inches from the end of my arrow as a big doe ran 300 yards across a hayfield and right past the big round bale I was behind! By the time she cleared the end of the bale I didn't have time to release!! :D What a rush.
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Hey Larry, LKH. I sure hope you didn't put your caribou tag on that bou,,,,,,sounds like a clear cut case of DOLOP. LOL ( It is an Alaskan inside joke for you guys outside) Defense of life or property
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Mark Horne called in a 4x4 elk for me. He walked by at 2 yards....as he got past me I shot him at 4 yards.
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This thread is awesome. Thanks for the stories.
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Originally posted by Shedrock:
I love it! Great little stories all!
This is what bowhunting is about to me, how close you can get, not how far you can shoot.
Im with you all the way. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Oopps dont know what happened first times??
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Shot a doe afew years ago straight down arrow went through the spine centered the heart and out the bottom of the chest, she went straight down and never moved I had to jump off of the last step in order not to step on her.
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Nice buck 3 corn rolls over, back in 69.
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A deer at 10 yards.
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Rabbit 3 yds!
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Doe at four yards. She walked past me after staring through my soul. As I drew back, I heard a snort and watched in horror as a nice 8 pt caught my movement and took off.
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A mule deer buck (3x3) at three yards. I was crawling on the ground watching another deer. I turned around and there was a deer standing there. I shot from a very awkward position. He didn't go far. Gary
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Whitetail doe two corn rows, I was about to shoot one that was about 18 yards from the corn field I was sitting in and a bigger one stepped into my shooting lane as I came to full draw, so I adjusted and shot the close one. It still ran about 100 yards before going down anyway.
Last year a yearling that was getting chased by two dogs ran right into me, knocking me backwards against an oak, it hurt a bit on both sides. I missed the dog on the run at about twenty-five yards and lost an arrow over it all.
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Huntin' ground grizzlies last Spring on the rolling plains of central Montana, I drilled a beeg juan with a head shot using a TALON head at less than 36" - only came to half-draw and shot from the hip....
Keep the wind in your face!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
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Shinken I'd love to hear more about that story with all the details and in english...lol
God bless,Mudd
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I'm amazed by the stories of stalking and shooting deer in their beds. What a rush that must be. Awesome hunting skills.
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I snuck up on a bear in the black berries at 6 yards he bleed out in about 15 seconds. I have been close enough to deer to touch them and a doe once I could hear her stomach grumbling...to close for a shot though.
Mark
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I have shot two deer from the ground at less than 5 yards.
The first was a young six pointer. I spotted him from the top off a ridge and he was about halfway down the side. It was raining pretty good and I was making a sneak on him when I slipped on the wet leaves and fell down about 30 yards from him. When I landed on my butt he spun in a circle (swapping ends) and also slipped and fell! He ended up getting his little rack tangled up betweem two small trees and I ran in and shot him just as he got himself utangled. He ended up having only one eye, and must have spun to see me when I fell. I'm not real proud of that one but that is the way it happened. I still hear jokes from my buddy about having to find a blind buck tangled in brush to fill a tag.....
The second one was a young doe. I was walking through an area that had been heavily logged the year before, that was nothing but tree tops and muliflora rose. It was terribly thick and I had stood up on an old log to try to walk over some of it. When I jumped up there I spotted her bedded just ahead of me facing away. I knocked an arrow and literally walked down the log (maybe 3 feet off the ground) until I could get a shot right at 10 feet or so. She never knew I was around!
I'm also proud to say I once missed a good buck from five yards or so while sitting in a brush blind, I'm still not sure how I managed that one.
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I missed an eight point that was 4 yards from the tree that I was in 25 feet from the ground. Shot just over him. Man was I frustrated.
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Yea Brother Mudd,
It was a life-threatenin' situation! I thought for sure that the critter was gonna CHARGE me. It was a totally instinctive shot...and I am so thankful for those highly effective Red Feather Archery TALON heads!
Keep the wind in your face!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
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I shot a 14 point 165" whitetail below me 15 feet below my stand.
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A Big Mulie buck at 5 feet,straight down.
Back in 84 my wife bought me a Chek-mate Goldenhawk Longbow,had a hard time getting use to it ,snuck up to a gopher shot him at 3 feet,funny thing is I missed him twice at the same distance!
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A charging groundhog at zero feet! I jumped up and I shot straight down with my Abbott longbow. I hit the ground running and didn't stop until I was well down the trail. Some might say I let out a scream but I don't recall much about that.
There was an arrow sticking straight up from between the shoulders of the viscious beast! Yessss!
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A spike elk and a cow elk from 20 ft.2 consecutive years.Then didnt get another for 5 years,I think.
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Lots of really neat short stories in this thread. Close is so cool.
My first close one was a young buck. I had just finished hanging a stand and was stumping my way to a spot for an afternoon sit. I was pulling my arrow from the dirt when a bunch of deer came into the woods. One of them turned and walked down the draw and stopped maybe 10 ft to my right, looking away. Had to get a broadhead out and turn around to shoot him. My first caribou walked by at 4 ft but I let him get by before shooting. This guy was five steps from the tree; stand was about 7 ft up.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Fletcher610/DSCF0398.jpg)
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I was on the ground behind a blowdown rootball. Had a doe come straight at me within 4 yards. I had a few saplings in the way so I decided to wait 2 more steps and she would be in the clear. At that point she turned and walked straight away for 30 yds. That's bowhunting!
Within 2 minutes a 6 point came down the same trail but angled off toward where she went. He then decided to walk back toward me to less than 20 yds, but at that point knew something was up. I didn't shoot because I knew he would jump the string.
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Whitetail Deer: six steps
Blacktail Deer: 10 steps
Hog: 10 steps
Rabbit: 3 steps
Squirrel: 3 steps
Ground hog: 2 steps
Carp: arm's length
Bullfrog: arm's length
Coyote: 16 steps
Ptarmigan: 5 steps
Blue Grouse: 15 yard shot (the grouse was about 75 feet up a big spruce tree and I was standing on the edge of a huge cliff, shooting straight out in front of me.)
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Gopher ten inches. Ground squirrel Three feet, called in jackrabbits and cottontails three feet. Called in coyote shot at about five feet died almost in my lap. Had does come up and sniff me. Nothig big .
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A cow elk at 4 yards,from the ground, she never know I was there
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I messed up a shot on a stalk this past season on a 160" whitetail. I was hunting on the ground and had the buck I had patterned walk into the treeline I was sitting in. Instead of the normal route that he took back to his bedding area, he turned behind a brush pile... I relocated anticipating him coming out into the open trail about twenty yards away. As it turned out, he somehow negotiated through the brush piles and ended up looking "through" me at five yards. I rushed the shot and hit a limb, grazing him. Drew blood, but he was fine afterwards. The night before, I had him at about ten yards on the ground, but he needed to take about three more steps for me to make the shot. The wind had just shifted a couple of minutes earlier, as it does frequently just at sundown. He winded me and turned and walked across an open field directly away from me. It is hard to believe a deer of that caliber was making that many mistakes. I saw him walk slowly across an open winter wheat field four days in a row during the rut. Not a care in the world. Gun season opened, and I never had the opportunity to hunt him again. I would be surprised if he is still around after the gun season.
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I shot a doe from the ground at 3 yards running by me last fall.
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I killed a deer 7 yards form the base of my tree, and a groundhog about 4 yards from me.
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Buck deer, 9 paces.
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8' from my tree while I was 10' up. Almost straight down. Not a shot I'll do again but I recovered this deer less than 30 yards from my tree.
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A buck deer on the ground at about 3 yards, heart pumping, very exciting.
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(http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n486/Shedrock1/Moose.jpg)
I was waiting in a bedding area whee I knew a couple bulls liked to hang out during the day. I found this guy moving through the trees. He was only 20 yards or so, but everytime he stopped, there was trees in the way. I was on my knees and started to turn to my right, when my knee broke a stick with a loud pop. This bull walked right up to me about 5 steps away, and gave me a stare down head on. I was shaking so bad, and my heart was pounding so hard, I thought he would surely bust. After what seemed like 10 minutes, really only about 2 minutes, he turned broadside and got an arrow through his heart. He went 22 steps and fell. What a rush! I thought he was gonna stamp me to death!
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First deer I ever killed with recurve was about 3 steps. I was walking down a fire-break and she came down the same break from the other direction. I stepped behind a big pine and when she got even with me I shot her.
Have had quiet a few walk under me when I was low in a tree stand (about head high) that I could have reached down with my bow and touched them.
I was packing a deer out this yr. and had to lay down to rest when I rolled over on my side there was a hen turkey about a yard and 4' from me. She just stood there for a while and we looked at each other. Finally just walked off clucking with another hen that was about 3 steps behind her.
Walked up on two different hogs so close I could have touched them with my bow.
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A turkey at 8yds.
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I shot two deer that were 10 feet(Buck) and 25 feet(doe) away from me. I like to hunt on the ground since I have a fear of heights. I bought a climbing tree stand about 10 years ago and was never able to use because I was so nervous. I like to kjeep my feet on hard ground.
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(http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z135/jrvalc/100_2685.jpg)
Shot this bear last fall from a stand less than 6 feet up. When my Dad walked up he asked me where the bear was located when I shot... I reached out and handed him my 64" Grizzlybows longbow and told him "Right where you're standing!"
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About 4 inches on a doe. My cousin was about 40 yards ahead of me he jumped a doe in a tornadoe torn up blowdown at his feet the deer ran my way I came to full draw as it brushed my stabilizer I let loose I'm glad he was there cause no one believes that story except him
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Sat down at a tree at 11:00, more to sleep than to hunt. Just stuck my decoy in the ground just beyond my feet. Called once and drifted off to sleep. Woke up as a Tom was mounting my decoy just beyond my feet. I waited for him to turn away, he was "full strut". When his head was behind his fan, I shot between my feet. He was less than a yard from my boots. He took a few steps and gave it up. My Dad was on the other side of the same tree and didn't wake up until I shot.
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Yearling doe in CRP at arms lenght!
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I had a spike horn sniff the tip of my broad head when I was in a ground blind. (it is not legal to shoot spike horns)
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7 steps for me on a doe.
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A rabbit on Saturday that I should have tried to step on rather than shoot.
The buck in my avatar pic was at 5 yards.
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about 2 yards on a chipmunk