Average shot distance and state ?

[willfrye027]

My California deer have mostly been between 250-375 yards. Hunting black tails it really helps to be able to shoot 400 yards because you often do not have much time to make a stalk before they head into thick cover at first light. Being able to shoot comfortably 200-400 yards will probably help you kill more game. I personally have never needed to shoot past 400 or missed an opportunity by limiting myself to 400 yards with my 30-06. If you are still hunting some of the more heavily forested zones in CA then you don’t need to shoot far.

 

[elkguide]

Idaho. Montana. Wyoming.

Shots have been from 10 yards to 580 yards.
I've used mostly .300 Win Mags. An occasional deer shot with a 7mm08 or a .300 RUM.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Thanks all for the great points of reference. While I agree that bow hunters have success, since I'm starting out I'm going to err on the side of capitalizing on the opportunities that present themselves and get a rifle and train to be rock solid up to 400 yds.

Agree that while plenty of guys hunt elk with 6.5 cm, I'm thinking I'd get a .300 win mag for elk and whatever else I'd want a larger caliber for. The Kimber Mountain Ascent in .300 win mag felt great when mounting it to my shoulder in the shop.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

I hunt SoCal A-Zone and D-Zones, you should be able to make shots to 400yds. My shots over the last few seasons were from 125yds-450yds.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Pulled the trigger on a Kimber Mountain Ascent in 6.5 cm (Montana was a 2-3 month wait and love the feel of soft touch MA stock). Now I just need to practice until rock solid and get to know well some NorCal areas and find some WY areas for Pronghorn.

Cheers and thanks!