Extreme short range choice

[Doc7]

Hello all,

I have a food plot coming up in hunt club land. It is a small 50 ft X 70 ft long loading deck in an area surrounded by THICK 12-15 foot tall pine. I will put a ground blind at the entrance to the food plot where the other direction (at a slight angle to the linear direction of the food plot) is a line back to the trail where my truck will be parked of approx 100 yards. So max shot I could have is 100 yards behind me or 20-25 yards in front of me depending on if a deer is in the food plot or on the path I walk in on.

Let's assume I can't buy or sell anything for the upcoming season.

I have a muzzleloader which I of course will use for black powder season, and a choice of a 20 ga rifled barrel shotgun which shoots 2 3/4" Accutips extremely accurately and a 7mm-08 Savage 11 rifle.

Scope combinations include a cheap fixed 4X that last year I put on the muzzleloader and a 3-9x Vortex Viper.

Would you use the Shotgun or the Rifle at this short range? Is the rifle unacceptable for use or if a shot presents itself from single digit yards is it acceptable?

 

[LoonWulf]

The scope will likely be more limiting than the rifle at extreme short range, its doable tho. Personally id prolly keep the variable on the 7-08, the 4x on the muzzy, and get a 1-4 for the 20ga. Ive got a brunton 1.5-5 on my .458 socom that i got off ebay for bout 150 would work quite well in that application.

 

[jmr40]

I use the same rifle regardless of whether or not I expect shots at 4 yards or 400 yards. Yes, I've taken shots at 4 yards. A 3-9X scope on 3X is doable at extreme close range if it has enough eye relief to shoot well with both eyes open. Some scopes are harder to work with than others and most cheap scopes don't cut it. Woods hunting can be very dark well before sundown. A decent scope works better than anything else in dark woods.

A 1-4X scope set on 1X is actually faster and easier to use up close than irons or dot sights. With it set on 4X you have enough magnification for 300+ yards. I tend to use Zeiss or Leupold 3-9X scopes on my all around rifles. Both of those are easy to use with both eyes open and are not much of a handicap up close. My rifles are compact 308 bolt guns that are easy to use in thick brush or tree stands.

The 7-08 will be about ideal. Vortex are good quality scopes, but short on eye relief and not easy to use with both eyes open. If you can make that work you'll be fine.

 

[Leanwolf]

In my opinion you'd be well suited there with your 7mm/08.

Good luck.

L.W.

 

[matrem]

They are exactly equally acceptable at single digit distance.

The only advantage of one over the other may come at hundreds of feet, where the 7 /08 would have a decided advantage,

Up close. Which can you get on target with quickest and feel more comfortable using?

 

[WestKentucky]

For short range I would go with the 20 but at the same time the 7-08 has merit. 20 is a big hunk of lead at low speed which can buck some of the brush in that thicket. Connect with it and your doing serious damage and that deer is going down. 7-08 can quickly dispatch a deer too, but will likely fragment. I have seen some extreme close shots from my .270 and 7-08 will make similar messes...I would be looking strongly at the 20 but if there's even a remote chance of a longer shot through the trees I would be taking the 7-08.

 

[matrem]

Ain't buying that 7 /08 fragmenting bit.

With proper bullets, that 7/ 08 will act at ten feet like a 7 mag does at 300 feet.

 

[gspn]

I'd plan for the longest shot, which you say is 100 yards. Pick the one you're most comfortable with at that range and be done.

I've taken shots at 5 yards with a 3-9 power scope...I had no problems.

This is just a 100 yard shot, don't overthink it.

 

[rodwha]

What about your muzzleloader? It's no doubt good out to 100 yds as well regardless of projectile. And this would cause less meat damage than the 7mm or the 20 ga most likely.

 

[Grumulkin]

I've taken shots at 5 yards with a 3-9 power scope...I had no problems.

This is just a 100 yard shot, don't overthink it.

Agreed.

I shot a couple of deer within 5 yards with a 3-9X scope set on 9X with a 308 Winchester. Both chest shots. Both DRT with no exit wound.

 

[FL-NC]

Remember the deer gets a vote. I was in a similar situation, but the planets lined up just so, a deer presented himself thru a loophole in the trees, and I ended up taking a (successful) 200 yard shot at a deer with a Ruger mini 30 with a 4x because I was thinking "most likely short range" and left my 243 with a 3-9x at home that day. Plan for the longer shot, use the 7-08, keep the scope dialed to 3 or 4x.

 

[Doc7]

For the future, how would a Leupold VX-3i 1.75-6x32 be in this situation? I think it might be good for a variety of light and hunting conditions I will encounter this side of the Rockies...

 

[MtnCreek]

VX3 will perform great in low light. I'd want a 3.5-10x40 even though the situation you describe doesn't warrant it.

Pay atten to prevailing winds when deciding where to set up. Also, if the wind wants to make you set up in one spot, but a trail leading in would make it likely you'll get busted or supersized, you can cut some brush to block that trail. They'll spook for a while, but will eventually make another way in.

 

[Art Eatman]

At 3X, the field of view "up close and personal" should be adequate, so I'd go with the 7mm08. It would be a better choice, I think, for the longer on-the-trail shots. Definitely better in poor light.

If the probabilities of a shot at the food plot are greatest, the 20-gauge would do just fine, there, except at earliest and latest light.