What are the farthest and closet shots kill shot made

[Big-Bore]

It would be interesting to start a thread with the farthest and closet kill shot the community has made. Please only list your own shots, caliber and bullet weight. I'll start this off with some of mine:
Longest Shots:
Fox shot with a varmint AR .223 50 gr V-Max at 600 yards in WY.
Tahr shot with 7mm Mag 140gr Nosler at 358 Yards in New Zealand mountains in high wind.
Mule Deer with 300 Win Mag at 429 yards 165gr Nosler in West Texas.
Elk with 300 win Mag at 400 yards 180 gr Nosler WY
Prairie Dog with 22-250 at 400 yards 50gr Horandy V-Max in CO
GemsBok with 375 H&H 275 yards 270 gr RSA
Problem Elephant heart shot at night at 100 yards with 500 Jeffery 570 gr Hornady DGS. Pass thru shot went 30 yards.
Warthog with hand gun 7mm TCU 85 yards RSA
White Tail deer, 3 in one day at 50 yards with T/C hand gun open sights 44 mag 240 gr. And yes it was legal in AL.
For closet shots:
Black bear at 30 yards with .375 270gr in AK
Elephant frontal Brain shot at 15 yards with 500 Jeffery 570 gr DGS in Zimbabwe
Puma at 10 yards 12ga Buck shot Argentina
Charging wounded wild hog .308 150 gr 10 feet Everglades FL
Charging wounded Mule Deer hand gun 15 feet in desert west TX.
I want to hear about your real life shots that stand out in your memory. I remember when I was a young man and could only read stories about some hunter extreme shots. But it was many years before I was able to make shots like the ones I listed. If you have interesting long range or very close shots, let us know please.

 

[adcoch1]

Okay the long shots first. Squirrel at 180 with a Remington targetmaster family heirloom from my grandpa with 40 gr 22 long rifle yellow jacket, 200 yds on a tom turkey with a 7.5" Ruger redhawk 44 mag shooting Winchester 240 gr soft point. Took two for that one though. 80 yds with the same 44 on a mountain lion, rifle was in the truck and it was what I had. It worked amazingly well. Now for the short stuff. 5' on a black tail 2 pt with a 20" barrel sks shooting wolf hollow point 122 grn. The stupid part about this was that I shot him in the bottom of a canyon. Not a fun pack out. Next was the redhawk and a spike blacktail at about 7' away. He had powder burns on his hide. It was just crazy. 240 gr Winchester load there again. Flipped him over and he was sticking all four feet in the air. Just dead instantly.

 

[rcmodel]

Closest?
Head shot a Squirrel in a Conibear trap at 2" inches with a S&W Kit Gun and CB cap yesterday morning.

Longest?
Coyote at 527 with a 22-250 in 1970 something.

But, I can see right off I haven't lived as interesting a life as you have.

Second guy doesn't have a chance when it comes to telling about long shots!!

Oh!
I did shoot a crow out of a tree at about 200 yards with a Ruger .22 pistol once.
(In front of witnesses.)

But, I'd be the first to admit it was purely an accident.
I only intended to scare it.

rc

 

[sask clayton]

Longest shot would be 450 yards on a whitetail buck with a 30-06
Many deer at that 100-200 yard range
40 yards on a little red squirrel in a spruce forest with my MR6 and a flu flu arrow . I did shoot an iron buck at 100 yards ( my farthest accurate shot with a bow)
Furthest shot with a 17 wsm rimfire was 265 yards on a pigeon
The closest was on another pigeon hiding in an old chicken nesting box and that was point blank through the top of the box

 

[Big-Bore]

Great responses guys!
This not a contest. It's a fun place to write memorable shooting moments and share them with friends. Think about these responses and live it thru their eyes, It will be fun. We have all missed easy shots I'm sure , but i bet many people have made once in a life time shot or have an amazing shot they can share. My 600 yard fox kill with the AR .223 was just as much luck as skill. That 50 grain bullet had slowed down to 1100 fps at that range, the rifle was sighted in at 100 yards so the hold over was 120 inches. I was using a 20 power scope and took 6 shots. With every miss as he ran out farther I would adjust and hold a little higher. My friend was calling out the range and I could hardly believe it when he rolled over. I doubt of I could ever repeat that shot.
I have been with a PH in Namibia hunting Eland when we spotted 3 jackals, he let me shoot first I hit the thing with a 460 Wby then as the other 2 ran off he killed one running full out at 200 yards shooting off hand with a 300 gr 375 then the third one was out to 300 yards and he hit him in the head. But the guy was a real jerk. We did finally catch up to the Eland after tracking them for two days. The only shot I had was a rump shot as he was walking away, but I had my wby 460 shooting a 500 grain solid bullet at 2700 fps so I ran that slug thru that 2,000 pound Eland from from his left rump thru 8 feet of flesh and out his front right shoulder. Could not make that shot with any other gun or bullet.

 

[ants]

Closest: Head shot on a mule deer buck running full speed, only 17 yards away from me, through a 4x scope.

Truth: I was aiming for a heart shot but missed and hit him in the head. But my buddies think I'm the king of running head shots because I didn't tell them I actually missed a chest shot.

 

[3212]

Just an old Whitetail hunter here.Closest was 20 yards on a doe with a win. model 70 in .243 100 gr.Same rifle and load took an adult doe at 270 yards while sitting in the snow.I used both core-lockts and hand loaded spitzers in that rifle.I can't remember which one was used on these shots.Longest buck kill was 180 yards.

 

[adcoch1]

I love this thread! It has reminded me of a lot of fun and good shooting I've seen over the years.

 

[wankerjake]

Longest: Coues whitetail 407 yards, 300wsm, 180gr Accubond.

Shortest (big game): Cow elk 20-30 yards, 243 Win, 100gr Interlock

Shortest (varmint): Several coyotes and fox inside 10 yards.

 

[PapaG]

Not my longest but my best ever: Crow flying toward me over a creek, about 15 yards with a "from the holster draw and fire" Llama super 38 and a hollow point. Wish I had it on video, and wish I had a picture of my buddy and me with blood spatter on our faces.
Deer, 104 yards with my Remington 870 and a Brenneke slug. Woodchuck, 250 yards with a .222 700.
Mouse, 6 feet with my Daisy 717.
In Illinois we don't get many loooooong shots.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Closest about 20 feet with a single shot 12ga on a nice buck

Farthest 278 yards (lasered) with a 7.62x39 ar15 on a meat doe

 

[Nwflycaster]

Fun thread to read through.

My longest shot would have been on an antelope hunting trip in Montana where I had two tags to fill. I dropped two antelope in their tracks at 678 yards according to my rangefinder from an unsupported kneeling position with my 22/250 sporting a 40x scope. Granted, I wouldn't try this same shot anymore without a rest, but that was back in the day when I was very active in 4 position rifle competition. Now I would need a rest. I always carry a ballistics card in my pocket and look up bullet drop before taking those shots.

The closest would have been just a couple of years ago while mule deer hunting with my father. We were pretty much done for the day just heading up an open field back to the truck. My dad stays on the trail some 25 feet to my right, and I walk through a little over waist high grouping of sage brush. About 50 yards into it I break into a round clearing that's 6 yards long, and bedded down on the other edge of the clearing is this big 4x4 buck staring at me with an "oh crap" look on his face. Way to close to even think of doing anything other than a quick point and shoot. He got about half way to his feet in this amount of time and the shot knocked him back down for the shortest shot I have ever made at under 20 feet and still the largest buck I have ever gotten. Also, I had the pleasure of scaring the crap out of my dad as he didn't see any of it take place, only the sound of my Tika .338 going off at under 30 feet interrupting his quiet walk.

A couple of memorable shots that don't fit the longest or shortest category, but worth an honorable mention was a hummingbird hovering at about 15 yards with my Thompson Center Contender Super 14 in .44 mag. And also while down at a state smallbore 50' 4p championship, a fly had been walking all over my target during the offhand stage, and finally made the mistake of wandering into the sighter bull. The result was a hole with red edges and a couple of legs and wings stuck around it. That was another shot I would be incapable of today now that I'm old and not so steady on my feet anymore, but those were the days.

 

[Skyshot]

Killed a groundhog at about a 1/2 mile back in 1978, before the days of laser rangefinders, with a 7mm mag shooting 140 Sierra. I was with some friends cooking out and having a beer one evening and we saw a ground hog that was in a clover patch across the valley from my house. We were talking about how far he was and one thing led to another and I made the comment that I thought I could hit the critter with the big 7. One of my buddies said it would take at least five rounds, and so the bets were on.

I went in the house and got the model 700 7mag and few few rounds and my sandbag. My first shot was a miss by about three feet from the splash I saw. The groundhog dove in his hole. I did a little elevation adjustment and in a couple of minutes the hog popped back up. On the second shot, there was no splash anywhere and the hog disappeared. And of course all my buds were laughing and saying that I couldn't even hit the damn ridge. But I knew it was a hit.

We hopped in the jeep and rode across the valley to the clover patch. It took a while to find the correct hole, but my friend picked up this huge boar groundhog out of a hole. We laid him out and found that the round had entered his nostril and exited out the back of his head. Pay up boys.

 

[farmerboy78]

My closest shot was a whitetail buck @ 10 yds with a 12gauge slug... my longest was this year on a whitetail doe @ 875yds with a custom long range rifle in 6.5-06! One shot drt, she dropped, her legs fell out from under her!

 

[BigBore45]

Closest--- dove coming into a pond im gonna guess 1 foot. Remington model 11, it was a weird shot kinda just pulled the trigger from fear of the dove flying into me. there was just feathers and a wing left of the bird.

Closest--- rabbit 2 yrds with my concealed carry gun(.45 ACP para warthog) while on my way back to the truck from a deer hunt. shot it in the head and ate it for dinner the next night.

Longest --- whitetail doe- 475-500 yards 308W 165 grain game king loaded with imr-4064 gun was a rem 700 action with 5-R 26" bull barrel.

Longest ---- 400+ yards coyote 11 years old with my dads 25-06 lol just hold the thick cross hair on his back..... it was right in the basket.

Best---- In my youth (High school) 13+ years ago pheasant flying at 95 yards with a .22LR. one shot only with a witness my brother.

 

[bearleft]

Closest was a turkey at no more than 2' from the end of the barrel. I was between two rolled bales of hay. My buddy steve said it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen. Lots of deer and turkey under 20 yards. Furthest deer maybe 180.

 

[MCMXI]

Closest: Mule deer at 203 yards last year
Furthest: Mule deer at 341 yards this year

I haven't been at this very long.

but worth an honorable mention was a hummingbird hovering at about 15 yards with my Thompson Center Contender Super 14 in .44 mag

Why on earth would you shoot a humming bird? They are amazing little creatures.

 

[zb338]

Closest; animals in traps.
Farthest was a woodchuck at 600 yds. with a .264 Winchester Mag..
When I was in the Army, our corporal made a bet with me that I couldn't
hit his helmet liner at 500 yds. with my M-1. He lost but never paid me.

Zeke

 

[25-5]

I had one big hunting trip to Wyoming. I shot my antelope at 250yds with a .30-06 Remington 700 and 165gr Nosler ballistic tip that I had loaded.
Lots of whitetail in TN. The closest was 40yds with a .243 Ruger M77 International and 100gr Hornady BTSP that I had loaded.
The antelope was stalked, and shot prone and careful. That whitetail had just come up from the draw onto the ridge I was on. A surprise to us both.
Funny, I don't know how the hell I remembered that!

 

[Double_J]

Longest shot for me: 65 yards with a crossman pelet rifle to kill a squirrel. Total luck shot with several witnesses. Shortest shot: 2 yards on a cottonmouth water moccasin. He was in the same area as my cousin and his friends always played in and a .410 single shot did the deed. The other close shot was when the squirrel looked down the barrel of my 20 ga. I could not believe the squirrel was that close and had a hard time pulling the trigger.

 

[tark]

BigBore, from the looks of your IP it looks like you sure have had a boring life....you should get out more... I'm not a hunter, I just don't like the taste of game animals, but as a snotty kid in the sixties that shot at anything that moved, I did pick a black bird off a fencepost at a measured 120 yards. With a Remington 514 and 40 grain LR solids.

 

[tark]

I don't know if this will count.... I didn't pull the trigger...but in the Army I was a Small Arms Repairman. Spent a lot of time in Grafenwohr, on the tank ranges. It was easy to get bored. One day as we were all bored...one of the tankers noticed a deer that had wandered out on the range. The tank's recoil mechanism for the main gun had just been repaired and we were authorized to fire it a few times.

The OD was away doing something. He was supposed to be present whenever the main gun was fired, but in the no one cared Army of the late sixties, rules weren't always obeyed. We looked at each other....what the hell...we could always claim we didn't see the deer...

A practice round is 20 some pounds of cast iron with a brass rotating band to engage the rifling, no explosive. Way over 3000FPS. The range was 455 yards.

The poor deer simply disappeared, a clean, one shot kill. Probably the most extreme example of overkill ever recorded!

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

my longest big game kill was on a running Deer at 150 yards in a open field 12ga slug Remington copper solid head shot my closet on big game was a doe right under my tree at 15ft

 

[Big-Bore]

Hi tark, I was a tank gunner too in Germany from 71 to 73 and on the same tank ranges you were on. I have run range 80 several times. I have seen Deer shot on the range too but with 50 Cal. My longest one shot hit on a tank with a 105mm M60 A1 tank was 3600 meters. those were the days. Sorry for getting off track here. (Any one notice the pun?)

 

[Big-Bore]

Thanks for all your post. this has been fun. I should have asked for the most unusual shots too. When I read some of these post, it really brings back some good times. I think most of you that replied seemed to remember the moment as if it happened yesterday as I do.