So whats the best shot youve ever made?

[Robhuntandfish]

We talk a lot about the right or wrong shots and when to take and not to take and how far etc........ but whats the best shot youve ever made while hunting anything with gun or bow?  

Mine is a bow shot at 31 yards on a buck about 5 -6 years ago.  I was in a stand and a buck came out into a field just before dark.  He just stood there in the same place and just wouldnt move.  I couldnt see his head anymore but saw antlers when he walked out.  But I had a full picture of his body in the kill zone.   I was looking through the crotch of a tree half way between us and I kept watching as he stood there and i then thought - i can make that shot!  So i drew back and lined up between the crotch of the tree and shot- yup hit him and he took off running with arrow  but he turned so i couldnt see for sure where it hit. It was like 5 minutes of legal light.  So i sat for 1/2 hour then got down to check the spot quick.  When I did i heard a crash in the woods.   So i backed out til morning.  Came back the next morn and went in where i heard the crash.  but no deer and no blood.  Kept looking and like 50 yards away found a solid blood trail for about 25 yards and it ended.  And didnt know which way the deer was headed for a direction.  So i started doing semi circles and couldnt find a thing.  on one of the circles i ended up back on the edge of the same field and i look out and at 25 yards is two bucks - one a nice 8 point.  I was tempted as they couldnt see me in the brush but def knew something was there.  I grunted and they came closer.  but of course already tracking a deer and a buck at that.  So they got wary and took off.

  I looked for another hour and a half and just couldnt believe i couldnt find it.  So i went up on a ridge that was above everything and there was a white belly down in the gully of a creekbed.  And i had walked buy there twice already prob as close as 20 yards and never saw it.  Arrow was still in it sticking almost straight up but not out the other side.  Hit high lung and it prob died just a short while after i shot it, but was surprised the arrow didnt pass through.  

this is the stand and can see the spot i shot through the little tree to the right behind the stand.  Deer was prob about 150 yards from there down in a deep creek bottom right up against a bed of stones. 

I made a heart shot on a doe as well last year but the one thru the tree had to be the best.  And I am one to pass a lot of times but for some reason I was confident i could make that shot.  

Edited October 10, 2018 by Robhuntandfish

[BowmanMike]

My best shot has to be one with the muzzleloader. It was the last day of the season and i was looking for another deer. I walked up on a group of does that were bedded about 100 yds out at the edge of a plateau. I felt like i could not sneak much closer and stopped at 90 yds. It was pretty open woods.

I would see a deer,then it would disappear over the edge. A big doe stood up and layed back down and i could see her head. There was a big hemlock behind her that was my backstop,since shooting over a dropoff is exactly what you are not supposed to do. I knelt down and took aim,but my crosshairs were moving too much. So i got right down into prone position and aimed again,this was better. I aimed at a spot between her eyes and ears and shot. I walked over after the smoke cleared and had hit her right there and she never even got up. 

I don't take head shots anymore,this was early in my hunting career and i feel I used my luck up on that one. It is a tiny target area and i got lucky.

Edited October 10, 2018 by BowmanMike
typo

[nyslowhand]

Any deer I've shot at that have gone down within sight or distinctly heard them crash.

[G-Man]

best shot ive made is shooting the heads off grouse with my 45-70 . at 40 yards. tasty! 

[Robhuntandfish]

1 minute ago, G-Man said:

best shot ive made is shooting the heads off grouse with my 45-70 . at 40 yards. tasty! 

lol.  Yeah no tracking needed there!  

[First-light]

Best shot had to be with bow. Had a nice 10 point which scores over 125 within 10 yards. Put the arrow right through its heart. 30 yards done deal. 

[turkeyfeathers]

Shot I’m most proud of is probably regular gun season opener two years ago. Daughter sitting  next to me in natural ground blind she helped build. Two deer coming ripping by us at full throttle. Neither of us could get our slug guns up. She whispers shoot if you get a shot as she knows I’m waiting on her. I let out a baaaaa and they  lock up , I stand up and grab the super black hawk off the backpack next to me. Put the sights on the one and squeeze and it folds up like a cheap suit. I had practiced all spring and summer with this newly acquired gun.  Guesstimated at 50 yards but then lasered gut pile at 63. First hand gun deer and daughter there to witness it.  Don’t take many luck shots I’d consider to be my best. 

[moog5050]

There are two with the recurve that are like slo-mo replays in my mind.  Very cool

[Buckmaster7600]

180yds running at a good clip quartering at me through the woods in the Adirondacks, 35whelen tikka t3.


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[airedale]

I have had a few memorable shots but a hunt and shots taken that still stands out today in my mind after many years have past. As a young fellow I was on a general small game hunt along with a friend. We were pushing through an Alder thicket-swamp to see what we could jump out, my gun that day was a Mossberg three shot 16 Ga bolt action that had a poly type adjustable choke on the end of the barrel. Three Woodcock flushed one after another and I dumped all three.

Al

[MPHunter]

I'm pretty conservative when it comes to taking shots on deer. I hunt woods and not many shots over 75 yards and like to get them broadside.This is maybe not the "best" but definitely exciting -  I had a buck chasing a doe back and forth in front of me for a few minutes and they ran out into a field on neighbor's property about 200 yards to my right and I figured they were gone. A minute later I hear crashing and here they come running right down the ridge I was sitting on. I get the 12ga up and Doe ran right behind the tree I was sitting against with the buck about 10 yards behind. Pulled the trigger on the buck at 5 yards, he went up on his hind legs and fell.

[Pygmy]

I was standing along  a beaver pond waiting for some duck action....

Three mallards, two drakes and a hen, came gliding in broadside from my right...I dropped a drake, and the remaining two birds flared, the drake  turning 180 degrees and the hen continuing straight ahead...I  reversed my swing, killed the second drake, and then reversed again and shot the hen before she got out of range, so I made a LEFT,  a RIGHT and another LEFT  in a matter of 3-4 seconds...All 3 birds hit the water stone dead... A few minutes later a drake Woodie came by and I dumped him with one shot...

I was feeling pretty darn cocky until a flight of teal made two passes over me....I emptied my gun  both times and never turned a feather !!…..Hehehe...

 

[Red]

About 15years ago opening day of gun season i was hunting out of a tree stand on a shelf over looking the river bottom of letchworth state park . 30 minutes in to the morning a couple of doe are running the river bottom i toss up my mossberg 500 fire off 3 rounds at the largest doe she tips over. I pull put my range finder 126 yrds i put 2 of 3 shots right in the boiler.

[Doc]

The most memorable amazing shot that I ever made was about 4 or 5 feet from the tip of my arrow. I was standing behind an approx. 4' diameter oak watching a trail that was 20 yds away. A huge doe came along the trail and then turned and waked directly to the tree I was standing behind. I drew the bow while screened by the tree, and started walking around the tree as the deer walked around the other side. Finally I stopped and waited for the heart/lung area to be exposed as the deer kept walking. she ran about 15 yards and piled up. I swear I could have almost touched that deer. Even getting that shot without being detected was amazing. I had all the leaves raked away around the tree just in case a deer came from an unexpected direction. What I hadn't expected was having a deer walking straight at me to the other side of the tree that I was standing behind.

[Moho81]

Two that stick out in my mind. 

1. Buck and Doe at 120 yards the Buck was well servicing the doe and I had to wait for them to finish because they where behind bushes. Doe steps out first and figure the buck will follow. Sure enough he did, now I'm hunting with a slug gun with a rifled barrel sighted in for 50 yards so I aim a little high and punch his heart out. He drops there right on the spot. Still my farthest shot taken to date. 

2. I had a wounded doe do her best 3 legged run past me at 60 yards. Now normally I never shoot at a running deer but she was already hurting bad, she wouldn't even put her 3rd leg down on the ground while running. I'm tracking her through the thicket waiting for her to pop into my big shooting lane. She hit my opening jumps over a log just as I squeeze the trigger. I figure there is no way I got her because she jumped just as I shot. Well to my surprise she hit the ground went 5 yards and folded. I must have touched off just before she left the ground. 

[BizCT]

Wyoming 2012. Sitting on a steep sidehill with no rest, shot a mule deer at 330yds in strong cross wind. Used my knee as the rest. He was in bachelor group and across a big draw from us. They had already seen us on and we couldn’t get closer. Especially since we were running out of daylight. After the shot all the bucks took off, but the one I shot (middle but a little back) was clearly hurt but walking away slowly. When he stopped at 440yds I finished him off.

Wby Mag 7MM




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[Nomad]

Doe on a full out run at 90 yards. Smooth bore 12 ga iron sites, she did a few cart wheels .

[Uncle Nicky]

Best shot to me means instant death.

I've shot a few deer in the head with buckshot, it's devastating at close range, but beyond 30 yards, I wouldn't risk it.

[moog5050]

Its a good question Rob.  I think for most of us, describing the experience probably doesn't do it justice, but the question brings back personal memories that each of really enjoy.  Obviously we can all relate to long shots that thread a needle.  Heart shots on running deer aren't easy, nor are those 300yd plus shots. 

For me the magic of an arrow hitting right where you want and being able to watch it in flight from a slow recurve are the ones I can't help but remember and remain vivid.  My biggest buck or the doe I was able to stalk where when the arrow landed right where I wanted at 25-30yds and I literally thought "holy smokes that was perfect" bring a smile to my face.

[Buckmaster7600]

Its a good question Rob.  I think for most of us, describing the experience probably doesn't do it justice, but the question brings back personal memories that each of really enjoy.  Obviously we can all relate to long shots that thread a needle.  Heart shots on running deer aren't easy, nor are those 300yd plus shots. 
For me the magic of an arrow hitting right where you want and being able to watch it in flight from a slow recurve are the ones I can't help but remember and remain vivid.  My biggest buck or the doe I was able to stalk where when the arrow landed right where I wanted at 25-30yds and I literally thought "holy smokes that was perfect" bring a smile to my face.

That a great point Moog, I have some pretty good shots but by far my most memorable was on an 8pt I shot still hunting in the ADK’s with the bow! Buck was bedded down below me and I couldn’t get any closer as soon as I released the arrow I knew it was perfect, watching the nocturnal disappear behind his shoulder in the 10ring is one of my favorite hunting memories and a shot that I replay in my head constantly!


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[JRod 8G8H]

I would say my most memorable shot was about 3 or 4 years ago I had a 5 pointer running through the hay field I was sitting over.  I noticed someone had shot him in the front foot but he was on the move.  It's crazy how tough these animals are.  With a buck tag in hand I got him on the jog (lights out) from my hang on stand at 90 yards with my 30-06.  Was probably the smallest buck I have ever taken but it was the right thing to do at the time and I was proud of my shot.

[sodfather]

For some reason I can only recall a belly shot off a stripper in Canada 

[BizCT]

For some reason I can only recall a belly shot off a stripper in Canada 

Was the stripper a guy or girl?


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[NYBowhunter]

I have a ton of exciting shots, but the one i felt most good about was  when i was in a tree overlooking a beaver pond and a small deer came in about 100 yards away and was walking funny, hunched over. The deer immediately bedded in the cattails. I had no intentions of shooting it. I got down a few hours later and walked up to the deer and it jumped up and i could tell it was hurting. It ran 10 yards stopped and looked at me to say " please put me out of my misery". I put him down and turns out someone shot him near his spine and another shot in his foot. If i didnt shoot him he would have had a long agonizing death.

[helmut in the bush]

Mine didn't involve any hunting equipment