POLL: Your maximum rifle range on Deer

"sportsman or sportswoman," or "outdoorsman or outdoorswoman" knows and follows a few basic common sense rules.

1. Always know your weapon and cartridge capabilities (goes for archery as well!), and don't exceed!

2. Always know your own capabilities - also taking conditions into consideration (don't take a risky shot in a stiff breeze or with only 10 minutes of daylight left, etc.)

3. Don't fling shots or arrows at the "big one" just because its the "big one" but tooooo far away!

4. With a rifle, always, Always, ALWAYS seek a rest when shooting a gun, even to sitting or lying down if necessary to achieve a rest. Make as precise shots as possible!

5. Never take off-hand, unsupported shots!

Usually my shots are less than 250-200 yards away. Sitting down and resting my elbows inside my thighs - a 200 yard shot is fairly easy if one is experienced and knows what they're doing!

I once killed an antelope at close to 400 yards! I was totally confidant in my shot - until I learned my friend's reloads were built with a LeeLoader instead of a powder scale! Had I known how he measured his powder charges I'd have had doubts about his ammo and not been one tenth as confidant as I was prior to learning the truth.

Confidence in one's self and equipment is EXTREMELY important.

But the sage goat was standing still, the air fairly calm, and I was leaning over the hood of my partner's truck with no one inside to cause any vibrations I couldn't control (but my own heartbeat). The pronghorn didn't even go 20 yards before piling up! Best shot I ever made.

When choosing a cartridge/bullet/load combination - I always choose something that will be lethal to 400 yards. My personal formula is to make sure I can cleanly kill a deer, elk, pronghorn, etc to 300 yards, with a 100 yard "cushion" built in. So far its worked perfectly except for the one time I tried to kill a proghorn with a .220 Swift. I wounded the sage goat and it got away as dusk approached. Pretty dumb of me!

When I first started hunting big game in the West, the standard belief was that 95+ percent of one's shots would be at less than 250 yards. This has indeed been the case. I've killed one whitetail, four elk, six proghorns, and some 16 or 17 mulies. Unless there is no cover and the air is dead-calm, no one should take a shot further than 250-300 yards.

Works for me!