Just curious, what is the closest anyone has ever shot an animal from the ground and what is the story. Thanks!
Shot a cow Elk at 8 feet this fall. I heard hoofs coming down the hillside and I took cover by a bush. Three cows came rushing by; two of them ran around and one of them came to a momentary stop on the other side of my bush. My bow was already up, I came to full draw and shot her through the heart.
(http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q291/bjornweb/DSCN1562small.jpg)
I could sense that she was aware of my presence and had decided to freeze.
Interesting thread; I shot a small basket rack 10 pointer that was close enough that when I shot him he spun on impact and hit a sapling that hit my bow. He was within maybe 2~3 yards or so. It was close enough and as far as I could tell he never knew I was there, never looked at me. I was still hunting up a deer trail and crossed another trail. As I moved past the second trail I saw movement in the brush, drew my bow. He was coming straight at me and when he got to the crossing trail he turned broadside and I shot. He did not go 30 yards straight up the hill, fell over and rolled back down to about 10 yards.
11 yards.
I had been still hunting a long, narrow woodlot along a ridge between cleared cornfields and sat on a blow-down to eat my lunch. As I finished and was watching the world I heard a noise and a nice little six point stepped out of thick milliflori rose that surrounds a swampy section of the woodlot around a small pond (large mudpuddle is closer). He was 15 yards away and there wasn't a stick of cover between us. I closed one eye and squinted the other to avoid eye contact (good thing, as I'm sure my eyes were popping out just prior). He took a few steps and then looked back the way had had come. I lifted the bow drew and released in one quick motion; while seated on that log (it's behind me in the image).
He took a RibTek 125W on a cedar arrow through the back of both lungs and it split the diaphragm as he ran into the thick cover. He piled up 35 yards in.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/Stumpkiller/Bowhunting/deer1b.jpg)
Monty Browning shot his then world record brown bear at 9'
I'm scared of a deer at 9'
Can,t tell you was with a rifle . Died a foot in front of me. With a bow Ten feet a coyote.
Three feet. A blue grouse that was sitting on a limb right in front of me and came into view as the day broke. I came to about eight inches of draw and let er go. Idea was that arrow would not pass through and never be seen again. It worked, grouse fell on the ground along with the arrow doing a perfect Steve Martin imitation!
Used my arrow to poke the rear end of small 8 pt from my blind that I had rattled in. He was w/i 1 1/2 ft of my blind. His reaction startled me enough that I won't do that again.
** If you could put an arrow thru the blind port, then it would be difficult to miss.**
Friend, did something similar while elk hunting. It was end of the last day and was exausted. Sat in an aluminum lawn chair with white and green webbing near a water hole. No blind, no cover. Also, was hunting with ml so was wearing blaze orange vest and hat. Buck came so close to me it could have stepped on my foot. I said "hello" and he launched straight into the air all four feet at once. Musta got four feet of air at least. Landed and took off like greased lightning.
I love this, in an era where everyone is talking about how far they shoot, I believe the closest ones are the coolest. Thanks for the awesome posts!
Back in 69 shot my first buck three rolls over in a corn field,6 to 8 feet i would guess.Didn't know how long before it would be before i shot another that close.
Durango Colorado, a cow elk at 10 feet. Black Bear in Alberta just a bit longer at 12 feet(4 yards for those without a calculator!) at the edge of the Peace River. I was a little unnerved on that one, but got 'em..
I didn't shoot it but I had a descent size doe start to eat leaves from the bush I was hiding behind.She just started chewing when she noticed me.Scared the heck out of me when she nearly turned inside out took off.
Last years elk came to cow calls and shot him at 7 yds as he started to leave the scene.
Few years ago I was walking back to my car mid day when I saw a buck chasing a doe towards me in the hedgerow I was walking along. Dropped my stand and she popped out less than 10 yards from me. Heart shot her and she ran about 40 yards and piled up.
Had a sika stag within 4 yards on the ground once. Head on and too close to get a shot off. Spooked and circled around me, giving me a 10 yard broadside shot hat I made good on. Also killed a sika doe at about ten yards off the ground. And another sika stag at about 7 yards. Jeeze. I keep thinking of more!! I won't tell you about the ones I've missed!
Forkhorn at 6 yards,let him walk by twice that day but they say third time is a charm so I let him have it.
6 pt. whitetail at 8 yards. This was the season back in my compound days when I dislocated my sholder right before the season and the doc said not to do anything over my head (e.g. climb a tree), but shooting a bow was OK.
Shot a young bull moose at about 15 feet, I was on one side of a spruce tree he was on the other. I had to bend over and cant my bow way over to shoot between limbs and double lunged him. Never knew I was there.
12 yard coyote.
this brings to mind another interesting topic,I will start another as to not hi jack this one.
Several years ago on the last day of elk season after a hard year of hunting I had my wife let me out on a log road and had her drive three miles on down the road and wait for me to work my way around a canyon. I walked over to the edge and looked around a bit and heard some noises. I made a very low little bugle. Very low. I heard a bunch of animals jump up so I backed into a cedar bush and put an arrow on the string. An entire herd of elk ran up and stopped in front of me looking around. I had a huge elk right in front of me about 4 feet away and its head obscured by the bush I was in. I could not even tell if it was a bull or a cow but I drew back and put one through the boiler room . This elk turned out to be a mature cow ,. really a nice elk. She was so close I was afraid of being kicked when I shot. None of those elk ever knew I was even there.
The hardest part is that I wasn't out of the truck over 5 minutes and still had to walk the three miles to the truck .
So 4 to 6 feet,.
I wanted seriously to stretch the distance to make Bjorn feel good but couldn't do it.
God bless you all, Steve
When I lived in Minnesota a LONG LONG time ago the farmers never got their corn out till late, so we would walk the corn cross ways and look up & down the corn rows and when we would see a deer we would just step back 2 or 3 rows and you could sneak up them if you were careful. I've shot a handful of deer laying down in the corn no more the 6-9 feet away.
Now that I look back those were the good ole days.
doug77
I killed a 6 point buck about 6 years ago at 12 yards. I had a treestand that looked over a small food plot close to the fence between my neighbors property and mine. I had watched several deer cross at a dry creek under the fence 30 yards or so to the west from my treestand and head south through my property. There was a big oak tree 12 yards from that crossing and I decided I would set up under that oak and try to shoot a deer as soon as one crossed. The first set there the six point came chasing does right across the fence on the neighbor so I gave him a grunt and he stopped about 40 yards away. I bleated one time with the can call and he came like he was on a string right to the fence crossing. As soon as he ducked under the fence I started to draw my Black Widow recrurve and when he stood back up I let the arrow go and watched it pass right through him. He only went 40 yards and went down. That was the first and only deer I have ever killed from the ground with tradtional gear.
About 10 feet coyote. I was set up on the ground between two trails in very thick stuff on the Nehalem River in Oregon and heard something coming down the trail I wasn't expecting anything traveling on and it was a mangey coyote. I let him walk on by and then he came back. Must have had a bad nose. I nailed him. It was a perfect shot but he freaked out so bad flopping around and so close to me I've been squeamish about shooting coyotes with a bow ever since.
And now over to the thread about close misses...
One evening I stayed in the treestand until dar, as I was wait for my buddy to come up the hill from his stand. I seen his light above me and made my way down the tree. The buddy continued working his way to the top of the hill and I was packing up my treestand. I had it all together and layed it on the group three feet from me and I was gather up my bow rope. All of a sudden I hear my buddy yell "Holy ****" then I hear crashing coming down the hil at me. I did not know what to do and stood there frozen. As the buck came crashing by me he got tangled up in my tree stand. In his flopping around he actually kick the side of my leg knocking me to the ground. He got up and took off, leaving me there breathless.
Five feet in a corn field while I was stalking a group of does in an adjacent bean field. As I was closing in, I had a little buck walk right up on me while I was crouched down plotting my next move on the deer in the field. He was so close I had to lean back as I drew on him so I wouldn't poke him with my broadhead. The old heart was going into overdrive for sure :eek:
Killed a buck on the ground at 3yds.!
I remember I could see his eyelashes as his eyes grew bigger when he realized something was amiss....I drew and shot quicker than I ever have at a deer...hit him on the shoulder...he crashed for 15yds. and cartwheeled into a blowdown!
Awesome experience!!!
My first black bear was shot shot at 2 yards. I was set to ambush a 170 class mule deer as he was coming in and had reached the 50 yard mark (was waiting for under 20) when the bear came busting down the hill behind me. I was kneeling and when I turned around he stopped at two yards facing me. I drew and shot in one motion as he turned and ran. It was a long tracking job, but that is another story on its self.
I had a good late season ground blind/ambush spot before the local elk population was decimated by the wolves and killed three cow elk between 3 & 4 yards from it: Thanks Lenny
I shot a small buck at 18", I had to lean backwards to draw my bow. It was on a hedgerow and I was on my way to some woods when I saw him coming down the hedge. I backed into some brush and ran a snuffer through him. He made it about 15 yards.
Hap
I didn't shoot, but once I was setting/leaning on a partially fallen tree.. Pretty much straddling it with my bow resting on the ground on one end with an arrow on the shelf.
A young buck came out and down the trail, I had to pivot the bow as he walked by so as to not poke him with the arrow.
Ten minutes later I had a doe come from behind on a cross trail and almost ended up pivoting the bow the other way to let her go by. And she came from down wind.. (never have figured that out.)
didnt shoot him but had a buck walk over my legs that were across the trail he was on. Could have poked him in the ribs when he stepped over my feet. I have a dandy picture of a bear at about two feet I took this spring when hunting in alberta. I will send it to mudd and maybe he will post it for me. People say drugs get you high. Drugs? I dont need no stinking drugs! You want to talk about a rush? I had a red tailed hawk fly down a cut and when he landed on the branch my shoulder was resting on he hit me with his wing as he was closing them. You cant get that high from drugs!
Had a big black bear respond to an elk bugle and shot him at 7 yards, and he fell within 15 yards. That was exciting.
Coyote at about 5 feet; that was one very surprised coyote.
I got to touch a doe on her butt a couple of years ago. She turned inside out trying to leave.
Grunted in a young buck. Was sitting in a clump of hemlock. He came in and had to go around another big hemlock. He chose the path closest to me...3 yards. He never saw me. He was my one and only longbow kill...67# Shadow Eclipse and a Hunters Head on a chundoo shaft. He left no blood trail but only went about 40 yards.
Love this thread! As you can see from my signature line I am a big fan of close shots. I have shot quite a few deer under 8yards. My closest spot and stalk ended up with my shooting a forkhorn mulie at 3yards as he was getting out of his bed. I see several guys refer to close encounters not invloving shooting. Back in 2006 I was walking back to the truck after shooting the bull in my Avatar when I spotted another 6 point bull coming doen the other side of a barbed wire fence towards me. I backed into some brush and sat back to see what developed. Not sure what got into me but when he was directly across the fence I jumped out and yelled loudly at him. His reaction was pricelesss. That bull turned inside out and took off at full throtle running over several trees during the process of his escape. Probably a dumb thing to do but sure was funny at the time!
A couple of photos for team fudd.
(http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/mudd57/P5310661.jpg)
(http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc158/mudd57/P5310659.jpg)
God bless,Mudd
Didn't shoot him but I had a buck that would have ran right into me if I hadn't moved when he was a foot away. He didn't see me behind the oak I was leaning against.
I also get a coyote huning on the ground last year 3-4 yds. away.
doug77
"There I was, the Sun Behind Me, the Beast was in its Lair. I was within 10 Yards of his Home, when all of a Sudden...... I was Face to Face with the BEAST!!!! I was so Surprised I missed his head by mear Inches and the Beast went right back into his lair!! Heart Pounding, Knees Like Jell-O, I Vowed right Then & There to Remove this Dangerous 13 Striped Ground Squirrel if it was The LAST thing I Ever Do!!" Guess Ya Had To Be There......
:goldtooth:
I shot a buck from a popup blind inside of 20 feet, I saw the hair cut when he was hit.
thanks for posting those photos for me mudd. The one bear is at two feet and the other one is at apprx six feet. I did not shoot either bear but what a rush!
Awesome stories!!
I was calling predators one time, sitting against a tree in a creek bottom. It had been around 30 minutes or so, and no action. I was just getting ready to leave when I heard the squirrels start to get agitated, so I sat back down. When I looked towards the creek I saw a bobcat sneaking towards me, then another, and another. In a few minutes all 3 were within 10 feet of me, and one was about 5 feet up a tree looking down at me. I'm not sure why I waited so long to shoot, but as soon as I moved an inch there were bobcats flying everywhere. Needless to say, no animals were harmed!