Hunting vs distance

[bob in the woods]

This is kind of interesting, so thought I'd mention it since our deer season opens for firearms next week
I was out with a couple of friends , they with shotguns and me with my flintlock smoothbore.  I made a little game of asking them how far they thought various land marks were, ie how far to that sumac bush, how far across that clearing etc.    They guessed further than actual every time.  Their 50 yards was invariably around 35  .  I have a target set up at 100 yards and they guessed anywhere from 125 to 150.   Kind of puts those 200 yard muzzleloader shots in perspective.
The 35 yard /vs 50 surprised me the most.

[R.J.Bruce]

I have been away from hunting for nearly 30 years.

Before I return to the woods it is my intention to spend approximately 6 months (perhaps longer) out in the forest with a range finder, first guestimating a distance, and then checking my guess with the rangefinder for accuracy.

Without a vast body of experience that has proved to be accurate, I can think of NO OTHER WAY to begin hunting again, and expect to accurately, humanely, and most importantly, ethicly harvest game animals.

R.J.Bruce

[Bob McBride]

I find the best way for me to judge distance like that is to practice it. All the deer stands on my farm have red flags tied around trees at 20,30,40, and 50y. I watch the flags as dawn breaks and attempt to judge distances in that light. Also, like R.J., when I walk the woods I guess distances and then range find them. I make it a game. I will also guess the height of a low branch from a distance. I think “that knot on that tree will come to my armpit” say, then walk up to it and see how close I was. It makes you focus a little more on the environmental hints of what the distance might be such as the sizes of known objects etc. I still misjudge, but much less often than I would otherwise.

[smylee grouch]

I road along with a guy as he was playing Golf, he didn,t know I had an laser range finder with me untill about the 15th hole. He was off on his estimates by about 15-20 % on all that we paced off and our paced off guess,s were off by about 2-3 yards. He later bought a range finder. Good way to gain experience by using one.

[bob in the woods]

I always keep in mind the relative size of the game I'm after.  If you have a life size deer target you can use your sights to get a real feel for distance.  We have a BBQ propane tank laying on it's side on a saw horse.   You might not be surprised how many shooters miss it offhand at 100 yards.  We have a fun match where we time the shot ie start with 10 points, and deduct a point for every second that passes before the shot.  It's good practice before deer season.

[alacran]

On open rolling country it is really hard to estimate distance. In closed in woods it is much easier. Having hunted quite a bit for javelinas with self bows. I have a good sense of what five yards, ten yards and fifteen yards looks like. 20 yards is starting to get out of my comfort zone. Hunting elk in open country increases the difficulty since they are big and always look closer than what they are. I really value my range finder as it keeps me from making stupid shots.

[Fyrstyk]

Having been a surveyor for 20+ years, I got pretty good at guestimating distances.  I'm a littly rusty now, but I am usually within a few feet out to 500 feet.

[J Henry]

  and then ,,,,put antlers on it,,,,with few objects for reference,,,

[Mike Brooks]

I bought a range finder about ten years ago, wouldn't go deer hunting with out it now.

[WadePatton]

Hunting the very same woods for years helps too.  I was a surveyor, a golfer, and archer before, and always a target shooter. I'm good with what I estimate. 

Would like a range-finder for difficult terrain (where one cannot pace-check) but it's not anywhere near my priorities list.

[rich pierce]

Open ground seems the hardest to estimate. Especially over snow. I once shot a deer at 140 yards that I thought was 100 over snow. Just looked so dang big. Hit low but killed it. Might have pulled the shot high.

[Frank]

Doesn’t really matter in Pennsylvania. Most game is taken within 50 yards. Every rifle I ever had was flat shooting enough ( plus or minus 2 inches) from 0-50 yards to take care of business.

[Craig Wilcox]

When I was still bow hunting, from a ground blind, I would put a few stakes out at 40 yards.  Worked pretty good.
The modern rangefinders are miracles in a small package.

[Daryl]

I bought a range finder about ten years ago, wouldn't go deer hunting with out it now.

Isn't that the truth. Back in SouthWestern Ontario, shooting groundhogs, I got to be pretty good at judging distances. Now, out West here, with longer
ranges and open to brush and bush, I rely upon a laser rangefinder.  I don't leave home without it.

[hanshi]

As a forester and a forest ranger back in the early 1970s, I could eyeball judge distances within a foot or two.  I was also able to look at a fire burn and know almost automatically the acreage, but I had to see the entire burn area.  This was back in Georgia where 100 yards was difficult to come by unless you happened to be in a hay field.  I would have been clueless in open territory.  I could look at a tree and tell its diameter, number of logs, etc.  But this took a lot of practice and experience measuring trees/distances over and over.  And when trees started to get a great deal larger I had to go back to measuring them.  It's a matter of the kind of country and vegetation in which one hunts that defines size and distance judging.  It's also remarkable how quickly those skills atrophy when no longer used that often.

[wolf]

usually I guess the opposite, I was hunting one morning with an open sight rifle, not a muzzleloader. a nice buck stepped out in the road. I put the sight on him and squeezed the trigger, he trotted off! I knew I couldn't have missed him! but I did. I had my rife zeroed in at 100 steps, and I step a yard. so I stepped the shot of and it was 135! I went to the house to my range stepped of 135 and shot and sure enough my shot would have been just under a deer. its best to know your range,,,,,,,,,,,

[Robby]

Range estimation is a perishable commodity, if you don't use it, you lose it. With consistent practice, anyone can become pretty good at it and some very, very good at it.
Robby

[wattlebuster]

In the thick woods I hunt I dont have to worry bout guessing the range. If you can see it you can hit it. A 60 yard shot is the exception with 25 to 35 being the norm an most times you have to shoot thru hole in the brush even at close range. Only way to get a wide open shot around here is to hunt green fields or maybe open pastures. Works out good for my style of hunting though. I like em close. If one runs off an does not leave you a good blood trail you can mark it up for a lost deer

[hanshi]

What wattle posted is exactly what hunting was like back in Ga.  The only "long" shots I ever got were in fields or on woods trails.  Shooting through holes in brush is what you get use to.

[Huntschool]

As a forester and a forest ranger back in the early 1970s, I could eyeball judge distances within a foot or two.  I was also able to look at a fire burn and know almost automatically the acreage, but I had to see the entire burn area.  This was back in Georgia where 100 yards was difficult to come by unless you happened to be in a hay field.  I would have been clueless in open territory.  I could look at a tree and tell its diameter, number of logs, etc.  But this took a lot of practice and experience measuring trees/distances over and over.  And when trees started to get a great deal larger I had to go back to measuring them.  It's a matter of the kind of country and vegetation in which one hunts that defines size and distance judging.  It's also remarkable how quickly those skills atrophy when no longer used that often.

I am with hanshi having worked timber cruises for a number of years as well as doing acreage plans for food plot work.  I learned to estimate diameters and logs in the tree from an old, weathered forester.  The first time I pulled out an old hand held device to measure height of tree, he took it away from me and showed me the hand/finger trick.  Running surveyors chain through the woods gets you pretty set in that distance.

I feel pretty confident from hunting with trad bows what 20-40 yards looks like.  So I am good there.  However, with my flint and cap guns once I hit 100 yards I quit.   I dont shoot over that range on deer anyway.  With the modern stuff, I also have one of those laser things and use it.  However, I still subscribe to getting as close as I can or waiting out the animal if that is in the cards.

[hanshi]

I guess the majority of shots I've gotten were on the south side of 25 yards.  One was about 7 feet.  My farthest deer kills were made in a hayfield at around 100 yards.  I also took a buck at nearly that distance with a RSBH .44.  That prb will do an awesome job on deer.  That's why the .45 was always my go-to flintlock.  I normally pace off deer kills so have a good idea how close the average shot actually is.

[oldtravler61]

  This is an interesting topic. The details on a deer size animal I can make out clearly. The closer I know that animal is to me. Which makes since I know but if you take a full size deer target out to your shooting range. You alll be amazed at how close you can accurately range them. Anyway it works real well for me. Your millage may very...   Oldtravler

[cglynn]

I used to shoot competitive 3D archery, where life sized foam animal targets are shot at unknown distances.  Each target had a set of scoring rings indented into the foam.  Depending on which ring you hit, you could score a 5, 8, 10, 12, or 14.  Hit the target, get a 5, hit the vitals, get an 8, a clean kill shot was 10, and then the 12 and 14 rings were put in risk/reward type places.  In order to hit the 12 and 14 rings, you had to be able to judge yardage accurately to 1 yard.  The best guys I ever shot with could judge accurately to 1/2 a yard, and aim at and hit those bonus rings at 50 yards.  It was unreal.  The best I ever got was being able to judge within 3 yards, out to 45 or so, then I was good to the nearest 5 yard mark. 

One of the ways I used to practice was to play a game of "HORSE" of sorts with my archery buddies.  We would set up a few targets, then call the spot to shoot from.  We would usually end up pushing the yardage pretty far.  So one target I call, thinking its about 47 yards.  I make a good shot, and end up a bit high.  One of my buddies steps up, aims, and hits the 12 ring, dead center.  Looks up at me, grins, and says 45.5 yards.  Another buddy ranged it with his rangefinder.  Sure enough, it was 45.5 yards.  It always amazed me how good that guy was.

So if you want to get really good at yardage, talk to some serious 3D archery competitors.  Of course, there really isn't a secret to their ability.  They have access to the targets that are used on the competitive circuits (they are standardized) and spend tons of time looking at them, guessing their yardage, and then lasering each one to confirm.

A good idea may be to convince your BP club or shooting/hunting buddies to purchase a 3D deer target, not to shoot, but to use to practice judging.  You could even judge it, then aim your rifle at it, so you get an idea of sight picture at different distances.  If you really wanted to go all out, you could put some priming powder in your pan, and touch it off while aiming at the deer target.

If that is out of the question, just bring a rangefinder with you everywhere you go, and try to judge the distance to everything you see.  Guess, and laser it to confirm.  You'll be amazed at how quickly you get good at judging distance.

[rich pierce]

I’d love to be able to shoot trad like that. Must take many years.

[Daryl]

In traditional archery with instinctive shooting, the range is not known, not necessary - it's from here to there.
Being good at it, takes a LOT of practice of shooting, from here to there.