I have discovered the same thing about my shooting distances here in the Missouri Ozarks.
My stand behind the house on the lease has a maximum shot of about 115 yards.
My stand on the South West side of the property has a maximum range of again around 115 yards.
The stand on the South East side of the property my brother hunts has a maximum range of 135 yards.
The wife's Platform Stand on the North East side of the property has a maximum range of probably 250 yards, but you would be shooting back towards the house, and the small lot we put the horses in during deer season. That puts us back to around 150 yards as the maximum in a direction safe to shoot.

I stay amazed how limited most people you encounter think you are with a handgun. I shot a couple rounds at the 200 yard steel in front of a couple rifle shooters the other day. I asked if they could see where I hit. One of them said he saw dust fly below the target, and thought I hit the bottom of the steel with the other shot. I did not think so. I took a couple paint cans down range and repainted the target. When I looked at the target two new splash marks were in the center. After repainting I made one more shot in front of the rifle shooters on the 200 yard target. At the shot the RED Dot went BLACK. I then moved to the 300 yard steel and dinged it twice in the center.

I handgun hunter off and on for years. I have several nice rifles that I liked to hunt with also. That was the reason for the off and on. I started with Contenders in the early 1990's. My first deer barrel was a 7x30 Waters. Then Mark Hampton ordered me a 6.5X30 JDJ, and a 375 JDJ from his friend JD Jones at SSK. Then I picked up my 35 Bullberry barrel from Bullberry Barrel Works. I am now on my second 480 Ruger Super RedHawk. Then we have the CVA Optima Muzzle Loader and a Scout 357 Maximum, and another 357 Maximum Contender barrel.

Then I decided to go bigger and got an Encore Action, then a 260 Remington BullBerry barrel and a 7.62x54R MGM barrel.

Now my problem is deciding which handgun and barrel to hunt with. I have not taken a rifle out in years. I had to decide that I was a handgun hunter, and hunt only with handguns. Thinking back over all the years of deer hunting. Very few deer were taken with a rifle that I could not NOW have made that shot with a handgun.

I really like spending a couple months before season giving the handguns a real work out. Working up loads, casting bullets, etc. You can get way more enjoyment from your hunting handguns than just hunting with them a few days. Then we have hunting site preparations, work on stands, etc. that is also part of the hunting experience.

We like to hear about your hunting preparation. Food Plots, Stands, Rests, Reloading, Wildcats. You name it we enjoy reading about it if it involves handgun hunting.

The better written the story, and the more details given the better. Your hunting story's are even better when we can visualize the hunt from the story you write. We are not all natural writers like Mark Hampton, but give it a try you will keep getting better with your stories.

Bob R