Wounded a running deer :-(

L

lookout

CGN Regular
GunNutz
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Location
NW Ontario
I've been hunting for about 15 years and have taken 9 moose and countless deer. I've always made it a practice to shoot carefully for the vitals and consider it to be of paramount importance to harvest an animal cleanly and quickly.
I'm also a pretty good shot on the target range in both static and dynamic shooting, an experienced wing shot and have shot the movers at Bisley.
Last year I started getting the brilliant idea that I could have good success shooting at running deer. I let fly at one deer at about 75 yards with my Steyr Scout and ended up with a clean miss. The next day I let fly at a bounding deer at about 100 yards running 3/4 away from me. I opened up the belly and had to track it about 75 yards to finish her off. Any hunter would be disgusted by a disemboweled deer running away from you, as I was.

So, did all this nonsense leave a strong impression on me that I should reconsider the moving deer shot? Sure it did, but not strong enough. Yesterday I let fly at a deer running broadside to me at about 60-70 yards. Clean sight picture but at the break of the shot, I knew the shot was too far back and in the guts. Tracked for an hour and a half, found 3 drops of blood and no deer. I know I gut shot it, it has died a painful death, or will die, and I'm sickened by it. Its the first critter I've wounded and not recovered and I'm not a great fan of it.


Whats the opinions out there on shooting movers? I'm sure many feel confident on walking critters but what about runners? what distance is feasible and ethical?
 
My moose was shot in the neck at a full run but inside of 35 yards and even there, the bullet hit farther back than I expected. Normally, I wouldn't have taken the shot but when I threw the gun up, the scope was right on her and the "little voice" said, "That's a dead moose" (the little voice hasn't gone wrong yet) so I shot. I've shot a lot of running animals (mostly yotes) so I know when it "feels" right.

Feasible is what you know you can hit.

Ethics are yours alone. Like your #####, they shouldn't be forced upon the public at largge.
 
Good for you for clearing your mind and letting people learn from your story.

Saw a few bad hunts in Africa where guys just off intercontinental flights insisted their expensive custom rifles didn't need to be sighted in and the PH's were taking second rounds on every animal because these guys sucked and never got a clean kill, but they wanted to keep the customers happy. It was sad to watch, especially the rarer and larger animals, when there was a frivolous shot or poor tactical choice. Sometime it would get interesting when it was a eland, buff, leopard, or tusker (cull), and they would turn the table as start stalking you or the bush was think and the stalk was long. .... Were it not usually at a game farm with an over-abundance of animals it might have been handled differently I think. But they billed the hunters through the nose for every stalk, hunt, and drag that resulted from his poor choices and I think he learned through the wallet. One guy from Germany was so bad that they made his assistant write the check for the species fee every time before they would let the guy load a round.

I hear what is being said about the voice telling you its was a good shot. Feasible is what you know you can hit, true, but if you don't know you shouldn't take the shot. So are you shooting based on "probable cause" or "beyond a reasonable doubt", as that is how I would evaluate it when I hear what is being said about the voice telling you its was a good shot.

You aren't forcing your ethics on anyone so remember comments like that when the same people start telling you how to hunt, vote, or post... This site is called a a forum for a reason.
 
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My condolences, LO. If you can successfully execute a running shot depends on a number of important factors. For example, how far away is the animal? When it runs, does it pace like a moose, or bound like a "jumper" [mule deer]? Is it running broadside, or quartering to/away? Have you had serious practice at hitting running targets before you went hunting? For an experienced running shot, 70yards should be within reasonable "kill" distance, but shots too far back are frequently the result of misjudging the amount of lead needed, or by "stopping" the swing of the rifle at the moment the trigger is squeezed. "Follow-through" is absolutely vital for successful running shots. Whether anyone wants to jump on the "ethical" stump here or not is up to them, but I personally limit running shots on game that is not "bounding" to 150 yards. But I have practiced extensively at a running target game that simulates a running animal, and am satisfied that I can hit the vitals 100% of the time under my self imposed conditions. If anything does not quite feel right, I will hold my shot. So far, it has worked, and I hope I never have to feel the pain that Lookout has felt. Regards, Eagleye.
 
I would consider myself a diehard waterfowler, so pretty much every shot I take is on the fly. Most of my deer hunting is done with my 870 and rifled slugs. I'd never think of cracking a shot at a running deer past 25 yards with that gun. I guess its all a confidence thing. I purposely bought a 700 SPS varmint in 223 just to practice distance shooting at the range with a rifle due to my inexperience. And it inturn paid off this fall when moose hunting in Thunder Bay where I dropped my first bull at 362 yards with one shot.

Everybody has their own comfort level when it comes to what they can and cannot do with a gun. I get that same feeling even when I lose a duck or goose. I guess it all boils down to knowing your limitations.
 
Any time we press the trigger on a game animal we must accept the fact that we might wound despite our best intentions of making a clean kill. This can happen on a stationary animal, it can happen on a moving animal, it can happen at short range and long. The key is that you shoot enough to have a realistic idea of what you are capable of with your rifle, and that you have determined that your shot can be made with a reasonable expectation of success. If you believe that you are shooting within the parameters of your ability, and you make the best effort possible to recover the animal in the shortest amount of time, all is good.
 
The only running / moving shot I will take on big game would be at "stupidly close" distance; i.e. <50 yards, probably closer. I managed to miss a nice whitetail last year at less then 25 yards as he turned and ran quartering away through the aspens. I thought I had him dead to rights, but somehow missed him clean (pretty sure I hit a tree, as I was swinging really fast).

The best moving shot I have ever made was on a wounded mule deer (partners deer) running straight away heading for a very steep valley. Hit him in the back of the head at about 50 yards. Yes, I am still bragging about that one.
 
Sometimes everything works out just right, other times it goes sour. My most memorable running shot was a big muley doe that my partner had shot and she went right down, but literally bounced to her feet and took off. She was quartering away, and my partner shot twice without even touching her. By the time I decided to get involved she was close to 200 yards away, running quartering away. I was packing my 270, and when I shot, she dropped like a stone. Shot had entered at the second last rib, and ranged through to the far shoulder and out. I considered that more luck than good management, but it sure did impress the two guys that were with us! Unwounded game would not have been shot at that far away, for sure. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Running shots are virtually never a good idea....as you've proven......just not sure why it took three tries to realize this. Not trying to be a hard azz here but why after two disasters would you try a third? I say pass on them and wait for a better opportunity. 99.9% of running shots on game will hit too far back......we just don't get the opportunity to practice them enough! Hopefully you won't try a fourth?
 
Not dropping them on the first shot sucks but it's occasionally going to happen. It sems the larger the animal, the larger the draw to want to throw lead gets. Sure it wasn't pretty but you made he effort to end it as speedy and ethically as possible. That's gotta count for something.
 
I have missed enough running deer to no longer bother doing any more than watch them go by.

I prefer my steaks to not chew like they have been chased all the way from wherever they grew up, to my table, too.

So I try to set myself up for the high probability shots, try to use a rest, and try to be set up so that the critters are completely unaware of my presence, if I can. Sometimes I can get all three conditions, sometimes not.

Best of luck. Excrement eventuates! Don't let it drag you down, and try to learn, from that bad feeling.

Cheers
Trev
 
Sorry if I come off Hard a**'d . But what were you thinking ? Never, Never take a shot at a running critter! Not a good thing to do , even at 50 yards, I have seen people miss at 50 yards completely , and these guys were actually good shots. There are to many variables to consider.... the human variable being the #1... we are flawed, we can miss at 25 yards ....all it takes is a slight waver and you are off in left field . Do not take running shots.
 
Due to the lay of the land around here if you cant hit a running deer you wont get to many.I guess if you grew up doing it,its not that big of a deal.My young son has taken two deer this way and so have many of his friends.But I will agree a standing shot is by far the best.
 
Personally, they have to be very close to shoot at running. I remember 2 bucks in particular that I shot on the run. Both were under 10 yards away and both were one shot kills (1 in the head, the other in the spine). Oh, there was another, but he was running at me and would have run over me! I hit him in the liver at about 5 feet from the end of the barrel, and had to jump out of the way so he didn't run me down! A second shot quickly finished him off.

However, I would not consider these shots skill, but rather luck. Shooting at running game at ranges past 50 yards just has too much risk in it for me.

The only other exception I would make for shooting at running game is if the animal had already been hit previously and we were looking for it. At that point, as long as it is a safe shot, might as well take your chances since it is wounded anyways.
 
The only time I attempted running deer, was after a full pre-season of jackrabbit, snowshoe hare, and coyote shooting with a smaller calibre centrefire. I had my 788 Remington in .222 for varmints, and during the whitetail season the same upscaled rifle in .308 Winchester was utilized.

Every week, at least twice, sometimes three or more days during the week I was small game/varmint hunting, where and when I could do so.
I got so good with my .222 Remi, that jackrabbits were unsafe at up to almost 300 yards. I even took on movers if 150 yards or less.

Only when I had mastered running 'jack shooting, did I even consider doing the same on deer.

The prairies of South Saskatchewan were my live-fire, testing facility.
I bet you I burned at least 200-300 rounds on smaller critters, before the deer season was upon us.And then after deer season, coyote hunting/shooting was full on again!
I did not have to expend very much .308 to fill the freezer.

I have not done this since, because I never had so much shooting/hunting opportunities, as there on the dusty old plaines of Rupert's Land!
 
I think to say that it is never prudent to take a running shot applies an unreasonable restriction. Your experience and ability to honestly access your proficiency determines what is a reasonable expectation of success. I have made successful one-shot stops on running game, and I have wounded stationary game. Does that mean I should only shoot running game? I don't think so. Still, every variable stacks the problem against us, and we need to be able to instantly judge the circumstances we are faced with to gauge our likelihood of success. Just the fact that the target is a live breathing animal means that at any point up until the bullet strikes it can move from where it was when we pressed the trigger. If you aren't sure, don't shoot, but if you have confidence in your ability go for it.

A running straight away shot can be a easy as a stationary shot although there is a tight time constraint. When you practice do you practice with a time pressure element? Quartering away adds a degree of difficulty, and a broadside target running left to right is the most difficult problem for a right-handed shooter (right to left for a left handed shooter). As in all shooting, range, wind, elevation, target angle, and our mind set at the time of the shot all add to the difficulty of the problem, and any one of these elements can switch us to a don't shoot decision regardless of whether or not the target is in motion.

How does one train for running shots on game? Well if you live in jackrabbit country shooting jacks on the run with a deer rifle would qualify. Perhaps your range has a running deer or running boar target. Practice breaking the shot as soon as you have acquired your sight picture. As your skill level improves, the risk factor involved with any given shot diminishes.
 
Boomer said:
As your skill level improves, the risk factor involved with any given shot diminishes.
Click to expand...

Yup! 100 percent with this!

Like Brutus says above, too. Practice and experience will tell if you should or should not take the shot.

When I was shooting a couple thousand rounds at gophers every summer, I was a pretty decent shot come hunting season, but I still tried to stick to the high probability shots.

Just a matter of my comfort levels. I've seen an awful lot of guys that shot movers, and did so well, but that ain't me, so I stick to the slow and the stopped if I can.

Cheers
Trev
 
There are guys who are very successful at hitting running deer and who hunt in areas where pushing bluffs, this is standard practice. Me, I've nailed moving targets 3/3 in the vitals, but can't hit a running deer for the life of me. Its just not in me, I don't have the knack or instinct or knowledge or whatever it takes, so I give up and seek out other more successful scenarios. Each to their own I guess.
 
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