- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
LOL
Bullet Placement!
- Thread starter BIGREDD
- Start date
I usually never leave it up to one shot to take down my animal. Sure I put the first shot in the vitals, but the animal is still standing so I put another one in him.
I once put 4 30-06 180gr Rem Cor-loct shots into an animals vitals and I was that close (50 yards) I could see them entering the heart-lung area. Now we never did find that animal after a whole day of searching. No blood, and very few tracks. So even with proper shot placement, and a multiple shots it is still possible to lose the animal. That is the hard part of hunting.
I once put 4 30-06 180gr Rem Cor-loct shots into an animals vitals and I was that close (50 yards) I could see them entering the heart-lung area. Now we never did find that animal after a whole day of searching. No blood, and very few tracks. So even with proper shot placement, and a multiple shots it is still possible to lose the animal. That is the hard part of hunting.
- Location
- Lakes District BC
Levi you are dead on with the archery comments no doubt in that sport you need to KNOW , and YES Red , you have no idea how stoopid some people make themselves look in a hurry with buck fever or just lack of knowledge
Joe you sawed off midget paving layer dont make me drive to Ontario
Joe you sawed off midget paving layer dont make me drive to Ontario
- Location
- Lakes District BC
yea well its not every day I get to stand beside a hanging leprechaun
Geez you guys get worked up
Knowing the sweet spots is important. Yes things can go wrong, but we all try to put the bullet where it'll do the most good.
Yes, you should really use 'enough gun', because crap does happen and having the extra horsepower is always a good thing.
Heh - i can't believe this got up to five pages already
Knowing the sweet spots is important. Yes things can go wrong, but we all try to put the bullet where it'll do the most good.
Yes, you should really use 'enough gun', because crap does happen and having the extra horsepower is always a good thing.
Heh - i can't believe this got up to five pages already
powder burner
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
I think everyone can learn something about shot placement/follow up shots by reading this post.
Levi Garrett said:Archery has helped me a great deal over the years. Its like a handycap placed on ones self that trains you to be ready for that split second chance you get for a clean shot. Also vitals are viewed in great detail with every step the animal takes. This may sound strange , but archers will know what I'm talking about.
This trained mind set plays right into rifle shooting, and makes it easier by a long shot.
One must pick a spot as small as the mind will allow, this will pay off big time. Do not shoot at the whole animal , emagine a hair in front of the heart, and split it.
Long range shooting is a bit differant , as one also has to know the ballistics of the rifle cartridge, then can apply the same methods as for closer in.
Could not say that any better L/G... Archers must have extreme anatomical knowledge to be successful.
Wait for that leg to move forward... thunk. Sometimes this knowledge works in reverse... shoot throught the shoulder into the vitals with heavy bullets and slugs to break them down and knock them down.
Foxer said:Geez you guys get worked up
Knowing the sweet spots is important. Yes things can go wrong, but we all try to put the bullet where it'll do the most good.
Yes, you should really use 'enough gun', because crap does happen and having the extra horsepower is always a good thing.
Heh - i can't believe this got up to five pages already
What you really mean is that you can't believe this topic went to five pages without tuning into a cluster-flame....
Don't blame me Foxer ... I'm doing my job. If these other slackards can't get down in the muck what am I sposed to do... insult their Momma"s... I will if I have too... I'm serious.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
You don't need horsepower, all you need is lead!
Bigger the better.
Doesn't matter where you hit it.
Just get moose to walk under
Bigger the better.
Doesn't matter where you hit it.
Just get moose to walk under
losing a wounded animal is a very traumatizing experience.
After some shots that turned into miracle hits, I thought I was "wonder boy" with the bullets.
(insert brag occasions here)
Not so.
I learned my lesson. I never passed a shot before. Overconfidence got to me. The animal died, but I should have aimed at a different spot.
I hope I will be spared of this kind of experience in the future.
A lot of things you guys said made a lot of sense when I sat down and analized what happened.
I believe thie forum have helped a lot of hunters and our collective wisdom is not to be neglected.
Thanks BigRedd
After some shots that turned into miracle hits, I thought I was "wonder boy" with the bullets.
(insert brag occasions here)
Not so.
I learned my lesson. I never passed a shot before. Overconfidence got to me. The animal died, but I should have aimed at a different spot.
I hope I will be spared of this kind of experience in the future.
A lot of things you guys said made a lot of sense when I sat down and analized what happened.
I believe thie forum have helped a lot of hunters and our collective wisdom is not to be neglected.
Thanks BigRedd
Great thread! While it is gratifying to see an animal collapse in it's tracks at the first shot, I do not expect that to happen, and am always prepared to follow up immediately. The fact that presentation is not always ideal is the reason that I often post about bullet construction. I firmly believe that the cost of a premium bullet for hunting pales in comparison to the "cost" of a wounded animal escaping because the projectile disintegrated and failed to reach the vitals. Certainly bullet placement is something any conscientious hunter and sportsman should be concerned about, but, as some so eloquently have stated, it does not always happen, even when intentions are good. If one hunts long enough, an animal will be lost, and then a serious look in the mirror is indicated. How much of the blame rests on the hunter? From my viewpoint, a high %. Rethinking our attitude can result in better care taken, less lost game, and a better image of the Hunter in the eyes of those who do not pursue our noble pastime. Regards, Eagleye.
No one is perfect,and every shot will not be perfectly placed,so I prefer to use a more powerful cartridge than necessary and a bullet suitable for the game hunted.However,I do not take shots that do not allow for proper bullet placement.Some people will shoot at any part of a game animal that they can see,whether it is a vital or not.Other people get excited and just shoot at the entire animal instead of for a vital area.Either situation greatly increases the chance of a wounded animal reguardless of the cartridge or bullet used.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Shooting at the entire animal, has to be the biggest mistake made by newbie hunters. And a lot of buck fever type old timers too.
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
Its all fun stuff , sitting in a swamp max relax, a 10 point buck come out at @40 meters, the brush was pretty heavy but this deer started doing the lip curl thing facing me, perfect white spot shot(for about 30 sec). I watched it, hoping it would come closer, and give me a broadside/ quartering away, and it just altered course 40 degrees and vanished. Then I realized I had a rifle that day
Then I realized I had a rifle that day Levi Garrett said:Its all fun stuff , sitting in a swamp max relax, a 10 point buck come out at @40 meters, the brush was pretty heavy but this deer started doing the lip curl thing facing me, perfect white spot shot(for about 30 sec). I watched it, hoping it would come closer, and give me a broadside/ quartering away, and it just altered course 40 degrees and vanished.
I always wandered why bowhunters speak of they close encounters as if they are not possible while rifle hunting....
I agree that with a bow, it is a must.. but it is very possible to do with a rifle too.
I also believe that few hunters have the cool blood to let the animal walk within 100 yards and not shoot, but it is possible. Needless to say, within 40 yds tha death would be most likely instantenous with any "good" caliber.
I've known a few who do
Funny thing that - in my mind this is where a lot of guys can run into a bit of trouble when they're using 'speed kills' guns and less than premium ammo. People forget that at close range those bullets can really come apart.
When i was a kid, i saw my dad light into a moose at maybe 40 yards with a relatively new to him 7mm mag using some cheap bullet (cor-lokt or something from canadian tire). PERFECT broadsides, moose sillouetted against a nice background, sun at our backs - doesn't get any better. Shot it - it just stood there, shot it again, eventually it tipped over.
When we opened it the results were less than stellar. Both bullets had broken up, only one lung was damaged significantly, and the heart had damage. But nothing like what it should have been like from two hits. Perfect bullet placement - but we were lucky he didn't run. He'd have gotten a ways i think especially without that second shot in him. If we'd hit bone or something, even a glancing blow off the leg, i have to wonder if it would have even been a fatal wound.
Later we swtiched to 175 grain partitions for that gun. WHOOOLE different story even close in. Good exits, hellacious mess inside, lotta bang-flops.
So - goes to show, sometimes we spend all our time thinking 'what about that 400 yard shot - have i got enough gun' - when sometimes we should be thinking a little more about 'what about that 30 yard shot? What will my bullet do then?'
I have seen the opposite results using tough bullets on light game... bullet passes through without expansion or with limited expansion. Animal shrugs what is seemingly a killing shot and runs away... maybe it is found maybe not.
My point and the recurring theme here is that you can place the bullet perfectly and still have a less than perfect result.
My point and the recurring theme here is that you can place the bullet perfectly and still have a less than perfect result.
