Estimating lead on running game?

[TimC]

Pushing or calling its all about getting the target to where you can manage a good hit! Just different techniques for different areas. I find that if I have one client in a seat and walk another around say 1/2 a mile or more in front then the deer tend not to be beaten into moving but do so as if it was a dog walker. I take a dog for tracking wounded deer. The seated rifle wont always get a shot, in fact the chances are better for the walking pair!

 

[senior]

My brother lives and hunts moose down near Drayton Valley. In the farming country they do drives in the bush blocks and are always successful at pushing out moose (plus deer). Hitting a large-bodied, relatively slow moving moose has to be a lot easier then a deer!!

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This may sound surprising but I find moose a tougher target.
While they may look like a slow lumbering animal, out in the open or in a cut those long legs are actually moving it along a quite a respectable pace quite easy to mistake the speed & miscalculate the leed!

 

[cosmic]

Well - For years I hunted in camps where we still hunted, or had human "doggers". Nine times out of ten, you would see deer that were close to stationary, and I practiced shooting at the range accordingly.
Then I switched to a camp with hounds (Redbone, to be specific) - thats an entirely different kettle of fish. Nine out of ten deer are moving like freight trains, so moving shots become the norm, and people become well practiced at it. Many of the locals practice by rolling car tires (actually, pick-up truck tires) down hills, and taking shots...
On balance, I dont think dogs offer tremendous advantage to hunters, or at least to me ...
And thats why a lot of ranges in Ontario have moving rifle targets.

 

[Big JD-From the hills]

And game are usualy never running at a 90, even if they are its only for a moment then the angle changes as they get further. Calculations will give you a good idea but don't dwell on them. Handloads.com has a decent balistic calculator that will tell you time of flight taking bullets drop in velocity into consideration. I have had very good luck with running shots, my first deer was shot running right through the neck. Its very rare for me to get a still shot, probably because I don't actualy plan a hunt/stalk. I just wander out to a bush if something jumps out and it looks tasty I shoot it.

 

[csmith99]

Don't get me wrong, I'm definately not criticising. I just wasn't sure if I wasn't understanding it. Looks like the formula is good, they just screwed up on their example. Its amazing that at 100 yards and a fast running deer, you pretty much have to lead it by a full deer. I went in the running deer contest they had at Virden, and scored 3/3 in the kill zone and wound up in a shoot off with another guy. We must have been pretty close, because the bullet impacted pretty much at the point of aim in my estimation.

My heart definately gets pumping when I hear that crashing through the bush and I know a deer is about to fly by me. I took a shot at one running last year and missed, there was no time for a second shot, and I fired my first shot and only shot at the 2nd of two deer that ran out of a bluff into the open. When someone is pushing bush, there is lots of potential for running shots, although I've had them run out of the bush and stop right in the open too. Smart deer, they knew I couldn't shoot them on a road.

So the new formula would be:

Speed of animal * distance / heartrate - drymouth + bullet weight / sq root of your systolic BP reading = lead on the animal that is now dead from old age!!!

I'd rather use my gut instict and if I miss, I learn another lesson and the animal lives another season.