Shot Percentage Poll!
- Thread starter BIGREDD
- Start date
Are you being serious b/b? I notice that you did not vote in the poll..beretta boy said:
If the Mods would allow Captain Deadly out of the phone booth I am sure he would do a fly by.... You call a Texas Heart shot a desperation shot... and then talk about shooting them in the eye.... talk about low percentages...
I checked 'other' because I think that a hunter should be capable to take any of those shots to put down an animal. Our moose hunting group's approach to shooting moose is to keep shooting until the moose goes down. If two of us are there we both shoot and keep shooting. In 15 years of moose hunting we have never had to track a moose more than 100 yards.
After the first shot (usually to the chest) we aim for the neck or head as it is usually running away, if it is running broadside or quartering I go for the chest. On the running away shot we make a point of aiming well above the ass to avoid meat damage. Moose are much easier to hit on the run than deer. I have accidentally shot 1 or 2 deer in the rear hams as they flee, they are just too bouncy.
I do a lot of stalking and jump shooting so most often I have to take the shot provided in that moment they jump from their bed and look to see what you are. In all cases however my sights go for the chest area first.
For me the face on shots are toughest and require the most thought with regard to your aiming point. 2-3 inches left or right makes a big difference between eating tenderloin that night or tracking wounded game.
After the first shot (usually to the chest) we aim for the neck or head as it is usually running away, if it is running broadside or quartering I go for the chest. On the running away shot we make a point of aiming well above the ass to avoid meat damage. Moose are much easier to hit on the run than deer. I have accidentally shot 1 or 2 deer in the rear hams as they flee, they are just too bouncy.
I do a lot of stalking and jump shooting so most often I have to take the shot provided in that moment they jump from their bed and look to see what you are. In all cases however my sights go for the chest area first.
For me the face on shots are toughest and require the most thought with regard to your aiming point. 2-3 inches left or right makes a big difference between eating tenderloin that night or tracking wounded game.
Over the years I have much prefered the broadside shot... one of the reasons being that I live in an area that has lots of the type of animals that I hunt, so I'm not under a great deal of pressure(time-wise) to take a low-percentage shot .
That being said, I have shot a lot of animals using the other choices given (esp. the head and neck shots ), except for the Texas heart shot ....I can't remember ever using this shot placement although I've seen it done ...very messy .
That being said, I have shot a lot of animals using the other choices given (esp. the head and neck shots ), except for the Texas heart shot ....I can't remember ever using this shot placement although I've seen it done ...very messy .
EnfieldMike
CGN Regular
- Location
- Northern NS
I always try the "one shot one kill philosophy". I've let deer go bounding thru the hardwoods without fring a shot. Now my mentor says...shoot and keep shooting...cause sometimes the deer will turn and run at you. Seems to work for him and he's got hundreds of bagged game and has only lost one or two in 50 years.
Hmmm, I smell a bit of funny stuff in some of these replies........
I have missed more deer than I have shot, and most honest hunters will tell you that they don't get 100% kills. I have taken about sixty or so deer over the years (but only one moose ever). I take whatever shot I can get, which AT THE TIME I think I can make. I pass on shots I don't think I can make, and have passed on those shots for a goodly long time, at least thirty years kind of thing. If I think the only shot I will get (bow/rifle/shotgun) can be done by me, in the circumstances in which I find myself, I generally take it. Usually, my instinct is good. But as somebody may have mentioned, Mr Murphy sometimes gets involved too. So that tree you did not see takes the bullet, or that twig that can't be seen in your scope with five minutes of legal light left deflects the arrow. Kaka happens.
I have taken all of those shots successfully, but if you give me a choice, yes please deliver the deer to me on a silver platter, well within range and broadside.
Doug
I have missed more deer than I have shot, and most honest hunters will tell you that they don't get 100% kills. I have taken about sixty or so deer over the years (but only one moose ever). I take whatever shot I can get, which AT THE TIME I think I can make. I pass on shots I don't think I can make, and have passed on those shots for a goodly long time, at least thirty years kind of thing. If I think the only shot I will get (bow/rifle/shotgun) can be done by me, in the circumstances in which I find myself, I generally take it. Usually, my instinct is good. But as somebody may have mentioned, Mr Murphy sometimes gets involved too. So that tree you did not see takes the bullet, or that twig that can't be seen in your scope with five minutes of legal light left deflects the arrow. Kaka happens.
I have taken all of those shots successfully, but if you give me a choice, yes please deliver the deer to me on a silver platter, well within range and broadside.
Doug
Heart/lung only. Broadside prefered but a quatering shot is a slam dunk if you shoot strait. unless he is facing away from you he HAS to turn. patience always pays off. Every animal I've shot, or seen shot behind the shoulder or through the chest has gone down in short order. Quick, efficient, and a large margine for error.
I like the straight on shot. Every animal I have shot this way has dropped in its tracks, I mean dropped! It seems to cause such a devistating shock to the body that no animal moves after being shot.
Don't get me wrong, I will not wait around for this shot, If it is presented to me I will gladly take it, if not I will do whatever it takes to kill the animal cleanly.
Don't get me wrong, I will not wait around for this shot, If it is presented to me I will gladly take it, if not I will do whatever it takes to kill the animal cleanly.
Sometimes we get to eat our words, and sometimes quite soon.
Took a shot today with the bow at a buck about 20 yards away, on the ground. (I shoot a scoped crossbow) I had waited until he was in a "clean" shooting lane, and he was broadside to me. I took what I felt to be a good shot, heard a "smack, saw his tail go down, and he went about fifteen yards and stopped. Dead deer, right? Then the tail went up and he loped off, apparently unharmed. I went to the spot where he had been standing when I shot, and there was my crossbow bolt, dead straight into (and through) about a one-inch sapling. No blood on the bolt. Mr Buck saved by the sapling I did not see in the scope...........
But it was broadside...........
Doug
Took a shot today with the bow at a buck about 20 yards away, on the ground. (I shoot a scoped crossbow) I had waited until he was in a "clean" shooting lane, and he was broadside to me. I took what I felt to be a good shot, heard a "smack, saw his tail go down, and he went about fifteen yards and stopped. Dead deer, right? Then the tail went up and he loped off, apparently unharmed. I went to the spot where he had been standing when I shot, and there was my crossbow bolt, dead straight into (and through) about a one-inch sapling. No blood on the bolt. Mr Buck saved by the sapling I did not see in the scope...........
But it was broadside...........
Doug
Doug said:
I believe I quite agree with you Doug. If your a stand hunter in an open area you may get your shot of choice but the rest of us get what's presented when it's presented! You make your choice whether to shoot or not but you'd better make it fast because in Ont bush they're leavin.....FAST
You guys are pretty smart for a couple of fossils...
I don't want to think about the deer that I have lost over the years.... this year I wounded a nice buck with the bow and lost another with the slug-gun.
Both deer were killed later in the season by better shots than me...
Anyone who has killed everything they ever shot at or thinks that they can place their shot perfectly every time is either lucky, inexperienced or a real good story teller
I don't want to think about the deer that I have lost over the years.... this year I wounded a nice buck with the bow and lost another with the slug-gun.
Both deer were killed later in the season by better shots than me...
Anyone who has killed everything they ever shot at or thinks that they can place their shot perfectly every time is either lucky, inexperienced or a real good story teller
With out a dought behind the fron shoulder is the shot with the most room for error.
Personally, under 50 yds my first consideration is going to be a head or neck shot. After 50 yds the vast majority of the time I will go behind the front shoulder.
Having said that, the highest risk to wound has to be the running shot. It is responsible for the vast majority of wounded animals. Sorry, I just had to say it.
Personally, under 50 yds my first consideration is going to be a head or neck shot. After 50 yds the vast majority of the time I will go behind the front shoulder.
Having said that, the highest risk to wound has to be the running shot. It is responsible for the vast majority of wounded animals. Sorry, I just had to say it.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
walksalot said:
I've taken many a deer on the run. It's a matter of practice. And YES I have missed some. But, I've also missed nice easy standing shots for a wide variety of reasons.
If you are not good enough to take running shots, or you are not comfortable with them, fine, don't take 'em.
If I passed on running shots, I might as well stay home. I'll be shooting thanks.
walksalot said:
You have to be kidding... Your saying that a boiler room shot is the lowest percentage... but after 50 yards you take that shot anyway...
I agree with running shots being harder... but thats why its called hunting!
BIGREDD said:You have to be kidding... Your saying that a boiler room shot is the lowest percentage... but after 50 yards you take that shot anyway...
I agree with running shots being harder... but thats why its called hunting!
Read it carefully, THE MOST ROOM FOR ERROR. This means it is a higher percentage shot.
As far as your comments on running shots, the same can be said about head and neck shots.
When an animal is gutshot the gut pushes against the ribcage thus sealing the hole. The only time rumen will excrete from the wound is when the holes in the gut and the ribcage line up and this can be very infrequently and may only be a few drops. The hunter presumes a miss but infact the animal is gutshot. This is compounded on the evening hunts when the animal is wounded and seeks the protction of the forest in which to hide. The hunter goes to the fringe and is reluctant to track the animal because darkness is coming on and the hunter is afraid of getting lost. The result is the animal spends a very long night unless the coyotes eventually put it out of it's misery.
I guess where I am coming from is that some hunters look down their noses at other hunters who take a head or neck shot but will spray and pray hunt with no thought to the fact most are taking a very low percentage shot and a shot which is responsible for the vast majority of wounded animals.
I guess where I am coming from is that some hunters look down their noses at other hunters who take a head or neck shot but will spray and pray hunt with no thought to the fact most are taking a very low percentage shot and a shot which is responsible for the vast majority of wounded animals.
The only immediate kill shot on the deers head is it's brain, about the size of a small fist. If you can consistantly hit that free hand @ 50yds, you are a very good shot, it doesn't take much of a piece of brush, fast breathing, a jerk on the trigger, a slight bump of the sights to pull a bad shot! But consider a miss of 1/2" gets you nothing but a very badly mangled deer head, which will surely die a much longer slower death than a gut shot deer
At 50yds I'll take a "spray & pray" shot in the boiler ahead of a standing head shot EVERYTIME, & I'll also have a much higher kill percentage
I'm not 100% against a head shot, at maybe 50ft on a standing deer maybe? if circumstances were right..I donno I guess I've never been in the right circumstances
At 50yds I'll take a "spray & pray"
shot in the boiler ahead of a standing head shot EVERYTIME, & I'll also have a much higher kill percentage I'm not 100% against a head shot, at maybe 50ft on a standing deer maybe? if circumstances were right..I donno I guess I've never been in the right circumstances
senior said:The only immediate kill shot on the deers head is it's brain, about the size of a small fist. If you can consistantly hit that free hand @ 50yds, you are a very good shot, it doesn't take much of a piece of brush, fast breathing, a jerk on the trigger, a slight bump of the sights to pull a bad shot! But consider a miss of 1/2" gets you nothing but a very badly mangled deer head, which will surely die a much longer slower death than a gut shot deer
At 50yds I'll take a "spray & pray"
I'm not 100% against a head shot, at maybe 50ft on a standing deer maybe? if circumstances were right..I donno I guess I've never been in the right circumstances
Nothing can convince me that the runnuning (spray and pray) shot is not the lowest prcentage shot in a hunting situation.
Sorry Walksalot I did misinterpret your meaning...
You guys are bang on with regard to head shots... very tough to hit them in the right place to put them down.
The little buck pictured below was sneaking through cover and was inadvertantly hit in the head with a .275 grain Power belt from a .45 cal Optima Pro M/L. The shot did not even faze the buck who then proceeded to the next hunter who hit it in the boiler room with a .348 grain power belt from a .50 cal version. DRT.
As you can see from the entrance and exit wounds this shot missed the brain pan by only three inches. I think if this deer had not been subsequently killed by another shot he would have likely gotten infection in his jaw and starved to death.
Head shots are very low percentage.
You guys are bang on with regard to head shots... very tough to hit them in the right place to put them down.
The little buck pictured below was sneaking through cover and was inadvertantly hit in the head with a .275 grain Power belt from a .45 cal Optima Pro M/L. The shot did not even faze the buck who then proceeded to the next hunter who hit it in the boiler room with a .348 grain power belt from a .50 cal version. DRT.
As you can see from the entrance and exit wounds this shot missed the brain pan by only three inches. I think if this deer had not been subsequently killed by another shot he would have likely gotten infection in his jaw and starved to death.
Head shots are very low percentage.
