Wounded a running deer :-(

So you only shoot standing deer at close range :runaway: & you have never missed one ;) sounds like lier or limited experience??
With age also sometimes comes stuborness & opinionated senility :D
Try stalking the hardwoods with 4" of brittle dry maple, oak & beech leaves & see how many deer is in your pot at the end of the hunt :D I can hear a man walking 150yds away so a deer would hear you a 1,500yds :( ya your gonna sneak up on him!

Out west we don't plod around like a bull in heat we take out time and have honed our stalking skills.
I would suspect the deer back east would be easy to spot because if they can hear a man walking at 1500 yds a hunter would just have to look for the ears as they must be rather large.
 
Well the hearsay is a deer can hear & see 10 times better than man...well at least the rest of us!
I bow to the famous Daniel Boone :rolleyes:

So you only shoot standing deer at close range :runaway: & you have never missed one ;) sounds like lier or limited experience??
With age also sometimes comes stuborness & opinionated senility :D


Out west we don't plod around like a bull in heat we take out time and have honed our stalking skills.
I would suspect the deer back east would be easy to spot because if they can hear a man walking at 1500 yds a hunter would just have to look for the ears as they must be rather large.
 
Last edited:
Well the hearsay is a deer can hear & see 10 times better than man...well at least the rest of us!
I bow to the famous Daniel Boone :rolleyes:

Maybe you read it in the National Inquirer.
In the words of Captain Carnage" Venison just doesn't taste right unless it is shot full adrenaline and bullets and marinated in recently ingested, partially digested and fully digested indigenous vegetation."
 
I personally don't shoot at running game. I will not write off the possibility that I may have to one day, should something go amiss with the standing broadside shot.
 
Someone give me the lead on a running deer, perpendicular at 100 yards.

Not all deer run at the same speed,it depends on the deer,and the conditions.It also depends if you are swinging the gun with the deer,shooting at a point in front of the deer with a stationary gun,or something in between.Any angle also effects the lead.These factors also become more critical as the distance increases.
 
If you don't have the skill level to shoot running game, don't do it.
But don't try to influence those that can.
The conditions that senior and I hunt in are far different than 'western' conditions for example. Deer where we hunt, are frequently seen at very close range, and for only a few seconds. Even stand hunters in northern Ontario, will often as not see their deer for a very short time, and usually moving. The usual vision of shooting a running deer is the deer running across a field at better than 100 yards, doesn't apply. That can be done too, but it's a different game entirely.
Hunting deer in front of hounds, pretty much always means running shots. Even then, sometimes the loud yell will stop a deer, but not always.
People who have never done it visualize a deer running through the bush at break neck speed with it's tongue hanging out. Not so.
Deer quickly out distance a dog with a burst of amazing speed, and lope along at a slower pace quite comfortably, until they lose it. When they are in that slower pace, they can be stopped with a yell, or shot on the run, if you're up to it.

Are deer wounded, yes, absolutely. But no where near as many as the antis would have you believe.
For our guys, I'd say it's been at least ten years since we had to track a wounded deer as a result of a running shot.
 
Not all deer run at the same speed,it depends on the deer,and the conditions.It also depends if you are swinging the gun with the deer,shooting at a point in front of the deer with a stationary gun,or something in between.Any angle also effects the lead.These factors also become more critical as the distance increases.

Oh, it all sounds so perplexing!!!!

I liked captions answer better. More precise. But that would involve knowledge , practise and the honesty to admit running shots are a gambit.
 
I liked captions answer better. More precise.

A supposedly more precise answer is not always a more accurate answer.If you believe that all deer run at the same speed,you should also believe that all humans run at the same speed.Do you run at the same speed as an Olympic sprinter that has legs that are 4" longer than yours?Like humans,deer come in various sizes,with different stride lengths,which varies with the terrain,and with how scared they are.A big buck that has just been shot at on frozen ground with no snow,will run much faster than a much smaller deer running in deep snow or on soft ground.:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Apparently there are more differences in the deer hunt between east and west than one might think. I keep seeing comments about hunting deer with dogs. That's illegal in Alberta.

There are so many different ways to hunt deer, it's pretty much foolishness to second guess another guy's methods. Out west, some guys sit in tree stands, some guys sit in various places on the ground, some guys station shooters at strategic positions while bush pushers move the game in their direction, and some guys track animals. Some guys rattle antlers, some use scents, some use calls. Other hunters prefer to stay quiet.

I sincerely hope there isn't anyone on this board who insists his way is the only right way. I also hope that none of us take firearms safety lightly. And lastly, anyone who unnecessarily risks leaving an injured animal in the bush, well I'll clean up my language at this point and simply say I have nothing but contempt for them.
 
Apparently there are more differences in the deer hunt between east and west than one might think. I keep seeing comments about hunting deer with dogs. That's illegal in Alberta.

There are so many different ways to hunt deer, it's pretty much foolishness to second guess another guy's methods. Out west, some guys sit in tree stands, some guys sit in various places on the ground, some guys station shooters at strategic positions while bush pushers move the game in their direction, and some guys track animals. Some guys rattle antlers, some use scents, some use calls. Other hunters prefer to stay quiet.

I sincerely hope there isn't anyone on this board who insists his way is the only right way. I also hope that none of us take firearms safety lightly. And lastly, anyone who unnecessarily risks leaving an injured animal in the bush, well I'll clean up my language at this point and simply say I have nothing but contempt for them.



Couldn't have said it any better, except I might add, a whitetail is a whitetail, a mulie is a mulie I have hunted all over CAnuckistan , and sorry I have never ever needed to fire at a running animal, not once and believe you me , my freezer is full every year for the past umteen years. I have never heard of absolutely having to fire at running game. That said , IF you can do it and drop your animal each time , good for you , if you can't , don't. I can, but I choose not to , I am human , and am subject to human error , that one time to me is 1 time too many. I hunt for meat , I don't hunt for trophys or anything such. And I don't want anything to suffer because of me. So far I have been lucky , human error has granted me reprieve thus far , no deer I have EVER shot has gone more than 20 feet. I will shoot out to 600 yards , i am comfortable with that distance , I have the equipment for it and am a D##n good shot. but a running target ? too many variables for me , I can do it , but I won't, to each their own :)
 
WELL SAID STRAIGHTSHOOTER.

I sincerely hope there isn't anyone on this board who insists his way is the only right way.

I agree.
The two that chime in with their holier than thou attitude when a topic about running deer comes up is quite enough.They seem to be ULTRA HUNTERS who know everything there is to know about hunting,and feel they were sent here to spread the word.I am not sure if they are full of wisdom or chit,but I am willing to bet its the latter.
 
Last edited:
Do you hunt with dogs?
If not then your applying your ideoligy to your conditions!

Not sure what you mean by that... do you mean that if i hunted with dogs there wouldn't be an opportunity to get them to stop with a whistle or the like? Or did you mean by 'ideology' that i'm applying methods that work here but might not work elsewhere? Or did you mean that with dogs deer are MORE likely to stop at a whistle?

Like i said - in close is one thing, but i generally avoid running shots and considering he was talking about a fairly long ranged one my experience is that if you spook a deer at 150 yards it's easier to get them to stop than it is to hit them on the run. I would consider a 40 yard shot or something and have done so before and hit, but generally i like to avoid it if possible and i would pass on a running deer at 150 99 times out of 100 that's for sure - a lot of the time you can get them to stop for that split second you need.
 
Couldn't have said it any better, except I might add, a whitetail is a whitetail, a mulie is a mulie I have hunted all over CAnuckistan , and sorry I have never ever needed to fire at a running animal, not once and believe you me , my freezer is full every year for the past umteen years. I have never heard of absolutely having to fire at running game. That said , IF you can do it and drop your animal each time , good for you , if you can't , don't. I can, but I choose not to , I am human , and am subject to human error , that one time to me is 1 time too many. I hunt for meat , I don't hunt for trophys or anything such. And I don't want anything to suffer because of me. So far I have been lucky , human error has granted me reprieve thus far , no deer I have EVER shot has gone more than 20 feet. I will shoot out to 600 yards , i am comfortable with that distance , I have the equipment for it and am a D##n good shot. but a running target ? too many variables for me , I can do it , but I won't, to each their own :)

I know where your coming from I took a gent from Manitoba out deer hunting where I live a white tail walked up to us and turned and trotted broadside at 75 to 100 yds. he didnt shoot,later I asked him why and he said he had never shot at a moving animal.I realized then how different hunting and shooting can be in different areas,as my 14 year old son at the time would have dropped that animal easily.To each his own,I agree.
 
I sincerely hope there isn't anyone on this board who insists his way is the only right way.

I have no issues at all with anyone using different hunting methods than myself,as long as the methods are legal and offer very high odds of a clean kill.However,when a person wounds or misses with more shots than they make clean kills with,the odds of wounding an animal increase dramatically.I have far too much respect for the animals that I hunt to take shots that present such high odds of wounding an animal.If a person practices on moving targets,and selects only running shots that his skills allow him to make almost every single time,I certainly have no issue with taking running shots.However,when a person openly admits to regularly taking running shots and posts that he is lousy at running shots,I do take issue with his shot selection.In my opinion, taking such shots while knowing full well that he will not likely make a clean kill,he is demonstrating a total lack of respect for the animal.
 
I don't think anyone shoots with-out an expectation of a kill.
The original posters problem is painfully clear, his 1st attempts at shooting moving game was at 100 & 75 yds. Those distances are extreme for running deer for anyone, I know there's some S Ont wolf hunters that shoot running wolves at that range & further, but most of us, even experienced ones aren't capable of that kind of shooting. To become accomplished you need to start slow, camps here, for years have been putting younger or newbie hunters on watches where the run-way is likely to be anywhere from 10-30 FEET. It's no huge task to become a good shot at that range & work up your skill level. I will always remember on old lad I hunted with (RIP), I happened to be beside him one day & a deer busted out of the bush on the dead run at 150yds, he quickly threw himself on one knee drew his old .250 Sav & tumbled that deer with one shot:eek: I then realized why he always took the big open field or runways:)
 
Last edited:
I don't think anyone shoots with-out an expectation of a kill.

When a person posts that he is lousy at running shots,yet takes them regularly, and that twenty shots isn't enough for a week of deer hunting,do you really think that the person expects a clean kill with every shot?
 
I think you're better off learning how to make them stop with a whistle or grunt than taking running shots unless they're pretty close. If they're close in that's one thing, but I personally prefer to pass on all but the stupid-easy ones

I agree but a deer stopping on a whistle is not a def thing.
There are to many factor dependent on them stopping, like closeness of the dog, how long since it's been jumped, & quite often the thickness of the bush, they will rarely stop when running in thick cover!
 
When a person posts that he is lousy at running shots,yet takes them regularly, and that twenty shots isn't enough for a week of deer hunting,do you really think that the person expects a clean kill with every shot?

There's an exception to every rule, you know that!

The original poster in this thread only tried twice, not regularily!
He also considered himself a good shot & it sounds like he was in other avenues, his mistake is simple, to much distance with a total lack of experience.
 
The original poster in this thread only tried twice, not regularily!

Actually he posts about three attempts,one miss,one wounded deer that required tracking in order to finish it off,and one wounded deer that was lost.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom