Wounded a running deer :-(

If I didn't take running shots, I might as well stay home.
At least half of my deer have been taken on the run.
Yes, it takes practice, and discipline. My usual running shots will be inside 80 yards. Often inside 50 feet. Lead is instinctive for me. I don't attempt to calculate it.
Bounding deer? good luck! My best advice is to yell at it, loud as you can, and a short sharp yell like HEY! Quite often that will stop a deer cold for a few seconds. Don't be afraid to yell a second time, a running deer in brush or dry leaves makes a lot of noise, and it may not hear you.
 
Yah, like most of the other posters here I'm not such a fan of the suffering animals. But as far as my opinion goes, bad things happen, but if you do something wrong, and don't learn from it that is a problem...
 
senior said:
Not meaning to pick on you but your statement in bold leads me to believe you have not practiced on any moving targets. I know when starting it seems to baffle the mind how you can calculate all those elements quick enough, but in short order it follows natural. Those of you here that duck hunt regularly will understand, I'll bet not many can remember all those calculations (speed, distance, amount of lead) when shooting ducks!

I personally don't consider myself a good shot, & would not shoot at a running deer over about 100yds, but then most shots here are much closer, the doe I got this year was about 10 feet from the end of my barrel. The hardest shot by far in my opinion is the slower moving BoUnDiNg deer :cool:
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Duck hunters use multi projectile shells and can get plenty of practice at the trap range.
As far as being a good running shot I don't feel I have the need to practice running shots as I put more time and effort into stalking and waiting strategies. Most of the deer I have shot have been less than 100 yds and the vast majority never knew I was in the country. If the deer is on the move then I messed up and it's a lost opportunity.
The sad reality is one may never know or would never admit how many moving deer are gut shot each hunting season and have crawled away to die. Ignorance, at times, is bliss.
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walksalot said:
The sad reality is one may never know or would never admit how many moving deer are gut shot each hunting season and have crawled away to die. Ignorance, at times, is bliss.
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Well I can't speak for all but I think I can speak for those of us that hunt in a camp or with an established gang. We DO know the number of deer gut shot & crawled away to die, & that number is very very low! Ignorance is making a statement that you have no facts to back up!
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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
 
Foxer said:
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
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Do you hunt with dogs?
If not then your applying your ideoligy to your conditions!
 
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senior said:
walksalot said:
Well I can't speak for all but I think I can speak for those of us that hunt in a camp or with an established gang. We DO know the number of deer gut shot & crawled away to die, & that number is very very low!
Ignorance is making a statement that you have no facts to back up!
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I have talked to hunters whose hunting strategies result in the majority of shot opportunities at animals on the run. They will never look me in the eyes when asked how many animals they figure are wounded in that scenario in a hunting season. The way you spelled BoUnDiNg brings in another factor into the equation. Speed, distance, amount of lead and whether the animal is on the rise or fall equates to a very spontaneous and imprecise calculation at the best of times. Why the hell do you think it is called spray and pray hunting. The word carnage comes to mind.
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walksalot said:
senior said:
walksalot said:
Well I can't speak for all but I think I can speak for those of us that hunt in a camp or with an established gang. We DO know the number of deer gut shot & crawled away to die, & that number is very very low!

I have talked to hunters whose hunting strategies result in the majority of shot opportunities at animals on the run. They will never look me in the eyes when asked how many animals they figure are wounded in that scenario in a hunting season. The way you spelled BoUnDiNg brings in another factor into the equation. Speed, distance, amount of lead and whether the animal is on the rise or fall equates to a very spontaneous and imprecise calculation at the best of times. Why the hell do you think it is called spray and pray hunting. The word carnage comes to mind.
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Yes well that carnage has only allowed 2 wounded deer to get away in the 30 yrs our camp has been inexistance, I can't speak for the apparent low life hunters you've been talking to.
PS I'll bet even you could hit a BoUnDiNg deer at 20 feet or so, given some practice of course ;)
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I don't pass judgment on generalities. Shooting at moving game is a pretty general topic. There are bound to be situations where it's feasible, perhaps even necessary. Having said that, personally I don't shoot moving big game. (Wing shooting birds, on the other hand, is the most sporting and satisfying way to take them - but that's a whole other matter.)

I couldn't take the time to read this entire thread, so my apologies if this has already been covered. Not shooting moving big game is very much about clean, humane kills, but there's other considerations, too. One of the 10 Commandments of safe shooting is knowing what is beyond your target. This couldn't be more important than when we're talking about a large caliber rifle. Can we be 100% sure that the bullet will be safely back stopped when we're panning across the horizon? If you don't want to be the hunter that we read in the paper has shot someone, you might consider leaving the pass shooting for your shotguns.

Some of you are now thinking "That'll never happen where I hunt - it's so remote, there's nobody there to shoot!!". Ya, right. Tell that to the full camo bow hunter that you don't even know is there until you walk right up to him. Also, keep in mind that the range of that rifle is a dam_ sight further than you can see through the bush.

This year, I passed on two nice does that were walking slowly by at about 50 yards. Instead, I took a standing buck at 75 yards. The does might have been more tender, but the buck was a clean kill and I know he didn't suffer.

As I said in the beginning, I'm just telling my story, not second guessing the choices anybody else makes under the circumstances they find themselves in. EVERY situation is different.

Kudos on you for raising the subject even though some won't be able to resist mounting a high horse. These are good discussions to have and can save novice hunters a lot of learning the hard way.
 
senior said:
walksalot said:
senior said:
Yes well that carnage has only allowed 2 wounded deer to get away in the 30 yrs our camp has been inexistance, I can't speak for the apparent low life hunters you've been talking to.
PS I'll bet even you could hit a BoUnDiNg deer at 20 feet or so, given some practice of course ;)
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How can you be so sure of your facts presented? To find the exact spot the animal was located at the time of the shot, to look for hair or blood, can be at best a guess given the hunter's attempt to harvest the deer and the deer's desperate attempt to get away. The hunter follows the tracks for a while and sees no sign of blood because the gut has sealed the hole in the ribcage and the hemorrhaging is occurring internally with the only time rumen or blood being excreted is when the holes in the gut and the holes in the ribcage line up. This can be very infrequently and very little. Adrenaline flowing through an animal's veins can result in that animal showing no sign of being hit so the hunter carries on his/her merry way concluding a miss when in actuality the animal is shot though the guts.
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One simple question Walks
Have you hunted enough that you can honestly say you ever MISSED a shot??

I tend to think most hunters at one time or another have (although I have no hard facts to prove that either :rolleyes:)! I do have enough common sense to know that the vital zone of a deer would be approx 1/3 the size of the whole animal, so if you have ever had a clean miss you must therefore have also put a bullet into that 2/3 of the deer causing a wounded deer approx 3x for every complete miss.

So have you ;)
 
senior said:
One simple question Walks
Have you hunted enough that you can honestly say you ever MISSED a shot??
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Of course I have missed a shot at a running deer but that was many, many years ago as I have deduced back then that it is a high risk to wound shot so now I watch them run away. It's a learning process and over time and as one gains more experience in hunting situations you too may come to the same conclusion, hopefully.
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On the other hand because you missed a running deer ONCE, even thou you probably had never been instructed how or even practiced those shots you can now deduct that it is a high risk shot :rolleyes:

Good thing your first shot at a standing deer wasn't also a miss or of course you would also have deducted they were high risk shots too :rolleyes:

Good thing your first attempt at driving didn't conclude in a minor fender bender or of course you would deduct that driving isn't a safe thing to do :p

Again I ask, have you ever missed a Standing deer??
 
senior said:
On the other hand because you missed a running deer ONCE, even thou you probably had never been instructed how or even practiced those shots you can now deduct that it is a high risk shot :rolleyes:

Good thing your first shot at a standing deer wasn't also a miss or of course you would also have deducted they were high risk shots too :rolleyes:

Good thing your first attempt at driving didn't conclude in a minor fender bender or of course you would deduct that driving isn't a safe thing to do :p

Again I ask, have you ever missed a Standing deer??
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I have never missed a standing deer.:D The reason being is I hunt the bush and am in close proximity to the animals I am shooting at and most never knew I was in the country. On the other hand I have shot at and killed a few deer on the run. It is a practice that have determined to be high risk and avoided. With age comes wisdom.
 
walksalot said:
I have never missed a standing deer.:D The reason being is I hunt the bush and am in close proximity to the animals I am shooting at and most never knew I was in the country. On the other hand I have shot at and killed a few deer on the run. It is a practice that have determined to be high risk and avoided. With age comes wisdom.
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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!

Again diff strokes, I would never shoot at a standing deer offhand at 300yds with a 94 winny carbine, yet it is done regularly with a proper gun & practice I'm sure you westerners can do it quite easily, but I would NOT make a simple deduction based on what my feeble experience might be at it, yet you seem to have no problem doing exactly that.

Quite a few of us have grown up shooting rabbits behind a beagle with a .22, breaking thrown bottles with a .22. To quite a few a running deer at reasonable range is not a hard shot.
 
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