wounded moose

eltorro

eltorro

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A man that shot a moose.
Poor bullet selection. Ballistic tips.
Poor shot placement - obviously.
The facts: the moose was about 120 yds away on the road. After being shot it ran along the road for 50 yds than took off in the woods.
The ground was covered with 2" of fresh snow.
Some hair was visible after about 30 yds, then some blood drops. A weird blood sprayed area could be observed on the snow right where the moose took off in the bush. There were many small drops and a few bigger ones.
After bedding over a ridge, the moose took off as the "trackers" approached.
Just a few blood spots were to be found between the road and the bedding spot and not even an estimated half-cup of blood were it laid.
The tracks were more than visible on the ground. But not a single drop for more than a half mile. Then another bedding spot where the moose has left a vague smear of a red colour. Maybe less than a small finger cut.
After tracking the moose for another hour or so.... with no blood at all on the snow, I had to go, leaving the man to follow his moose in the wooden area.
In my opinion he had no chance to get another shot at the moose.
No wind, deep silence in the forest, a scared animal.... and above all - a healthy one too.

Now the question: The moose was shot on a quarter towards position.
What did the bullet hit? And why there was no blood after only 100 yds?

I asked the guy and he abandoned the search too after the Moose entered a swamp. Still no blood.

What to make out of it? Never seen the reactions of a wounded moose before.
 
What color was the hair... was the hair bloodied? What side was the bullet strike on and what side was the blood spray from? Whereabouts in the bed was the smear located?
The fact that it bedded soon after the shot most times indicates a serious wound!
The fact that it headed to water is also an indicator of a serious wound... gut shot animals often head to water.
Your buddy needs to pick his shots better.. quartering towards is a low percentage shot.
To bad you lost the animal... it happens to most of us eventually.
 
The hair was dark brown. not bloodied. The shot was on the left side, but the spray ... dunno.
Bedding so fast... and it passed over a few water potholes/creeks without stopping before heading for the swampy area.

If it was gut shot, shouldn't have been at least some blood on the trail?
I watched it carefully because the early bed made me hope too...
Never seen this happening.
I wish it was just a graze, maybe a bell-shot or something from what the moose will recover. The bullet was the poorest choice ever.
I only hunt moose with deep penetrating bullets.
My friend feels worse than I do and I want to find a good reason to tell him that the moose was not bad wounded and so on... but after what you said Bigredd I really don't know.
I'll show him what you wrote.
 
BIGREDD said:
What color was the hair... was the hair bloodied? What side was the bullet strike on and what side was the blood spray from? Whereabouts in the bed was the smear located?
The fact that it bedded soon after the shot most times indicates a serious wound!
The fact that it headed to water is also an indicator of a serious wound... gut shot animals often head to water.
Your buddy needs to pick his shots better.. quartering towards is a low percentage shot.To bad you lost the animal... it happens to most of us eventually.
Click to expand...


Not if you are shooting an adequate caliber. Tell the guy with a .458WM that it's a low percentage shot. I use a .338WM and it's no problemo'... I would not hesitate for a second to take that shot.
 
I'm looking for some confort: with all said and done, will the moose live or not?
I can only make fun of him if I know that the wound didn't cause a lingering death.

We'll have at it when he'll return on my shift
 
One of the most common mistakes on an animal quartering towards you is to shoot on, or just behind, the shoulder. This always ends up a gut shot animal.

The correct hold for this shot is in front of the shoulder. This puts the bullet right into the heart-lung area.

Without explaining this to him, ask your buddy where he was holding when the rifle went off?

Also, what caliber rifle and bullet weight was he using?

Ted
 
Why not? said:
One of the most common mistakes on an animal quartering towards you is to shoot on, or just behind, the shoulder. This always ends up a gut shot animal.

The correct hold for this shot is in front of the shoulder. This puts the bullet right into the heart-lung area.

Ted
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. I've seen it for myself. You've got to shoot as though trying to take out a piece of the shoulder closest to you....And my gut instinct is that its a dead moose,,,,SORRY!!!
 
QUOTE=Demonical]Not if you are shooting an adequate caliber. Tell the guy with a .458WM that it's a low percentage shot. I use a .338WM and it's no problemo'... I would not hesitate for a second to take that shot.[/QUOTE]
I would say your in the minority Demo... I have seen more that a few raking shots and gut shot animals from the "quartering towards" shot. An animal in this position has heavy bone and muscle covering a major portion of heart and lungs.
Its a low percentage shot no matter what caliber you are shooting!

I don't have a quartering towards diagram but it is very easy to see what happens to the vital area if you turn that Moose 45 degrees toward you!
Moose.jpg
 
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Nice Moose Stubs.... who is the hunter;) ? Where did the B/T bullet strike the Moose and at what distance/velocity?
I have always found the B/T bullets to be good controlled expanders in the hunting weights at the right velocity.
 
BIGREDD-the cartridge was a 300ultramag pushing the 180gr ballistic tip at 3340fps.The shot was broadside at 200 yards and the bullet struck just behind the shoulder.The bull dropped his head and took several steps before laying down.The antler spread was 54" and the four quarters delivered to the butcher were just over 700lbs.This is one of two moose and eight elk taken with this load.However after trying the 180gr tsx this summer,and taking an elk with it this fall,I was so pleased that I now use only the 180gr tsx in my 300ultramags.
 
moose are not that hard to kill if you can hit them right!!!!
as other may have said aim just infront of the front sholder if you mess your shot you will hit its sholder and its going down with massive damage and if you mess up on the other way you miss and the animal walzes away.
talk to ya all later
Riley
 
aim just infront of the front sholder if you mess your shot you will hit its sholder and its going down with massive damage and if you mess up on the other way you miss and the animal walzes away.
Click to expand...

But if you do hit just in front of the shoulder you will most likely be tracking a wounded moose.
 
My friend said he was aiming at the front shoulder.
While being a good shot, it was/would have been his first moose.
He was still shaking when I got there.
150gr SST Hornady is what he used.

Why there was no blood in little over 50 yards?
 
I have seen where the bullet passes through the skin and the animal by normal action of walking or running has acted as a patch allowing very low amounts or no blood evidence. When they lay down the skin or even leaves will act as a patch as well. I shot a bull elk this year that did exactly that...no blood. Quartering away shot. It took me half hour to track him to his final resting place a mere 50 yards from where I hit him. Thick undercover brush and no blood, only tracks. When I lost the tracks I would half circle til I picked it up again, left front leg made a scuff mark in soft ground. Pretty tough when the cows he was herding ran the same direction. Was a perfect heart lung shot.. Top of the heart was right off.
I also shot a bull elk in the neck some 15 years ago at about 20 feet. With no connection between the brain and body..(C2 and C3 gone), the damn thing ran 300 yards! No blood only hair where he was standing. I have always tried to avoid the neck shots, but it was the only shot available and I expected him to drop right there. The only fortunate thing with this bull was...he ran in the direction of the truck!
I also think your buds shot was either too high or slightly back. Both minimal bleeding wounds and depending on condition of the animal it is survivable..however a low percentage will survive.
 
Shoot off hand at the range or don't shoot at game off hand. A big change from putting all your rounds in a tee cup from the bench , but can't hold on a 45 gallon drum off hand. Same for moving game, practice is the key , in any sport. Pretty extreme , but hay not far off for some.Its like that lion charge, (a video here a while back)if buddy would have dropped down for a steady kneeling shot he may have hit the lion. I always look for support in some form when hunting, it may be a tree, pile of logs, whatever. You see its not a matter of how good a shot one person is(hunting), its how good you are at getting ready to pull the trigger. In most cases one will help the other. Its ok and fun to play at the range with your ability , not so on game . Do your best to get it right. This also means getting closer, not seeing how far you can kill an animal. A bit off base since the moose was a close shot. But that muzzle can sure wave around even close up.
Frank
 
I guess I lean towards the Elmer Keith school of thought; I always pack a caliber that will drive a bullet to the vitals regardless of the direction the animal might be facing, and the longer I hunt, the more I see the value of using heavier bullets, driven at moderate speed. Like I said, my moose rifle is a .338WM and I have used 225 or 250gr Nosler Partitions for years.
In 2006 I will be packing my .416 RemMag, with 400gr bullets. Believe me when I say I will not be concerned about shot angles...

Just like people put way too much emphasis on recoil, I see and hear people constantly foaming off about hyper velocity (usually in small caliber, small grain bullets). Hell, I've been guilty of it myself. Like the 400gr Speers that I loaded for my .45-70, that I shot my spring black bear with. I had those "stoked" up to a velocity that they were never intended for. So I learned the hard way and I have reduced the velocity of my 400gr .45-70 loadings. I have also switched to what I believe to be a stouter bullet, and am expecting great things out of those (Hawk bullets).


Eg:
IMHO the .30-06 with 165gr bullets is the perfect deer caliber, but too small for moose. Now I know a .30-06 will handily kill any moose, but so will a .243 given ideal circumstances (and yes I know all about Bella Twin), but I would never, ever use a .243 on anything bigger then coyotes!!

Elmers' favorite deer caliber was the .338WM btw.

Casull, now there's a man who knows a thing or 2 about ADEQUATE caliber. In fact Casull figures the .338WM is too small!

Bottomline; the lighter the bullet and the higher the velocity, the more important shot angle becomes, but NOTHING BEATS SHOT PLACEMENT, and obviously every statement I have made assumes you at least understand correct shot placement and then can execute that shot.
 
Demonical said:
In 2006 I will be packing my .416 RemMag, with 400gr bullets. Believe me when I say I will not be concerned about shot angles...

................NOTHING BEATS SHOT PLACEMENT, and obviously every statement I have made assumes you at least understand correct shot placement and then can execute that shot.
Click to expand...

Exactly! A 400 gr bullet in the guts will not kill any better than a 165 gr bullet in the guts.

Your last statement is the most important one.

Ted
 
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