How often do you need more than three shots when big game hunting?

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d2wing said:
I feel better if I can take a follow up shot if needed. While it should not be needed sometimes it is. One while shogun hunting I shot a young buck 5 times. I could not believe that he wouldn't go down, I thought maybe my sights were off. he did not run. I walked over after he finally fell over. Turns out all shots were in the lungs and he should have died quickly. The slugs passed right through. So much for shotguns knocking animals over and sending people flying. Lol.
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One of my co-workers has a shotgun slug story like that from back when he lived in Illinois. I forget how many times he shot the deer and how many times it got back up, but it was basically in tatters by the time it gave up the ghost.
 
.308 Norma said:
So I shot her again in the ribs. And again. And again. And again. As I was trying to shove a fresh magazine in my Model 100 Winchester, the doe collapsed in her tracks.
You could cover all five bullet holes on the one side of that doe's ribs with one hand. There was nothing left of her heart, and not much left of her rib cage on the other side.
Anyway, due to that experience over 50 years ago, I learned the myth of "knock down power" is just that - a myth. And about 10 years after that I had to stifle a laugh when another old guy told me a wounded deer will always run downhill.:D
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Yep its stories like that and the dozens of deer I have shot in the lungs and heart and still had to blood trail 200 yards that have proved to me that there is no such thing as knock down power. The way I see it sometimes you get lucky and they fall over, sometimes you blow the heart up and they still go 200 yards. For me when I put a shot through the heart and lungs I just put the gun down because I know the 30 second timer is ticking. I certainly can't blame people for making sure though I've personally never had a deer stand still between being shot and dying.

One interesting thing I have noticed, at least for me, is that once shot deer always stay on the trail that they were heading down. Even with there heart blown out in the middle of a field they will exit the field on an established trail and stay on it till they fall over. I have always found that fascinating that they seam to have the instinct or presence of mind to stay on the trail even with no lungs or heart left. Out of the probably 200 deer I've either shot or helped track I can't recall any that have just randomly ran through the brush with no regard to where the trail was.
 
someguy2800 said:
One interesting thing I have noticed, at least for me, is that once shot deer always stay on the trail that they were heading down. Even with there heart blown out in the middle of a field they will exit the field on an established trail and stay on it till they fall over.
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That's very interesting, and something I've never noticed. Furthermore, it explains an awfully lot about the behavior of that first deer I shot.:)
The part of the story I left out originally was that the doe I shot was standing with another doe, downhill, about 40 yards to my left, as I was walking up that old logging road. When I spotted them, the lead doe jumped and ran uphill, and crossed the road in front of me before I could draw a bead on her. So I swung on the doe that hadn't jumped and run yet. As I said before, I shot her in the ribs. Then she jumped and ran uphill, onto the logging road before she stopped again.
But now that I think back on it, she was probably just doing exactly what you said someguy2800. She was probably following that first doe, the one I didn't shoot. And she followed her as far as she could - 40 yards uphill before she ran low on blood.
After that, I think she was more or less dead on her feet. She just stood there with her head down, her knees stiff and her legs spread out. I shot her 4 more times before she collapsed because I was young and dumb. And as I said, "old guys" had told me about "knocking deer down with their .308s."
 
I would load to capacity (whatever that is) on DANGEROUS game. My 243 holds 5, but I only put 3 in it. I've never shot more than 2 rounds deer hunting (killed 2 deer that day) so 3 is 1 more than I've ever needed.
 
You should never have to shoot more than 2 shots into 1 animal. To be honest, a single shot rifle should be sufficient.
 
someguy2800 said:
Yep its stories like that and the dozens of deer I have shot in the lungs and heart and still had to blood trail 200 yards that have proved to me that there is no such thing as knock down power. The way I see it sometimes you get lucky and they fall over, sometimes you blow the heart up and they still go 200 yards. For me when I put a shot through the heart and lungs I just put the gun down because I know the 30 second timer is ticking. I certainly can't blame people for making sure though I've personally never had a deer stand still between being shot and dying.

One interesting thing I have noticed, at least for me, is that once shot deer always stay on the trail that they were heading down. Even with there heart blown out in the middle of a field they will exit the field on an established trail and stay on it till they fall over. I have always found that fascinating that they seam to have the instinct or presence of mind to stay on the trail even with no lungs or heart left. Out of the probably 200 deer I've either shot or helped track I can't recall any that have just randomly ran through the brush with no regard to where the trail was.
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In stories like this, and the one you quoted you don't "need" another shot. The animal is already dead....sure it may still move, kick, run, whatever but it is dead the body just has not figured it out yet....and one reason I don't hunt anymore. Pesting is not hunting...hogs and such.....but to really "hunt" not population control but just "hunting" I have had my fill of that.

And you should only need 1 per animal...if it is not on the ground inside a minute you screwed up one way or another.
 
Big game....... Usually two at the most with the second being the close range coup-de-gras. Although my all time record is FIVE, which got me the biggest whitetail buck of my life, (so far, anyway). Back in November 1989 with the 12 ga. 870 slug gun in the pre-sabot slug days. I've written it up in my hunting memoirs but it's too long a story for this thread. It all started at about 100 yards and was finished at about 10 feet. All in less than about three minutes. I think buck fever played a part in this when I saw him about 100 yards below me moving at a fast walk. That area was designated for shotgun / handgun back then. Nowadays it's rifle / handgun and if it had been so back then I'd bet I could have filled my tag easier with a rifle. DCP00649.JPG
 
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.308 Norma said:
Or for that matter, any other gun normally used for big game hunting. The first deer I ever shot, a doe mule deer, ran about 40 yards uphill after I shot her in the ribs with my .308 Winchester. Then she stopped in the middle of the old logging road I'd been walking. I was only 14 years old, and I thought I'd missed because all the old guys I knew (including my dad) had told me a .308 would "knock em down."
So I shot her again in the ribs. And again. And again. And again. As I was trying to shove a fresh magazine in my Model 100 Winchester, the doe collapsed in her tracks.
You could cover all five bullet holes on the one side of that doe's ribs with one hand. There was nothing left of her heart, and not much left of her rib cage on the other side.
Anyway, due to that experience over 50 years ago, I learned the myth of "knock down power" is just that - a myth. And about 10 years after that I had to stifle a laugh when another old guy told me a wounded deer will always run downhill.:D
Disclaimer - OK, sure - I've shot deer, elk and antelope that appeared to be "knocked down" when they were hit. I've even seen a few of them jump right back up, and sometimes they ran downhill after they're hit. But neither "knock down" nor "run downhill" is a sure thing.
Edited to include - I've shot 3 mule deer with my beloved .308 Norma since I got it. Each of them appeared to be knocked right off their feet when they were hit, and not a one of them got back up. Therefore, because I'm an "old guy" of 69 now, I'm qualified to tell young hunters that a .308 Winchester won't always "knock deer down." but a .308 Norma Magnum will. :D
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The author of this site, http://www.ballisticstudies.com/ swears by shots aimed at something called the Thoracic Autonomic Plexus as opposed to the traditional heart/lung/liver shot. It's an interesting and very extensive site, but I'm sure the assertions will be seen as controversial.

The author asserts that many hunters avoid the TAP shot due to meat loss even though, as described above, game can run a shockingly long way with a destroyed heart.
 
Art Eatman said:
I've heard hunters say that it's the excited/nervous deer which does all that running after it was shot. So, the obvious moral of that is to only shoot a calm and contented deer. :) Maybe that's why so many of my tagged bucks were bang/whop/flop. :D

Load your deer corn with Valium, maybe?
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Agreed. How many times have you taken a great shot on a deer that was running with a group, and had to trail it forever. If that deer was alone...dunnzo
 
I hunt exclusively from elevated stands and the vast majority of the deer I shoot are alone and walking slowly from there beds to there feeding area, and I also shoot quite a few deer grazing on an oat field. I've never seen any correlation to how far deer run and there state prior to being shot. I shoot 3-5 a year.
 
i love reading about elk and moose hunts i'll prob never get to hunt either there none in the state of SC but i do hunt whitetail every chance i get,now this i just me and the deer i've taken but i've never needed more than 1 round even though i keep 3 rds of 30-06 in my x-bolt as far as deer running i've shot them through the heart and they took 2 steps and fell over dead and i've had them run 75yds with no heart.i've also about gave up on the idea there is a magic hunting bullet that drops them in there tracks i've tried bonded bullets i've tried about every soft point on the market they all work about the same out of my 30-06 they blow the deers heart up and make a nice exit hole.the only sure fire way to drop one where it stands is a head shot.just take your time and make a good shot and you will put meat on the table.i do recommend everyone carry a sidearm one of our biggest problems are coyotes and wild dogs the coyotes tend to be afraid of humans but the wild dogs not so much when they pack up there very dangerous in the winter.i'm old school i carry a 1873 single action army in .357 with hard cast bullets.i did get to take a deer with a pistol once had a doe tag and a big old doe walked right under my stand took my pistol out and placed 1 round right in the top of the head and that was that
 
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