recoil and hunting

[natman]

I usually don't notice recoil much when hunting. First, you're distracted by the game. Second, you shoot from much more forgiving positions in the field than from a bench. You can roll with the punch a bit.

Although one time I had to twist around to get a turkey and fired a 2 oz load with my shoulder pressed firmly against a tree trunk. I felt that.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I don't care what you want to call it, whether you think it's just the excitement of the opportunity for a shot distracting you from cold fingers, or full on adrenaline rush and buck fever - any shot taken with decreased perception is an increase in risk. Cold, numb hands don't suddenly become warmed and revived by the sight of a buck, the shooter is just suddenly distracted from the numbness. Indeed, any adrenaline spike from this distracting excitement further reduces sensitivity in the extremities. Rifles don't kick less just because you're too excited to notice the recoil in the moment.

You're statements about excitement improving circulation and extremity sensitivity are contradictory to known medical science, and mental distraction doesn't improve extremity sensation.

So I stand by it - any hunter so distracted by the sight of game as to neglect recoil, the report of the shot, or numbness in the extremities is impaired to a point they're really not safe to be shooting. Numb AND distracted is more dangerous than just numb, and numb is dangerous enough.

Well I was trying to be nice to you but you're obviously having trouble with the English language as written..., YOU ASKED FOR IT....

NO human being is fully aware of all senses at all times no matter how "alert" he or she is. IF this was true..., no pick pocket in the world would ever succeed.
I did not say that my fingers and toes were cold and "numb", I said they felt cold,
I never said that the rifle kicked less, the discussion is that it is perceived as less....

I maintained that a person's mind reduces these inputs so that concentration may be on what is thought to be most important, performing the tasks of taking a shot, which would include safety by-the-way. This has been demonstrated in extreme cases where Zen masters have undergone painful surgery, by simply redirection of the mind, because the anesthesia was thought to be too dangerous.

While at the same time when it came to fingers and toes, the elevated heart rate DOES increase circulation and thus drives heat to the fingers and toes. THAT is absolutely documented fact. You can actually test this as a layman. Take a surface temperature reading on your finger tips when they feel "cold" to you and you've been standing still..., then take a stroll around the block, not a "run" but nice walk, and test the finger tips then. (Be sure not to swing the arms and skew the results) Higher heart rate = an increase in blood pressure, and it doesn't take much. Ask anybody who is a tad nervous about seeing a doctor, about "white coat syndrome", which is elevated heart rate and blood pressure from a nervous situation..., the blood pressure and heart rate at the beginning of the exam, is for those people, higher than at the end...a good deal of difference too.

I never wrote "improved extremity sensitivity", just that the person perceives the situation as being warmer than prior to shooting. A house may feel hot to you at 68 degrees, then you go outside on a 78 degree day, and when you return the home hasn't changed temperature, but you perceive it as now cold.

YOU may stand by... "any hunter so distracted by the sight of game as to neglect recoil"..., to your heart's content...but nobody wrote about "neglecting" recoil. You are probably right that neglecting numbness in the extremities is "impaired"...(I don't know who could operate a trigger with numb fingers)... nobody wrote about being so cold as to be "numb", and THUS NOBODY except you sport, is talking about being in a situation, impaired.

Here Endeth The Lesson.

LD

 

[Varminterror]

You’re absolutely ignoring the most basic principles of medical science, and jumping up on a high horse to run around with bad info.

The heart rate increase and vasoconstriction associated with adrenaline release does NOT increase blood flow to the extremities in the same way does physical exertion - aka, taking a stroll around the block. If your hands are cold when you see a buck and you get excited, the physiological response will actually make your hands get COLDER - you just don’t notice it because of the “concentration” on something else. That’s 8th grade biology stuff.

 

[MCgunner]

Wow, okay, I'm out.

 

[tactikel]

I never even feel recoil in the field. Once the adrenaline dumps and you focus on the shot I feel nothing.

 

[mustanger98]

I'm going back to the part about concentration on the task at hand.

The way I operate lately, on cold days I try to keep my hands warm... it worked better taking my gloves off and putting my hands in my pockets... goose down vest. Gloves are kept warm in the pocket and are put on quick and easy. Keep the wind out of the throat... silk rag helps a lot, though some guys use a gaiter. Just more comfortable that way.

As far as dealing with the adrenaline dump... and believe me, I dealt with one... I'd already made up my mind I wouldn't rush the shot. I went out there like I had all the time in the world. I watched that 10-pointer a while... gave myself time to breathe while I studied him and waited some to see what else showed up. I got the 10-pointer... one shot, one kill.

And I perceived little muzzle blast and no recoil.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Goose loads, a 12 ga NEF and a t shirt. I felt every shot, but kept on. I weighed 115 pounds at the time.
I packed on a lot of muscle since then and don't feel the recoil as much.

 

[redneck2]

I fired a few 3 1/2" turkey loads from an 870 once. That is recoil in the 70 ft lb class and is more than 458 WM.

Didn’t realize it was in that range, but I know an 870 with 3 1/2’s is about the most brutal thing I’ve shot

 

[FL-NC]

Didn’t realize it was in that range, but I know an 870 with 3 1/2’s is about the most brutal thing I’ve shot

My "other" turkey gun is a 870 exp with the 21" barrel. Truth be told, it patterns better than my Mossberg 930 with the 24", but it hurts so much to fire the 870 that it hasn't been in the turkey woods for a long time.

 

[double bogey]

I always use a PAST Magnum recoil pad at the bench with anything bigger than .223. My shooting goes south pretty fast without it. Never could shoot groups well until I saw an advertisement in a magazine. Mail ordered one and never looked back. Gave one to my son in law after he had issues with his 30-06 sighting it in. Never noticed a rifle shooting at deer though. My Benelli m2 is light and the inertia action does nothing to lessen recoil, but you learn to keep it tight against your shoulder, and doves are ok. 3" heavy shells though, kicks way harder than my 7mag.