Do you REALLY hunt??

[sidelock]

The first elk I killed was running wide open, jumping a 5'high bush at about 50 yd. The last deer I killed was about 300 yd. running flat out. The last antelope I killed was about 125 yd. running flat out. I have killed around 200 deer and I am thinking about 75% of them have been running. My 2nd deer with my .50 TC was an 85 YD running wide open shot. When I was a young kid I didn't care if the squirrel was sitting or running---- I got them by the hundreds. My bros. and I kept my family in meat. We lived off the land back then. Didn't have indoor water until 1945. Not sure if it's better now but I loved it then and I still do.

 

[blackpowderscout]

Ok, ya'll win.

Next time someone asks if a certain caliber is good enough for a certain animal, I'll be sure to tell them "By all means NO, you'd best get something bigger just in case something goes wrong."

In fact I may never use my .50 again here in Florida because I might just run across a 200lb hog and **gasp** it just might not be enough gun if I make a crappy shot. I'd best wait till I finish my.54 or better yet save for a .62 or larger. Never can be too sure!

Ya'll have swayed me.

Oh wait, nevermind. I forgot that hogs and our itsy bitsy dog sized deer aren't really game so I guess I'm good to go.

 

[Carl Fowler III]

The first elk I killed was running wide open, jumping a 5'high bush at about 50 yd. The last deer I killed was about 300 yd. running flat out. The last antelope I killed was about 125 yd. running flat out. I have killed around 200 deer and I am thinking about 75% of them have been running. My 2nd deer with my .50 TC was an 85 YD running wide open shot. When I was a young kid I didn't care if the squirrel was sitting or running---- I got them by the hundreds. My bros. and I kept my family in meat. We lived off the land back then. Didn't have indoor water until 1945. Not sure if it's better now but I loved it then and I still do.

Thats tell'n em oldtimer....ya'll can hunt out of my camp any day! :2 :thumbsup:

 

[Shine]

Same here you can hunt with me. There are men who shoot rifles and there are riflemen. If you have to skill and experience for a moving target then dump that sucker. :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

Very informative thread...
I can unlimber my Late Lancaster squirrel rifle and dump a running deer hundreds of yards away.
I can sell off all my larger calibers and put that $$ back in the bank to draw interest.

And now its finally clear that builders were really just using a marketing strategy making larger calibers for larger game, knowing that the size of the game, longer distances, unfavorable shot angles, etc, were really of no consequence.
:grin:

 

[Vaino]

Nothing to get "all steamed about". People can shoot what suits them....use a little tolerance.
I could care less as to what hunters want to hunt w/....really none of my business.

The "topic" has only minor mention in the original post...mostly about who shoots what.....Fred

 

[Rat Trapper]

Yes I do hunt, both bow and with muzzle loaders.
As to some of the posts we often see here that makes you wonder, just keep an eye on that feller and sooner or later they will slip up and let ya know how much expericne they have.

 

[Shine]

You talkin to me.

 

[Little Wattsy]

The first elk I killed was running wide open, jumping a 5'high bush at about 50 yd. The last deer I killed was about 300 yd. running flat out. The last antelope I killed was about 125 yd. running flat out. I have killed around 200 deer and I am thinking about 75% of them have been running. My 2nd deer with my .50 TC was an 85 YD running wide open shot. When I was a young kid I didn't care if the squirrel was sitting or running---- I got them by the hundreds. My bros. and I kept my family in meat. We lived off the land back then. Didn't have indoor water until 1945. Not sure if it's better now but I loved it then and I still do.

:rotf: Im gonna call a little :bull: here not to mention that if 75% of the critters are spooked enough to be running "flat out" by the time your shooting you might want to quit playing the banjo on the way down the game trail :wink:

 

[Squeeze]

you can kill a squirrel with a cannon, but you wont bring down an elephant with a spitwad.

:rotf: :blah:

 

[longcruise]

An Elk turned up once on the lease I used to be on over by Osceola.

You can probably thank the concept of "wild" game farming for that!

 

[Claude Mathis]

Since hunting is such a personal and private pursuit why do you care what someone else uses and further more is really anybodies business?

That's kind of what I was thinking. But, admittedly, this discussion started with a "pet-peeve" about what others espouse. A challenge to debate two schools of thought. IMO

 

[Supercracker]

Running by full blast ........................................... are shots that virtually no one should ever take.

I didn't say "no one" I said almost no one. Personally, even if I were that good of a shot I probably wouldn't take a shot at a running target. Certainly not at that range (I'm assuming we're still talking iron sighted MLs. However, If you've developed your shooting skills to the point where you can make that shot then good for you. You kick ass. Of course, now we're back to where I started and you're kind of making my point. Developing that skill level was a component of........................, you guessed it,DOING YOUR PART!!!!! But that would make you part of about 0.0001% of hunters. For everyone else, their acceptable shot is probably going to be substantially different.

I personally see no appeal in taking 300yd shots at anything that isn't planting an IED. I prefer to limit myself to much closer. I pretty much limit myself to nearly the same ranges now I was limited to when I was slinging an arrow. I like to get wet and dirty and have to crawl and slink around a bit and then get close enough to smell them. However, if your thing is longer ranges and utilizing that skill then more power to you. That's awesome. :thumbsup:

 

[Supercracker]

An Elk turned up once on the lease I used to be on over by Osceola.

You can probably thank the concept of "wild" game farming for that!

Yeah, this lease was bordered on one side by a WMA and the other by a great big "preserve" that had Elk, Water Buffalo, African Plains game and all kinds of goofy stuff that would get out occasionally.

A few years before I joined the guy that ran the lease killed a Black Buck at one of the pig feeders. lol

 

[Supercracker]

In fact I may never use my .50 again here in Florida because I might just run across a 200lb hog and **gasp** it just might not be enough gun if I make a crappy shot. I'd best wait till I finish my.54 or better yet save for a .62 or larger. Never can be too sure!

Ya know..........I do have that Rice Forsyth .62 barrel burning a hole in the corner..................just sayin :hmm: lol


I guess that great big fat sow I killed down in Kissimmee coincidentally had a heart attack and died at the same instant I hit it with a RB out of the Navy .44. That's the only explanation as that is CERTAINLY not enough wallop for a 130-150lb pig.

Which, now that I think about it was a running shot. :redface: So I need to add a caveat to my previous statement about running shots that 5' away and running past me broadside in the open was within my limits. lol

In other news I'm with you. I'm done too. I will never offer advice about things I have tons of experience with again lest I be accused of lying.

Let's go this weekend and REALLY chase some pigs in the swamp again. After all the rain they'll be concentrated up on the oak islands and ridges. After this thread I've decided that my new mission this year is to get close enough to kill a pig with my little derringer snake pistol.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Running by full blast ........................................... are shots that virtually no one should ever take.

I didn't say "no one" I said almost no one. Personally, even if I were that good of a shot I probably wouldn't take a shot at a running target. Certainly not at that range (I'm assuming we're still talking iron sighted MLs. However, If you've developed your shooting skills to the point where you can make that shot then good for you. You kick ass. Of course, now we're back to where I started and you're kind of making my point. Developing that skill level was a component of........................, you guessed it,DOING YOUR PART!!!!! But that would make you part of about 0.0001% of hunters. For everyone else, their acceptable shot is probably going to be substantially different.

I personally see no appeal in taking 300yd shots at anything that isn't planting an IED. I prefer to limit myself to much closer. I pretty much limit myself to nearly the same ranges now I was limited to when I was slinging an arrow. I like to get wet and dirty and have to crawl and slink around a bit and then get close enough to smell them. However, if your thing is longer ranges and utilizing that skill then more power to you. That's awesome. :thumbsup:

:grin: OK so Ill take it right to you here.
I'll assuming we are talking about "flat out running shots at deer 300 yards away". In my opinion there is no "doing your part" that will compensate adequatly enough for the real possibility of the deer NOT "doing it's part" (IE: bouncing, dodging, stopping, turning, accelerating, decellerating, turning, etc, etc, etc) to make that an ethical decission by anyone ever (unless MAYBE it is a desperate situation of eat or litterally starve). Stating that "doing your part" makes it acceptable downgrades the value of the hunt and the game and implies that its reasonable. Again, in my opinion, Its NOT.
Taken far enough, see, is that ANY shot under ANY circumstances EVER is "OK" as long as the hunter is "doing his/her part".

 

[Spikebuck]

I agree that what one shoots is their own personal choice within the laws they have to abide by and what works for them personally. I could care less if one uses a 40 on moose or a 75 on squirrels.

I just don't agree with the argument I always hear that equates larger calibers with an assumption of inaccuracy (ie: better to hit....). I believe ballistics would empirically show that within reasonable limits, and all other things being equal, the larger caliber is at least as, and may be more effective than, smaller calibers in the vast array of possible scenerios that come with hunting wild game. That's not saying a smaller caliber is ineffective, just that a larger caliber may provide more options to be effective in some conditions.

As a believer in larger calibers I am more than willing to say that in most reasonable circumstances a caliber smaller than I personally choose is completely effective. I just never seem to hear anyone that advocates smaller calibers saying they believe that a larger caliber is at least equal to and in some cases will be an advantage in effectiveness over a smaller caliber. All I ever hear is that a 40 in the head is better than a 62 in the guts.

As always, the debate is interesting and should never be taken personally. I've come into a number of these debates with one opinion and by listening openly to what others have to say, I walk away with an altered viewpoint and have learned something new. I hope that's how we all always approach these various topics. :v

 

[BrownBear]

Stating that "doing your part" makes it acceptable downgrades the value of the hunt and the game and implies that its reasonable. Again, in my opinion, Its NOT.

Bud of mine got frustrated at the end of a long day and took a shot in the direction of a moving doe at well over 200 yards. The .570 cal ball on top of 90 grains of 2f folded her like she'd been electrocuted.

He stood there with his mouth hanging open, much more ashamed of himself than proud of the shot. He still won't talk about it, and he'd skin me alive if he read this, even though I left out his name.

Pert near sezz it all for me.

 

[roundball]

"...A challenge to debate two schools of thought. IMO..."

Correct...a very fair question given the common, casual comments made in many threads, which he gave literal examples of.

 

[don hepler]

You got my curosity up. How high do you hold on a Deer running 36 mile per hour at 300 yards? How much lead is needed on a Pronghorn running nearly 60 miles per hour, (second fastest land animal on earth)? Was they running straight away from you, or crossing? I'm just curious.