Greatest Shot Ever--A Thread--Post Your's

[The Hedgehog]

Daisy BB gun 100 ft or so, anna's hummingbird siting on a fence. I was maybe 8 and didn't think there was any chance I could actually hit it. When it tipped over dead about 2 sec after the first shot I damn near cried. I felt absolutely terrible and didn't touch that bb gun again for several months.

Second one was in college, she was 28, I was 19. I was a helluva fun weekend but she eventually came to her senses.

I like you, but were completely the opposite.

 

[DFS]

I shot a bird out of the air with my BB gun as a kid. It was a miraculous shot. Definitely my “greatest shot”

 

[cgasner1]

I like you, but were completely the opposite.

Missed and had a boring weekend?

 

[Irrelevant]

I like you, but were completely the opposite.

I take you were the 28 yr old?

 

[Doublecluck]

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

I recall one of my daughters saying that to a game warden who was watching us and later helped load a bull in the back of our truck. She throat patched it at 340 or so on a trot in about a 3-4 second window when it was clear of cows. He walked up and commented “nice shot young lady” and she rattled that off without even missing a beat. I remember thinking Jesus what kinda kids am I raising. She was 17 at the time

The girls had some pretty great shots this year with the little 6 creed suppressed. Fun times, all on video.

 

[MTLabrador]

Best shot I ever took was the one where I took a controlled shot a the bullet went exactly where my crosshairs were - no surprises.

This. The line between a “great” shot and a long, shitty blood trail is very, very fine. I’ve made shots that I probably shouldn’t have taken, and I’ve regretted a few of those shots as well. Anymore, I like things to be just right before I touch the trigger.

Last week I decided not to take a dicey, long shot at a bull that’s probably bigger than any elk I’ll ever have a chance at again. I’d much rather watch him run away than hit him in the guts and lose him.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I have 2 very lucky shots I'll always remember. Not sure I should share one. If I get a pass for taking a really reckless shot at an animal 30 years ago, I will. The details around it still make me laugh, but I'd never shoot like that now.

 

[cgasner1]

I don’t think hunttalk will go all cancel culture’s

 

[The Hedgehog]

Around 30 years ago, I was hunting deer with our neighbor and good friend Pat who had a farm next to ours. Hunting with Pat was doing it his way, and back then it was just riding around in the truck, road hunting. Pat is widely known as a crack shot with trap shooting, birds, coyotes and big game. We had another friend along and I was riding bitch in Pat’s truck. Just before dark we were headed into town and there was a nice buck standing out in the stubble on Pat’s property. Pat slowed to a stop, got out and missed 2 shots at the buck. Pat reached into the truck and grabbed my rifle and began to shoot at the running deer. “I must have knocked my scope off” he said. Bob, the guy in the passenger seat also got out and began shooting. I was still sitting in the truck with Pat’s rifle in my lap - I checked and there was one round left. Both Pat and Bob fired 3-4 times and the rifles were empty. By this time, the deer was closing in on a half mile away - on a dead sprint. I got out, put the last round into Pat’s rifle, got the buck in my sights and lead it by about 20 feet and aimed about 10 feet high. Boom – the buck crumpled hit through the front shoulders. I handed Pat his rifle and said I didn’t think it was off, and if so, not by much.

I was home in Eastern MT about 15 years ago visiting my folks. Pat and my Dad were best friends so he stopped by to say hi. He said his new hobby was shooting rocks with this little “antique” rifle. He was shooting .22 short ammo in it. I said, “What do you mean, shooting rocks?” He said, “watch,” and grabbed a small rock off the ground, tossed it up into the air and shot at it with this .22. He missed. He threw a few more and finally connected, hitting a rock mid-flight about 20-30 feet away. He was pretty proud to hit a golf ball sized rock out of the air. He handed me his rifle, “Try it.” I picked up a little rock, tossed it into the air, and nailed it on the first try. “You’re right, that is fun” and handed his rifle right back to him.

If you knew Pat- taking one of his rifles having never fired it, and under those circumstances - those are my favorite lucky shots.

 

[Redman]

Coming back on our ATVs for lunch after glassing for mule deer in SD I spotted a couple coyotes. I slid to a stop grabbed my .270 off the front rack loaded it. I told my hunting mentor and best friend to range it for me. I heard him say 250 yds. I held on his side for 250 yds, the wind was blowing but I didn't figure I would need to allow for it at that range, and squeezed the trigger the yote dropped. We rode up and the there was just a flap of skin where his head used to be. Dave exclaimed "Dang a head shot at 350 yards!" What??? I thought you said 250! I should of played that one off and just shrugged my shoulders and said just a chip shot...

 

[antlerradar]

I bought a new Browning compound bow when I was 15. I can not remember the model, just that it was short, didn't have a sight and was not even close to accurate . I practiced with it all summer, but realistically my effective range was at most 25 yards. First chance I got I was up on the Forest when archery season arrived. The morning went without any action so I headed back home. On the way home I decided to stop and show Colonel Daniels my new bow. Colonel would have qualified as one of the most interesting men in the world. Entered the army at 18, first assignment, chasing Poncho Villa on the Mexican boarder. Then it was off to WWI. In between world wars he bought up to 30K horses a year for the cavalry and represented the USA in the Olympics in both shooting and equestrian. In WWII he was I think on Patton's staff, Not 100% on that, but I know he was friends with Patton. Sure wish I had taken the time to listen to more of his stories, but you don't think about that when you are in high school.
I stopped at Colonel's and showed him the new bow. Of course the first thing he said was can you shoot it, lets see if you can hit that post on the hill. The old wood post was maybe four inches in diameter, three feet tall and every bit of 75 yards away. I got this sinking feeling. No way I was going to hit that post. I should have just said it was out of range and picked a closer target,but teenage stupidly and pride took control. I just didn't want to admit I couldn't to Colonel, so I drew back, held ridiculously high and let her fly. The arrow flew in the huge arc that would have made a slow pitch softball pitcher happy, but after what seemed like minutes there was the unmistakable thunk of a field tip hitting wood. Colonel says, "good shot kid, you can shoot that bow". When I went up to retrieve my arrow I couldn't see it at first. That was because it hit the post maybe two inches above the ground and was hidden by the grass. Luckiest shot ever.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

So there I was in Colorado's rodentia infested backcountry. At least 6 miles deep, no inReach or nuthin. While climbing to a 12,500 ft mountain pass, I was ambushed by two whistle pigs. The first one charged at me full speed, leaping across scree like a cheetah chasing down a gazelle, its incisors gnashing at air and frothing at the mouth, pining for the sweet taste of human flesh. I stumbled backwards, raising my grandpappy's 22LR, and fired wildly one handed in panic. The furry mound came to a screeching stop not two inches from my toes.

I had nary a second to breathe a sigh of relief when another furious Marmota flaviventris specimen leapt from my left out of a nearby alpine spruce. Herbivores my ass! These little SOBs were out for one thing and one thing only. Blood. My subsonic 22LR rang out once more, echoing lightly off the surrounding red shale cliffs. Another lifeless fur ball piled up at my feet. Lucky? Maybe. Greatest shot(s) of my life? Definitely.
View attachment 301045

Those weren’t even the ones humping your sleeping bag in the night? You and marmots man, bad luck.

 

[trb]

Those weren’t even the ones humping your sleeping bag in the night? You and marmots man, bad luck.

The definition of a love hate relationship

 

[Z Barebow]

Great and/or lucky. (also keep in mind they happened 45-50 years ago and less "wise")

1. As a "ute", I killed a blackbird at ~ 50 yards with BB gun. Launching shots like we always did. It was at the top of a large tree. When I shot, it rotated 180 to hanging upside down. Never could hit it again to make it hit the ground. Stayed stuck upside down on the top limb of a cottonwood.
2. As a dumb@ss teenager (1st deer hunt ever), I went on my only gun/deer hunt. (ND). Didn't have a deer rifle so I used my 20 gauge shotgun. (28" barrel full choke) with slugs. (Unheard of in ND!) Jumped a WT doe and she ran to ~ 250 yds and settled into buckbrush. Snuck around and jumped her. Shot and the left front leg flew up as she angled away. She ran over edge of butte. Ran to edge expecting to sending lead to dispatch her (As I heard stories about deer with 3 legs) Searching,,,, spotted her dead at base of butte. As I field dressed her, it was a pure shoulder shot. Nothing entered the chest cavity. I suspect she broke her neck tumbling down butte.
3. Pheasant hunting with dad and best friend. (Late 70's) Pushed a coulee to the end. Busted a 1/2 dozen roosters. Buddy and I blasted away. Not a thing. After a few seconds, my dad shoots his .22 and a rooster piles up at about 80 yards. Shot mid air, angling away. Of course he said that was no big deal. Did it as kids all of the time.

 

[Huntnut60]

A group of us were following up a poorly hit doe during archery season. The brush was thick, and she wasn't bleeding much. I decided to swing around, in front of the group, and see if I could see her crossing a clearing. I was 80yards from the clearing when she came walking across. My bow only had sight pins to 50yds so I just held over and happened to hit her in the spine. I sat where I had shot from, until the others came into view. They did not have a clue what I was doing until I told them the sequence of events. Luck? Absolutely!!!! I only tried it because the deer was hit so poorly. Like others, lots of crazy shots with BB, pellet guns and 22s when I was younger. Good memories.

 

[dmarsh2]

This was just a couple weeks ago, 2nd rifle in CO hunting mule deer. I was slow hunting my way down through this drainage and spotted a small group of deer feeding probably a few hundred yards from me. I paused and just watched them, since there were just a couple does and two small bucks in the group. After about 30 minutes, several larger bucks appeared out of thin air (must have been bedded) and began to follow the same path the rest of the group had made prior. With a fresh snow covering my noise, a strong breeze in my face, and a calm & occupied group of deer, I decided I'd sneak in to try and prepare for a shot where I figured the bucks would feed to (assuming they would meander in the same general direction the rest of the deer went). I stalked in to about 100 yards, and found the perfect setup, pictured below. Two trees had fallen right next to each other, one situated at bench height, the other at table height. It wasn't as comfortable as the bench setup at most shooting ranges, but I've never had such a perfect shooting position naturally there. I sat down, rested my gun on the upper tree, and settled in. Since the deer were taking there jolly good time, I was able to settle my breathing, throw my ear plugs in, and take a perfect shot at a broadside buck. I quickly chambered a new round just in case, and as I found the buck in the scope again, I watched him fall about 15 feet from where he stood when I shot.

 

[Moserkr]

Since people are sharing greatest shots not just on deer...

Best shot ever was on a pheasant. Wild birds started pouring out of my side in the middle of a slough between the walkers and blockers. I was walking, working my dog and all the birds were hens that were pouring out - at least 50 had flushed. Finally one rooster in the bunch got up out of range. Starting at an estimated 50 yards and flying to my left, I put a bead on him then went out four feet and up two feet. Boom! Down the rooster goes in the middle of a plowed field. Dog starts the chase and the bird hit the ground running. Took more than 10 minutes for my pup to run it down in a ditch and bring it back, over a half mile round trip. When I inspected the bird for where my shot hit, I found one pellet in the elbow of its wing, thats it. Lucky as can be. Im guessing it was close to an 80 yard shot.

Ive also thrown a rock to kill a grouse. And a padlock to kill a rat in the basement - DRT to the back of the head.

My longest deer kill was with a bow at 32 yards. All my rifle deer kills are under 20. Long range just isnt my thing lol.

 

[grizzly63]

My dad had a hobby farm to teach us kids a few things. One day I was walking around with the co2 pellet pistol and a couple of barn swallows were doing their high speed acrobatics. I followed along and folded one out of the air. Dad was watching out the barn window. I got my butt tanned good. I learned something. Don't shoot swallows anymore.

Another time much later in life I was perched in a treestand archery hunting in a fresh snow in the pre-rut. I was in a willow patch and doe and a fawn were to my front. A pretty respectable buck came through checking them out. I had the patience to wait for him to be completely broadside and stationary at 30 yds. I then proceeded to jerk the shot very badly high and to the right, I'm sitting there all pissed off at myself for choking like that while watching the buck run away. He ran to the outside and down the edge aways. At a distance of 125 yds he just fell over. What ? I looked with the binocs in time to see him lift his head and then lay it down. You've got to be sh--ting me, I missed that deer. What the heck happened. I let him lay there for 25 minutes and then walked over to where he was standing. I found the nock end of the arrow and it had snapped off just in front of the fletching. Looking up I spotted the impact point on a willow brand parallel to the ground 6' off the ground. Arrow had hit the branch with enough force to snap in two and the lethal end hit the deer right in the pocket where I was aiming before I jerked it so badly. I named that buck Ricochet.

In high school a couple of us were hunting jackrabbits with .22's. I managed to shoot a jack at 300 yds offhand with one shot.

 

[Lyfter1013]

Prob Not my best shot but was lucky and @Moserkr pheasant story reminded me of it just opposite of his. A couple years ago we were pheasant hunting and had a rooster jump up right in front of me and flew straight up and tried to fly back towards me. I shot and blew its head completely off not one bb in the body. Here’s a pic.

 

[Moserkr]

Prob Not my best shot but was lucky and @Moserkr pheasant story reminded me of it just opposite of his. A couple years ago we were pheasant hunting and had a rooster jump up right in front of me and flew straight up and tried to fly back towards me. I shot and blew its head completely off not one bb in the body. Here’s a pic. View attachment 301669

Nice shot