Hunting a moving target

[OntarioHunter]

Basically, there is little opportunity for most of us to get good enough at moving targets to be sure of hits. SEAL, Army, Marine snipers, OK. Most of us aren't. Even if you hit the animal, you are just as likely to gut shoot it, or waste meat.

Just don't.

Good advice. Unless you have the fiscal and physical resources available to practice shooting at moving targets a LOT, it's a bad idea. Most guys I know who do the drive thing are shooting buckshot. I participated in one drive in my life and one was enough. Too dangerous, especially with rifles. And especially with that crew!

Also, someone above mentioned 100 yard moving targets as acceptable. Not for me and I'm pretty good at it. They have to be much closer and unobstructed view. I think the longest moving shot for me was this buck at about 70 yards and flying. First shot was prone and didn't clear the hill I was resting on. No whistle would stop those two big bucks after a missed shot. I aimed for the front of his shoulder thinking he would run into the bullet. That's exactly where I hit him. Good follow through. He collapsed on the spot and rolled to the bottom of the coulee.
Next year in the same coulee I shot this coyote on the fly at about fifty yards through the heart. Exactly where I expected to hit him. No lead.
I missed the first shot when it was standing looking at me. Overthinking and a really crappy trigger (now fixed).

 

[Dancerpro]

Basically, there is little opportunity for most of us to get good enough at moving targets to be sure of hits. SEAL, Army, Marine snipers, OK. Most of us aren't. Even if you hit the animal, you are just as likely to gut shoot it, or waste meat.

Just don't.

I was an Army Paratrooper and was an expert shot for 10 years. Though I do have that training, soldiers are trained on static targets. Though they do drop and pop up, that is the only movement. Now I am training to harvest food and that takes a different kind of thinking toward hunter ethics.

 

[MTLabrador]

That is one thing for sure, I don't just wing shots and I don't think any hunter who believes in hunting ethics would do such a thing. However, you seem to have a strong opinion. May I ask why? I was taught to talk to those smarter than yourself, when it comes to subjects you are trying to learn. I work to hard to purchase the items needed to hunt. I practice accuracy at several distances on a range I had built on my property. Honestly, I believe my hunt will be a failure, if I cause the animal any unnecessary pain. This question comes from what I was taught and what I'm seeing on videos of current hunts. There is a discrepancy, that I have not seen answered, in any format. All you folks are smarter than me when it comes to hunting and that's why I ask questions the way that I do, I am asking my teachers a question, that I have no clue of the answer or even how to ask it, due to inexperience. Call it a gut feeling, but the way you answered, tells me there's more to the story.

I wouldn’t say there’s more to the story, I’ve just seen a lot of wounded deer, elk, and antelope. If you’re relatively new to hunting, just keep things simple and don’t shoot deer that are moving.

 

[Sask hunter]

One to stir the pot a bit

 

[RobertD]

One to stir the pot a bit
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You're exempt you forest gremlin, you probably popped out holding a rifle in your hands

 

[Mallardsx2]

I heard of a guy who shot at an antelope running wide open and the lead antelope In the string was a buck he was after and he hit the seventh one back. And he hit it in the ass…

So the story goes anyhow lol

 

[WyoDoug]

First, only moving shots I will take is on things like birds, rabbits, rodents, coyotes etc. I might take a shot on a leisurely walking elk or deer in the right circumstances. I generally prefer broadside or quartering away shots. I will never, ever shoot and generally will not even attempt a stalk on running deer, antelope, or elk (nor any other big game). I am a meat hunter so I like animals who are well rested when I shoot them.

 

[mtmuley]

One to stir the pot a bit
View attachment 224284

Do it again. mtmuley

 

[Sask hunter]

Do it again. mtmuley

I can for sure. Done 300+ yard runners almost every winter. Furthest on a coyote was 475 furthest on a deer 383

 

[Nick87]

I heard of a guy who shot at an antelope running wide open and the lead antelope In the string was a buck he was after and he hit the seventh one back. And he hit it in the ass…

So the story goes anyhow lol

Buddy of mine (at the time) shot a doe on the run with a 22-250 right behind the EARTH 550 plus, Most arrogant kid you ever met. I said yah that was a lucky shot I guess to which I was being generous considering it was a group of like 9 does so God only knows which one he thought he was shooting at. To which he replied " yah mostly skill but a little luck I suppose" STFU!

 

[mtmuley]

I can for sure. Done 300+ yard runners almost every winter. Furthest on a coyote was 475 furthest on a deer 383

You are a badass. mtmuley

 

[longbow51]

First, only moving shots I will take is on things like birds, rabbits, rodents, coyotes etc. I might take a shot on a leisurely walking elk or deer in the right circumstances. I generally prefer broadside or quartering away shots. I will never, ever shoot and generally will not even attempt a stalk on running deer, antelope, or elk (nor any other big game). I am a meat hunter so I like animals who are well rested when I shoot them.

You know there is sound science behind that. As lactic acid builds up in muscles, it is just that, acid and sour tasting. Guys that don't like antelope mostly chase them around with pickups and then complain the meat isn't good. Properly stalked antelope taste great.

 

[longbow51]

And I do have a friend that is kind of a weirdo when it comes to shooting that rolled a running coyote at 300 with a rifle he had never shot before. He would never do that on something he planned to eat though.

 

[gouch]

The second and third deer I ever shot were running. One was going straight away, and I shot him in the back of the neck. the other was crossing about 20 yards away, so I swung on him like he was a quail. I hit him in the liver though, so I wasn't overly happy about that. I am a close-range hunter. The three longest shots on animals I have made, have been maybe 100 to 130 yards. So, I have no problem with shooting a walking animal with a gun but only stationary animals with a bow. It is all about the hunting not the killing, so it never matters if the critter gets away.

I have never understood the mindset, that taking a chance of wounding an elk is unacceptable but gut shooting a coyote is OK.

 

[Dancerpro]

It is all about the hunting not the killing, so it never matters if the critter gets away.

Absolutely! I have said the same thing about fishing, pretty much every time I have gone fishing. Sometimes, you have to let them go. Sometimes I forget that, just because you have them, is no guarantee you get to keep them. That was a very selfish thing to say and I apologize.

 

[Redmt]

I never thought about not shooting a moving animal. The majority of my hunting is on familiar ground so I know how far the landmarks are. The longest shots are under 250 yds. I load my own ammo so I know that the rounds are traveling from 2800 to 3000 fps. At those ranges and speeds you can pretty much hold dead on depending on the angle of the moving animal. The biggest trick is to keep your rifle moving as you take the shot and not to freeze when pulling the trigger.