Number of shot opportunities

[JimFromTN]

I had it happen last year during muzzleloader during the rut. A buck came walking by my stand to my right. I shot and it ran about 30 to 40 yards and started walking and turned left and walked right out in front of me at about 60 yards. I was able to reload in the time it took for him to get in front of me. I shot and rolled him. He was laying there not moving looking pretty dead. I reloaded and I sat there and watched and about 20 minutes later a doe came running by him and his head came up. He then started to struggle to his feet. His backside was to me and he got up on his back legs first and I had a shot of his underbelly. I wouldn't normally take that shot but I had already shot him twice. I just wanted to anchor him. I shot again and rolled him over his head and he rolled behind a tree. I waited about 45 minutes and came down and started to go toward the tree that I thought he was behind. When I got to the tree and looked around it, he blew and ran off. I backed out and came back a few hours later. I looked at the spot where I first shot and there was blood everywhere. I then looked at where I took the 2nd and third shot and again blood everywhere and large amounts of white hair where I hit him with the 3rd shot. I followed the blood trail up a ravine for about 300 yds and the blood stopped. I walked all over that ravine and never found anything. That was one tough deer.

I hate losing deer. In 40 years of deer hunting, I have lost 6 deer and I can remember them all like it happened yesterday. I still go through my head and think about what I could have done differently for all of them

 

[birddog 68]

First elk hunt I shot at him 7 times and only hitting him 3. No range finder and approximately 40 mph crosswind probably had something to do with it.
I got him but at 10 degrees and the wind blowing the way it was I never want to relive that experience.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

I've had that occur several times hunting pigs with a suppressed .308 when I lived in SC. 250 + yard shots across open fields with a decent cross wind. I guess they never heard the shots???

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

Yes a few times. And witnessed it quite a few times.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I can't specifically recall ever being lucky enough to get a second shot on a big game animal. But ... on many occasions, if I missed a longrange shot at a groundhog, they would pop back out of the hole because the muzzle blast was so far away that they can't figure out why they ran in the first place. LOL

 

[BigDon]

Was on a NWT caribou hunt with a buddy. Found a nice one for him on morning 1 - 75 yds. He shot 6 times off hand, missed every time. No joke - he was a seriously experienced hunter. This 'bou got him excited. After round 6 he turned to me and asked for my rifle. He was out of ammo. I told him no - but that I'd give him 1 round and if he didn't close the deal I was going to shoot it. It just stood there watching us talk and move about. Then I told him to prone out and stopping screwing up. He did - and got the 'bou. Finally.

 

[CMP70306]

A few years back the first year I hunted with a suppressor I aimed at a buck 30 yards away in heavy cover and pulled the trigger. When he jumped and ran 20 yards then stopped and looked back unscathed I'm not sure which of us was more surprised. I dropped him with the second shot and it turned out that I hit a twig a couple yards from the muzzle that caused the bullet to miss the deer entirely. Never saw the twig in the scope but the suppressor definitely gave me the chance at a second shot.

For the most part the majority of big game I've killed I only needed a single round however over the years I have had a handful of times that I had to use more than one shot. My first buck at 15 I killed on the third shot as it came running through the woods. A few more I shot twice though they were dead on the first one including my bison. My bear I shot 4 times with 3 being kill shots and the one was only 3 inches from being fatal.

The worst and coincidentally the reason I'm even on this site was when I was 13, over two days I missed 8 shots at deer across a field until just before dark the last day I unknowingly gut shot one. As we walked across the field to check for blood a heavy downpour started and we never found any sign of a hit. A couple weeks later while turkey hunting we found the carcass a couple hundred yards from the field.

I was so ****ed at myself for losing that deer, my second ever deer, that I started working on improving my shooting so that it would not happen again. I was always told the field was 200 yards wide so when the deer were only 3/4 of the way across I held a bit lower to compensate. It turns out the field is actually 350 and at best I was shooting under them with my .243 shooting soft points.

That experience was the catalyst for my interest in long range shooting as I did not want to have that happen again. 20 years later and while I have not had the opportunity to repeat that shot we have a gong across that field and I make it a point to hit it with one of my deer rifles every chance I get.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I can't specifically recall ever being lucky enough to get a second shot on a big game animal. But ... on many occasions, if I missed a longrange shot at a groundhog, they would pop back out of the hole because the muzzle blast was so far away that they can't figure out why they ran in the first place. LOL

Just remembered - I shot a bull moose at 125 yds with a 402gr Hammer bullet and the big guy wasn't impressed. He took a few steps and I launched two more shots as fast as I could cycle the action of my Marlin SBL. Field dressing revealed that two of the shots punched right through his chest and the third went who-knows-where. There were three distinct small holes around a larger hole that went through its lungs. Both hits were fatal hits but you know how a tough moose just refuses to accept his own demise.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

Yes!
Last day of the general rifle season, just before sunset. I was on a mule deer hunt. My buddy and I were on the way back for the day and I we were about 3-400 yards from the truck. Low and behold we spotted a doe and then a buck chasing her. Range was approximately 100 yards. I was carrying my M1 Garand. I took one, two, three shots off hand, not rapid fire. Clean misses. The buck was rutting hard and didn't even consider us. The fourth shot connected in the boiler room and down he went with a bang flop. Nice drag down to the road, grabbed the truck and loaded him up!

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

With 4+ decades of hunting, I was only afforded 2 shot opportunities twice. One was with a miss on the first shot, and the second needed another shot for a humane harvest.

Has anyone been lucky enough to have more than 2 shot opportunities in the same wild game target?

I wonder if location isn't the biggest factor here. Being on the east coast of PA. I have seen it quite a few times. And I think it could be that people have encroached on the animals habitats. And they have become accustomed to people & noises. Deer on the first day of hunting in lower land farms are usually not to skittish at first. But give it a day or two of hunting. And their natural instinct kicks in. I also noticed mountain deer. Near my home. You will not get a second shot. You are lucky to get one. This is just my theory. I could be wrong. This may be why you have been so unfortunate.

 

[FEENIX]

I wonder if location isn't the biggest factor here. Being on the east coast of PA. I have seen it quite a few times. And I think it could be that people have encroached on the animals habitats. And they have become accustomed to people & noises. Deer on the first day of hunting in lower land farms are usually not to skittish at first. But give it a day or two of hunting. And their natural instinct kicks in. I also noticed mountain deer. Near my home. You will not get a second shot. You are lucky to get one. This is just my theory. I could be wrong. This may be why you have been so unfortunate.

I am sorry, but I do not consider myself unfortunate. I am fortunate and thankful all but 2 are 1-shot harvests in 4+ decades.

I also appreciate everybody's honesty with their experiences.

 

[birddog 68]

I am sorry, but I do not consider myself unfortunate. I am fortunate and thankful all but 2 are 1-shot harvests in 4+ decades.

I also appreciate everybody's honesty with their experiences.

It seems like in my youth it would sometimes take more than 1 shot but as I have matured as a hunter I strive to make sure the first shot is the only shot needed.
When hunting at my friends place he told his son that I had shot and not his brother. His son asked how he knew it was me and not his uncle and he said it was only one shot. Now I must live up to this yearly!

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

I am sorry, but I do not consider myself unfortunate. I am fortunate and thankful all but 2 are 1-shot harvests in 4+ decades.

I also appreciate everybody's honesty with their experiences.

A poor choice of words. I sucked in English class. Just thought I would let ya know.

 

[Rosebud]

As a very young man, I was using my grandfather's marlin 336 in .35 Remington on a dog deer drive. Shot a buck trying to sneak back past the dogs. He saw me and took off at warp speed. Shot at him three times and hit him twice in the chest. He was going down on shot number three or I'd have hit him with that one too. Sixteen years old, great eye sight. Was using the iron sights. Still PO,ed at my brother. He took the marlin to Alaska and ended up selling it the native Indians there. PS, I hunted two military bases with shotguns using slugs. It wasn't uncommon to fire off four or five at bucks that were dead on their feet.