In all my years of hunting I have never attempted a spine shot, nor accidentally hit the spine. I know some that have during archery, and that was a mess. (Deer spinning in circles under stand dragging it's hind end. All while not presenting a shot for several minutes). Boiler room shots for me, with trying to miss shoulders and guts if quartering. I got close one year during archery. Broadhead had 2 blades cut through the artery under the spine, and the other take the top of a lung. That deer went 200yds like that.
Some thoughts on spine shots or DRT
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Azrael
Well-Known Member
And don't assume that you know what someone else's experience consists of, or is limited to. That would be silly.
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
Not that I want to get into shot placement debate, but its hard for me to believe someone would intentionally aim for the spine at long range. This post is more about recognizing what you did and cleaning up the mess as fast as possible if you do spine one and its alive.
Azrael
Well-Known Member
The high shoulder shot, which involves the spine is a common long range shot.You might as well believe it, you don't have to like it or do it.
You recognize that your post assumes that you know what others' experiences consist of, and are limited to?
Which you classified as "silly"... in your prior post?
Welcome to "silly"
That's completely consistent with SILLY. Once that's understood and accepted, believing is easy.
Can't regulate silliness. It's the pursuit of happiness for some.
Now that your ground rules for post content is shifting from indistinct generalities to precise clarity, and lest I assume to the extent you deem silly, precisely what quantity does "a ton of animals" consist of, in number format. And how many tons have you spined past 600yds, and how many tons have you spined closer than 600yds?
Because such vague statements lead others to assume. Or was that your intention right from the start?
Howdy Folks,
I have read all through this thread. I am a bowhunter first and have shot one cow and one doe in the spine with archery tackle, both because of misjudging distance and shot angle. I regret both of those experiences and learned from them.
I have had to fallow up on a few spine shots from rifle hunting as well. Not once ever meaning to take a spine shot, but agree with the original poster and many others. We owe it to the animal we are pursuing to end its life as quickly and humanely as possible.
New fragmenting bullets with exagerated b.c.'s and performance, hyped for the sake of sales are as much to blame as the nut behind the trigger with his $6k hunting rig and the latest lr round.
Ethics , ethics, ethics.
In the almost 40 years of being in the field and having been a bow/rifle guide
I have witnessed events that really make a person wonder why certain individuals are allowed in the field.
This is my 2 cents worth.
I have read all through this thread. I am a bowhunter first and have shot one cow and one doe in the spine with archery tackle, both because of misjudging distance and shot angle. I regret both of those experiences and learned from them.
I have had to fallow up on a few spine shots from rifle hunting as well. Not once ever meaning to take a spine shot, but agree with the original poster and many others. We owe it to the animal we are pursuing to end its life as quickly and humanely as possible.
New fragmenting bullets with exagerated b.c.'s and performance, hyped for the sake of sales are as much to blame as the nut behind the trigger with his $6k hunting rig and the latest lr round.
Ethics , ethics, ethics.
In the almost 40 years of being in the field and having been a bow/rifle guide
I have witnessed events that really make a person wonder why certain individuals are allowed in the field.
This is my 2 cents worth.
Rich Coyle
Well-Known Member
Just who would decide?
Azrael
Well-Known Member
I consider 250 a very good week but hard to maintain. It keeps the winch truck driver hopping if you are doing it that way. Depending on the terrain, pulling a trailer works well. Between a dozen and 15 is a full load of reds depending on how carefully you stack them. With fallows you can haul more because of course they are smaller.
Straight feral culling is in most ways easier, because the recovery is usually limited to dragging them into piles. On a good day that just entails swapping GPS units with the recovery guy. Often there is no recovery expected at all. Buffalo is where the tonnage really starts adding up though. My best day was 29, something that I'll probably never repeat. Average was closer to 15-16. That opportunity isn't likely to come up again because was a stopgap between the heli-gunners coming up short and a meat market solution.
In short; the answer to how many animals I've spined under and over 600 yards is more than you can imagine.
Well that explains your spine shots. Culling is mass removal. More similar to a slaughterhouse operation than hunting.
Who cares about meat loss, and if a few flop around for a while before they're finished off. The priority is animal removal, and to simplify collection and disposal of the carcasses.
Who cares about meat loss, and if a few flop around for a while before they're finished off. The priority is animal removal, and to simplify collection and disposal of the carcasses.
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KyCarl
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It all gets down to integrity and ethics and morality..
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RockyMtnMT
Official LRH Sponsor
This is crazy numbers. So you are taking somewhere between 500 and 1000 animals per month? How many months per year? What kind of acreage? This sounds like animal density at much higher levels than any commercial ranch would have.
Steve
Which wouldn't be a major consideration when the goal is extermination of the pests. Now I understand the shot selection. Any hit = a good hit. If they're spined, they don't leave the field. Carcass collection and disposal are simplified.
How does this vast experience with spine shots during the culling of 1000s of large game animals apply to long range hunting shot selection and placement? It doesn't. At least we've settled that part of the discussion in this Thread.
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