Thwoop after impact

[bigngreen]

There the hollow drum sound that's usually in the body cavity then there is the real sharp crack of a shoulder shot, if they drop like a bag of potatoes I hate it, I'll sit a long time with a round ready and if I see so much as an ear twitch there a second round in the air. I hate it when they drop, especially elk, I want to see the oil pressure drop before they roll over so I know their dead!

 

[Ranger Rick]

If you've heard it then I'm sure you know what I mean. In your experience where was the animal hit to create this sound? Is it an indication of a solid well placed hit or not? I have/had my thoughts but they may not hold after a recent experience.

IME, I've only heard that sound when predator's muscle mass or head is hit.

 

[TheLongRanger83702]

If you've heard it then I'm sure you know what I mean. In your experience where was the animal hit to create this sound? Is it an indication of a solid well placed hit or not? I have/had my thoughts but they may not hold after a recent experience.

Thwoop = bad.
Whack = good.
Sounds like a gut shot. Not good.

 

[esorensen]

Meat report.

Indicative of a hit, not necessarily a good one.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

I hear a distinct thwoop sound when I hit animals in the body, they also make a pretty distinct thwack when you get them in the head. Pigs seem to be a lil louder, maybe because I often hunt them in the still of the night.

 

[340Wby-4-everything]

What were your results on those less than optimal hits? Had a kid out on a youth hunt, running a suppressed rifle. Watched the animal drop in its tracks with a distinct "Thwoop" and thought game over and were high-5'ing. Turn around and it's totally gone along with its two buddies which we can still see and are just lingering 50 yards away from where it was shot. At this point I figure hey he got up and ran off and dropped again in the direction of his buds and has probably laid down dying. We wait till they meander off continually looking back to allow it to die and then go see what's what where it was shot. Zero blood. Head to where his buds were lingering and can't find squat. Now it's been nearly 24 hours, been all over the place and can't find a thing but there is a lot of tall vegetation around that unless you step on it you might not see it. Is it still worth looking for? The meat is no good now which erks me but finding the animal for the kid would be awesome to get a picture and the antlers. Thoughts?

You didn't say what kind of animal? If you spent 8hrs or more looking, you probably have exhausted possibilities. If elk, you can probably give it up. I shot a bull once with a 340 Wby qtring away (270yds) and he was drt, but he wasn't. I turned around and was celebrating with my friend and turned back to see what we thought might have been another similar bull walking thru some thick timber right next to my bull. My friend says is that him and do you want to shoot again? I said no, since I had shot one that dropped right there and I was hunting with a Governor's tag I won in a raffle which if you were to shoot two they would frown on much worse than normal. 20-30 secs later this bull turns into the timber and secs after we hear a brush wreck like a dozer going thru the woods. We get to him, hit right where I wanted, broke 4 ribs to bits on the right, they turned the bullet, went thru the edge of the heart and both lungs and broke the left shoulder. Didn't see him get up, but he walked 70-80 yds thru thick timber like he had not been hit. Did you do a repetitively growing circular search? Sorry you lost it.

 

[javman]

I've heard it and it's a distinct sound when you hit lungs, bone or gut shot, at least in my experience. My bud shot a buck this past year with a 270Wb Mag 130 Barnes at exactly 403yds right in the lungs. The fact that he had a suppressor helped in hearing that "whoommmp"!

 

[TBell]

If you've heard it then I'm sure you know what I mean. In your experience where was the animal hit to create this sound? Is it an indication of a solid well placed hit or not? I have/had my thoughts but they may not hold after a recent experience.

I believe just a hit not necessarily an indication of placement. But here is one to ponder. Hunted for quite a while and don't hear it anymore after I started hunting suppressed. To the point that I have thought I missed on all but the last hunt. It was a shoulder shot 385 yard with a 338 LM. That one sounded like I hit a very solid tree.

 

[kynjm82]

On my Wyoming antelope hunt this year , I crawled along a barn wire fence after a bedded buck. There was small roll in the prairie and I couldn't see him until I stood. I ranged the far side at 310 & knew he was between 220 and 310. To be honest I got tired of crawling , set the scope on 6 power stood up and grabbed a rest off top of Tee post. He stood when I did and I double lunged him a split second later with 7/08. The 139 SST made a thump and 2 steps he was piled up. Sometimes when you hear it , you just know you did your part. Later the same afternoon my brother took a nice goat at 340 with his 6.5 cr and I was 50 yards behind him and heard same thump. Two shots , two thumps , two dead goats.

 

[TBell]

If you've heard it then I'm sure you know what I mean. In your experience where was the animal hit to create this sound? Is it an indication of a solid well placed hit or not? I have/had my thoughts but they may not hold after a recent experience.

I believe just a hit not necessarily an indication of placement. But here is one to ponder. Hunted for quite a while and don't hear it anymore after I started hunting suppressed. To the point that I have thought I missed on all but the last hunt. It was a shoulder shot 385 yard with a 338 LM. That one sounded like I hit a very solid tree.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

I have only ever heard that sound with a gut shot. That said, there are all kinds of sounds and things that affect how things sound in nature. In my experience, most gut shot animals die. Most die close.to.where they are shot, if left alone. If not left alone and are bumped by hunters searching, coyotes lookong for a free meal, or whatever, they can go quite a distance. To me it is worth it to find the animal. Even if it is a stinky bloated mess, there is a valuable lesson for a hunter of any age to know what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future. I would make an expanding circle search around the area
Watch for buzzards, crows, coyotes, whatever you can to give you hints on the location of the animal. Good luck.

 

[jrock]

I don't have too many data points on deer sized animals. However, I have tons of data on smaller game. If it has a distinct "pop" sound, it tends to be more of a gut shot. A more solid sound is chest cavity. However, I don't rely on the sound as much the body language of the animal. Any pop sound just means I hit it, that's all. I've missed the first shot too many times growing up to not expect a follow up shot.

 

[thwatson2]

Thump-pow and crack- pow is what we call it in our hunting circle. Rare you don't hear it, if you are in ear shot of your hunting partner. Over 28 years of hearing this I can say PERSONALLY , thump pow can be anything behind the neck except a butt hit. And crack pow is head, upper neck or hind quarter hit. Every once in a while it's a miss that hit a tree. Needless to say, when we hear thump- pow, we are usually preparing to clean a deer. Or sometimes tracking one. When we hear crack pow it's usually cleaning without tracking. (Unless clean hit in the tree). Great sounds!

 

[Kevin87]

I will a distinct crack/slap when hit in the lungs. They don't go far after that.