More than one hit?

[Guy Miner]

Just curious, how often have you had to make more than one hit to bring down or kill game?

Please describe the circumstances.

I've only had to do so a few times:

A mule deer doe broadside at about 70 yards. Due to high grass, only about the top 1/2 or 1/3 of her body was visible. I was using a .45/70 Marlin. Load was a 405 gr Rem FNSP handloaded to about 1650 fps. Bullet struck high on her shoulder, just under the spine. Complete penetration of course and broke her spine. She fell instantly, but required a finishing shot when I got up to her.

Another mule deer doe at about 25 yards, I'd approached pretty close, intent on using my .44 mag revolver. I think it must have been all my handgun training, because when I shot once, I automatically shot again. Boom, boom. Hmmm. Did she need two shots? I kind of doubt it, but two hits were made, rapidly. Factory 240 gr Federal American Eagle hollow point ammo at about 1250 fps.

In '08 I shot a good size mule deer buck from about 230 yards, with my .25-06 Rem 700. Was looking down on him from up above, and broke his back. He stepped forward as I was squeezing the trigger and I hit him a little far back, breaking his spine, into one lung and dropping him instantly, but not killing him. He then proceeded to fall down, down, down the ridge... It was a long hike to where he finally fell, and I had to shoot him again in the heart/lung area to quickly kill him. That was with the 115 gr Berger VLD bullets at about 3190 fps mv.

In 2010, my son's bear was making a getaway after being hit with a 165 gr Nosler Solid Base from the young man's .30-06 M1917. I smacked the shoulder with a 260 gr Nosler AccuBond and was surprised when it kept running! But it was running slower now, on three legs. Another friend made a poor shot with a 7mm mag/140 gr Barnes TSX, hitting the bear in the guts. So - three bullets, 165, 260 and 140 grains - and the bear is still moving... Now into the brush and invisible, but crashing through, heading down. We reposition and catch it as it breaks into the open still fleeing downhill. One more 7mm mag shot (to the neck) dropped it, and a .375/260 to the body was insurance. Whew! I'd never seen a big game animal take so many hits, five total. No misses.

Those are the only game animals I can remember having to shoot more than once, although I've been along when a few others needed more than one shot. Mostly they've dropped at the shot, dead instantly, or very quickly.

Yours? Guy

 

[6mm Remington]

Guy I am all for shooting an animal again if they are still moving or on their feet as I don't want them to suffer first off, and second I don't want them to get into a worse location to recover them from than they already are. Over the years I've probably shot and seen shot several animals more than once. Here are just a couple of examples.

Black Bear: We had a black bear one fall that was getting into trash cans up near a hot springs west of Missoula. It was a bad year because there were a lot of bears and not many berries. This bear got into a hard sided camper. He peeled it open like a pop can to get inside and then proceeded to completely destroy the camper. The day he met his end, there was a call to FWP about a bear at the lower hot springs (private one) that had just came up onto the deck of one small cabin and had hit a window with his paw and was trying to get inside. There was a man inside who had a pistol. He opened the door and fired a 357 magnum in the air in a safe direction to scare the bear off. The bear responded by growling at him and coming towards the door which he quickly shut and locked.

I got up there about 45 minutes later and found the bear in the middle of the road with his head stuck inside a 55 gallon garbage can with only his butt sticking out. I came close in my vehicle and he just looked at me and stuck his head back inside. Finally when I got real close, he trotted (didn't run) alongside the lodge building in the open grass area towards the hillside at the back of the lodge. He then sat down and watched me. I had a 308 Remington 700 in the car and maybe I should have grabbed that, but instead I took the .12 ga. I made sure the first in it was OO Buckshot followed by a slug, and the Buckshot again. I didn't want to have a running gun battle as I did not know how many folks were around and if any of them were outside. Last thing I wanted was a wounded bear in their midst and to have to shoot a bunch of times.
So I start walking towards this bear trying to assess if I should shoot him or not, FWP gave me the go-ahead, but I still did not want to have to shoot him if at all possible. I got about 30 yards from him and was looking to see if he was injured or what condition he was in. He was really big but really skinny. He later weighed 220 pounds (fall bear mind you) and was thin as a rail. He was huge!

I decided I'm going to shoot in the tree above him with the Buckshot and see if I can scare him off. He responds immediately by not even flinching and just started growling and snapping his jaws at me. I could hear it pop pop every time he snapped his mouth shut. He was pissed.
So Dave gets all ready with my slug in the chamber and decide he is dangerous and someone very well could get hurt by this bear. He needs to be shot.

I take very careful aim and shoot him just behind the shoulder in the lungs and he takes off up the hill like a racehorse and did not show any indication of being hit. I knew I did not miss, so just before he ran out of sight behind the lodge I was able to hit him again with a load of 00 Buckshot. Again he never reacted. I took off running to the end of the lodge and rounded the corner just in time to see him racing up the hill and going behind some trees. I slowed down a bit now and with a slug in the barrel again started working towards where I last saw him because he had not come out the other side. All of a sudden I heard a bunch of brush breaking and about 50 yards away, this bear started rolling down the hill head over butt, head over butt, just like a kid rolling down a hillside having fun might do. He went about 25 yards and came to a stop roughly 20 yards from me broadside, facing down hill, and very much still alive. He had his front legs lifting his chest and front body up off the ground and he growled very loudly again. I shot him once more in the shoulders with another slug and it killed him instantly finally.

I was sitting there shaking like a little girl, still not knowing anyone was around when I heard this little squeaky woman's voice from the lodge asking, "Did you get him?" We were only about 30 feet from the back corner of the lodge and where the bear died was about 20 yards from the swimming pool. I said in my very masculine voice, " Ah yes mam, he's right here."

30-06 165 gr. Nosler solid base boattail.
Pronghorn Antelope 500+ yards feeding, prone, no wind! :shock:
I made a great shot from prone and hit him right behind his front shoulder. (Did not know exact placement right away, but knew it was good.) He ran with the other buck with him about 125 yards UP the hill and laid down at about 600+ yards away now. I just knew he was dead and by the time I walked over there he would surely be dead. I was counting my steps as I was going and when I got about 150 yards from him he was still very much alive. I could not sit down because of the curve of the hill, and it looked like he might get up and run so I pulled up and shot standing. I tried to shoot him in the head but pulled my shot just slightly and only managed to break his jaw. He got up and took off up the hill and then went with the slope for about 100 yards and finally tipped over dead.

When I hit him on his left side, the bullet hit a rib dead center and the rib exploding and breaking in turn broke a rib on either side of it, and tore the hide. He had about a 3" x 4.5" hole in his side right in the lung area on the area the bullet entered, and a nice exit hole in the same place out the other side of his ribs. It was perfect shot placement and why that antelope was still alive amazes me. When he got up the second time and ran, I could see intestine that had started to come out the big whole in his ribs as he ran. They got tangled up in his legs, and this is what tripped him up and made him fall. Sorry this is graphic, but that's what happened. I could not believe this animal was able to do that. Antelope I believe are one of THE Toughest animals out there pound for pound.

Sorry a little long winded, but those are two stories anyway to add to Guys post.
David

 

[Teknys]

One Blacktail Buck comes to mind. Hunting by Mt Adams in WA during late muzzleloader season. My dad shot this buck broadside at about 100-125yds. He said he saw it go over the finger on the ridge he was on. I went high and tried to get way ahead of it. I came back toward the ridge and I heard him shoot again. OK - Wow this buck has gone about 500yds, he has it now. I just sit and wait and a little while later he calls on the radio and says he can't believe he missed as it was only 40 yards.
I then see my brother walking up the hill through the brush and I realize I'm looking through the rack of a buck about half way to my brother. I shout down to him and he finally see's the buck at about 20 yards and it jumps up and takes off back west again. He shoots and misses, I'm waiting for it to get further west before a raise my gun to shoot and when I do.... I swing through and shoot. The next think I know I'm sliding down the hill on my side. I missed of course.

Now that's 4 shots so far.

I reload and as I was putting my cap on, a drop of water falls off my hat right ON THE NIPPLE. I blow it off and put on a cap. I start slowing working my way in the snow along the trail and it's real thick with brush. My brother calls out and he is right behind me. As I'm waiting looking back I get this weird feeling. I start scanning the brush up ahead and then look down at my feet and this buck is laying in the trail facing me with this head on his front paws stretched out in front of him not 10 feet from me. I cock the hammer and "POP" goes the cap and that buck took off in a flurry of snow.

I yell to my brother to keep following him and I took off down hill. I didn't need to be packing this out any further down hill then he already is. I get about 75 yds down and 100 yards more west and I can see my brother working his way through the brush above me. I catch my breath and put on a new cap. (No I wasn't running through the woods with a capped gun).

That buck let me brother almost step on him and he missed - now 5 shots. It was coming right down on top of me now. I let it come past at about 20 yds and shot him in both shoulders and now it is down. 6 SHOTS. 3 HITS!

1st shot was a hit at 100yds and it hit the ridge on the scapula and just blew that Great Plains lead bullet apart. One small piece went into the chest at an angle back along the ribs and hit the back lobe of the right lung.
My Dad's 2nd shot at 40yds was in the neck and you could see a hole big enough to push a ping pong ball through - day light on the other side. It was just above the spine and you can stick your finger in and touch bone. So close but not much but meat above the spine.

Shots 3, 4 & 5 were misses. Shot 6 finally downed him.

We all shook our heads on this. Up until then it has been our experience that Deer hit with the muzzleloaders have been bang flop.

 

[cloverleaf]

The following is from my post from a few years back, "when they dont go down...?" Actually two seperate deer the first did not require a follow-up.

Everything I am about to tell you is perfectly legal and probably ethical but it is not the kind of hunter I want to be. OK last weekend I took a doe with a 12 ga slug @ 70 yards. At the shot she swapped ends and ran hard back the way she came, tail -up flat out. I watched her run out of sight perhaps 200 yards across a plowed field. The smaller doe and a fawn were still standing there, and thinking I had missed cleanly I drew a bead on the doe at 50 yards and shot. She went down, hit high through the back rib and took another shot to finish her, the follow up was front on, through the brsiket and she still took one more through the neck to keep her down.

Not my finest day for shooting, that second deer took two slugs that should have put her down the second of which destryed a lung and part of a lver and she still got up for that neck shot. CL

 

[Songdog]

Of all the game I shoot/see shot... I think by far coyotes have required the most follow up shots. I can't even count the number of times I've seen coyotes take multiple rounds... I've only had it happen once with a deer, and it was just insurance. If deer were as tough as coyotes... you'd need a .338 Winny (or even better... a Wheelen) to anchor one.

 

[Guest]

Two out of the last three deer I've shot have taken two shots. The buck I shot last season (January 2011) was a bad angle and I put a second "finishing shot" in him. The doe this season (December 2011) took a shot through both lungs, and jumped, kicked, and then walked around eating again for a minute. When she presented a second opportunity (stepping out from behind some tall grass) I put another shot in her and she went down. In her case, when I dressed her, it was clear either shot would have done the job. But after the bad angle on the buck last year, I take a second shot when I get one.

 

[brianwyo]

When I started hunting and reloading in 1988 I used another brand of bullet it worked fine on
antelope and deer. I shot a couple of cow elk that would not go down. I recovered both animals. The bullet was too fragile in my opinion. I started using Nosler Partitions on Elk and Moose.
Ballistic tips on antelope, Deer and sheep. I have just started expermenting with Barnes TTSX
and Accubonds. I have shot 2 elk and an Antelope with the TTSX no bullet recovered. Not quite sold on them. I dont think they expanded enough. I am working on a new 25-06 with accubonds for this fall. 2009 I shot a bull Moose with a 300WM with 180 gr partitions. 3 shots @ 80 yds
right behind the shoulder all bullets left a large exit wounds. 1 shot would of been enough but I was real excited and he still took his own sweet time tipping over. Brian

 

[DrMike]

Some years ago, more years ago than I care to remember, I shot a big black bear up in this country. He was just a half-inch shy of a seven footer, and he dropped to one shot with my 7 RM loaded with 175 grain TBBC. He was at ~120 yards feeding and dropped at the shot. I congratulated myself and noted that these big bruins aren't that hard to kill. That afternoon, I saw a small two-year-old grazing on a little hillock that was just greening up. I crept to within about sixty yards or so, took my time to aim carefully, and pulled the trigger. The impact flattened the little sow, but it didn't kill her. Necropsy showed that the bullet had shattered her spine, but she was still enraged at whatever had hurt her. Long story short, I shot her three more times, and necropsy revealed that all three bullets had passed through the lungs, one putting a perfect hole in the heart. The bear was dead, though she didn't know it. As I walked up, she looked at me and began again to growl. I finally shot her with my last bullet in the head. I confess that the experience left me shaken, and asking myself, "What kind of animals are these to absorb this much punishment?" Since then, I've maintain great respect for black bears. They are not hard to kill, but some just have a desire to keep on living.

It was about ten years ago that I had a similar experience. I and a friend were hunting, and a man who is confined to a wheelchair had driven his truck into a clearing behind us. I had hunted with both of these fellows before, and taken the children of the man who was now wheelchair bound fishing on several occasions. Near last light, a large black bear came out of the bush about 150 yards in front of a friend and me. He was armed with a 7mm RM loaded with 160 grain Partitions. He shot. The bear swapped ends and was in the bush before he could get another shot off. He thought it was a good shot, so we gave the animal about thirty minutes to bleed out before we went into the bush looking for him. I was carrying a .356 loaded with 250 grain Power Points. As we moved cautiously through the bush, the wheelchair bound man who had watched the entire affair yelled, "Here's your bear. He's coming out on the west side." We hied back out of the bush and scurried over to the path on which the bear was standing. My friend knelt down, aimed and pulled the trigger. The bear dropped, then pulled himself up and began to move sluggishly down the trail.

We walked cautiously toward him to deliver the finishing shot, when I saw movement to my left. There was the bear my friend had originally shot, his front leg shattered but obviously very much alive. I quickly instructed Courtney, my friend, go deliver the coup de grâce to the bear on the track, and I'll tackle this one you shot earlier. I shouldered my .356, and at the shot anchored the bear. He stood and fixed me with a baleful stare and began to growl. I shot that bear three more times at a distance of less than forty yards with the 250 grain Power Points. The first had passed just under the spine, disrupting his ability to move. The next two had hit him cleanly in the lungs and the third was a wounding shot. Nevertheless, that bear had absorbed incredible punishment and was capable until the final shot of retaliating on the puny creatures that had delivered such a fearsome insult to his life.

On examining both of the bears, they were virtual twins. The one I finally took down was 6' 10" and the other was 6' 9.5". The each had a star on their chest and each was approximately the same size. Later, the next day, we went back into the bush and discovered that I had been standing not ten feet from the wounded bear who had holed up in some incredibly thick underbrush when we were called back out to the road. I was on the alert for the animal, knowing that they are capable of watching their back trail to see what hurt them, so they can deliver retaliation and retribution. However, I hadn't seen him at that point; and had he slipped away through the bush to the south, I would not have seen him again. However, he just happened to move westward and passed through a small opening at the precise moment that permitted me to see him.

Man, I love hunting bears. It is a rush. They are capable, however, of taking a humbling amount of punishment without giving up the ghost.

 

[Songdog]

Man, I love hunting bears. It is a rush. They are capable, however, of taking a humbling amount of punishment without giving up the ghost.

Just finished my app. for a bear tag here in Colorado.... boy do I miss Washington State... where there are two tags over the counter for anyone who wants to chase bruins. I've seen bears take hits from some serious weaponry... and keep on truckin'. Throw in sharp teeth/claws, some hard country, and blueberry bushes taller than you.... folks can see how it can turn into a rodeo post haste.

 

[mcseal2]

Of all the game I shoot/see shot... I think by far coyotes have required the most follow up shots. I can't even count the number of times I've seen coyotes take multiple rounds... I've only had it happen once with a deer, and it was just insurance. If deer were as tough as coyotes... you'd need a .338 Winny (or even better... a Wheelen) to anchor one.

+1 for sure. I've seen coyotes stay upright with unbelievable wounds for a while. Also a coyotes hide will hold quite a bit of blood before leaving a trail, so if they go to spinning or running I keep shooting. The other one that's right up there is a badger, they can sure soak up some lead without quitting.

I've put multiple hits on deer and elk but most of them were already dead from the first AccuBond, they just had 80-100yds of travel time before they realized it. I keep shooting until whatever I'm shooting is down.

 

[1Shot]

In killing many hundred WT deer I have only had to shoot 4 or 5 more than once. Most of these had been shot a touch too high that had taken out the spine but the deer was still not dead. The last deer that I had to shoot more than once was one that popped out into the logging road that I had a stand on. He kept walking across it and I was using my T/C Contender 14" pistol in 6mm-225 Win. I had to get on him very quickly and shoot. I hit him a touch too low in the front shoulders breaking both legs. I was carrying a Kel-tec 32 ACP pocket pistol and had to shoot him three times in the head to kill him. I got rid of the 32 ACP and got a 380 ACP after that. I shot a deer that had been hit by a car with it and it did a MUCH better job.

 

[bbearhntr]

I am ashamed to admit that I started to get cocky after shooting my first couple of black bears. I thought, "These critters arent that tough". About 6 years ago I shot one with a 180g slug out of my 30-06 @ 30yds through both shoulders. At the shot the bear started rolling around on the ground and roaring. He just kept rolling and thrashing like a 300lb bowling ball through the dense under brush......through a cedar swamp.......tag alders..........Made for a MISERABLE tracking job :evil: The worst part about it is I had plenty of time to take a second shot as I watched it rolling near the bait pile, but reasoned he was soon to be dead and I didnt need to.
Since then I have elected to shoot until the animal stops moving, I am out of bullets, or can no longer see it. I have not regretted this method yet :!:

 

[Elkman]

Just curious, how often have you had to make more than one hit to bring down or kill game?
Please describe the circumstances.
I've only had to do so a few times:

As I am, always aiming for the heart and lungs, and I believe that if its still walking, its still fair game, I have had many! More so on elk than deer. The most recent one was in Wyoming 3 years ago now. A spike bull following a herd of cows across an old glacial morane. I was prone over the pack on a ridge about level with him. He stopped and my partner ranged him at 428, no wind, bright sun behind us, and just as my brain said shoot, he moved forward. Hit far back just in front of the hindquarters and a little low. As he fast walked across the morane my partner cow called a few times and he stopped. I was ready and squeezed off number two. Both of us called a good hit as he turned and headed for the timber once more. At the end of the morane just as he started into the timber he stopped and looked back quartering away. I held up high up front, squeezed and he went down. I accidently broke his neck, but it did end the saga. I can still see the whole event on the video tape in my mind!!!!

 

[skinner313]

On the first day of deer season 5 years ago i had nice 7point step out above me at 50 yards on a steep sidehill. The only shot i had was his neck because of the laurel. Shot him with a 150 ballistc tip out of a 7mm. rem.mag. At the shot he dropped and rolled over on his back with his legs curled up. About 30 minutes later my dad walked down too me and when he was 10 feet from the deer it jumped up and started stumbling down the hill. He shot it wth a .308 and i shot it again on the way by. Found out my first shot just split the hide about an inch and a half wide. Kinda glad i didnt walk over right away and try too get it out of the laurel.

 

[JD338]

The one that comes to mind was a WT buck back in '96. He was crossing through the tag alders into the cedar swamp beyond my shooting lane at 10:00 AM. The sun lit up his rack, looked like an 8 pt. Through a very narrow opening in the tag alders, I sent a 225 gr PT from my 35 Whelen. I called my shot low and back as he humped up and cut into the cedar swamp. I cycled the bolt on my M700 Classic and swung into another shooting hole. Just then, the buck was there and the cross hairs found the mark so I sent a second bullet into him. Again, I called the shot back as he turned and went deeper into the swamp.
Just then, I heard him crash and there was a loud splash.
I backed out and met up with my hunting buddys. They didn't think it was me because those two quick shots must have come from a semi automatic!

We went back to my blind and I walked into the swamp, heading towards the area where I heard him go down. There he lay, in about a foot of water dead. I thought he was walking from my left to right at a 90* angle but he was quartering away from me. The first shot was indeed low and back, entering his flank and exiting dead center lung behind the off shoulder. The second shot was on the last rib and exited about 2 inches from the first shot. The 8 pt was actually a 4 pt, I was seeing both sides of the rack and thought it was just one side.

JD338

 

[Elkman]

This is why I now own a 300 WM. In the fall of 68 (me thinks) I was near John Day, Oregon hunting either sex elk. I happened to spot a small herd of cows, cross canyon from me. (Imagine that) I set down against a big Juniper and put my trusty 06 on a big limb and settled in for the shot. A nice cow stopped broadside and I held on her back and sent a 180 PT on its way. Not a sign of a hit, so I held a little daylight and squeezed off shot 2, she stumbled and started moving forward slightly downhill. I assumed a shoulder hit. I again held daylight and squeezed, and again she stumbled and almost went down. She recovered and again moved down hill a few yards and stopped. 3 rd shot, same hold, different result, she slowly went down and layed there with her head up looking towards me. I tried to hit her neck with two more shots, but was unable to. So watching her as I moved, I begain to close the distance. After a number of min's I was up to her and shot finished her off while she lay there looking down hill away from me. A close inspection showed two hits in the near leg at the first knuckle, and one slightly lower on the far side leg. A nice group but about 3 feet below POA. My engineer friend found a topo later that day and estimated shot at well over 400 yards.

If I had used a range finder (not many around then) I probably would have passed on the shot.

 

[PJGunner]

Discounting finishing shots, deer down but not dead I can only think of two times where more that one shot was needed.
One was a deer I shot several times, five shots, three and a half hits and the rest misses.
Due to being very short handed aat work and working 7 days a week 12 hours a day, getting time off to even do a day hunt was almost impossible. I finally finagled a shift swap so that I could get out and do a hunt on what was the last day of the season. My normal deer load was the 180 gr. Sierra in my 30-06 but because of that blasted work schedule, I never got the ammo loaded up. I have to go with my elk load for the rifle which was the 180 gr. Nosler Protected Point Partition. ASs I worked my way up the canyon, this huge bodied buck popped up from behind some tall sage brush so I took the shot. From his reaction it looked like I took him in the heart and he took off back the way he'd come. I shot agin, this time for the lungs and he turns back the other way. The next shot a total miss, shot number four hits an antler (That's the half a hit. :roll: ) With my last shot I broke his neck ending that deplorable fiascoThe first shot hit the top of the heart cutting a groove in the muscle but not oping it up. The lung shot looked just like someone had stuck a pencil in them and even the neck shot was only a half inch hole in the bone. :shock: :?: :?: :?: It appeared as if those bullets had not opened up and acted more like full metal jacketed bullets.

In 2010, I did a cow elk hunt in New Mexico. I took my custom Mauser in .35 Whelen as my primary firearm and my .300 Win. mag. should shots turn out to be at longer ranges. THis wa sa cull hunt and when we jumped the elk I plain flat out missed the first shot with the .35. Shot number two took the elk just behind the short rids and exited between the neck and the right shoulder. At the hit, the elk went down hard and expired. :grin:
Paul B.

 

[35 Whelen]

After watching many hundreds of head of game shot in front of me all over North America I can tell you that the amount of times I see instantanious kills is probably something like 20-30% of the time and 70% of the time the animals require more shots to kill them compleatly . There are a number of reasons for this to include the client is very excited and more often than not does NOT hit the animal exactly where he thinks he was aiming. People have a false confidence in Magnum calibers and want to shoot tooooo far away for their ability to shoot. And poorly constucted bullets............ I would say that around 25% of the time it can involve lots of tracking to find the animals often times it gets dark on us and that makes it even tougher. I have gotten to the point with bear hunters that I tell them before they shoot if the bear falls down the moment they shoot and they turn to me looking for congrats [as the bear is getting back up] instead of getting ready for a second shot that I very well may flatten it instead of letting it run off wounded!
Everyone talks about all the times they knock them right off their feet but more often than not, it really doesnt work that way..................... :|

 

[Reconnoiter]

Had a Black Bear soak (6) .308" 165BTSP's via 300Winmag(belted).

Had a Buck soak (4) .284" 120NBT's via 7-08.

 

[ScreaminEagle]

When I shot this buck a few years ago in archery season.

He came in late, after chasing a doe all over the place. Sounded like a herd of elephants! When I drew back he caught my movement and was staring straight at me. I released and he ducked low. Caught him in the spine. He spun around like a top on the ground for awhile, and ended up laying broadside to me. I put the next one threw the heart and it was over.