How many shots to take down your game?

[CMcCormick1805]

I’m a big fan of an initial vital shot and if no drop on impact sending a high shoulder to anchor a bigger animal. All of my deer have been a 1 shot kill.

 

[NDHUNTER24]

Most all of my kills have been 1 shot except for my first muley. I shot 4 him times at 420 yards with my 300 win mag and barnes ttsx. I was shooting a little low but my spotter said i was shooting high. I learned alot that trip about bullet construction, rifle calibers, and rifle optics.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

When slug hunting whitetails, sometimes a couple, but most often only 1. After we switched to muzzleloaders and straight walls, never more than 1.

My one elk took 1 and my daughter's elk took 1.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I’d guess that 99% of the deer I killed dropped within a hundred yards after one shot. Where I hunt, I rarely get the opportunity for more than one quick shot. I have cut a couple of throats in my time to speed a deer into the hereafter.

But, back in 2022 or 2023, I had one whitetail buck that just stood there, staggering a little with each shot, while I shot him five times with my .25-06. He just kept following after this doe. I was prone and he was in the middle of a hayfield, so I had more time than usual. When I skinned him, I could have covered the five shots with my palm. Any one of them would have killed him, but I wasn’t going to stop shooting as long as he was walking and I could see him.

Before and since that one, I only recall one other one that gave me the opportunity for more than one shot. When I was 17, I shot a buck at about 10 feet with my 7x57R combination gun. He didn’t go down right away, so I put a 12-gauge slug into him. Then he went down. Each shot would have been fatal.

 

[Jack321]

Like several guys, I'll keep shooting til their down.

My last elk, I missed with my first shot and she trotted off, confused not knowing but hearing the shot, I stayed on her til she stopped quartering away, and after the recoil all I saw was her hooves up in the air. I missed her broadside at 300 but dropped her at 350 quartering.

I joke with guys I just wanted a harder shot to prove I'm a good shot!

But in all honesty I credit my Prairie Dog hunting of learning to STAY ON THE GUN after the first shot and keep your head in the game til its fully down. It was muscle memory to shoot, realize the miss and the elk runnkng off and rerack a shell automatically. I didnt panic, i didnt look at the gun or the scope. I just worked the bolt, kept my eye in the scope and stayed on her til she gave me another shot. And when she did, I pulled the trigger and she dropped like I cut the strings from her. Right thru the front right shoulder/collar and out the opposite lung. Bag, flop.


Now, one time as a 14 yr old kid, i was standing in the middle of the forest working up a ridge/small incline as my dad went off to blood track a deer he had shot. He just went up over a rise 75 yds ahead of me out of sight while I stayed at the "last blood" location. He was gone for maybe 5 min when I looked down the ridge and a spike buck was making his way towrds me. Just standing in the woods.

Being a "if its brown, its down" kinda kid. He was 75 yds from me, kinda looking at my straight on. He was between a bunch of trees, but I had a look at him straight on. I put my red dot slug scope right on the white patch under his neck and pulled the trigger. He bucked his head and reared back and snorted. And he struggled and kind of limped off out of sight. I threw my remaining two prayer shots at him. Then I reloaded as fast as I could and being a snot-nosed 14 yr old kid who didnt know any better, I tore after him and ran at him.

Every time Id see him Id throw another round at him. It was probably like a scene out of a movie, running and just heaving 20ga slugs at him as he and I moved thru the woods.

The interesting thing is this was a "small" 80 acre plot and we had like 8 of my family members hunting it. Each covering a piece. It always amazed me how deer could slip in/out/around the woods without being seen or shot at.

Anyway, there I was, a 14 yr old kid just takin pot shots at this spike running after it and reloading whenever I needed.

The spike finall made it to a clearing, right under my stand, and right next to a road when it laid down and just looked at me I bust out of the clearing.

I still remember it to this day. Taking a pause to look at this deer, as we locked eyes, 50 yds away. And I paused, and Ill be honest, I felt bad and really realized that I was taking an animal's life. It looked at me with those "doe eyes," and as gently raised the gun to end his suffering.

It was a real moment for me.

Here I was a young, blood lusty kid who had an exhilarating romp thru the forest doing my bear army/Rambo impression to be stopped stone cold sober at the end really realizing what I was doing. Ultimately to realize the only humane thing left to do was end its suffering.

All together, I had fired 8 rounds and hit it 5 times. It had holes in his neck, chest and hind quarters and finally the finishing one in the boiler room.

My brothers came down and were like "Jesus, that sounded like WWIII! Was all that shooting only you?" I nodded and we realized what happened.

My dad did end up finding his deer also.

But that moment has stuck with me so many times. Just all the emotions, all the shooting, and the real lessons of hunting that only taking an animal can teach.

Its the feeling that only a hunter can understand. And its odd that we humans place a value on an "ethical" kill, as opposes to a predatory animal like a bear or a hawk--they dont care, they just want/need food. Its us humans who wrestle with the morals and ethics of hunting and we place value on "doing it the right way." And we place a negative tone to it when not done "the right way."

I go back and forth all the time as a hunter with our prey and the animals I chase.

 

[Rhettster433]

I have taken 10-15 whitetail that all died in one shot, except for 3.

First was the worst. I was 15 or so and he was a large 7 point that came out about 115 yards away right before dusk. I got steady and took the shot with my 243 and he jumped and ran into the brush. I give him 10 minutes or so and then go search and cant find anything. No blood, no trail of broken limbs, nothing. I knew i had hit him. So we end up calling a buddy with a hound and it took the dog 20 minutes to find the trail. We finally find him 2.5 hours after i shot and he was standing in the creek with his back left leg looking limp. (turns out i had a bad flinch) He took off and we caught him again laying down about 200 yards away. My dad stands at about 20 yards with his pistol and missed the first 4 shots. Number five hit but was not great. He was trying to crawl and making shots difficult in the pitch black of night. (Terrible night for this poor deer) Then my uncle grabbed his shotgun and finally put it down. Still makes my stomach turn thinking about it.

Next was a doe with a compound bow at 25 yards. The arrow skipped off the upper shoulder into the spine and anchored her but she was nowhere near dead i walked up and put a 9mm in her to put her down.

Most recent was a really nice 10 point i shot about 3-4 inches behind the lungs and had to put him down with my pistol when i walked up to him.

I have only shot one muley and nothing bigger but have only taken extra shots after i walked up to the deer. Typically because of small fields and brush limiting another shot being taken.

 

[HuntHarder]

You guys carry more than 1 cartridge when you hunt?

 

[willfrye027]

I have been the cowboy in a handful of rodeos over the years.

My second buck ever I actually shot/broke 3 of his legs before finally killing him with my last bullet when he couldn’t stand up anymore.

I’ve had plenty of “textbook” one shot kills, but after a number of track jobs and animals with insane will to survive I will keep shooting until they are down to minimize the chance of losing an animal. It’s hard to know for sure the perfect double lung wasn’t a touch farther back or high and I really do not like the stress of tracking and jump shooting wounded game.

Although im not proud of some of the rodeos, I’ve still never lost an animal with a gun. Lost one WT doe with a compound and it still bothers me a bit.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I don't think I've ever shot anything more than once except hogs running in fields. Not because I didn't want to, they just run off and I've never had them out in the open enough to keep shooting without just wildly spraying. I spined a Aoudad with my bow years ago and shot him twice more as he was sliding down a loose rock embankment into a lake. 3rd shot was actually in the water and I had to fish him out about 4' deep. But I feel like this thread is about rifles.

 

[ianpadron]

Shooting is the fun part, if a deer is moving its getting another one, and quickly

 

[.204smokechaser]

I’m up to 37 animals now, all but a bear has been dead on the ground with only one shot.

Maybe one of these days I’ll start being a serial killer and take ridiculous shots, but until then I’ll enjoy the hunt and only shoot big game animals when I’m under 200 yards and in situations where I know 1 shot is all it takes to kill them instantly.