Where do you draw the line on ethical shooting at animals?

[rjthehunter]

If you have to stop to reload your rifle, you should probably just try and get closer or figure out what's going on.

There's a reason most big game rifles don't typically hold more than 4 rounds.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I have a bad habit of rushing shots for a complete miss. If I follow my shot sequence properly I’m usually right on the mark. I’ve missed a higher percentage of shots <50 yards than at 200+. Archery have a higher percentage of misses <10 yards than 30-45 yards. On misses I am immediately aware that my miss was due to rushing.

Once I missed a standing deer five times in a row with a scoped shotgun at 50 yards, took a 6th round out of my pocket and tipped him over.

Another time I missed a deer at 60 yards with a scoped rifle. I knew something was wrong because I did the shot sequence properly. I let the deer walk instead of shooting again. I later found that my Tasco scope had broke.

Notes on the original example: if it’s a long shot and I can’t range it there is no way I’m shooting. Also, no way I’m shooting at a second animal until I’ve thoroughly checked for blood on the one I think I missed.

 

[Gerald Martin]

talking about presumed miss every shot a d no indication of a hit.

Hmm. I’ll have to think about this… I think I would take at least two shots but certainly not more than three before stopping to reassess if there was no indication of a hit.

 

[geetar]

If I unloaded the gun and the animal isn’t down I’m not gonna reload and shoot again till I check the gun. 9 is a lot.

 

[howl]

 

[BAKPAKR]

Did it all the time as a kid with my 10/22 and a 25 round banana clip. I loved walking bullets in watching the dust fly until I'd hit the jackrabbit I was shooting at. Fun as hell especially when you could get a box of 22 shells for 69 cents.

69 cents? I can remember buying 500 rounds for $8.99 (90 cents a box). How old are you?

 

[BuzzH]

69 cents? I can remember buying 500 rounds for $8.99 (90 cents a box). How old are you?

I bought some waxed, steel cased Russian .22 shells for $42/case of 5000 in the early 90's.

I still have a bunch of them...I bet I've shot less than 500 rounds of that crap. I give away 100 at a time when I can find someone to pawn them off too. Nobody has asked for more of them.

Probably should have tried selling them all when .22 ammo was scarce. Somebody would have paid dumb prices I'm sure...trouble is I have to sleep at night.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I bought some waxed, steel cased Russian .22 shells for $42/case of 5000 in the early 90's.

I still have a bunch of them...I bet I've shot less than 500 rounds of that crap. I give away 100 at a time when I can find someone to pawn them off too. Nobody has asked for more of them.

Probably should have tried selling them all when .22 ammo was scarce. Somebody would have paid dumb prices I'm sure...trouble is I have to sleep at night.

I suppose @Mica Man could have been buying the “cheap” stuff. I only bought Stingers and Yellow Jackets in my ground squirrel hunting days. There was more than one time that I would empty a 10 rd magazine from my Ruger MK I at a ground squirrel. One was still charging when I ran out of cartridges. I had to finish him off with a good stomp.

 

[BuzzH]

I suppose @Mica Man could have been buying the “cheap” stuff. I only bought Stingers and Yellow Jackets in my ground squirrel hunting days. There was more than one time that I would empty a 10 rd magazine from my Ruger MK I at a ground squirrel. One was still charging when I ran out of cartridges. I had to finish him off with a good stomp.

You really missed out...let me tell you.

 

[TOGIE]

i feel like with elk more than anything it can be hard to know if you actually missed or not.

i feel like poll answers 2 and 5 are more or less the same.

so, unless you have 100% certainty you missed, a pulled trigger means you stop hunting and at least figure out if it was hit or not.

and for me, then, a pulled trigger and an elk that doesn't run away? assume it was hit but best to put more rounds in it if it's not running away yet. if you just emptied your 4 rounds and discover with extremely high certainty after going over there it wasn't hit than it's time to use the 5-7 extras you should have in the pack to check zero. don't go shooting at another.

i'd bet my ass any warden who happens to watch a guy miss 9 times would come over and have a chat with him. probably not citation worthy, yet.

 

[jt13]

If there's a reload required and I know I haven't hit it yet then I will reevaluate what I'm doing. If I think I hit it, I'll keep shooting until it goes down or I run out of bullets.

 

[gouch]

I shot five times with my muzzleloader once. It was the first time I hunted with a stuffer and it was raining like a sumbitch. I came across a doe and a small buck. I pulled up on the buck and the cap popped but no boom. The deer stated walking away as I put on a new cap. Pop no boom. A third time as the deer casually walked up the hill. Pop no boom. A fourth time. Pop no boom but as I was reaching for my capper, Boom. My round ball went skyward as though it was searching for a Chinese balloon to hit. I quickly reloaded and ran up the hill after the deer that, by then, had disappeared in the heavy brush. I caught up but could only see a doe standing there in the brush. I thought to myself, "I don't care if it is the doe, somethins gunna die." I leveled down on her and boom. As I was waiting for the smoke to clear I started reloading, just in case. Wouldn't you know it, that buck and doe came walking out of the brush right towards me without a care in the world. They walked right past me no more than 20 yards away. By the time I finished reloading they were gone back into the brush, so I took off after them. Suddenly it hit me, there was no way I missed that shot, so I want back to check and sure enough there was a third deer laying there dead on the ground. My first muzzleloader kill. So, I guess my limit, so far, is five shots.

 

[rjthehunter]

I shot five times with my muzzleloader once. It was the first time I hunted with a stuffer and it was raining like a sumbitch. I came across a doe and a small buck. I pulled up on the buck and the cap popped but no boom. The deer stated walking away as I put on a new cap. Pop no boom. A third time as the deer casually walked up the hill. Pop no boom. A fourth time. Pop no boom but as I was reaching for my capper, Boom. My round ball went skyward as though it was searching for a Chinese balloon to hit. I quickly reloaded and ran up the hill after the deer that, by then, had disappeared in the heavy brush. I caught up but could only see a doe standing there in the brush. I thought to myself, "I don't care if it is the doe, somethins gunna die." I leveled down on her and boom. As I was waiting for the smoke to clear I started reloading, just in case. Wouldn't you know it, that buck and doe came walking out of the brush right towards me without a care in the world. They walked right past me no more than 20 yards away. By the time I finished reloading they were gone back into the brush, so I took off after them. Suddenly it hit me, there was no way I missed that shot, so I want back to check and sure enough there was a third deer laying there dead on the ground. My first muzzleloader kill. So, I guess my limit, so far, is five shots.

Hey that's impressive with a muzzleloader! I don't hunt with one but I wouldn't see myself bringing more than enough supplies for 3 or 4 shots!

 

[Jape]

“Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching—even when doing the wrong thing is legal.” Aldo Leopold

I cannot imagine a scenario where not checking to see if you hit an animal is ethical. I suspect the second bull was bigger than the first. Am I right @Khunter ?

 

[Buckskinbob]

There is no set number for any situation. How do you know you missed the first one? I've emptied my gun before and found that I hit them all four times.

When I shot my deer this year it didn't even flinch. My buddy immediately starting making fun of me. I shot again and knew deep down I had connected on both shots but the deer was only walking away and my buddy was everything but rolling around on the ground saying he was gonna shoot it if I didn't get my shit together. anyways now the deer is standing there staring at us and I shoot it again. It doesn't jump, now my buddy quits laughing and asks what the hell is wrong with me. Right then the buck goes cross legged and tips over dead. When we got him opened up the was two holes in his heart. The third was a frontal and went over the heart.

 

[np307]

You really missed out...let me tell you.

Lol I got into shooting right after the Sandy Hook ammo shortage and that was the only brand of .22 I was able to find at the time. Even my single shot Marlin had trouble cycling the stuff.

 

[Nick87]

When I shot my deer this year it didn't even flinch. My buddy immediately starting making fun of me. I shot again and knew deep down I had connected on both shots but the deer was only walking away and my buddy was everything but rolling around on the ground saying he was gonna shoot it if I didn't get my shit together. anyways now the deer is standing there staring at us and I shoot it again. It doesn't jump, now my buddy quits laughing and asks what the hell is wrong with me. Right then the buck goes cross legged and tips over dead. When we got him opened up the was two holes in his heart. The third was a frontal and went over the heart.

Last muley I shot was close to private (like maybe a little under 100) first shot was true and I knew it but my rule is there's no such thing as too dead. In the time it.toom him to go 40 yards I shot him 3 more times. Never claimed to be a good shot but I'm real fast lol.

 

[BAKPAKR]

talking about presumed miss every shot a d no indication of a hit.

Is the situation in the thread by @Mtnhunter1, what you are talking about?

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/stolen-opportunities-a-very-sad-elk-tale-we-must-do-better.316516/

I think shooting at multiple animals/not checking for hits should be citation worthy (even if you think you missed).

I made a longer shot on a whitetail doe last year. I had a rangefinder and I was confident in my ability to make the shot. Since it was antlerless season, I also set up my spotting scope and made sure, at 40X, that it wasn’t a spike or other small rack buck. Much to my surprise, she didn’t drop in her tracks. Instead, she ran off at the shot and disappeared into the woods after about 25 yards. I am guessing there are people who would have not checked for evidence of a hit and just assumed that a 230 gr bullet from a 30 Nosler would have dropped her before she made the woods had it been a fatal shot. I am not one of them. Due to the topography, I had to pack up my gear, hike back to the vehicle, drive about two miles and then hike about two miles to get to where she had been. She was laying about 35 yards beyond where I had last seen her.

For those who assume they missed, but don’t check to confirm, the words of Ron White come to mind — “You can’t fix stupid.”

 

[Khunter]

Is the situation in the thread by @Mtnhunter1[/USER

For those who assume they missed, but don’t check to confirm, the words of Ron White come to mind — “You can’t fix stupid.”
[/QUOTE]
No

No

 

[Khunter]

“Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching—even when doing the wrong thing is legal.” Aldo Leopold

I cannot imagine a scenario where not checking to see if you hit an animal is ethical. I suspect the second bull was bigger than the first. Am I right @Khunter ?

No the first bull was supposdly 370+. the killed bull was nothing to write home about.