Wounded Animals

[MBM]

What is it with this year and wounding animals? There are many posts here on MM as well as other boards about animals lost this year. Contrary to popular beleif it is not all just from Archery hunters either although they have there share. There are several threads about animals lost to rifle and ML hunters too.

I had a conversation with a neighbor over the weekend and he told me how him and his brother hit and lost three different deer on the ML hunt before eventually killing a buck.

I talked to a rifle elk hunter this morning that had been out all weekend on the spike hunt and he said he knows of at least two elk that were wounded and lost in the area they were hunting. He said he saw people taking shots at well over 500 yards and not even trying to check if they hit and had a blood trail.

Strange year.

Mark

 

[mntman]

I think it has always been happening, it is just that people are more vocal and not as embarrassed about it any more.
The days of one shot one kill are over for most hunters.


Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"

 

[sageadvice]

"The days of one shot one kill are over for most hunters."

I disagree. Most guys that killed with one shot for most of their lives will continue to do so.

I think there are many factors but 600-1000+ yd shots on game, like we see in "beyond belief", has caused many longer than should be taken shots. Also, 60-100+ yd shots with archery gear by those with less than stellar skills also doesn't help. Too many are just shooting at every opportunity, taking any shot, in the hopes that a miracle happens and the animal drops on the spot.

I don't have a problem with long shots if the shooter has the skills. Unfortunately some "hunters" think these skills can be learned with one or two years of shooting and the same with hunting but in actuality, it takes much longer to fully develop and fine tune these skills to successfully and consistently take these shots...if at all!

Joey

 

[GoatT]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-11-10 AT 11:19AM (MST)[p]I can't believe all those hunters that wound an animal and keep shooting. Holy !@#$, "his brother hit and lost three different deer on the ML hunt before eventually killing a buck." Are you kidding me?...No wonder the deer numbers here in Utah are the way they are. I see this every year and find animals that have never been found or retrieved...makes me sick! There sure seems to be alot more vocalization about wounding animals this year than in years past no doubt about it.

I wounded a few animals earlier in my hunting career some 20 years ago, but have since learned that it is not worth it just to kill something whether its big or you are just filling the freezer. You have to shoot and practice all the time (archery, muzzle, rifle) and get within comfortable range to where you know that you can get a one shot kill.

I had a friend that drew a Wasatch rifle tag this year and killed a great 360" bull with one shot at 200 yards. He made sure that he was broadside and everything. He noticed before the shot that the bull was limping a little and thought he may have been in a big fight with another elk. When he got up to him, he saw an arrow stuck in his leg just abve the knee joint from an archer the week or two before.

Every time I read a post about a wounded animal I wonder how much the hunter really does look for the animal and how many punch their tags for the year. IMO I think there are many that don't tell anyone and keep hunting shooting 2 or 3 or more animals. REALLY PISSES ME OFF!

 

[Big_DD]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-11-10 AT 11:58AM (MST)[p]Also, making a 500 yard shot at the range is nothing compared to making a a 500 yard shot in field conditions. If you are practicing shooting long range, with any equipment, practice in field conditions to see if you are still capable of making the same distance shot, i'd be willing to bet that most can't.

Lay down and shoot off a back pack, or use shooting sticks instead of a bench rest, shoot up and down hills and try running aroudn the range and then shooting while you are out of breath like most shots that occur in the field, i promise it won't be near as easy.

 

[Zeke]

If you watch TV it's easy to see why the average hunter thinks that extreme shooting is the way to go. (=lost animals)

My 2 cents is: Long range (over 500 yds) is a poor substitute for stalking/hunting ability. GET CLOSER!

A select few people can make ethical shots to the 500 yard mark and still fewer that can make them beyond beleif.

I LOVE to shoot out to and beyond 750 yds and do it regularly (on paper). I KNOW WHAT THE DAMN WIND CAN DO AT THOSE RANGES. It's not pretty!

MOST hunters are in the field with a gun/skill that shoots paper plate sizes at 100 yds. I'VE SEEN THEIR TARGETS AT THE RANGES!

Small wonder.

Respectfully, Zeke

 

[MN270WSM]

More fuel for PETA once again...I think alot of it is too that guys put their weapons away in the closet and dont ever clean them and then pull it out of the closet and go hunt the next yr, friggen joke!!!!!!

Can't kill em from the couch!

 

[Zigga]

Pi$$ poor shooting has always been a problem but posting it on the www is fairly new. If you can't refrain from taking long range crosswind shots then please refrain from posting it on the internet when you miss or wound game. The newbys don't know any better and it makes us all look like idiots. Antelope season just started here and there are always wounded animals running around for the next few weeks with jaws blown half off. I've seen people pull over and whip out their rifle when the herd is gathered tight and the crosswind is raging and at 300 yards away. You will hit plenty or none at all.

Rifle hunters always wound more but the archers take the wrap for it. Rifles can shoot farther, go through more game and it's easier to hit running herded animals. Broadheads leave clean cuts that can potentially heal whereas bullets destroy and leave body parts to rot and there are way more rifle hunters going out more often.

 

[KBKILLER]

i wonder what the ol' bobcat woulda had to say about this............

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

Well KB!

Here's what I might say to this!
This last weekend I got JR in on several Raghorn Bulls within shooting range!

We did locate a decent bull for a general Unit(330" Bull)he was 650 yards and getting further away by the second,lol!
Jr wanted to try him but with several Cows near the Bull I said NO!
We know Our limitations,We are considered 'Short Range Shooters' in todays Hype,there was no way I was gonna let him take a chance on flinching/missing by lobbing a slug in the direction of that herd!

Sometimes you just got to admit when you're out ranged!
Ya I know there are 1000's of hunters on this site that woulda chanced the shot & even some with the right equipment/know-how to make the shot!

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!

I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!

 

[madmoose]

last year in the lemhi valley we run across a mulie does with 2 fawns and the doe has a arrow sticking out from the side of her head near her temple.. going about her buisness with a full length arrow out stuck in her melon...
so then a couple days ago 16 miles up the road we run into another mulie doe that has an arrow going up thru her neck. fletchings buried in the lower front half of her neck then the rest of the arrow 45 deg. out the back of her neck. these deer out in the wide open sage brush for all the world to see..
on the same trip i hear a local guy ask a gal " did your husband find the bull he hit" she said "no.. but he ended up getting another one"...
some folks need to spend a little more time shooting at a target before venturing out.. so then when all these animals end up dying because of lame a@#$$ shooters we can blame the lack of game on wolves.

 

[dryflyelk]

Remember, our friend bobcat was one of the guides in the story of the Treachery Bull last year. They unleashed a flurry of shots at that bull, finally hitting him after how many shots? 6 or 7 or 8 or something?

 

[mntman]

sageadvice, "I disagree. Most guys that killed with one shot for most of their lives will continue to do so."

I didn't mean that hunters were all changing their way, What I should have said was that it is a dying belief. Yes, I still like the one shot one kill especially with the high prices these days ;-) but I feel the new people coming into the sport feel it is a lot more fun to get the barrel hot first.


Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"

 

[tailchasers]

I have lost a couple of animals in my hunting days but not once was it due to long range shooting by any means. I here stories around town about wounded & lost animals then when I here the rest of the story and find out the reasons I can't help but wanna put a boot in the butt!!
I have a co-worker who was talking about his coming elk hunt with his new muzzy. Said he was shotting open sites, w/conicals w/about 100 grains of powder then proceeded to show me the target he used. 50 yards he had a 6" grouping, 100 yards he was maybe 12" with a couple out to 14". I knew where my line of questioning was going but didn't lead on to anything. I ask what he felt his maximum effective range was and he said 300 yards. My jaw dropped!!!! UN F'n believable!! I tried explaining to him the the target said otherwise and the ballistcs just wasn't there but he wouldn't back down. Stubborn arse!!! He even went on to say the party he hunts with says they take shots like this all the time!!! Made me a tad angery hearing this. The examples could go on for ever with continuous finger pointing but I feel a lot of it goes toward hunter ethics, morals, and respect for the animal with the lack of proper knowledge of individual limitations and there weapon...

I don't agree with the "ah what the hell it's a poke and a hope" type of mentality which is seen far to common anymore...

Al

 

[Big_DD]

Does anyone think utah's Dedicated Hunter program has anything to do with this? By letting thousands of people hunt with weapons they may not be familair with?

I know some people are more than capable of shooting all three effectively, but how many do you think are not, that get the chance to hunt with them all every year? Shooting weapons they aren't all that comfortable with just cause the opportunity is there.

In my opinion the Dedicated hunter program has pretty much ruined archery hunting in Utah, putting thousands more archery hunters in the field who aren't near as dedicated and understanding as the die hard bow hunters. The front is so packed anymore that on the weekends it is as bad as the rifle opener.

 

[4000fps]

I still think bowhunters wound a lot more game than rifle hunters. I have heard a lot of bowhunters brag up their kills, even if they did find it a week later and it was rotten.

 

[westelkman]

I hunted archery elk in Co. 76 this year and was shocked at the wounding stories I heard- pathetic. No doubt plenty of guys out there -bow and rifle- who don't know their effective range and capabilities. Plenty of archers from back east just think of an elk as a "Big Deer"

UHHHHH....guess again whitetail boy. Some of the fast and light setups these guys claim consistent success with on deer just doesn't cut it on elk with anything but a close in perfect shot. Try to pound a big mechanical head through a muddy wallowing bulls hide and you may have a problem recovering that animal.

I don't want to pick on Bowhunters because I think the long range rifle shooting attempted out there is esentially the same thing.

We can all do a little bit to educate some of the youngsters and newcomers, it really is in all of our best interest.


"In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences"
Robert Green Ingersoll