Bad shots on animals

[jstone]

WOW just talked to my contractor and he said that one of there co-workers shot a 7x7 bull in the ASS (TEXAS HEART SHOT) what is going on with people and bad shots. He shot it Sunday and had to work yesterday. has not found it yet. I have MAJOR Issues with that. I have missed out on a lot of animals because i only want a high perc. shot. Yes i have lost a buck cause i hit him in no mans land and yes i felt like crap. Perfect broad side shot but just messed up.!!! 

[jackelope]

Yes i have lost a buck cause i hit him in no mans land and yes i felt like crap. Perfect broad side shot but just messed up.!!!   

maybe he "just messed up" too.
i'll bet the hunter feels like crap too.
 

[WAPITIHUNTER]

I am pretty sure he feels as bad about his bad shot as you felt about yours

[cully]

I think it probably has happened to alot more people then they'll ever admit. *censored* happens sometimes. Even the best hunters and shooters can screw up. But once you commit that's it, you are committed got to find that animal. Personally I would be beggin for time off till I found him. Hopefully it doesn't go to waste!

[JackOfAllTrades]

Some times good shots go unrewarded too.  I hit a nice Bear @300yds in the friggin boiler room once from his right side, once on the left side. Have a witness. Both solid hits. I was nearly in tears as a grown adult on that mountain side when neither of us could find a drop of blood and watched him run 800 feet (elevation) up a mountain and over the top. I was not so upset that I didn't get my trophy and roasts, but that the animal would likely suffer before dying.

I was in a pistol competition this weekend. After so many Thousands of rounds down range over the years, of the 270 shots I took Sunday, 88% of them were in the black, 99.3% of them were inside the scoring rings. Yes, I missed the scoring rings twice. Total human error!

Archery though... How many things could possibly affect the trajectory of an arrow? (other than human error) -And, I've seen rifle shooters miss when Buck fever sets in. I gotta figure that it's quite possible with archers too.

I hope he spends as much time as possible in the woods as he can and recovers that animal. I'm sure he feels bad too.

I look at a bad shot, as one where there is no clear path for bullet/arrow. One that is at such a long distance that even if a good hit, may not have enough energy to kill humanely. One that is a distance beyond the skills of the shooter and/or equipment.

-Steve

[jstone]

I understand that there are bad shots I am Talking about trying to shoot through the BUTT and into the chest. Not a high perc. shot. Thats my issue

[JackOfAllTrades]

Oh.. I didn't realize that that was the 'intended shot', directly from the rear.

OK, He's an ass!  Talk about the potential amount of suffering that animal will go through. 

-Steve

[runamuk]

I understand that there are bad shots I am Talking about trying to shoot through the BUTT and into the chest. Not a high perc. shot. Thats my issue

Is it possible that he drew on a good shot and the animal jumped   if the person is purposely shooting animals in the ass well then they have problems....

[cully]

ACTUALLY TRYING to shoot through the ass!!! WOW!!! I have actually heard about a famous hunter doing/trying this shot with a big magnum but it sounds stupid to me.

[DOUBLELUNG]

IF the shot was at the south end of a northbound elk, I have issues with that too - ESPECIALLY when the shooter (note, I did not write hunter) knows they can't - or won't - take all the time necessary to follow-up.  

That said, the reflexes of big game animals are amazing.  I have had a bull elk spin nearly 90 degrees between release and impact on a 42 yard shot, from perfect broadside to nearly faing me, and a mule deer buck lunge forward a good 2 feet and turn from broadside to quartering on.  Both were recovered, the bull after 6 hours and 2 more arrows, the deer bled out from his femoral artery and was stone dead in seconds.  I wouldn't have released on either animal if they presented the posture they were in on impact.  I have also watched a friend's arrow deflect off a tiny branch, and turn from a perfect heart shot radically enough to hit the bull through the penis   and out the off-side hindquarter (we recovered him dead too, after nearly 8 hours looking - never a drop of blood outside the body that we could see).  I've also lost animals, and it really sucks.

So, if it was bad luck, my condolences to him.  If he deliberately shot an elk in the butt, though, he's an ass and should take up video games and stay out of the woods.

[jackelope]

actually shooting him in the ass on purpose is stupid. i have a hard time believing the guy intentionally took a shot into the ass of an elk. are we sure the bull didn't jump the string or something?

here's a question for you guys since we're on this topic.

whats the difference between a "texas heart shot" and a head-on  frontal facing shot into the chest?

IMO there's not too much difference.
lets hear it.

[cully]

I really don't know what the texas shot is, I assume it's up the ass?

I have no problem with the full frontal chest shot though, may not be optimal but it's a whole lot better than through the ass!

[DOUBLELUNG]

whats the difference between a "texas heart shot" and a head-on  frontal facing shot into the chest?

IMO there's not too much difference.
lets hear it.

I can only speak for me - the difference is I would never take the Texas heart shot, but I have shot two deer head-on facing frontal.  Two of the fastest kills I've ever had - the first ran about 30 yards and fell dead within sight, the second dropped dead without a twitch (slightly uphill, the arrow also broke the spine).

I am very selective taking this shot.  It has to be close, the animal has to be calm and unaware of me (in both cases, feeding), and the release when the animal is looking away.  The target is small, perhaps 3"x6"and has to be a total chip shot if I was shooting at a target.  The biggest difference is the proximity of the vitals to the point of impact (few inches vs. a long distance through guts and/or bone), and lesser density of the sternum compared to the pelvis if the shot is off target.  On both animals, the fletchings never entered the animal, but the circulatory disruption and bleedout was immediately dramatic, lots of blood on the ground.  I would be hesitant to attempt the same shot on an elk, due to the heavier bones (even though the kill zone is bigger), but it can be an ethical shot on deer-sized animals, IMHO.

The only vitals on a facing away animal, deer or elk, are too far away from the point of impact, require too much penetration, and have very little chance of a quick death or adequate blood trail - chances of losing the animal are too high.  I am discounting the femoral arteries as too small a target for which to ethically aim, at any distance.

[CP]

Both make a mess but the front on shot has high probability of putting the animal down quickly.  To some hunters that is all that matters; meat loss, guts punctured, doesn’t matter as long as the trophy is down. 

To me making a good clean shot is more important than antler size.  But everyone has their own priorities.

[GrainfedMuley]

I took a whitey a couple of years ago with a straight on frontal shot. He was feeding and coming right at me. At 80 yards I put the cross hairs at his lower right chest hoping that would have the most effect on the heart. One shot, deer dropped in it's tracks, game over! I had more trauma with the muley I shot this year with a perfect broad side. The whitey I shot in the chest hardly had any trauma. I personaly would NEVER take a shot in the ass of ANY animal. How would you like to get shot in the ass and not die? That's alot of pain.