At risk of wearing thin the queries, here's another…

What percentage of shots do you estimate you've taken at moving (big game) animals?

a. - 0% ; never

b. - 0<25%

c. - 25<50%

d. - 50<75%

(Moving can be anything from a very casual walk to a head-down, full on dash.) Feel free to anecdote-ize as much as you wish.

a. powdr

C- But only one full out run. I walked up on a bedded Bull and he came up at full speed. It was the worst shot of my life. Got a kill but it required a lot of tracking

One's memory of the moment of the shot can be deceptive; long skid marks in the snow where they fell tell a real story however! (I have no idea what I'm saying. Really! ………….okay, whatever. )

When guideing most of the back-up shots on bear and moose are at moving game. In my personal hunting almost never on running game,maybe a couple times om blacktails.

Somewhere between (b) and (c) but not 50%.

As necessity and circumstances dictate.

b.

b. Two elk and a nilgai.

One deer and lots of Feral Hogs.

Out of all the deer over almost 60 years? Guessing maybe closer to half. Grew up in a deer drive family, and most of the early ones had it in gear, usually high gear. The ones killed in the drive before they made it out to standers were moving slower.

Now, it's probably less than 1/3. Only a couple in the last ten years moving fast.

b. - 0<25%

I try to wait until they stop, even if it's just for a second...but things ain't always what I want and sometimes they aren't even close to what I want.

killed a whitetail at 38 yds with my crossbow past season walking . i knew the yardage and let him walk right in .grunted 10 times at least,he was on a mission and wouldn't stop. 2 weeks later had a 7pt run by my stand .shot him at full run with my muzzleloader.

b..

I am like Miles, grew up driving deer and tracking in the snow. In those days( 30 or more years ago) maybe half or more were moving, some on full afterburn.

Hunting styles have changed and very few are moving at much over a very slow walk.

so these days I would say the answer is B

In the last 8 years I have shot 8 bucks(deer).

4 were stationary(150-200 yards).

1 was walking(420 yards).

2 were half throttle(180-200 yards).

1 was 3/4 throttle(350 yards).


Guess that'd be about 50% for the last decade.

Lucked out and even hit a couple coyotes that were running, missed a few more though.


Shot a few dozen roosters and sharptails in the same time frame and I think that helps a little.

B, and I've only shot 1 running animal in over 50 years of hunting. That one was an elk when I was only 15 and using a Win 32 Special. It was a stupid shot and by pure dumb luck I hit it just behind the eye.

Walking shots? I've killed a lot of animals doing that. You don't have to lead them.

b. Definitely less than 25%, but there have been a few.

At +400 yards you do, ask me how I know...

Some of the shots I get are on fast moving animals.

We ran a running deer match at our club shooting at a deer target moved by motor on pipes. It was fun and you get better.

When a deer is running shout "MAW" and they will stop or at least slow.

A buck and doe took off in the forest downhill moving fast. I shouted maw and the buck stopped, turned and started walking back uphill!. An easy shot!

b. would sum it up for me.

B. Cant say they were flying either, most were at a trot or walking at close ranges.

Way over 50% were moving, some flat out. Like Miles and NoKnees, I grew up hunting deer in drives or with hounds. A standing shot was a luxury you very seldom enjoyed. Learned to lead game a LOT. One of my best blacktail was at full throttle about 150 yards away. I put the crosshairs on his nose and hit him just in front of his tail TWICE. Not my best shooting...
When hunting brush, I learned to shoot the deer in the air. Why? Because they can't changed direction once they leave the ground and are on a predictable arc. Just like shooting quail.
Since I hunt on stands now and usually by myself most are standing these days.

"When hunting brush, I learned to shoot the deer in the air. Why? Because they can't changed direction once they leave the ground and are on a predictable arc."

The above is correct. ie: don't shoot when their front feet hit the ground.

About 50%

B. for me.

And 50% of the deer I've killed in the past few years have been shot using my wrong hand/shoulder.

D. Grew up pushing deer out of tree-rows, cattails, CRP, and buckbrush. Have and still do shoot quite a few coyotes on the run.

It's made me expediant, sometimes to a fault. If I don't "think" about slowing down and taking my time on an unaware stationary animal, I sometimes place the bullet poorly or just outright miss.

That's a pretty broad question. "Moving" can be anything from a step at a time while feeding to a flat out run. If we're talking shots with a rifle, I would be a B minus (less than 15%) and that would only be on a feeding or slow moving animal where I have a clear field of view and appropriate distance.

That sounds familiar. I also find I have to slow myself down at times.

Over 75%. Very difficult to sneak up on a bedded, 4 yr. old class buck. E

if you hunt here in va. where they run dogs you will have to learn to hit a moving target.

If taking bow kills out of the question, definitely close to 50%.

Have predominantly hunted wooded terrain most of life, and most times you have to pick a hole...rarely do they stop in that hole.

If you count a slow walk as they feed as "moving" then pretty close to all of them....

When guiding in Alaska all your shots are at fleeing game. It's kinda interesting to watch a moose or brown bear go ass over teakettle with a well placed shot from a big bore!

The older Blacktail bucks hold tight until you step on them, so it's almost always a running shot, the way I hunt. Rarely will they be up walking around during daylight hours, so you flush 'em. Practice on jackrabbits is the best thing to prepare. 75%'ish.

I only shoot if I"m 110% sure. I don't have a way to practice running shots with a rifle so I don't.

Walking is about as fancy as I'm going to get, and to be honest, I don't recall any shot at any moving deer.

Pigs on the ohter hand, after the first shot I"m trying to ding as many as possible since they are pests... But just from seeing misplaced shots on them, I won't try it on deer or other such things.

And its just the way I roll. Anyone can do whatever they want.

OTOH off side shots, wrong sided IE left for me, no big deal. PUt it up and bang.

Deer & Moose; never at more than a comfortable walk !

a. - 0% ; never

B.
A walk or slow trot at close range is okay for me. At longer range for me they need to be stationary. I haven't shot at any game animals with a rifle or handgun on a flat out run-I just don't have the confidence I need to feel comfortable but don't fault those who practice this and do feel comfortable.
I do most of my whitetail hunting with a handgun due to my state's ridiculous regulations and because of this I am probably even more conservative. Last year I busted a very nice buck out at about 20 yards quartering away and couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger.

More than A. but less than B.

Most animals are usually walking, but will usually stop. I have shot deer that were walking, but it is rarely done with the preference on a "stopped" animal. The few that have been shot walking were at close range (30-50 yards).

When I was starting out hunting medium game, I made the mistake of attempting to shoot at running game and quickly gave up on it for safety and ethical reasons.

Very rare for me

Between C and D. However, it Really depends on the range I'm shooting them at. At 600+ yards, I won't take a shot if they are moving much. Generally they need to be head down grazing and unsuspecting. Elk hunting in the timber is an entirely different ordeal. Growing up in Nevada and shooting running jacks (every day) was a big part of my learning experience. Later in life, competition trap shooting played a big role in keeping practiced up on moving shots... I feel comfortable taking offhand shots at running mulies from 100-150 yards. But past that, there's too much that can go wrong. I'll never pull the trigger if there's an ounce of doubt. Most of the critters I shoot, die from an explosion in the heart. Pretty much sums it up for me..

The last deer I shot was at a quick trot at around 175 yards. That's the only one that comes to mind that was on the move. But I guess that puts me in the "b" category.

c

b, I've shot a few that were moving slowly, but only a couple that were running and they were close.

c. All my early years deer hunting was "driven game", or " pushing bush" as it's called here. Those deer were going flat out. I like to walk and flush game almost as much as calling or stalking, so I still shoot some on the run even though we don't push bush much any more. And when any game animal is hit, I almost always shoot the running animal again to be sure. To date my journal shows just over a third of more than 100 critters were taken on the run.

I never have (on big game).

I have never wanted to risk wounding an animal.

But If I was hungry or my family was hungry, I wouldn't mind a bit.

Counting a walk as moving it would be C. Moving out pretty quick: B.

About 90% of deer I have killed are either trotting or running. They are however close range, typically less than 70 yards. I've killed a bunch of running deer but never shoot at any running directly away unless I've already shot once. If I've already shot at a running deer that close chances are I've hit it once and I feel obligated to put it down, even if it's from a Texas heart shot. Probably 80% of the deer I kill are shot more than once.

I killed 4 this year. 3 were running and all 4 were less than 50 yards away. The biggest I killed this year was a very large bodied 8 point at 20 yards. He was running flat out.

Definitely C, maybe, probably D as I did a lot of drive hunting back when. With a teenage son and 80+ year old father, I still do a lot of moving as the designated dog.

Dale

c

Between B & C, especially still hunting. Grew up shooting running jack rabbits in west Texas & cottontails in east Texas pushing'em out of old over grown abandoned RR right of ways....with a bolt action Mossberg or Marlin 22LR....made for a LOT of Practice.

My PB Game shot ever was a Pronghorn that was at a steady canter and just beginnng to break into a run like the does had in front of him...stretched over Bronco hood & fender while leaning on an elbow ...at 440 paces of a guide wearing 36" inseams.
Ron

C or D. do not like to,but where I now hunt they do not seem to stand around much. When I first started to hunt there I left a lot go while waiting for a standing shot. Now I try to pick the best open spot, and shoot.

About 40%.

B
usually just a walk, couple at a trot, but most times I wait for a standing shot. I've never left long skid marks in the snow though

John

B.

Most of the movers were walking slowly, but I recall five running shots. Powder burned one of those, an elk that ran over me.

C overall. B if you just count the last 10 years. We used to do drives and hunt deer like pheasants. Usually pass on the ones at a dead run lately

40% C.

c. if they are walking I can usually get them to stop. The others are usually 3/4 to full throttle.

Watched my grandfather shoot a deer in the back of the head while running away from him when it jumped a fence at 200 yards. It dropped on the fence. He was great at running shots, but he would practice them all the time. He built an apparatus that used a clock mechanism (one where the second hand was moving smoothly, not jerking) and attached a long wire arm onto it with a double loop at the end. He made small deer shaped cut outs that slipped between the loops and set the thing up in a hole. The paper "deer" would pop out and "run" along the top of the hole for a split second and he would shoot freehand at it with his .22. It made him great at split second running shots.


SS

We used a RC truck with a gallon tied to a whip antenna.
Good training.

c.

That includes those that were walking to or from, those that were trying to find the source of my grunt call (much faster) or those that I jumped and highballed it out of there.

So far I only hunt from the ground by the way. Both still hunting and from cover that makes a good stand. The older I get I am considering building a couple or so ground blinds as a backup plan.

Disagree

Been shooting chit here for over 40 years,

Two moose of 21 killed, 3 caribou of over 60 killed. None of other species, sheep, goat, black bear, wolf, elk, deer...

I don't count walking game unaware of me.

0-5%, Mark. Not counting walking animals unaware of me.

I ain't that good a shot..... If I can "wing-shoot" 'em at under 100 yards, I'm a go..... start behind, swing through and pull the trigger as the sights pass the boiler room. Do not stop the swing/follow through.

B. Way less than 25% actually. Mostly pigs who never stop, seemingly.

One antelope and zero deer.

I've yet to shoot a big game animal that was still.

High side of B, at least, higher especially when I was younger.

I can not describe my situation better.
Jim

Hunting deer in front of hounds I'd guess I've killed over a hundred of our skillet sized whitetails running. I guess 80 percent of those were taken with a shotgun, the others with a scoped rifle. There's no telling how many I've missed. It's been fun! I enjoy shooting them standing too while still hunting.

I've also been able to go rabbit hunting with beagles and that is just as fun.

Very rarely but I have so B

Sam, i would like to know at what angle the 350 yarder was traveling in regards to your position and how far you led him. Also, were you holding steady in front or maintaing a constant lead.

Also, on walking at 400 how much do you lead?

This, especially at close range with deer leaping and bounding through woods on a leasurely 3/4 speed while well ahead of hounds. Many have been missed by normally good shots, even with shotguns, when deer have dodged sharply on seeing a hunter move to take the shot. Its best not to move until it starts going up as it cant change direction, but you best be quick as on rising quail and take the shot before it hits the ground.

Nice rifle there for sure Fire and nice deer too. I didnt know you were such a young whippersnapper. Seems you speak beyond your years.

RH, it would be interesting to know what you are shooting those deer with.

Seems to me a flat, dead run can often be an easier shot with a rifle than an animal bounding or stotting.

b

eyeball,

That's my experience.

When I was in my early 20's, the older guys I mostly hunted with in eastern Montana were after whitetails, which they jumped out of brushy coulees on the plains and shot on the run. I practiced a lot on running jackrabbits in the winter with the same rifles I used for hunting deer, and got pretty good. Have killed a lot of moving game over the years, and not just deer including a bunch of coyotes and wild pigs, a few pronghorns, one elk, two kudu and a Cape buffalo.

The ones that run flat-out are easiest to hit, but it is possible to time the bounces of mule deer, especially if they're headed more-or-less away.

Like any other kind of shooting, hitting running game with a rifle takes practice. I've not only practiced on jackrabbits and old tires rolling down a hill, but running-boar targets.

I've found I do better if I can make myself 'slow down'. I'm prone to pull up and fire fast, where sometimes a hair slower would help.

This is true for shooting quail over a pointer too. When the young and dumb with lightening reflexes miss a lot and cut a few in half its time to slow down and let them get far enough out for the pattern to open up.

When I was a kid on the Ranch, With my single shot .22 LR, I asked Granddad to buy me a semi-auto, so I could kill more coyotes for him. He told me I could have one when I could put down running jackrabbits. Didn't take me very long at all to get good!

MD, thanks for your knowledgeable response.

I have killed many running deer with rifle and shotgun, a few running elk with rifle and bow, a running bear with a bow, couple of flying turkey with a rifle, a few wood ducks flying up or down Piney Creek with a 22, etc. Some lucky and most blessed, but the shot i have feared to be faced with and truly dread would be for a trophy stotting muley.

Ch, ive killed quite a few running jacks and several running coyotes but i never got good at it.

c: 25 to 50%, but these are walking or trotting. Only one running, but that was a second shot. Both hit. The white tail buck didn't know where I was, and ran back toward and past me after the first shot. I swung the 9# Mauser with a 28" barrel on him as he went past, aimed for the shoulder. I hit him in the neck and he dropped in his tracks. The range was 10 feet.

At deer and elk; very very rarely do I shoot at them as they are moving. This is mostly due to the majority of my shots being in the 4-5 hundred yard range, on average. If I happen to be under a couple hundred yards, I will reassess. It's all about low percentage shots vs high percentage shots for me.

The flip side is that I've shot (and shot at) a bunch of coyotes who were in various stages of unassing the area...

I passed on a stodding muley. 19 points and over 200 inches. My first and last muley hunt with a rifle ever. Would have been a heck of a thing to take home.

The kid that killed him clean a few days later was happy though.

And I was elated that I had chosen to pass, and not risked wounding a deer.

Crud of it was that I could have easily smacked him at 500 or 600 yards in his bed no problems... I just am not a moving target shooter and thats how he and I met each other one afternoon, at about 150 yards. I went to sitting and slung up, but by the time I was good and solid, it was too late.

I have zero regrets.

B, not counting coyotes. I've shot at more running coyotes than I can remeber. Pretty good at hitting moving deer/elk whatever, coyotes I generally feel like I'm just making noise.

This is probably one of the most important parts, besides practice.

The ability to remain ice cold calm, and methodically make the shot. What probably gets a lot of us, and I would be included since I don't practice movers, is the thought of running out of time, missing the shot and going home empty handed.

So you speed up to insure you get a 2nd chance.

Like missing doves with a repeater, and then moving back down to a single shot... I always would have better ratios with gramps old break open. Even when I stuck the 410 insert in there....

My experience in Michigan woods hunting has been 25% of my deer shot have been moving.

On the low end of "b" for me. I try to hold out for stationary animals, but I actually have a pretty good record on running critters. I honed my technique on running coyotes during my formative years.

The only miss on big game that I can remember in the last twenty years or so was a kudu running flat out in Namibia--shot just in front of him and there was no second chance. I made up for it later by shooting a duiker juking at full speed, with a .375 H&H. Hit just far enough back to save the cape.

My average is definitely above 50%....probably closer to 75-80% (if you count game that is walking or feeding slowly). Only occasionally is a shot taken with the animal at a full run....although it does happen from time to time. A dead still, standing shot is just as rare.

Even in the years past when we hunted deer with dogs was a shot taken at an animal that was going full-bore. We hunted with beagles to deliberately avoid high-speed shots that were common with bigger walker and bluetick hounds (one man described a deer crossing a logging road ahead of hounds as "shooting at a buckskin string....stretched"). Most were taken while they just eased along far ahead of the dogs or slipping out, but not being chased.

I hunt in an area where 90% of my shots are at 100 yards or less and visability is limited. Most deer (even undisturbed) seen are traveling through or feeding. A standing shot is the exception and is just luck when the deer decides to stop for a minute.

I could probably get more standing shots when hunting over a food plot....if I was willing to wait them out. However, I learned long ago that waiting for a "better" shot was a good way to have the deer decide, for whatever deerish reason, to leave the area and not get any shot at all. I tend to take the first "good" shot that is presented. Most are at a slow walk or slowly feeding along.....not running.

I think if most were to actually think about it, and count deer that are feeding along slowly of walking, the average hunter also takes 50% or more "moving" shots. The exception might be those who habitually take deer over feeders where the deer will most often stand in one place to get a bite.

It is amazing when I think a coyote is going full speed, then miss him, they seem to find a way to go even faster.

we used to practice for archery and riflery by putting a target inside an old tire and rolling it down a hill.

Course, I'm 62 years old. Probably get in trouble for doing it now, and there's surely already an app for it.

I would have to say 75%+, I learnt to shoot on running rabbits with a .22 RF, it's a very common practice here in Australia, then we moved on to foxes and other vermin like pigs, goats and wild dogs. Running shots come natural to me, just like swinging on ducks with a shotgun, only with a rifle.
I mostly only shoot deer these days and I never pass up a running shot. I once heard the saying 'an animal is just as big running as it is standing still' I think this is very true every day of the week.
Meat in the freezer is important to me.

Cheers.

I generally wait for the animal to stop. They don't always cooperate, in which case I usually I let them walk.

Close to "a" but definitely a "b".

B for this old coon.

Probly 1/2 the deer I shoot are moving at some pace. If your waiting on the "perfect" broadside shot where I hunt your gonna wait a while and I doubt its a good buck. Seems like the good ones are always bumping a hot doe or cruising.

I shoot a LOT of shotgun sports year round and feel that really helps on moving deer.

Shooting moving game can be done if you practice, its no different that the guy who who shoots game at 800 yards. If you practice the shot its not that big of deal and there are lots of people that should not do it.

C but seldom running full throttle.

Probably low B. Caribou like to be moving along as they graze. Alone of in a group if they are moving and you want one you better shoot. Of course sometimes you get lucky and they are just milling around. Moose I've shot have been standing around.

Eyeball, I just now noticed this, sorry.

350 yard whitetail was a 3-4' lead if I remember correctly.

Shot 4 times but judging by the snow/blood trail the first shot was lucky enough.


Walking mule deer buck was at 415 yards, rutting, no idea I was nearby. Shot prone, great rest, easy shot. Straight into the gut, buck humped up and big whop on the shot so I knew what happened. He kept walking(slowly) and I did it again. Just could not mentally bring myself to lead him(one foot?), chalk it up to inexperience.


Waited until he stopped and dropped him.