Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Hunting success with single shots

We occasionally get a thread on here about hunting big game with single-shots, and there are the normal number of people who would NEVER do it, and those that do it all the time.

Out of curiousity I went through my hunting notes of the past 40 years and compiled some figures.

I have hunted big game with single-shots off and on since 1992, and have taken game from pronghorn to Cape buffalo with them. Calibers have ranged from .257 Bob to .375 H&H and .45-70. Of the animals taken, 78% were one-shot kills.

Of course, some of the 2-shot kills were like the kudu I took in Botswana with a Ruger Tropical in .375. The fist shot went through both lungs, as the bull ran between two bushes at about 75 yards. We took up the trail and maybe 100 yards later, one of the trackers spotted him ahead in the bush, standing spraddle-legged with his head down. I shot again and he fell. The second shot probably wasn't necessary, but the sun was going down....

Of the animals I've taken with repeaters (lever, pump and bolt, but no semiautos) 71% have been 1-shot kills. Again, I did not count kills like the 6-point bull elk I took 5 years ago with a .300 Winchester. Shot him in the shoulder as he quartered toward me, and the bullet busted the shoulder and top of the heart, and exited. He ran about 35 yards and stopped, same deal as the kudu: legs spraddled and head down. It was also about sunset so I shot again and he fell. So the 1-shot kills have been strictly that.

The higher percentage of 1-shot kills with single-shots may be due to more careful shooting--or just the fact that I didn't start using single-shots until I'd been hunting big game for 25 years or so. Don't know. Do know that I have yet to come close to losing a big game animal shot with a single-shot. Maybe that is indeed because I am kind of careful about the shots I do take when using one--or the terrain hunted. The first shot has either killed--or would have killed, if I hadn't put another one in there.

Oh, have missed a couple of shots with singles. Both times I just pulled it and shot under, at about 200 yards.

In the notges I also found several streaks of 1-shot kills, one of 8 animals, one of 9--and one of 18 out of 19, the other one of those unnecessary 2-shot kills. That is what is supposed to happen as we get older, and both shoot better and hunt more carefully.

JB

I know the topic of hunting with a loaded chamber is volitile, but I would like to know if single shot hunters hunt with or without loaded chambers, and if cold chamber hunters avoid single shot rifles more than hot chamber hunters do.

MD,

I have great respect of your honesty about hunting with single shot rifles. (Not to mention your record keeping and lessons learned)

I don't know what category I, personally, fall into; but I have hunted with single loaders off and on since I bought my first #1 in 1978.

Even tho' I have only a small percentage of the experiece of others in hunting and hunting success, I still enjoy it. Ironcically, I took my first big game animal with a T/C contender in .30-40 Krag in about '80 or '81. And since then only about a dozen whitetails; and only two of them with a sgl-shot. One with a #1 in .416 Rigby, and one with a T/C Encore muzzleloader.

As I get more mature... (And yes my birth year is prior to yours... ) HOW I harvest a deer is far more important than IF I take one.

Even tho' I have more than my share of high-tech Stainless, custom barreled, and McSwirley stocked bolt rifles, I find the gratifacation factor far higher if I hunt with a Ruger #1, an '03-A3 Sprg, or a Sav M-99. Especially if said rifle is equipped with a Peep sight or Low-powered scope with a post reticle... (No thanks to a certain unnamed gunscribe... )

Thus; I believe this attitude is a product of maturity. A maturity garnered by the passing of years not necessarily by the time spent afield.

Soon I will take to the woods again. I think this years "opening day" rifle with be a Ruger #1-A (Cal: .270 Win) with an aged 3x Scopechief with a "Post" reticle. Aaaahhh, Simplicity at it's finest! And if I should happen to be successful, you are going to see a hunter with a smile a mile wide.

Grasshopper

Youper,

I don't know what others do, I only know what I do. I hunt entirely out of a stationaly blind. When I go to the stand, the chamber is ALWAYS empty until I am sitting down, have all my accruments arranged and am ready to hunt. ONLY THEN do I chamber a live round! I am usually in my blind well before legal shooting hours (In Mich this is 30 min. prior to Sunrise) and when I can no longer see to shoot, I come in. When I make the decision to "Call it a day", the 1st thing I do is empty the chamber. Doesn't matter if it's a single shot or bolt gun. My philosophy is such that if I see a deer on my way out, doesn't matter, he'll likely be back tomorrow.

Be it right or wrong; "That's my story and I'm stickin' to it."

Grasshopper

Since I only hunt with single shots I really can't say if my kill rate is higher or lower. Wait, I hunt running rabbits with a lever rifle - yup, my performance is much better with single shots

I am hunting this week with a double rifle however. So far, no shots fired.

Brent

I always hunt with my chamber loaded unless there is a high chance of falling or I am following somebody while crawling. I try and use my head and keep thing safe.

I have hunted and shot more game with a single shot rifle, than any other, guess because I shoot mostly left handed, left eye dom. and right handed, most have fallen to a single shot, I place my shots, to count, i have taken alot of game with lever guns also, but still try to make that ONE shot count! I too hunt till I dont think I can take a clean shot, if your in the pines it means that you pack up a bit early ect, grasshopper i to am a fan of the post scopes, there on all my rifles, and a few sitting on the the bench! John

I got into hunting as a kid but left it as a young suburbanite with family and work commitments, only to return to it late -- about ten years ago, after retirement. My first serious rifle as an adult was a .280 #1B.

Most of the 15 or so deer I have taken since were with #1s and MLs; 3 were with bolt rifles. All fell to one shot and most -- say, 75% -- in their tracks. BUT this is not a claim to my consumate marksmanship! Read on...

One buck -- my biggest ever, a 16 pointer -- I shot twice with single shots, but a weekend in time apart. When being dressed out, he displayed a diagonal barber job across his back from a ML round ball of mine fired nearly point blank three days earlier. The .280 used later only took one shot, DRT.

I would say 90% + of my shots are taken in stalking/ambush from the ground situations. The deer are standing, unaware, within 150 yards. I mostly use lung shots and larger caliber --7mm or above -- bullets that tend to jelly the lungs. And all were smaller eastern deer, except for 3 good size exotics.

I also have lost several -- mayber 3-4 -- hard-hit deer, mostly on late evening shots with heavy brush/low light obscuring the blood trails, And I have cleanly missed more than a few -- 5-6?--due to pure buck fever in surprise (to me) encounters. (I usually shoot over their backs when flusticated.)

Just as John's list of unnecessary second shots tends to obscure some of the relevance of his 1 shot effectiveness data, I would cite a reverse phenomenon. 2 of the 3 big exotics I shot with a .270 bolt gun --dropped at one shot, but IMO seriously needed another poke. One huge bodied critter took a .270 round in the lungs but a little back, and just stood there w/o moving until bleedout. (I wanted to hit him again but the guide said no, he is toast.) The other was a nice Axis deer that also took one in the boiler as he was grazing and he bolted about a hundred and fifty yards with his heart shredded! (Again, the guide said no need to shot him again.) Luckily, he ran straightaway into an open field and not into the thick stuff with the rattlers and coral snakes. (The third was a very nice Sika that I took on the run at about 150 yards right through the neck -- one of two running deer I have taken -- and my best shot ever.)

Taken together then, my tally of downed deer would record one deer that needed a second shot using single shots, and no deer needing a second shot with bolt guns! A meaningless if not ultimately misleading statistic considering lost deer, blown shots, and deer that take a long time to drop after the initial hit.

1B

Sorry, but, the idea of HUNTING with an empty chamber (unless it's an old SA wheelgun) is completely foreign to my brain. I'd like to see these empty chamber folks TRY to get a deer, rabbit, coyote, squirrel, dove, hog, ANYTHING around here.


As for success, I started with single shot 410, graduated to a single shot 22lr, then a double 20ga (still have it). I can't say I do any better one way or the other. I pretty much take the same shots all the time. I do know I tend to go for bigger holes with a single shot than a repeater.

I stopped "trying" for one shot kills and concentrating on killing it ASAP a long time ago. I can get a 2nd shot off as fast as the typical bolt action shooter with one of my break actions.

Yes, I hunt with a chambered round in my singleshots. I also hunt with loaded chambers in rabbit rifles and pheasant guns. And with muzzleloaders,,,, what can I say?

Interestingly, to me at least, I almost always shoot a large animal that goes down immediately while it flops the last couple of times. My bullets cause little meat damage, ammo is cheap, and mistakes that could lead to lost game are avoided. While rarely needed in these instances, these 2-shot kills contrast with the cases where I don't use a follow up shot. Those are cases where the animal runs off or disappears at the shot. They occasionally would benefit from a follow up shot if only they had stuck around for it. I find them at the end of a blood trail nicely dead more often than not, but they would have died sooner had I the chance for a second shot. In few or no cases would a multishot gun have helped with that follow up however.

Brent

GH,

In my style of hunting -- still hunting/ambush from the ground --- and choice of rifle -- Ruger #1s -- a round goes in the chamber and the safety is set as soon as I am in active hunting mode. The round only comes out to cross difficult terrain or fences; during encounters with other hunters for a chin wag; or shutting down the active hunting mode for other reasons --lunch, call of nature, or a snooze. It is empty always in or around a vehicle, at base camp, and with an animal dead on the ground.

There is no way to silently load and lock a #1 just before pulling the trigger. It is hard enuff learning to work the safety w/o blowing the hunt! Blind hunters -- ground or tree stand -- and those who get away with having their guides jabber away all during a hunt -- those damn staged TV hunts are what I refer to here -- might not have the same need for bringing a rifle quietly into battery.

1B

I�ve hunt with a round in the chamber for years (since 1958 with my first rabbit and squirrel rifle). No one, that I�ve ever hunted with since then until just last week have ever hunted with an empty chamber, no matter what kind of rifle they carry.

I generally leave the chamber empty anytime the rifle is not in my hands, whether SS or repeater. The exception is my Merkel .308, which has one of those "cocking" tang safeties, so it simply cannot go off with round in the chamber unless the tang button is shoved (not clicked) forward. I have carried that slung over my back wiith a round in the chamber in rough country, mostly because it was too rough to have it in my hands with 75 pounds of caribou on my back--and I did not want to unload it in grizzly country.

But that's the exception.

JB

I can agree with that.

Started my hunting with a single shot 22, with cartridges grudgingly doled out by my granfather. Learned to make my shots count. That lesson has stayed with me every since and I tend to pass on iffy shots regardless of the repeat shot capability of the firearm I am useing at the time. Have not kept notes on kills over the years never felt the need, but I am confident that my one shot kills far out number any that required a follow up shot. I have used the unecessary second shot a few times. I have been very lucky and have only lost one big game animal, and that was due to my stupidity at not taking the second shot, was carrying a bolt action repeater at the time. Have hunted over the years with various single shot rifles and never felt handicapped and will do it again. I do tend to have a round chambered when hunting with the single shots but have done it the other way also, depends on the game, terrain, and hunting method.

Dave, your grandfather and my grandfather must have taken lessons from each other.

I rarely carry a rifle - any rifle- with the chamber loaded unless it is in my hands. I can't honestly say I've missed any important opportunities, but I can say that I have had a few loaded chamber "what-ifs" mostly prior to adopting that practice.

As for shooting once or more than once, I do it all the time if the animal doesn't go down immediately. A second bullet is never bad insurance whether needed or not. I know some folks have a sense of pride in "doing it right one time." I left that behind nearly three decades ago when I moved north. I guess I never really thought about a single shot being at a disadvantage when shooting a second shot. I suppose one box of ammo per year or only bench work with the rifle could create bad habits or prevent the good ones necessary though.

In 2000 I purchased my first single shot deer rifle. Since then I have purchased 3 moore.
In the last 7 years I have shot at 10 deer with one one of my ss's. All 10 were DRT, one shot kills. The ranges were from 20 yards to just shy of 300 yards.
During the same 7 years I shot at 14 deer with one of my bolt action rifles. 10 were DRT, one shot kills. 1 went about 40 yards before it bleed out. 1 went about 70 yards and required a finishing shot. 2 were clean misses. The ranges were from 7 yards to 400 yards.
Do I feel handicapped with a SS? No, I do not.
Do I take high risk shots? No, I do not. I have gotten to d**n old to chase wounded deer through the briars.
Am I a great shot? No, I am not. I try to be a careful shot.

For me, my recent success has been because I have become a much better hunter. Now I'll say I've only taken a hand full of game, but I use the word success meaning I am becoming much more consistent at seeing game before they see me. And in most cases here lately, I am getting shots most every time I go out. Unfortunatey, every time I go out might mean once every few years. This 'success' really has had nothing to do with the rifle I was carrying. So in my case, when working in for that one good shot, I've had the attitude to just carry what I wanted. For me, that means a Ruger #1. My first bull elk came a couple seasons back while creeping through some thick pines. I jumped him out of his bed at 40 yards and a snap shot from my #1 in .338 caught him tight behind the shoulder - he melted to the ground 30 yards downhill from there. Before that, a cross canyon javelina only needed one shot from a #1 in 25/06. Then there was a 3x3 mule deer that I caught walking through the woods about 115 yards away. When I swung my #1 in 7x57 into position, I looked up to see a deer frozen and staring right at me. I didn't squeeze off because I knew things weren't perfect and I had 'only' a single shot, I didn't squeeze because as I stared at the entire body of this deer, the only part of him I couldn't see was the very top of his head. The first thing I though of was, "what if a doe slipped in behind the buck and I'm holding on her." Rule #1 is know your target. I didn't 100%, so I didn't shoot - and, didn't get a shot on him as he moved off. A bolt action wouldn't have given me any advantage here.

Now that I think of it, the only time here lately I've had to take multiple shots at anything with a high powered rifle, I've had a bolt action in-hand. The one exception is the first critter I ever took with a #1. Many years ago I had a jack rabbit running parallel to me about 125 yards away across a ravine. I don't know if people think you have to stop shooting after one shot with a single shot, or maybe they think to reload will just take too long so why take the chance carrying the rifle at all...I got that rabbit with my 3rd shot. I don't know if I would have done any better with a bolt.

I've only recently started hunting with a single shot, taking a couple whitetails, a mule deer, a few Sitka blacktails, and most recently, a pronghorn. I've always been fairly conservative in when I choose to pull the trigger, but may be a little more so, since I began hunting with single shots and drillings(which from a rifle standpoint I also put in the SS category). As I "mature", I've found that I, like Grasshopper has mentioned, care more about how I kill my game, as opposed to how much game I kill.

Jeff