Wounded animals Survey

[Mauser78]

if you hunt long enough mistakes and bad shots will happen, sometimes it is in the training years, a lot of times it is when we are overconfident. I don't think bad luck plays a big role. Most of the times it will boil down to human error. either shot, choices made regarding equipment ext.

African animals are tough but strangely I don't see the ones with the reputation of being bullet proof being wounded, more the softies. Is that because we take extra care with the tough ones, and will maybe take a chance on the others?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

My last kudu was a bit of a sad story. Almost sad enough to make me stop hunting. We watched two bulls work their way down the mountain and stalked to them in a dry wash. It worked out perfectly and the sticks went up for a quick shot as the bigger bull figured something was up. Quad sticks were not quite high enough for an entirely clear shot but I took it anyway. At only sixty yards I should have just got off the sticks, stood up, and shot him offhand. The bullet deflected and somehow took out the offside shoulder. The bull was quartering slightly towards us. If the shot had deflected a few inches more to the right it would have missed altogether. Two days later the PH got him when stationed at the head of a valley I was pushing with trackers. I was massively relieved to finally end its suffering. That was my last day of safari. The bull's horns were much shorter than we thought but it's still the prettiest of my three kudu.

 

[mark-hunter]

Impala wounded, and found by tracking. Oryx, wounded and found by tracking.
Thats for me, on 5 safaris.

But I remember a hunting group in camp, 2022. Ufff, almost each hunter lost one animal wounded, includimg one sable ($$$$), roughly 20% animal loss rate.
Wounding is not publicly discussed too much. Hunters do not brag about it. Outfitters snd PHs are confidential. But in 2022 it was my 3rd safari and I started to notice smaller details... "tommorow we will go to look for that zebra again...." things like that. From small coments, you notice a lot.
Somebody says, after a glass of whisky "shit, i lost a wounded wildebeest today".. No more comments after that.
All in all as per my count they lost at least one animal each in that group.

 

[Mauser78]

My last kudu was a bit of a sad story. Almost sad enough to make me stop hunting. We watched two bulls work their way down the mountain and stalked to them in a dry wash. It worked out perfectly and the sticks went up for a quick shot as the bigger bull figured something was up. Quad sticks were not quite high enough for an entirely clear shot but I took it anyway. At only sixty yards I should have just got off the sticks, stood up, and shot him offhand. The bullet deflected and somehow took out the offside shoulder. The bull was quartering slightly towards us. If the shot had deflected a few inches more to the right it would have missed altogether. Two days later the PH got him when stationed at the head of a valley I was pushing with trackers. I was massively relieved to finally end its suffering. That was my last day of safari. The bull's horns were much shorter than we thought but it's still the prettiest of my three kudu.

I had a kudu when I was in high school, shot felt good with a 6.5x57, on my way to where he stood, I see him again and go for the kil, shot in the neck, but only a flesh wound, tracked it for 2 days over 2 farms and could not catch up with him. a Week later I found bull no 1 where I shot him and he dropped there but I did not go all the way there before I shot at nr 2 and wounding him.

 

[Mauser78]

Impala wounded, and found by tracking. Oryx, wounded and found by tracking.
Thats for me, on 5 safaris.

But I remember a hunting group in camp, 2022. Ufff, almost each hunter lost one animal wounded, includimg one sable ($$$$), roughly 20% animal loss rate.
Wounding is not publicly discussed too much. Hunters do not brag about it. Outfitters snd PHs are confidential. But in 2022 it was my 3rd safari and I started to notice smaller details... "tommorow we will go to look for that zebra again...." things like that. From small coments, you notice a lot.
Somebody says, after a glass of whisky "shit, i lost a wounded wildebeest today".. No more comments after that.
All in all as per my count they lost at least one animal each in that group.

Unfortunately, a lot of the wounded animals is only found later, and some nobody even knew were wounded.

 

[grand veneur]

Two buffalo wounded in Burkina Faso, only one found and one elephant wounded in Zimbabwe, but found. In all three cases, poor shot placement, regardless of caliber and bullet type.

I don't know why one of the buffaloes was lost. I also don't know where the shot placement was, because only a small fragment of horn was found at the place who the buffalo stand, but no blood. With the other buffalo, the shot was too far back and went through the liver and lung base, allowing the buffalo to flee into tall grass. I was alone without PH and initially followed the buffalo with my local guide, but visibility was very poor in the tall grass and suddenly the buffalo was in front of us and looked in our direction. I shot at him immediately, but then did not see him again. Due to the dangerous situation, we stopped the pursuit. The buffalo did not leave the tall gras area, but none of us knew whether it was lying there seriously injured or dead. The next morning, thanks to the vultures, we found him not far from where I had shot at him last. Unfortunately, it most likely died shortly after the last shot, so decomposition had already begun.

In the case of the elephant, I want to place a heart shot because the visibility was not so good and in all cases I prefer. The PH recommended a brain shot. I try to do it, but missed the brain. Luckily we found the elephant after a few hours and I shot it.

I have been lucky with the PG so far.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I had a kudu when I was in high school, shot felt good with a 6.5x57, on my way to where he stood, I see him again and go for the kil, shot in the neck, but only a flesh wound, tracked it for 2 days over 2 farms and could not catch up with him. a Week later I found bull no 1 where I shot him and he dropped there but I did not go all the way there before I shot at nr 2 and wounding him.

My first kudu was somewhat similar story. For almost forty minutes we watched four bulls but someone was always in the way for a clear shot at the shooter. Finally he was clear. I was shooting a borrowed rifle because the new scope on mine crapped. Set up on two sets of sticks and at about 220 yards it should have been a chip shot. The bullet sailed into the gravel under its brisket. Crap. This scope was wonky too. It was late but PH said we should climb to the top of the hill they ran over and see if the bulls were in the valley behind. When we reached the top of the ridge the shooter and another bull were still climbing the opposite side. Sticks went up and shooter stopped broadside. But by the time I had him in the crosshairs he was turned facing downhill to my left where his partner disappeared. "Aim for top of the shoulder." Hmmm. Okay, with elevation adjustment for scope error, I aimed up between the horns and squeezed. Hit was audible but the bull took off running downhill. Assumption was it was hit poorly. The property owner went off to look for blood while we stayed to guide him by radio. I asked the PH how far was the shot. He said 330 meters. "Holy crap! Why didn't you tell me?" "Because you wouldn't take the shot but I knew you could do it." We saw the owner and tracker go up the draw the bull had run down but they didn't stop. Oh oh. A while at the area of impact and he calls down to PH to phone his dad at the farm to bring out the dogs and some farm hands. He found a little blood. Oh shit! It took about twenty minutes to climb up to the spot. "Where's the blood?" I asked. "Um ... it's here somewhere. I think down there. Okay, a little to your right. A little more." "Where the hell is the blood!" "Look down." I'm almost standing on a dead kudu with a broken neck. It was his partner we saw running down the gully. "You better sleep with your boots on tonight because if you don't they'll be full of dog shit by morning!"

 

[pilar]

Though not me but my friends wife , she was put on the sticks on a zebra ( we All thought was a long shot) the ph thought otherwise, trackers found like three different drops of blood, unfortunately Margie got a bill when she got home ( which took some negotiation wise marten peters to remove)

 

[grand veneur]

Unfortunately, a lot of the wounded animals is only found later, and some nobody even knew were wounded.

The problem is that if you shoot at a game, it flees and no blood is found at the place where it stood, that does not mean you did not wounded it. Something like this is always suspicious, especially if the shooter cannot explain why he did not hit the game. In our countries in such cases, we prefer looking for the game with dogs trained for this purpose.

 

[DieJager]

In our countries in such cases, we prefer looking for the game with dogs trained for this purpose.

Exactly. If not sure always call for the dogs.

I shot a black wildebeest too far back whilst hunting in South Africa, looked like a good shot but only found a speck of blood.

Tracked it for multiple hours, sometimes losing the trail. I literally was feeling sick of the thought wounding her and not finding her. Me off all persons found another speck of blood and the trackers were on track again. Without them we would never have found her.

We saw her trying to get up and my PH just said fire before she flees. It was almost dark then. I fired and that was it. In the pictures I look like a ghost. That was the toughest moment in my hunting career. Feeling you've wounded an animal that is slowly dying a painful dead. Luckily that was prevented and a night without sleep turned into sleeping like a baby.

 

[mark-hunter]

Excellent topic. I believe this should be made"sticky".

Serious subject, never discussed publiclly.

So far with 35 votes, we have 74% of follow up shots needed.
Large animals high percentage of wounding, follow up: kudu, oryx, eland.

All those who ask about smalish calibers and African hunt should read this thread.

 

[mdwest]

if you havent had the misfortune of a misplaced shot on an animal in Africa before.. chances are very high that you havent hunted Africa very much..

it sucks... but it happens..

in some cases its not even a bad shot issue.. its simply a will to live issue.. for example, my wife put a 7x57 bullet into a warthog at about 100 yards a few years back.. double lunged him (we found out later)..

he took off like someone had set him on fire.. thankfully leaving an ok (but not great) blood trail..

we followed him for the better part of an hour before it got too dark to continue on.. so we returned the next day with a couple of trackers and picked the trail back up.. another hour later, and a full kilometer from where he was shot (straight line distance, per the GPS.. which means he actually ran a lot longer than that), we found him.. he had scurried back to his hole..

while she never got a second shot in him (he was gone before the action could be cycled).. he definitely needed one.. even though the first shot was clearly a kill shot.. had it been a texas feral hog or a whitetail I am certain it would have gone 100 yards max (probably a whole lot less) and the hunt would have been done.

 

[DieJager]

Excellent topic. I believe this should be made"sticky".

Serious subject, never discussed publiclly.

So far with 35 votes, we have 74% of follow up shots needed.
Large animals high percentage of wounding, follow up: kudu, oryx, eland.

All those who ask about smalish calibers and African hunt should read this thread.

To be completely honest the one that needed the follow up was shot with a 470 NE double rifle that I rented. Nicked one lung, at the extreme back and the wildebeest was quartering away. 70 meters away, red dot.

I'm sure I would've done better with a scoped 30-06.

 

[Mauser78]

Excellent topic. I believe this should be made"sticky".

Serious subject, never discussed publiclly.

So far with 35 votes, we have 74% of follow up shots needed.
Large animals high percentage of wounding, follow up: kudu, oryx, eland.

All those who ask about smalish calibers and African hunt should read this thread.

yes i wanted to make it more interesting but ran out of voting options, you can only have 10. it would be nice to know like with Dave's story what actually happened. sometime at a distance on hilly country just a small mis judge in angle can make a huge difference in bullet path. i always aim for the far side front leg (shoulder) to try and make sure i go through the engine room.

 

[grand veneur]

Years ago, I tried to have posts on a similar topic on a Forum in Germany. It was about wounded game while hunting worldwide in general. I hardly got any posts.

It seems to be a topic that only few people like to talk about. You can imagine a lot about it, also that perhaps not everything was always told and running honestly. I have hunted regularly worldwide for years and the number of game I have wounded and lost is much greater than the three cases I cited from my hunts in Africa. I therefore also know which incorrect propositions were made to me in an attempt to cover something up. I have already reported on this Forum on the difficult to looking for a wounded Elk in Mongolia. It was not easy to convince the guides to help to find it.

One have the feeling that there are many experts on the hunting Forums who use in all cases the best and most appropriate equipment and have shooting skills that any sniper would dream of. Some are certainly convinced of this, but if they have never had wounded and lost game, they don't hunt often and have had a lot of luck so far. Others who have experienced wounded and lost game don't prefer to talk about this topic. I hope it is the majority, but some others may not tell the absolute truth.

 

[mark-hunter]

Years ago, I tried to have posts on a similar topic on a Forum in Germany. It was about wounded game while hunting worldwide in general. I hardly got any posts.

It seems to be a topic that only few people like to talk about.

I think this is a matter of cultural differences.
Only Americans can speak freely about this, others much less, with few exemptions.

 

[grand veneur]

I think this is a matter of cultural differences.
Only Americans can speak freely about this, others much less, with few exemptions.

I don't think it has anything to do with culture.

A lot goes into worldwide hunts and many people talk too much about them in advance and are under pressure to succeed afterward. If something does not go well, there are huge disappointments that people prefer not to talk about. It starts with the fact that few people on Forums talk about unsuccessful hunts without something being wounded or lost.

 

[mark-hunter]

Also true.
High value, high stakes hunt, that failed, but paid for. It is hard to speak about.

 

[DieJager]

It is a part of hunting. I've never lost a wounded ( big game) animal (yet). But I've had to track hard to find them .Also in my own country had a couple of times that I needed to call the dogs. My older hunting buddies have lost game and they always preaching to make the best shot possible, if in doubt don't shoot. They know because they've been there.

I know sometimes this gets lost when hunting abroad because of the time and money invested but it is still the best advice. If in doubt don't shoot, make sure of your shot. And even then things go sideways. Respect the animal. Doesn't mean that I'm a saint. But the key is learning from your mistakes.

Small game animals I've lost numerous. Always a bad feeling when that happens.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Good dogs decreases the chance of losing animals exponentially.