Hunting Ethics of shooting Buffalo bull while he’s laying down

[HankBuck]

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I have a SA friend who shoots running gunieas on the ground & repeatedly tells me that I shoot bolting / fleeing hares & what is the difference !? He has a point perhaps.

Other than an ostrich, I would not shoot a bird on the ground with a shotgun, but a laying buff ? Luckily I have never been faced with this scenario to date .......


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@Charlie64 - I think for those that can’t shoot well enough to hit a ‘moving target’ ie: Kids & poor wing shots —— or those that need the ‘meat’ to survive….nothing wrong with shooting Fish-in-a-Barrel. Certainly nothing Sporting about it - but it is an effective way to collect meat. I have No Opinion on shooting a lying down buffalo, my thinking is that since most are shot Standing Still where vitals are clearly presented - might be more difficult to place a perfect shot into a lying down Buffalo BUT I have No experience to be certain. As far as shooting *birds on the ground/ducks on the water/rabbits on the Sit —- Not unless I was starving. (*Turkeys are an exception).

 

[fourfive8]

If it was the buff, or any game animal, I wanted and had a good angle for the shot, it wouldn’t matter if the 1st day or 14th day, I would shoot without hesitation.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

@Charlie64 - I think for those that can’t shoot well enough to hit a ‘moving target’ ie: Kids & poor wing shots —— or those that need the ‘meat’ to survive….nothing wrong with shooting Fish-in-a-Barrel. Certainly nothing Sporting about it - but it is an effective way to collect meat. I have No Opinion on shooting a lying down buffalo, my thinking is that since most are shot Standing Still where vitals are clearly presented - might be more difficult to place a perfect shot into a lying down Buffalo BUT I have No experience to be certain. As far as shooting *birds on the ground/ducks on the water/rabbits on the Sit —- Not unless I was starving. (*Turkeys are an exception).

We commonly hunt grouse up here with .22. More concerned about killing the bird than sporting appearances. Putting a .22 bullet through a grouse's brain is sure to send him to heaven. Hitting it mortally with 7.5 shot on the wing is never a sure thing.

 

[MS 9x56]

@Charlie64 - I think for those that can’t shoot well enough to hit a ‘moving target’ ie: Kids & poor wing shots —— or those that need the ‘meat’ to survive….nothing wrong with shooting Fish-in-a-Barrel. Certainly nothing Sporting about it - but it is an effective way to collect meat. I have No Opinion on shooting a lying down buffalo, my thinking is that since most are shot Standing Still where vitals are clearly presented - might be more difficult to place a perfect shot into a lying down Buffalo BUT I have No experience to be certain. As far as shooting *birds on the ground/ducks on the water/rabbits on the Sit —- Not unless I was starving. (*Turkeys are an exception).

The only animals I have ever shot laying down were wounded ones. As for birds my Dad would come back from the grave to haunt me if I ever shot a bird not on the wing. (Other than a turkey.)

 

[HankBuck]

We commonly hunt grouse up here with .22. More concerned about killing the bird than sporting appearances. Putting a .22 bullet through a grouse's brain is sure to send him to heaven. Hitting it mortally with 7.5 shot on the wing is never a sure thing.

@Ontario Hunter - I only lived 2 years in Ontario (1990s) and we had some good grouse hunts near Barrie and also around Tamagami - seemed the further North we hunted the grouse didn’t flush as easily - we’d sometimes run-at-them to get them to take off and but Never shot them on the ground. I was fortunate to have met and hunt with a Canadian that was a fine wing shot—- We also used my Brittany. Nice thing about Northern grouse was they held better for a point then birds we found closer to Toronto. We never had trouble losing birds - grouse are as fragile as quail and #8 shot or 7.5 was “plenty”. I know some locals liked Road Hunting, especially Moose Hunters looking for camp meat (jump out of the truck and “dusting” them on the road)….that was effective for Meat-it-the-pot but wasn’t what we enjoyed. Since carrying a .22 handgun was illegal even back then - we always used 20ga and considered grouse the ultimate Upland bird. I’ve never found grouse in the numbers we encountered in Ontario, I was lucky to hunt there for the two years and have never found grouse in those numbers since - Not in Maine, PA, or upstate NY….good times for King of Game Birds !