Wounded animals Survey

[Red Leg]

In Africa, with wounded game that runs off, could it separated into two different categories of...

Plains game
DG ?

and some who use a DG rifle cartridge for a plains game animal at distance that's trajectory drops off too early and loss of velocity at impact at 300+ yards or so? I wonder how many plains game have been wounded by using a large heavy caliber slow moving DG bullet at longer distances than it was designed for i.e. 470 NE at over 250+ yards on a zebra? Or, even a 375 H&H at beyond 350+ yards? Isn't plains game in Africa roughly around the same size and weight as North American game (deer, elk, caribou, moose, black bear) ? Why not just stick to the traditional North American hunting cartridges for plains game that have worked for decades? (7mm, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, 300 RUM, 30-378 WBY, 338)

For plains game, I would think a 30-378 WBY caliber with a high quality LPVO 1-6 or 1-8 (Swarovski, Leupold, Trijicon) would do the trick on any plains game under 400 yards. The 30-378 WBY is flat shooting out to 1,000+ yards and could be the ultimate plains game cartridge?

Also, what about using too light a caliber on a cape buffalo and the buffalo being beyond 100+ yards?


Here's another question and hypothetical below...

Shooting at a cape buffalo broadside at 80 yards and missing the heart/lungs with a 375 H&H vs missing with a 500 Jeffery? Would the 500 Jeffery with it's power over the 375 reduce the odds and chances of a runaway buffalo never to be seen? Does the power advantage of the 500 Jeffery overcompensate for shooter error and offer enough killing power to seriously hurt the buffalo enough to prevent it from running away if you miss the vitals? Maybe enough time for a follow up shot with the 500?

I just think that plains game should be under 300 yards, and DG should be within 50 yards.

LOL. " ..... flat shooting out to 1000+ yards." Just ran the numbers and with a 200 gr bullet that will give the nimrod a bullet drop of 100-120 inches at 1000 yards. Not bad at all, but that ain't flat. Most sources quote an MPBR of around 350 meters. The 300 Win Mag will offer an MPBR with the same bullet out to 300 yards. All the blast and bother would not be remotely worth it to me on a hunting rifle.

 

[JINKLE]

Probably safe to say the 11 people that answered "No" have not hunted in Africa

 

[dchum]

LOL. " ..... flat shooting out to 1000+ yards." Just ran the numbers and with a 200 gr bullet that will give the nimrod a bullet drop of 100-120 inches at 1000 yards. Not bad at all, but that ain't flat. Most sources quote an MPBR of around 350 meters. The 300 Win Mag will offer an MPBR with the same bullet out to 300 yards. All the blast and bother would not be remotely worth it to me on a hunting rifle.

My patience for these people is running out, Fast.

 

[Rafiki]

Probably safe to say the 11 people that answered "No" have not hunted in Africa

What's the current tally?

 

[AckleyHunter]

Probably safe to say the 11 people that answered "No" have not hunted in Africa

I answered "no" and have hunted Africa once. 13 animals total. All died real quick and in a hurry. However, in 25 years of hunting I have lost 3 animals. A whitetail with the orginal Barnes X bullet. We found it a few weeks later when a coyote was chewing on it. Did not go that far but did not leave a blood trail and died in a bunch of deadfall. That experience soured me on copper bullets for a long time. The tipped ones are much better. Another whitetail with a bow that left a blood trail Helen Keller could follow. Ran over 200 yards into a field with tall (chest high) grass and we couldn't find it. The third was an elk shot near the property line and died on private land we could not get premission to enter.

 

[JINKLE]

LOL. " ..... flat shooting out to 1000+ yards." Just ran the numbers and with a 200 gr bullet that will give the nimrod a bullet drop of 100-120 inches at 1000 yards. Not bad at all, but that ain't flat. Most sources quote an MPBR of around 350 meters. The 300 Win Mag will offer an MPBR with the same bullet out to 300 yards. All the blast and bother would not be remotely worth it to me on a hunting rifle.

I was just plugging this in my Hornady app to check the BS. Thank you

 

[JINKLE]

What's the current tally?

 

[Rafiki]

View attachment 717901

Yeah, just found that. Better make your comment 10 not 11.

 

[Tanks]

Does the power advantage of the 500 Jeffery overcompensate for shooter error and offer enough killing power to seriously hurt the buffalo enough to prevent it from running away if you miss the vitals?

It should make up for a near miss on a brain shot and stun it to make the follow-up easier. Gut shot with a ,375 or .500 will not make a difference in my view.

 

[RolandtheHeadless]

I answered "no," but I'm not sure whether the following incident should make it a "yes."

I shot a gemsbok as it was crossing a slope, misjudged its forward movement, and hit it in the front leg. As the gemsbok floundered on the slope, I shot it again, and it fell over dead. The animal required a second shot, but was dead in the same place where I'd hit it the first time.

I don't see an option for that situation. Should I change my answer to yes?

 

[dchum]

I answered "no," but I'm not sure whether the following incident should make it a "yes."

I shot a gemsbok as it was crossing a slope, misjudged its forward movement, and hit it in the front leg. As the gemsbok floundered on the slope, I shot it again, and it fell over dead. The animal required a second shot, but was dead in the same place where I'd hit it the first time.

I don't see an option for that situation. Should I change my answer to yes?

How is that not a yes? You wounded it in the leg and it needed a follow up shot to die.

Don’t be like @Rafiki and change the question to fit yourself haha.

I also shot my oryx in the leg and he needed one more shot. So I hit “yes”

Pretty simple. Sorry to be blunt but…

 

[Mauser78]

How is that not a yes? You wounded it in the leg and it needed a follow up shot to die.

Don’t be like @Rafiki and change the question to fit yourself haha.

I also shot my oryx in the leg and he needed one more shot. So I hit “yes”

Pretty simple. Sorry to be blunt but…

Yes, if it did not die from the first shot, or would have in the next 2 minutes it is not a kill shot. Sprinting of and then dying 100 or 20 further from one shot.

 

[Rafiki]

How is that not a yes? You wounded it in the leg and it needed a follow up shot to die.

Don’t be like @Rafiki and change the question to fit yourself haha.

I also shot my oryx in the leg and he needed one more shot. So I hit “yes”

Pretty simple. Sorry to be blunt but…

OK, I've got a bead on this now; so the original question actually is something like "Have members out there in AH Land NOT taken African critters of any sort with one shot and dead, where the critter didn't go anywhere of significance, insurance shot doesn't count.". One shot and dead is in the vitals even when the now dead animal keeps running, but not out of sight so no tracking. You may be in doubt because after the shot with your favorite canon it didn't cooperate and just fall over, and you basically don't like seeing even dead animals running around (thinking buffalo or some other serious creature here) so you shoot again. Unfortunately doing so puts a big ass "YES" in your column and you become a piss poor hunter on this pointless quiz.

 

[SRvet]

Eight animals in Africa including two buffalo. Only one of the buffalo needed several shots with a .458 Lott despite a first shot through one humerus and both lungs. After a 15 minute pause before starting to track with a dog, it was recovered within about 30 minutes of the first shot. Everything else was a one shot kill with a .375 H&H and 300g TSX or 250g TTSX.

 

[Mauser78]

OK, I've got a bead on this now; so the original question actually is something like "Have members out there in AH Land NOT taken African critters of any sort with one shot and dead, where the critter didn't go anywhere of significance, insurance shot doesn't count.". One shot and dead is in the vitals even when the now dead animal keeps running, but not out of sight so no tracking. You may be in doubt because after the shot with your favorite canon it didn't cooperate and just fall over, and you basically don't like seeing even dead animals running around (thinking buffalo or some other serious creature here) so you shoot again. Unfortunately doing so puts a big ass "YES" in your column and you become a piss poor hunter on this pointless quiz.

Not piss poor hunter, just normal like the other 80%, except they admit their less than perfect shots without the piss poor attitude. I hope my english make sense now.

 

[Rem700stw]

I have had 3 instances that ABSOLUTELY required a 2nd shot in Africa. The first was a Golden Wildebeest shot with a 375 H&H. Shooter error, plain and simple, I jerked the trigger. I was fortunate to recover him later. No blood trail to follow. Trackers staged drives through likely cover. Last piece of bush produced him.

Second instance was on a Springbok that launched into hyperdrive just as I broke the shot. The third was a huge white Blesbok that I did a poor job of doping wind. We drove to the Free State Province specifically to hunt this magnificent animal. We had one day only to make it happen and it was windy even by my Kansas standards. I was shooting a 7x57 with 175 grain round nose bullets and judged wind badly.

I was quite lucky to recover all 3.

 

[RolandtheHeadless]

How is that not a yes? You wounded it in the leg and it needed a follow up shot to die.

Don’t be like @Rafiki and change the question to fit yourself haha.

I also shot my oryx in the leg and he needed one more shot. So I hit “yes”

Pretty simple. Sorry to be blunt but…

I was confused because there were only two choices for follow-up questions, which you can check simultaneously with the "yes." The only follow up choices were tracked the animal and finished it, and animal was wounded and never found. There were also follow-up questions for the species involved.

If there was a choice, "Animal needed a second shot to die where it stood," I'd have checked "yes." Anyway, I changed my vote, so I hope you're now happy.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Human error. Did not see the tiny stick in the way of the barrel below eye level and poof. Deflection.
I learned: Twigs close to the critter, minimal issue. Close to you, not a good thing.

Human error. Swinging a rifle on a running animal like a shotgun and blowing a hole through a tree and hitting the animal farther back than intended. Eland was hit well twice in the boiler room, I kept shooting to make sure. Paranoia about losing it.

Thankfully, I have not lost anything.

 

[grand veneur]

I have the feeling that the question was understood very differently by many of us and that some do not quite know what we mean by tracking wounded game.

A game that needs a second shot to stop and go down, or a finishing shot/coup de grace, are everyday hunting incidents that every hunter must be familiar with and are not worth discussing. A short looking for a shot game at night and/or in dense vegetation, with or without a dog, is also part of it.

A wounded game which can still escape over greater distances and requires a search with or without dogs for hours or even days, is a very different situation and can in many cases end with the loss of the animal.

Due to the very different answers, I no longer know what @Mauser78 really wanted to discuss with his thread.

 

[Mauser78]

I have the feeling that the question was understood very differently by many of us and that some do not quite know what we mean by tracking wounded game.

A game that needs a second shot to stop and go down, or a finishing shot/coup de grace, are everyday hunting incidents that every hunter must be familiar with and are not worth discussing. A short looking for a shot game at night and/or in dense vegetation, with or without a dog, is also part of it.

A wounded game which can still escape over greater distances and requires a search with or without dogs for hours or even days, is a very different situation and can in many cases end with the loss of the animal.

Due to the very different answers, I no longer know what @Mauser78 really wanted to discuss with his thread.

People is trying to overthink this. If the animal does not die from one shot within a reasonable time or distance it is wounded. Yes if you shot it again while running away you and only you will know if it was necessary. If it would have died it was not wounded. If you saved yourself hours worth of tracking it was wounded.
It is a safe space, but if someone does not want to admit a wounded animal they do not have to.