I mentioned in an earlier post that I turned down two different opportunities on the same buck for a running shot where I hunt. The buck I believe was an 11 pointer that others had seen on the property.
On the first opportunity I had been utilizing a "Snort Wheeze" call and then a grunt call carrying on a conversation with a buck above me on a ridge. I could not actually see the buck, however I knew approximately where he was above me. He had been grunting back at me and at one point had moved closer to me. I was even on my feet and rifle in hand when he finally broke cover and ran diagonally along the ridge behind me quartering towards a stand of pines which descended steeply down hill to an area where I have shot a few deer over the years. When he broke cover, he ran like he was late for a bus and he was in and out, in and out of trees etc. He stopped briefly for about a 2 second look back over his shoulders where I could see he had a nice rack and then he was gone down over the hill. I did not take the running shot in the mixed cover and also did not know if another unknown hunter could have entered that area and be watching the whole thing from a different advantage. In other words I was simply NOT comfortable taking that running shot. Even when he stopped at the top of the pines for a couple of seconds, probably 80 yards away, the only real shot I had was at the South end of a "caboose" on a North bound train. The gun was certainly capable as I had my Savage Weather Warrior .308 with Federal 150 grain Fusions as my deer load. At 100 yards, they will easily go at an inch or slightly under. I remember as a kid having bow hunters tell me they had taken femoral artery shots at a deer standing and facing away from them. I just was not comfortable with the shot. The other reason I did not take it, is that I knew there was a climbing tree stand just over the hill from the pines where the buck was headed. I had spoken to the hunter in his stand earlier in the season and came across his climber again on several occasions. I had NO way of knowing if he was hunting that day or not and if so exactly where he was.
The other running opportunity involved the same buck perhaps 250 -300 yards above where I saw him the first time. I was pussy footing along the edge of a wood line and looking out into an overgrown area with apple trees, small saplings, lots of golden rod etc. It was bordered on the N/E end by a hedgerow and large cornfield and on S/E side by a ravine. The buck despite my best imitation of being a quiet, keen eyed stealthy hunter....SAW me before I saw him and began to run diagonally in front of me at perhaps 60-75 yards or so down towards the corner of the property towards a nearby lake. I swung on him and followed him across and two or maybe three different times, I almost touched off the AccuTrigger equipped .308. I honestly think I could have made that shot and my background was clear. I have second guessed myself about 100 times since that day. On the other hand the snow that was on the ground earlier in the week had melted and he was heading into some really thick cover where my son Jeremy has taken several of his deer in recent years. The thought occurred to me if my lead was wrong and I ended up gut shooting this magnificent animal, it would always haunt me. I didn't like the idea of this animal ending up under the low hanging branches of a pine tree with coyotes feeding on prime venison.
The purpose of this post is to take a look at whether or not we should be taking running shots. I am going to post an interesting article concerning this along with some ballistic tables indicating velocity, distance, how many feet to lead a running animal etc. The article is based on a 30:06 using 165 grain bullets. Under 100 yards, the .308 Win and the 30:06 are two peas in a pod so to speak as far as bullet weights, velocity and therefore how much lead to take etc.
In years gone by, some clubs used to set up running deer simulated practice by having a life size deer target pass across a 50 yard opening with proper backstops and supervision and give hunters an opportunity to take off hand shots at the cardboard running deer target. I believe the ballistic tables etc. are very helpful, however there is NO substitute for actually simulating a life size running deer to practice on.
Dan
Here is the LINK:
http://www.udarrell.com/30-06_springfield_165.html
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