bad advice for novice hunters/shooters

[Southside Morelia]

If you look hard the entry is just under the jaw...yeh I know, not a "perfect" shot but dropped it anyways....lol He turned his head ever so slightly when taking the shot.
Pretty small but their high velocity, the proofs in the pudding and I take heaps of roos with this rifle. I don't shoot with the 17 if specifically shooting for bigger game, but if the opportunity to take a roo with a clean shot when shooting bunnies and I need roo meat, i'll take it.

where did you hit the roo south side a .17's pretty small

 

[Hooglabah]

thats a bit harsh charlie i would suggest if you cant hit the broad side of a barn go to a rifle range and practice practice practice. and if after 12 months of practice you still cant hit the broad side of a bran then give up and throw away your guns.

 

[Hooglabah]

first bunny i took was with a .222rem right under the jaw while he was in mid chew thats was funny as. all i could think was "mmmmm this is a nice piece of gra...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT...oh im dead." i shot him at about 50 meters so yeah made a mess.

 

[nabu120]

almost any one can point a gun n pull a trigger, yea accuracy does take some time n skill, but bowhunting is were the skill is at, there is some satisfaction from a kill at 50-80m with a rifle but no better feeling than when you've spent the past 1.5 hrs stalking something to get within range for a nice kill shot with a bow. i love my 65lb martin jag and wouldn't trade it for any rifle

 

[waruikazi]

Yeah i'm getting a bow in the next few weeks, i like the idea of putting a massive stalk on some big game and ThWoCk! Smackin it in the chest with an arrow.

 

[Hooglabah]

problem i have with bows is the risk of wounding an animal i wont even shoot is i think there is a 1% chance the animal wont just drop.

 

[nabu120]

there is that risk, i spent a good 2 years preacticing on targets before i even went out hunting to get my eye in etc, and at the end of the day if your not 100 percent that its gonna be a clean shot, dont take it, thats y i ts all about the hunt, that and use the right equiptment, ill post some pics tonight when i get home of the heads i use, on impact the open up to about 3inch wide and are razor sharp, that combined with the mass of the arrow behind it on a good heart lung shot and you've got a kill

 

[waruikazi]

problem i have with bows is the risk of wounding an animal i wont even shoot is i think there is a 1% chance the animal wont just drop.

This is something i think about quite often talking about bows or guns.

If you hit an animal in the vital organs with either a bow or a gun it will be over in either an instant, a few seconds or theres the chance of a few minutes.

If you gut shot an animal there's a good chance it will survive for upto three days but it will die more often than not within that time frame.

Ok so my thoughts are that if the animal is alive for a few minutes to a few days after you have wounded it then you are causing the animal unnecesary pain and stress. You are making the animal suffer and it is cruel. But if you think about what these animals die of in the wild in Australia, which is (especially for the introduced game without natural predators) disease, starvation, dehydration etc the animals suffer for weeks and months before they finally die.

I will not shoot an animal without being confident that i am going to kill it cleanly but there is always a chance that something will happen that will stop a clean kill and an animal getting away wounded. In the case of this happening the above is my justification for taking that chance.

 

[Hooglabah]

fair nuff i do agree with you they ways your average bunny dies out bush are generally alot worse than if you gut shot em. i am of the opinion however that as a hunter it is our responsiblity t odo our utmost to ensure the animal will die quick and clean.

there is of course those annoying situations where just as you pull the trigger the target moves a inch or so and the shot isnt perfect but they are rare.

i can say tho as of yet i have never wounded an animal but as a consequence ive also not taken a fair few shots cuz i wasnt confident of a perfectly clean kill. i think tho thats a matter of opinion i wouldnt fault sombody for taking a shot that they are not 100% on unless they actually wounded the animal (leg shot, gut shot ect) and didnt make an immediate follow up

 

[Hooglabah]

cant wait to hit a bunny with the .303 it'll be great.... boom.... puff

 

[waruikazi]

cant wait to hit a bunny with the .303 it'll be great.... boom.... puff

I've never seen a bunny hit with a high cal but i have seen a cat tak a chest shot with a 30/30. Ur left with a spine, four legs and a head. But the legs keep moving for a little while lol, pretty grotty.

 

[aliveandkicking]

We had a good night on the foxes a few weeks back. Most were juvies and pretty stupid. Hitting them with a 6.5 140gn sp and .270 150gn bt all but vaporised them. A mated description of them was 'sock puppets'.

 

[Hooglabah]

ive seen a group of bunnies hit with a 5lb black powder cannon..... well really nuff said

 

[Hooglabah]

hahaha sock puppets

 

[Hooglabah]

actually thats one that made me face palm i was talking to the missus about the .303 (she looked bored but i didnt care) and a girl sitting near us told me i was cruel fro useing such a big gun on the bunnies and proceed to rant about how much pain they were in for about a minuet befor the missus looked at her with the death stare and said. "do you eat meat?" girl: "yeah but i buy it from coles" missus: "your an fing idiot" Girl: "..............why" missus: "............." we walk off.

 

[wiz-fiz]

hahaha! hooglblah, thats gold!!


Will

 

[Hooglabah]

that sorta stuff happens all to often the general public seem to be morons

 

[Radar]

almost any one can point a gun n pull a trigger, yea accuracy does take some time n skill, but bowhunting is were the skill is at, there is some satisfaction from a kill at 50-80m with a rifle but no better feeling than when you've spent the past 1.5 hrs stalking something to get within range for a nice kill shot with a bow. i love my 65lb martin jag and wouldn't trade it for any rifle

I've got this exact model (55-70lb compound) and love it. Short, heavy, and can take a beating. I've been bowhunting since I was 9, and rifle/handgun shooting since shortly after, and I've got to say bow's definitely have their place. Got a 6.5x5.5, .243 and .22 magnum as well as the bow, but still love taking the bow out. Picking up a double shotty soon.

The thing about arrows is they work totally differently to bullets, once people understand the difference in penetrating power and the difference in how arrows and bullets actually damage the flesh/organs and result in a kill, they will become much more humane hunters. Like's been said, if you can't drop something with one shot, don't do it.

Last time I was out hunting, a mate's mate had a go at me about how in-humane bowhunting is (having never used a bow or seen one used). On the same trip, we found 3 live roo's with their bottom jaw shot out, all resting in water, emancipated and starving. Clearly someone had been on the place dropping shots low. Finished them off of course, but left a foul taste in my mouth.

Couple of reasonable pigs from a recent trip.

 

[Hooglabah]

thats one thing i hate even more than P.E.T.A hunters who if they do make a mistake and only wound an animal dont finish them off; and the line of "oh i thought it was dead" is bs you check always check. even if you are 100% sure you still check.

 

[Hooglabah]

nice pigs btw where the edible or full of worms