the game that got away...

[yzchamp]

whats your story?
This is my ....happened opening weekend of moose season around kamloops.
Day 3 of our hot spot .we see 2x2 moose with cow. 500m away..sneak up to 223m, first shot. 168 tsx in the boiler room, left side ,he dos 180 degrees. I runs to make up some ground ,next shot.. right side shoulder he falls over .. ....its over right ? Moose gets up and starts hoping away on 3 legs after the cow... my cross hair is on his head but im thinking about going safe ...another one in the boiler room... i hear a thump.....well thats a 3rd one in him...hes not going any where... we are high fiveing.....300wsm... perfect season after getting elk and mule!! we get to where we seen him drop and...... nothing...???? i ask my buddy did u see him go down? he says i seen u hit him 2 times..
we looked till dark 3 of us for 3h and next day 6 of us for 4h.........

F%$K me....

[RayHill]

Those bullets are crap they mushroom good but expand to fast for big game. In my opinion.

[hunter1947]

I lost a fantastic 5x5 bull elk this year ,I blew it I got elk fever started to shake ,I hit him but it was to hi up got him in the back of the shoulder blade.

If the bolt was 5 inches lower and back 5 inches I would have penetrated his lungs ,this bull was 9 yards out from me in my tree stand.

He did not bleed very much the bolt penetrated about 5 inched into his shoulder blade.

I recovered the bolt on the ground about 100 yard from where I nailed him it broke off 4 inches up from the montec 125 gr broadhead.

Next year I will not make the same mistake if I get elk fever I won't shoot at the elk.

This was my first experience shoot at an elk with a bow ,this bull went behind a big tree and this allowed my adrenalin to build.

Here is a picture of him on my trail cam this picture was taken about 50 yards from where I was set up in my summit tree stand..

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Picture_10501.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=21038&limit=recent)

[Gunsmoke]

If the shots were really in the "boiler room" (i.e. heart/lung), there is no way it would survive......

[moosinaround]

Those bullets are crap they mushroom good but expand to fast for big game. In my opinion.
Nope your wrong!! I have used TTSX's the last 3 years and they are great! Dead moose and deer, never lost any of them. It wasn't the bullet in this case it was the shot placement. "ANY" bullet in the boiler room from a 300wsm will kill any critter. "2" in the boiler room means it is over for the critter. Now 2 in the guts will not down a moose elk or bear for a while, with not much for a blood trail. Moosin

[yzchamp]

If the shots were really in the "boiler room" (i.e. heart/lung), there is no way it would survive......
i dont think that he survived...

[srupp]

hmmm Im quite partial to tsx bullets..so far HUGE grizzly, several..and huge moose ...several..and no failures and no complaints...

just my experience... 3shots should be a dead animal...wher it is hit depends on where he will drop..
Steven

[barry1974w]

sometimes they're just laying there dead, just not quite where you thought he dropped. Spent over an hour looking for a moose my buddy shot one time. He said it dropped right next to this big snag, I finally went to look next to a similar looking snag 150 yards away, guess what I found?

[M@B]

I've heard more lost game stories from guys shooting a .300wsm than any other caliber.

I'm not saying anything just stating an observation.

[M.Dean]

Shot placement is the key! If the animal was shot, fell down dead, then got up and ran away the shot failed to hit anything vital! The answer to solve your problem is after you fire, the animal go's down, do not take your eye off it! Don't look for your empty brass, no Hi 5's, nothing! Look through your scope with your gun loaded ready to fire, if it gets up shoot it again! If the animal is down and thrashing around, get as close as possible and fire again! I shot a large buck some years back, down it went and started thrashing around, I hiked up to it and shot it in the neck, dead. When I looked at the scene where he was, when he fell from my first shot he slipped and slid in some downed tree's and roots, his horns were stuck under them thats why he was trying to get up, to run! My shot hit it through the front of the chest, it may have been enough to kill it, I don't know, but had it got up and ran I'd have a spike buck in my Avatar! I say Shot Placement is the answer!

[4 point]

I shot a 4 pt several years ago right in the full rut, deeper snow with a doe not far off. He was walking up hill down slope of me. Bang flop. Took us 10 minutes to get to him. He never moved lying on his side. Just as we walked up and I mean real close he jumped up and ran off. WTF we said and as we both nearly filled our pants.

There was no blood on the ground just a few hairs. My partner said where did you hit him. I had aimed for the center of the back up towards the neck. We tracked him downhill for quite a while. Little fine small sprays of blood once in a while.

Conclusion I probably because of the shooting angle glanced the shot off his head, knocked him out only to see him rise and live for another day. Shot placement is key or this can and does happen.

[yzchamp]

Shot placement is the key! If the animal was shot, fell down dead, then got up and ran away the shot failed to hit anything vital! The answer to solve your problem is after you fire, the animal go's down, do not take your eye off it! Don't look for your empty brass, no Hi 5's, nothing! Look through your scope with your gun loaded ready to fire, if it gets up shoot it again! If the animal is down and thrashing around, get as close as possible and fire again! I shot a large buck some years back, down it went and started thrashing around, I hiked up to it and shot it in the neck, dead. When I looked at the scene where he was, when he fell from my first shot he slipped and slid in some downed tree's and roots, his horns were stuck under them thats why he was trying to get up, to run! My shot hit it through the front of the chest, it may have been enough to kill it, I don't know, but had it got up and ran I'd have a spike buck in my Avatar! I say Shot Placement is the answer!

totaly agree with you.. running the scenario in my head over and over..im thinking that i shot him to high...another strange thing was that there was no blood at all...cant blame it on the gun or the bulled as they did they great job on the elk and a deer..

[budismyhorse]

Ok fellas, not to piss in your cornflakes........but do you really think we should have a thread dedicated to wounded game?

How about those stories stay around the campfire and not on a public forum... just a suggestion.....

[swampthing]

If you have access to a dog, that would help. Any old dog , downwind of the area. Follow his nose.

[anethema]

Not the best second post (hi everyone!) but I have also heard more lost game stories where the gun was a 300 mag or WSM than any other calibre as well. I'm fairly new to it, but dad who has been hunting for 40 years or more says the same thing.

Wonder if there is any science behind it, or just coincidental, or what?

[moosinaround]

There is lots of science to it!! If you send a lethal projectile through any animals internal organs it will lose it's ability to circulate blood and breathe. It will then lay down and die. If you sever its spine it will die almost instantly. If you hit it in the brain it will die instantly. If you hit it in the guts, it will take a while to die, and most likely you will see and smell the bile from it. Not very often do you see a whole bunch of blood from a gut shot animal. Now as far as 300 mags go, the shock that the hi velocity projectile puts on the animals body, especially if it is hit in the vitals is enough to almost instantly kill it in most cases. This is achieved with any centerfire cart. from 22cal up to the good ole 50 cal! Most guys are over gunned out there anyways, lots figure a 300 win or bigger can be good "brushcutters" or long range snipers! Wrong!! Know your abilities, know your cart. and know your animal skeletons. Put the bullet where it needs to go, and kill the critter!! Many animals have been wounded with 30'06, 308, 7mm mags, and 7x57's ect! It has nothing to do with the size of the cart. and everything to do with the person behind the gun!!Moosin

[roping_tom]

Anyone who can conclude that more game has been wounded or injured by a 300 wsm or mag is not seeing that, that 300's are shot by such a huge number of people that the percent is higher because of that fact alone. Other wise they kill very well and for the novice the 30cal has prob killed more game in its lifetime than all others combined. Now there supercharged.

[1/2 slam]

Not the best second post (hi everyone!) but I have also heard more lost game stories where the gun was a 300 mag or WSM than any other calibre as well. I'm fairly new to it, but dad who has been hunting for 40 years or more says the same thing.

Wonder if there is any science behind it, or just coincidental, or what?

How about just plain bull$hit

[1/2 slam]

There is lots of science to it!! If you send a lethal projectile through any animals internal organs it will lose it's ability to circulate blood and breathe. It will then lay down and die. If you sever its spine it will die almost instantly. If you hit it in the brain it will die instantly. If you hit it in the guts, it will take a while to die, and most likely you will see and smell the bile from it. Not very often do you see a whole bunch of blood from a gut shot animal. Now as far as 300 mags go, the shock that the hi velocity projectile puts on the animals body, especially if it is hit in the vitals is enough to almost instantly kill it in most cases. This is achieved with any centerfire cart. from 22cal up to the good ole 50 cal! Most guys are over gunned out there anyways, lots figure a 300 win or bigger can be good "brushcutters" or long range snipers! Wrong!! Know your abilities, know your cart. and know your animal skeletons. Put the bullet where it needs to go, and kill the critter!! Many animals have been wounded with 30'06, 308, 7mm mags, and 7x57's ect! It has nothing to do with the size of the cart. and everything to do with the person behind the gun!!Moosin

Very well put.

[M@B]

Not the best second post (hi everyone!) but I have also heard more lost game stories where the gun was a 300 mag or WSM than any other calibre as well. I'm fairly new to it, but dad who has been hunting for 40 years or more says the same thing.

Wonder if there is any science behind it, or just coincidental, or what?

How about just plain bull$hit
I think we have a .300WSM owner!!:mrgreen:
It was just an observation dude, simmer!!
I've never hunted with one, nor even shot one. It's just the this particular calibre seems to pop up alot when guys talk about wounding/loosing animals.

And the shear volume of .300WSM arguement holds water. but there are just as many 30-06, 7mm mag, .280, .270,.308....ect out there(if not more so).
And still this particular calibre seems to be mentioned more often than not. Like I said, I'm "saying" anything, it's JUST AN OBSERVATION!

Regards, M@B.