Hit or miss?

[Black Bird]

Question for the wise folk of huntingbc,

I was talking to my friend the other day about a trip we did in the fall. He was borrowing my 7mm Rem Mag. (which he had practiced with before going out) and lined up a deer about 40m away in pretty thick bush. He pulled the trigger and the deer took off. It was the first deer that he had ever shot at and I asked him if he thought the shot was good. He wasn't sure - he thought that the rifle might have gone off before he was truly ready and he felt that if anything he was a little bit in front of the deer.

We spent 45min looking for any sign that he had hit. There was not one drop of blood or fur or anything. I continued with him to start doing circles around the area to see if we could see any sign. Nothing.

I hunted with a different friend the year before who gut shot a deer that showed no sign of being hit (blood, fur, etc.). However, we found the deer about 40m away after looking for not too long. It turns out that the bullet had passed right through the gut without expanding. I am still a little baffled as to what the ultimate cause of death was.

My question is do you think that with a 7mm Rem Mag at about 40m away, assuming that my friend was right and that if anything he was more towards the front of the deer than the back, could impact the deer without some sign of being hit? I had my friend, after we finished looking, line up a tree from a prone position at a similar distance and take a shot. The bullet impacted pretty close to where he was aiming (in short, the rifle and scope were fine).

I don't know. I guess I am just checking to see if anyone feels one way or the other as to my friend's shot. I know it is a bit of an impossibility to make an accurate response without being there and taking all the many factors into consideration, but I am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

Cheers,
BB

[91Jason91]

Most the time you will hear a thwack sound of the bullet hitting tha animal

[91Jason91]

And I have seen a Elk Tank a 300RUM double Lung shot and ran about 40 yards and no blood nothing up to where it dropped

[Steeleco]

pretty thick bush and buck fever lend me to think he missed. The odds of him hitting a branch are high, then who knows where the bullet may have gone.

[Spy]

Most the time you will hear a thwack sound of the bullet hitting tha animal

Not at 40 yards you won't!What kind of ammo you shooting out of the 7mm?How much brush did he shoot through?Did you see any broken limbs infront or behind the deer!What story did the tracks tell you, where the deer was standing,did he leave in a hurry,ect!Did you follow the deer & for how long/far did you follow!Lots to thinks about after you pull the trigger & lots of signs that could tell you what happened!
I know this is a long shot ,but do you have any video of the shot?

[Hunt-for-life]

yes buck feaver would have come in and we all know what thats like our first time hahha

[doubled]

First deer through bush = most likely not good odds. If he felt the gun went off early, there is probably more to that than anything else, throw in bushes and a bit of buck fever, who knows????

I wouldn't let it bug you or him. Get his own gun and practice all types of shots.

[TheProvider]

If his first instinct was that he shot infront of it than thats prolly the case.. Beside if the deer was broadside and only 40m away he must've known he was moving alot to be off that much .

[CanuckShooter]

Was he shooting downhill? Normally there will be some sign if he had hit it, the best you can do is try to track it.

[Big Lew]

I agree with the others, by the way you relate is remarks, 'thought it might have gone off a bit early, and he might have shot a bit in front of it', and the deer was only 40 yds. away, it's most likely "buck fever." At age 14, the first mule deer I shot at was about 60 yds. away standing broadside, and I took, what I thought was a good shot, with open sights with a very accurate, long barrelled 32 special and the bullet drove into the ground halfway to the deer, buck fever.

[steel_ram]

Most the time you will hear a thwack sound of the bullet hitting tha animal

I've rarely heard any sort of impact. If bones, nerves aren't smashed a wounded deer could go a fair ways without any sign of impact. Cartridge has little to do with it.

[91Jason91]

I've rarely heard any sort of impact. If bones, nerves aren't smashed a wounded deer could go a fair ways without any sign of impact. Cartridge has little to do with it.
I always hear it, but Im also hunting with a 300RUM most the time so thats prob why

[The Dude]

Also, does he shoot much? A 7mm Mag has some kick to it. I think the shooting beforehand, which may have taught him to fear the recoil, thick brush, and virgin jitters gave you a clean miss. Especially in snow (if you were in show) it's hard not to find something on the ground if you hit it.

[Moose Guide]

To hit is history,
to miss is mystery
somewhere between is a place
where opportunity turns to disapointment

He shot and you looked for the animal, if you put in an honest search, you must conclude a clean miss! I hope he shoots more accurately next time!

[vortex hunter]

I always hear it, but Im also hunting with a 300RUM most the time so thats prob why

YEAHHH OKAYY BUDD LOL LOL frick you must have super human hearing budd lol

[Livewire322]

i can fairly say that the muzzle blast from my grandfathers 7mm (which i shoot regularly) scared the poop outta me for the longest time, i still wear ear plugs when we are at the range with it. it took me well over a year of shooting to break it, i also shoot a smaller caliber non magnum now regularly becuase i am more accurate with it. My point is maybe you or he should get a lighter caliber rifle for him to shoot that way he can properly judge his shots by following through, because its hard to tell if youve connected at all with your eyes closed for the 5 seconds following trigger pull!

the moose i shot i saw the hide ripple from the impact.

[OutWest]

Most the time you will hear a thwack sound of the bullet hitting tha animal

Not at 40 yards you won't.


And I have seen a Elk Tank a 300RUM double Lung shot and ran about 40 yards and no blood nothing up to where it dropped

If it's a double lung shot then of course you won't see blood for quite a ways. Takes a bit for them to fill up.

[hunter1947]

There are many of things that could have gone wrong buck fever etc your friend could have hit it anywhere in an area where there would be no blood or what I think happened is your friend missed the deer completely..

[Good Old Outdoors]

IMO it could have been a combination of both buck fever and deflection from the thick bush. For buck fever I know all too well what thats like, hunting my first deer was a challenge, i was 12 and missed my first 3 bucks because i got too excited and rushed the shot. I have also seen a shot taken at a bear only about 50 yards away through thick bush totally miss with his 7mm RM, for a experienced hunter and a crack shot like him that was odd to say the least. We traced it back to a branch that deflected his shot high and right.
Just my 2 cents
GOO

[blacklab]

I've done a little bit of hunting and shooting, and sometimes you just flat out miss!!!

[steel_ram]

I always hear it, but Im also hunting with a 300RUM most the time so thats prob why

More likely the marbles bouncing around inside your skull from the muzzle blast.

[Fisher-Dude]

I always hear it, but Im also hunting with a 300RUM most the time so thats prob why


What does shooting a 300 RUM have to do with hearing a bullet hit?

[vortex hunter]

LOL LOL NO DOUBT Fisher-Dude ..

[Iron Sighted]

What does shooting a 300 RUM have to do with hearing a bullet hit?

I could see how you would have a hard time NOT hearing the bullet hit after firing it maybe, those things are loud(what center fires aren't?)

As to the O.P., I shot a deer this year(my only one to date) with a 7mmRM from about 40 yards, he was already in full flight and never gave any indication that I had hit him at all(perhaps because he was already running?). I quickly spotted blood in the snow and found him dead on the ground within 100 yards of where he had been hit. FWIW, just wanted to point out that it is possible to hit and not have the animal give any indication of it.

[Spy]

Black Bird Have you fallen off the earth?You start a thread & than disappear,WTF!!!!!:confused::confused:

[BearStump]

a rookie mistake, Buckfever will cause one to yank the trigger instead of a slow squeeze causing the muzzle to drop and the shot to go low.

[nap]

Or the deer was in the scope and the cross hairs were just no wern't where they should have been, a excitment thing for a rookie, can happen.

[Black Bird]

Not at 40 yards you won't!What kind of ammo you shooting out of the 7mm?How much brush did he shoot through?Did you see any broken limbs infront or behind the deer!What story did the tracks tell you, where the deer was standing,did he leave in a hurry,ect!Did you follow the deer & for how long/far did you follow!Lots to thinks about after you pull the trigger & lots of signs that could tell you what happened!
I know this is a long shot ,but do you have any video of the shot?

Hi folks,

Sorry for the delay in responding to questions (thanks for the nudge, Spy!).
Ammo - 150 grain Federal Power Shok
Brush - obscured by light branches (nothing heavy). It was easy enough to see most of the deer (including the vitals). I was standing directly beside the shooter
Broken limbs/branches - I did not notice any. However, after going to where the deer should have been hit and looking back to where the shot was taken, I could see that there were indeed small branches that might have been hit (enough to defect in a large way? Dunno...)
Tracks - none. The deer was standing in mixed salal and dull oregon grape. To make things slightly more confusing, the dull orgeon grape was just starting to change colour making the forest floor look like there was bits of blood splattered everywhere
Deer - The deer took off immediately after the shot was taken and I lost sight of it almost right away (again, the bush was pretty heavy). I kept my eyes locked on where it was when the shot was fired and went straight to that spot to begin the search.
Video - sorry, but maybe next time (my tags were filled out so that would have been a good idea to bring a video camera along with me).

My friend said that when he lined up his shot, the first thing he saw through the scope was the head. He brought the sights down the neck and was making his way towards the area behind the forelimbs when the shot went off. He had practiced with the gun (probably 30 - 40 shots) and has experience shooting - just not at animals before (when he was young he was in cadets and is a regular at the shotgun range). Also, he is a big guy (about 250-260lbs). Recoil doesn't seem to affect him too much.

My thinking is that if the shot was indeed near the front of the deer, then the bullet should have hit bone and expanded. At least there should have been some sign that the deer was hit. That same trip I shoot a deer from about 40m away front on and the bullet stayed inside. The deer made 30 - 40m with a humurous bone that was split in half (I think that is the one), one lung missing and half the liver gone. The sign didn't appear until about 10m away with frothy blood (the lungs I suppose).

Thanks to everyone for their input!

Cheers,
BB

[stitch]

What does shooting a 300 RUM have to do with hearing a bullet hit?

Its called "heard guys talking about a thwack...so yeah I heard too".....I know that guys do hear it on occasion but I have in 33 years of hunting never heard it. Then again thats the last think I am thinking about when shooting my 300 :roll:

[tuffteddyb]

My nephew shot a doe with my 338 win mag quartering away,
took heart,lungs and the off shoulder joint out,and I mean OUT,
thought he missed cuz she jumped like 6 feet straight up and was GONE,
sat there for a few seconds in amazement,then seen hair drifting out ouf the sky,
we never found blood till about 50 yards later,(I seen the trail she was going down).
we found her piled up anout 3 to 400 yards later.I was totally amazed she went that far.

[stitch]

I see rcar has some 300 RUM ammo for sale on here....4 boxes for $150 "Does not include Thwack"...thats extra! :grin:

[vortex hunter]

I see rcar has some 300 RUM ammo for sale on here....4 boxes for $150 "Does not include Thwack"...thats extra! :grin:

lol lol lol lol thwack Wait you will hear it I was told you will ....

[Spy]

Hi folks,

Sorry for the delay in responding to questions (thanks for the nudge, Spy!).
Ammo - 150 grain Federal Power Shok
Brush - obscured by light branches (nothing heavy). It was easy enough to see most of the deer (including the vitals). I was standing directly beside the shooter
Broken limbs/branches - I did not notice any. However, after going to where the deer should have been hit and looking back to where the shot was taken, I could see that there were indeed small branches that might have been hit (enough to defect in a large way? Dunno...)
Tracks - none. The deer was standing in mixed salal and dull oregon grape. To make things slightly more confusing, the dull orgeon grape was just starting to change colour making the forest floor look like there was bits of blood splattered everywhere
Deer - The deer took off immediately after the shot was taken and I lost sight of it almost right away (again, the bush was pretty heavy). I kept my eyes locked on where it was when the shot was fired and went straight to that spot to begin the search.
Video - sorry, but maybe next time (my tags were filled out so that would have been a good idea to bring a video camera along with me).

My friend said that when he lined up his shot, the first thing he saw through the scope was the head. He brought the sights down the neck and was making his way towards the area behind the forelimbs when the shot went off. He had practiced with the gun (probably 30 - 40 shots) and has experience shooting - just not at animals before (when he was young he was in cadets and is a regular at the shotgun range). Also, he is a big guy (about 250-260lbs). Recoil doesn't seem to affect him too much.

My thinking is that if the shot was indeed near the front of the deer, then the bullet should have hit bone and expanded. At least there should have been some sign that the deer was hit. That same trip I shoot a deer from about 40m away front on and the bullet stayed inside. The deer made 30 - 40m with a humurous bone that was split in half (I think that is the one), one lung missing and half the liver gone. The sign didn't appear until about 10m away with frothy blood (the lungs I suppose).

Thanks to everyone for their input!

Cheers,
BB

Thanks for filling in the blanks Black Bird!Hard to tell though if it was a hit or a miss!Sorry you guys lost the deer!I would have gone back the next day & searched my ass off for any sign,or until I could confidently say I missed!In situations like this its always good to give yourself peace of mind!If you have a dog or a buddy with one they have great noses & seem to find what we can't!
Better luck next time & thanks for replying!
Cheers
Spy:-D Ps for the record on longer shots out to a hundred+ I have heard a hit, but 40 yards is a bit close!