Shooting a moose face on?

[MichelD]

Thinking about ethical, good effective shots on game, what do you do if you're faced with a moose facing you?

Say you're shooting a normal rifle, say a 270, 30-06 or 308 and you see a moose directly facing you.

Is a middle of the chest shot going to put it down or do you wait for a side presentation so you can get a boiler room shot behind the shoulder?

[untilthelastbeat]

a hunting buddy told me about his brother in law who shot a moose straight on and ended up blowing the tip of his pecker off. aparently the moose ran into the pond and started rolling around making an insane kind of scream/moan. lol just my two sence ;)

[lorneparker1]

ITs fine to shoot a moose straight on.

But never shoot a duck on the ground!

[604redneck]

i would wait for the side shot but i know a few people that have put one between the eyes at 30 yds and less and they seem to kill the moose as fast as you can

[lilhoss]

Yes,a middle of the chest is a good shot,will take out the lungs and/or heart.I've also shot them by shooting just "under the chin",smacking into the neck vertabrae and dropping on the spot.Keeping in mind though that these were closer distances and usually in the timber.If it was longer range,then yes,I would try and wait for a side shot.It's all about your own comfort zone and your confidence with your shot and your gun's ability.

[pickle88]

depending on distance ...within 40 yards id pop em in the head .. ive shot allota game but never right in the chest faceing you ...

[Brew]

I would take the shot and not even hesitate. He won't go far.

[proguide66]

ANY shot is 'ethical' as long as you can pull it off with confidence. There isnt ONE person on the internet that can tell you that what YOU do 'isnt' ethical...unless they are a douche that is , lol.
You can kill a grizzly head on...IF you are good enough to deliver the shot. Practice up , get familair with your weapon , any shots possible after that.

side note , I drilled a moose head on at 480...bullet took him where the throat meets the chest , went maybe 60 yrds down hill , DEAD. good luck.

[houndogger]

Had to shoot one guiding one time called to 14 yards hunter made great broad side shot. He went down and got up on a death run shot it at 3 feet...it worked:mrgreen:

[rocksteady]

Right below the chin works well depending on distance/rest rtc...

Why do you think deer have white throat patches?

[Badlands62]

I took a moose years ago as he was facing me. He was eating some brows off a tree facing away, came around a corner and he started to run, gave him a grunt and he swaped ends. I let him have it center mass and he went over backwards. Bang flop!!!

[fuzzybiscuit]

Originally posted by lorneparker1;

"ITs fine to shoot a moose straight on.

But never shoot a duck on the ground!"


I've seen people get a little pissy when you shoot them with a 7mm Mag in the middle of a pond too. Party poopers!:-D

[Darksith]

on the same note...anyone that has shot a moose/deer straight on in the chest, did the shot end up taking out the stomach and turning the gutting process into a mess?

[bc traper]

imature bull at 450 yds this fall Right through the wind pipe and into the lungs Went 10 ft before droping

[bc traper]

No did not go into the stomach
on the same note...anyone that has shot a moose/deer straight on in the chest, did the shot end up taking out the stomach and turning the gutting process into a mess?

[Gateholio]

Best shot on a facing animal is right where the neck and chest meet. This gives you a good chance of hitting the neck vertebrae as well as penetrating into the vital organs in the chest. I've taken lots of facing shots and they work well. A premium bullet is nice insurance for this shot.

[pappy]

I got my moose this year with a straight on shot and a follow up shots broadside when he turned slowly to run. The first shot got his air way in the throat, passed thru one lung and hit the big artery in his right rear leg. The second shot (broadside) got both lungs and the third shot was a neckbreaker to take him out quicker. I think a good shot from a confindent bowhunter would have been a slower death. He was a little over 100 yards away with 210 grainers out of my 338, he made it around 30 yards from original standing spot and would have died easy with just one shot. If I can help speed up the death without ruining meat then I will shoot again. I was comfortable with shooting during that situation, next time it might be different.

[Gateholio]

on the same note...anyone that has shot a moose/deer straight on in the chest, did the shot end up taking out the stomach and turning the gutting process into a mess?

Typical for my facing shots are that the bullet ends up somewhere near the butt under the skin, and I've had them exit too. The guts are a bit messy but I stay clean as I do it gutless. There is no need to start digging into the abdomen unless you want to.

[pickle88]

i shot this one in the head at about 45 yards..he was faceing me head on..we had a stare off for about 2 minutes ..he turned his head and WHACK..right below the ear ..instant death

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/h181.jpg

[steel_ram]

I always consider where the gut bag is, inline with the bullet path. Don't want to rip that open. The animal will eventually turn. or run you over.

[Duck Buster]

I've taken 2 moose head on and 4 deer shots have varried in distance form 50 to 145 yrds and none of them have gone farther than 10 or 15 steps. Like others have mentioned time behind your rifle all year long definetly pays off to give you the confidance to make those shots. The moral of the story is that we all need to spend time on the range throughout the year, not just a few round befor the season to make sure that we are "good to go" and then everyone will be able to make clean ethical kills, at any range within their shooting zone, from any position and at almost any angle of game. (almost being the operative word)

[bandit]

ANY shot is 'ethical' as long as you can pull it off with confidence. There isnt ONE person on the internet that can tell you that what YOU do 'isnt' ethical...unless they are a douche that is , lol.
You can kill a grizzly head on...IF you are good enough to deliver the shot. Practice up , get familair with your weapon , any shots possible after that.

side note , I drilled a moose head on at 480...bullet took him where the throat meets the chest , went maybe 60 yrds down hill , DEAD. good luck.

Not necessarily Steven.

Some people's confidence to pull off a shot exceeds their capability. Ultimately some people don't fully understand the laws of physics so 'ethics' becomes a subjective word. IMO those guys promoting 1000 yrd long range hunting on the tv are asking for trouble as there are just too many errors a Nightforce and a rangefinder can't fix. Call me a douche all you want but I would love to know off camera if / how many animals get wounded on those hunts. I have shot 1000 yards on a range enough times even with national champions who make mistakes under perfect repeatable conditions - imagine the margins for error in the field.

[Spy]

Not necessarily Steven.

Some people's confidence to pull off a shot exceeds their capability. Ultimately some people don't fully understand the laws of physics so 'ethics' becomes a subjective word. IMO those guys promoting 1000 yrd long range hunting on the tv are asking for trouble as there are just too many errors a Nightforce and a rangefinder can't fix. Call me a douche all you want but I would love to know off camera if / how many animals get wounded on those hunts. I have shot 1000 yards on a range enough times even with national champions who make mistakes under perfect repeatable conditions - imagine the margins for error in the field.
X 2 I must be a douche to ! I have a real problem with hunters that could never make that shot at the range,but will try & take the same shot on an animal in the feild !Sometimes you have to keep within your limits , we owe it to the animals !
I have shot a couple animals in the chest they all dropped on the spot or did not go far ,including last years moose !

[MOOSE MILK]

Years ago I shot a 65"er right between the eyes, he just stood there and hung his head and started to turn his head and head for the bush so I hit him again in the neck just behind the jaw. That was a .270 130 gr. hand loads. When we checked him out the bullet only made a grove in the skull that didn't penetrate to the brain. He had his head up kinda like smelling the air trying to locate me, and I figure that the angle was such that the bullet only went about one inch deep but the grove was about 4 inches long, sort of a recochet.
This year I shot a 51"er face on but held a little lower so as not to hit all that thick bone that is right between the eyes and his nose was a little lower than the first one so had a flatter surface to hit. He didn't take a step.

[Caribou_lou]

I've taken 3 moose in the chest head on with my rifle and 1 with my bow. Very ethical shot. Doesn't wreck much meat also. Most of the time when you call them in that's the shot you are faced with.

[hunter1947]

Me I would take any animal facing me straight on my shot would be dead center of the chest this shot will take out lungs hart maybe the liver,,,two years ago I shot my 6x6 bull elk dead center at 300 yards in the chest he ran down hill 100 yards and pilled up when I cleaned this animal out the bullet passed right through the hart.

A friend of mine years back when we where hunting near Fort Nelson for moose this moose was facing him straight on he shot for the head right between the eyes he said ,, never did retrieve this moose he did knock him down with this shot ,,there was just a few drops of blood here and there.

We talked about this shot latter at camp what had happened the bullet ricocheted off the skull something to keep in mind..

Here is a short movie clip what a facing chest shot will do if your right on with your shot..

http://youtu.be/vhJZ1E-GwSc

[hunter1947]

I've taken 3 moose in the chest head on with my rifle and 1 with my bow. Very ethical shot. Doesn't wreck much meat also. Most of the time when you call them in that's the shot you are faced with.

X2 you are right what you said about not wasting any meat..

[XPEIer]

the one in my avatar I shot face on at about 40yds, dropped like a sack of crap. Took me two days to find the entrance wound as it was center of the breast bone and we cut it in half when we quartered him. The impact of hitting that breast bone head on must be intense.

xpeier

[Leaseman]

So we are talking a "reverse" texas heart shot......:mrgreen:

Yup! Done several moose from 100 out to close to 400 yards..... love the shot! Works great and very little damage!

[hotload]

Had a Hungarian client this fall shoot a large bodied moose with a 375 Blaser at 100yds. When I called it, it turned and faced right at us and I told him to hit it right at the base of the neck. He shot and it bang floopped, dead on it's feet. I looked for the hole and found it right between the eyes. I'm sure if he hit it where he aimed it would have died on the spot as well. Antlers went to Hungary and meat went to my deep freeze, all good for me, not an ounce of waste....................

[russm86]

One time, with about half hour of light left, I walked up on a moose at about 75 yards facing right at me with just the slightest angle. I aimed just left of his breast bone and squeezed. He was hit hard and staggering on the spot for a few seconds, turned broadside and I didn't want to try tracking a moose in the dark or have him go to far as we were far enough from the road, so I put a second one in him broadside. He dropped instantly then. When we opened him up his guts were intact, until my uncle got in there with his knife that is, and his heart was half missing and lungs were all disintegrated. Also found the bullet from my first shot because of the very slight angle ended up crossing the left side of his breast bone into the ribs on the right side and found the bullet just under the hide on his right side, intact, it is a perfect replica of an expanded barnes x bullet.

[madrona sh]

I would shoot straight on. You betcha.

[teleman]

One of our group took a bull with one .243 between the eyes then one more an inch beside the other after the moose did a 360

[300]

One of our group took a bull with one .243 between the eyes then one more an inch beside the other after the moose did a 360

HEY!! Thats unethical. I'd watch your back from now on HBC guys will be coming for you.

[heybert]

Dad has a Euro mount of a moose he shot head on. Made a nice hole in the skull. Dad said the moose basically flipped backwards and ended up with all four legs up in the air. Made for easy gutting.

[Piperdown]

I would take the shot and not even hesitate. He won't go far.

He didnt :)