# Running Shots



## biggamehunter69 (Feb 6, 2006)

I need some help on practising for running shot. How do you guys practise? Any help would be great.


----------



## dlip (May 16, 2004)

You have to master a still shot first...Once you've done that, then you are as prepared as you can get, because you can't practice for a bouncing animal. That's why you take the shot while it is standing still, and not running away.


----------



## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

Exactly... :beer:


----------



## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

I agree with dlip, first master the standing shot from a variety of positions. I would rather take a 400 yard shot at an animal that is standing unalarmed than a 100 yard shot at one that is at warp speed heading for the next county. That is not to say that I don't take running shots, I do, if the conditions are right.

The disclaimer out of the way, I've found that one of the best things you can do to get partice on running shots is to hunt jack rabbits, small, fast and they change direction often, very difficult to hit when running.

huntin1


----------



## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

ditto on the jack bunnies.


----------



## Albertahunter (Oct 25, 2005)

put a target on an old tire and roll it down a hill at differnt yardages, that is good practice for running game


----------



## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

I agree with Hunt1.

another thing is go out and shoot clays with a shot gun, it will teach you follow through and not to stop and pull (bracketing).

I was watching Discovery here a while ago and they had a deal on about S.W.A.T and how they deal with hostages/ moving targets. they use a remote control car with helium baloons tied on at head height above the ground and they have another guy drive the car around. changing speeds and directions. I've wanted to play with this for a while, but have never gotting the opportunity. 
just an idea. 
xdeano


----------



## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

xdeano said:


> I was watching Discovery here a while ago and they had a deal on about S.W.A.T and how they deal with hostages/ moving targets. they use a remote control car with helium baloons tied on at head height above the ground and they have another guy drive the car around. changing speeds and directions. I've wanted to play with this for a while, but have never gotting the opportunity.
> just an idea.
> xdeano


I've seen that program too, and we did something similar at the last school I was at. They had a system set up that moved through the shoot house past the door and window openings and used metal plates that fell down when hit.
Also had golf balls suspended on string that were put in motion and we had to shoot them while they were moving.

The helium balloons also work just tied to anything heavy during a day with gusting winds, balloons move all over the place. And you can do this alone.

huntin1


----------



## goosehunter29 (Sep 23, 2003)

first figure out how much you will need to lead a moving target to hit it. For example a whitetail running fullspeed at 100 yards, with a bullet travelling at speed xxxx......I need to lead the deer by yyyy amount of feet. Then do 75.....150....200....250 (the hail mary). Then take these numbers and write them on a piece of paper that you tape to your stock. 
Then practise on coyotes....tires.....balloons with remote control car. People will say don't shoot at running game but how many of them would let a Booner go just because it running. Accuracy by volume is the best philosophy when shooting at something that is running. :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: reload :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper:

GH29


----------



## arctic plainsman (Aug 21, 2005)

Accuracy by volume,.....accuracy by volume,..............accuracy by volume,.......accuracy by volume,.............. I just can't make that line make sense no matter how many times I say it.

Man I hope you were kidding with that comment.

Hi, my name is Scott King in Dillingham Alaska, and I would pass the shot on a "Booner," if it were running. Slightly off subject, but has sport hunting turned into a competition to see who can achieve the highest score at all costs sportsmanship be darned? I thought we called that basketball or baseball.

I wish that rather than encouraging fellow sportsmen to risk loosing wounded game by taking running shots, we would offer advise on stalking closer, waiting for appropriate shot opportunities, careful bullet placement, etc,....... Is shooting at a "Booner," worth hitting him in the guts or foot, and sending him off over hill and dale to die a slow agonizing death? Who wins that game? Nobody.

Two years ago, while hunting sheep in Alaska, my partner and I spent the better part of a day stalking a group of four rams. Toward the end of the day, we were shut down when the rams bedded down in a piece of open ground, with no way for us to get any closer than about 800yds. Could we have used some "ranging fire"? Sure. Instead, we chose to return the next day from a different direction, and hope the sheep would also return to their same bed and our ambush. It worked, and my partner was lucky or blessed enough to take a 36" ram at 40 yds. Certainly not a "Booner," but a fine ram none the less.

Please, lets adhere to the ethics we were taught, not the record books we covet.


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Here in North Dakota I would estimate more than 75 percent of the deer are shot running. Up until I started long range hunting I seldom had the chance to shoot a standing deer. 
Where I hunt the deer move very little after opening day unless pushed. They moved through the pasture I hunted as if Scotty had them in warp factor three. As I grew older and the knees didn't like walking anymore I sat on a hilltop. Now if I sit up there they will stop, but none within 500 yards. It's not like your going to sneak up on them in that pasture, because you can see the toenails on a gopher at 100 yards. Not overgrazed, but a short grass pasture (dominated by short grass species). Dry prairie hills and the river valley, but a prairie valley with no trees and grass about four inches high in the fall. 
I could hunt a couple shelterbelts and shoot them at 10 yards, but I do that with a bow, and would feel like I was cheating with a rifle. Out in the open I will see ten times the deer, and I can entertain myself watching deer outwit hunters on the other side of the valley. 
I agree with the guys on hunting jackrabbits, and do it with your deer rifle not a 22 or shotgun.


----------



## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

arctic plainsman said:


> Accuracy by volume,.....accuracy by volume,..............accuracy by volume,.......accuracy by volume,.............. I just can't make that line make sense no matter how many times I say it.


Just another way of saying, "Spray and pray." :roll:



> Man I hope you were kidding with that comment.


Unfortunately, I don't think so.

I do not advocate "accuracy by volume" or "spray and pray" but,

Contrary to what you obviously believe artic plainsman it is possible to accurately and ethically take a shot at a running animal. As in all things, we each must recognize our own abilities, and more importantly, limitations.

Just because you can't, or choose not to, does not mean that we all must adhere to your standards, or anyone elses.

huntin1


----------



## goosehunter29 (Sep 23, 2003)

Scot in the open country, the buggers are never standing still. In a perfect world they would be standing broadside a 75 yards but it really never happens this way.


----------



## arctic plainsman (Aug 21, 2005)

I don't find it suprising that I can't argue with Plainsman or Huntin1.
But! I have hunted Nevada, Eastern Montana, Eastern Oregon, and a couple of other open country states, and have managed to successfully take good bucks, (4x4's, 4x5's,) without spraying and praying. I believe the Pope and Young record book has quite a few recordings of large deer taken with a bow in open country states, and that to me would indicate the ability to shoot so to speak from a reasonable distance. If a bow hunter can get within bow range of those big old fellers, I seem to think I can roll my beer gut within a couple hundred yards.
I agree that running shots can be safely taken. I suppose I reacted strongly to the accuracy by volume line. 
I haven't gone out hunting for the day yet with more than half a dozen shells on me, and I don't intend to. 
If I could disagree with you just a little Huntin1, I noticed you used the :roll: after one quote, and noted "unfortunately," after another quote, but then questioned my statement about ethics. Could it be that maybe I was right to call "accuracy by volume," unethical?
I'm not trying to rattle your cage, I just think I might be right for the first time ever.


----------



## goosehunter29 (Sep 23, 2003)

Everyone judges..............what would you do............peek rut and the bucks are running all day looking for hot does. It is 11 am and you are driving out to your favorite hunting spot. You look over in a field and see the biggest deer that you have ever seen. As soon as you stop the truck the monster starts racing through the field. You will never see this deer again. At this point your heart is racing at about 1000 beats per minute....... you are shaking so much from buck fever. What do you do???????? Watch him run????? Start pullin the trigger????? Keep in mind the adrenaline thats racing through your blood.


----------



## arctic plainsman (Aug 21, 2005)

Hey, I don't want to get into a big arguement with you, but see my earlier post regarding the sheep hunt!
I've been in your hypothetical situation, and I've passed!
It would bother me more to think about that big buck getting away to die of a gunshot thru the guts, than to pass on the shot, and never see him again. (I don't buy that one either, there's always tomorrow.)
Getting the big score at any cost is basketball, not hunting. I don't sling lead.


----------



## arctic plainsman (Aug 21, 2005)

I kinda flinch at the idea of me being judgemental, even though I know I am sometimes, (sorry to say,) but in some cases I think there is a clearly defined right and wrong. Accuracy by volume is one of them.
I'm sorry to offend!


----------



## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

I would never fire my rifle while I was running thats dangeous.


----------



## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

Running shots can be made.....but it take a good makesman or woman to do so.

I personally have taken lots of running shots with a shot gun at deer. No more than 70 yards. I have had great success. But shooting at a moving target takes practice and skill level.

Like others have mentioned. Shoot trap to learn lead. Then do the drills with the ballons, remote cars, tires, etc. Then go after the bunnies.

But like artic plainsman stated......has ethics taken a back seat to trophy's?

I think it has.

(not to pick on you goosehunter 29)...But that situation you stated is a very poor time to shoot. One you are getting out of a vehilce and in a hurry. Plus the deer is moving. That is a definate "DONT SHOOT". The odds of taking that game is very poor. Plus you are more likely to wound the game than making an effective kill.

Now in my experience. Last muzzleloader season. I shot a big doe and as I was reloading the buck of a lifetime ran by. (I would say at least a 10 pt with an additional back scrather). This was by far the biggest buck I have ever seen. Thick antlers, wide spread, and a drop. This deer stopped in the open about 70 yards for me broad side. I scrambled to reload. I put the cap on and then he started to run away from me, still in the open. I put the gun down and watched the beast run away. I could have shot but decided not to. The shot was well with in my range. But it was a poor shot. It was a low percentage of a clean kill. I could have hit it and then had to do some trailing. But is that ethical? in my book no.

Our jobs as sportsman and woman to to take game ethically and humanley. The whole one shot = one kill or the clean kill concept. That has seemed to be replaced by inches and scoring.

Sorry to get off topic. But yes practice with running shots and learn your level of comfort. Then make your choice if you can make the humane shot or not.


----------



## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

arctic plainsman said:


> If I could disagree with you just a little Huntin1, I noticed you used the :roll: after one quote, and noted "unfortunately," after another quote, but then questioned my statement about ethics. Could it be that maybe I was right to call "accuracy by volume," unethical?
> I'm not trying to rattle your cage, I just think I might be right for the first time ever.


Absolutely right about the accuracy by volume being unethical, I do not disagree with that at all. I guess what I was referring to, possibly not very clearly, is that it seemed from your post that any running shot was unethical, and that I don't agree with. I think that there is a time and place for them IF the guy taking them has practiced for them. And I believe that one needs to learn how to hunt, how to get close, right along with learning how to take running shots, but also that running shots are best avoided if possible.

A couple years ago I shot 2 bucks, one with archery in October, one with a rifle in November, and they were both opposite extremes. In oct. I shot a buck with archery standing at 5 yards, yes that's right, 5 yards-15 feet. The buck I shot with my rifle was running broadside at 300 yards.

huntin1


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I wouldn't disagree with you either arctic plainsman. I am not a big fan of semi auto's for that reason. If you like them fine, but last week-end I went the other way and traded my 22-250 Remington VS-SF for the new single shot XR100 Rangemaster. I think running or standing you learn to make the first shot count. As I remember, as a kid, I always got more cottontails and squirrels with my old sing shot than the kids with semi auto's did. I remember one friend had that old Remington Nylon model 66. He would spray the area like he was in a war, and nothing would be laying on the ground afterwards. If you want your kid to grow up a good shot start them with a single shot. They know they have one chance and learn to make it count.

I have always been going to make a running deer target. I want to put two posts about 60 yards apart on a hillside. One at the top of the hill, the other at the bottom. Then use a cardboard silhouette of a deer weighted at the bottom. Attach a strong cord from the top post to the bottom post, with two pulleys on it. Attach the deer front and back to the two pulleys. Attach a pulley to the post up top. Use my old Zebco salt water 808 with 40 pound test. Run the line through the top pulley and attack to the back of the deer. If I push the button to release the deer should go down the hill. Then I should be able to real it up and start over. Sounds good in my mind, and I think I will have to do it next summer just for fun.


----------



## 1fastskeeter (Mar 10, 2005)

I bought a computer program a few years ago when i got into reloading it also calculated lead on moving targets. Since then coyote hunting is alot easier. As far as deer, i find a loud whistle works better than gambling on a running shot, might be 25 yards farther but way easier.

just my opinion


----------



## People (Jan 17, 2005)

I have a picture on my wall that is a good size and has a nice edge that I can trace with the site. This allows cheap practice to make sure you have a smoth swing. Then go out and shoot some other critters like rabits and ...


----------



## DuaneinND (Jan 22, 2005)

Take a 4x8 sheet of plywood, draw a ipcture of a deer, with a circle for the vital area, mount it on a trailer, and find some fool- I mean friend- to pull it past you at 20mph and blaze away!
Seriously you could do something with some pulleys, rope and have the target pulled past the shooter- would cost a few $ but I guess it depends on your other options- rabbits are great if you have anuy to shoot.


----------



## zogman (Mar 20, 2002)

Make sure to have a long tongue on the tralier :toofunny: :stirpot:


----------



## Hawkseye (Nov 21, 2005)

I think that if you do enough "unsupported offhand shooting" at 100 yards at clay pigeons and tin cans, you will develop a natural pointing reflex for running targets. Early training with a single shot .22 and lots of squirrel hunting is definitely a big advantage in developing the natural pointing reflex. I also do a significant amount of handgun shooting at moving targets, which really sharpens the eye, and shot coordination. It all adds up.

The bench rest is good for seeing what the rifle can do, but that completed, get away from the bench with everything you shoot.


----------



## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

go out on a windy day with some baloons and let them go.... cheap and easy, haha thats me!


----------



## Alaskan Brown Bear Killer (Feb 22, 2005)

checkout this shot
http://break.com/index/best_shot_in_new_mexico.html


----------



## Aussie (May 22, 2005)

In Finland you must be able to place your shot on a moving sillouette before you are allowed to go on a moose hunt. They are driven hunts. Hunters in New Zealand shoot deer from helicopters for the game meat trade. A couple of months ago the rural lands protection board conducted an arial shoot for feral pigs along our local river in various spots, two of them are no more than five miles from where I live, one next to where I work most of the time. I drove down near the river, next to a cotton field when I heard the chopper. I couldn't tell if they were using 308's or shotguns, it's a bit hard to tell when they are shooting at tree top height, with the noise of the engine. A lot of arial culling is done down here. An old stockman(cowboy) I worked with some years ago, shot alot of Dingo's from a chopper with a Win 94 30-30, he said it wasn't hard once you got your eye in, shoot a bit underneath them.
95% of my pig(hog) shooting is done on the run I just drive around until we find some, then get in front of them. If they are on a crop cut them off before they get to the timber line or bush, then shoot at indiviguals running towards you, past you and away from you. The best advice I could give anyone is, as you are raising your rifle to your shoulder scan the background carefully if you do not have a clear view of the projectiles path to ground beyond your intended target, do not shoot. If you have a clear view swing past the target, use more lead than you think you need, better to miss than gut shoot something.


----------



## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

I guess I read some of those threads differently. I am not a fan of "spray and pray." However, I took the "accuracy by volume" phrase to mean lots of practice. Some people are inherently better running shots. With the proper training and lots of practice, anyone can get better. An old friend of mine used to go out to an old deserted bar (waaaaaay out in the middle of nowhere) and throw bricks on the roof. When they rolled off, he shot them with a Marlin 336 in 35 Rem. (I said he was a friend, I didn't say he was brilliant.) He was the best wing shot in any situation I ever saw. I would go pheasant hunting with him and wouldn't load my gun. I never got a chance to shoot. Another friend of mine put a sawed off barrel (it was bore choke, but still legal length) and hand loaded his shotgun shells to have optimum spread at 15 25 and 35 yards with that barrel. He was able to shoot the first shot from the hip if they jumped close enough. Well, to get back to the point, the wing shot could shoot anything if it was moving, but he missed the biggest buck of his life at 40 yards with his rifle over the hood of his truck with the deer standing still, broadside. (I also didn't say he was the most ethical hunter I've known.) He hit it at about 80 yards moving at the speed of light. There's no justice.


----------

