Impressive !! Great consistent rifle shooting by any standard. I don’t think many in the U.S. get to practice much on running big game. A friend told me that shooting at running jack rabbits as a kid helped him learn to shoot a rifle well on moving targets - no one cares about missing or wounding & losing a rabbit. But when you only have one Elk tag or one deer tag - most wait for a standing shot. Now after that guy in the video was done hunting - did he promptly return his Rifle to the local Police Department (for safe storage) and account for every round of ammo he used? Actually, makes his shooting prowess even more Impressive because he might Not be allowed to shoot as often as he likes and have all the ammo he needs??
I do well enough at running targets. I confess to missing a very close running shot at a gemsbuck bull a couple weeks ago. That was a rare miss. The scope was cranked up to 6x and he was running through some partial brush. But it turns out I already hit him in the neck with first shot as he busted. After the miss he ran a short ways and turned to face me. I think he was about done. Heart shot in the chest finished it.
Personally, I think skeet is much better practice. Many of the sporting clays presentations would never be encountered shooting running game (e.g. jumping teal, falling bateau, overhead flyers). Every station at skeet is good practice: crossing, going away, and incoming. And LEARN TO SHOOT LOW GUN. Pulling targets with the gun shouldered doesn't help you at all.
Agreed. I guess I use the words interchangeably because that’s all I’ve ever known at my sportsman club.
Most of the men I grew up around used cooey 39s unless they were hunting in a group, I learned alone with a winchester model 62 and in groups with a shotgun.
I’ve been giving more thought to this statement about Americans on TV waiting stop before pulling the trigger vs European driven hunts. Most American hunts are done individually no dogs no groups. European stalking hunts will wait just the same for an animal to stop. I’ve participated in a two day driven hunt in Spain called Monteria. There were 24 shooters and a very large number of dogs 100+. There was some very poor shooting on display by several hunters. However, no game was lost because of the dogs. Large group hunts with dogs make these running shots much more ethical than the majority of American hunts where in some cases a dog cannot be used whatsoever and might be several hours before your friends can come help you.
What is missing in the video - the Out takes (misses - wounded game). All hunting videos show case the “success”, none of the famous gunmakers that show their rifles taking game at 700 - 1500 yrds show the “wounded animals”. I am sure the shoooter in the video is a fine Rifleman and far better then most - but he misses and wounds also —— just less often. A miss on a Boar (pig) rarely matters but a trophy Elk, Grizzly, Deer is another matter and “waiting” for a standing shot will almost always have a higher success rate. Only wounded game or very close running shots make sense for big game hunting — in my opinion (except Pigs, coyotes or other varmints).
In the US I’d fully agree with you. In Europe though many trophy hunts are done with drives. Especially Spain because some properties are difficult to hunt by stalking for deer, so a driven hunt is used as a once per year management tool. The Monteria I participated in was 24 hunters each with a quota of 4 stags, 4 females, and unlimited boars if seen. My first day stand location had shots to about 250 yards looking at a hillside but I could wait for an animal to pause. The second day I was set up on a corner where 50 yards would be the longest shot all running fast. With the dogs available for follow up, I thought it was fine to hunt deer this way. I shot well thankfully, one boar and one female required a short follow up. I took 4 stags, 4 females, 2 boars. I chose a lower priced Monteria without big trophies but others get deer as nice as you will take by stalking. Big Boars are highly valued in Europe as a game animal as well, not like feral hogs in US. Here was second day Monteria results.
I guess the dogs got to that big one first?
With that many dogs the handlers do their best, but yes. You cannot leave your stand location for safety reasons until the drive is over.
