Shot Placement.... a bit far back

[Hunt anything]

Looks to me like he hit the middle. Unfortunately not the vitals.

They said it didn’t go far, I find that a little hard to believe. Like someone said too low for kidneys and to me too far back for liver. Maybe he had a “fatty liver” like so many people these days? LOL

 

[Firebird]

In his book “Memoirs of an African Hunter” Ph Terry Irwin writes about training native game scouts. They had to hit a piece of paper on a tree trunk with a govt issue rifle. They argued that an elephant was so big they could hit that, while the paper was much too small and didn’t represent the size of an elephant at all!
Those who could not group shots on the paper did not get to work in game control.

 

[Denvir Tire]

If I could perhaps be allowed to differ a bit . . .

Anyone who hunts enough will make a bad shot from time to time . . . and frankly, I don't believe anyone who says they've never made a bad shot. We practice, we try our best, but sometimes we fail. When we do that, and the animal is wounded, we have to redouble our efforts to find the animal and end its suffering. And then practice some more.

But to pretend that bad shots don't happen, or to refuse to show them or talk about them, implies or suggests that there's been some intention involved, and I'd think that's very rarely the case (though I have heard of it).

There's nothing wrong with being honest and honestly appraising your shot and saying "I made a bad shot." In fact, it's a good thing. I know of young hunters who make a bad shot and feel as if they're the only one who's ever done that. I reassure them and get "but I never hear about it."

Well, read some of my hunt reports on this site and you'll see that I admit to making bad shots when they happen. And they do happen ( a certain mountain nyala comes immediately to mind . . .). If I'm ever completely calm and composed when looking at an animal through my scope . . . well, that will be the day I give up hunting.

Having said that, this particular shot on the eland was way too far back and they were lucky to recover it. It was a bad shot and not saying so does everyone, and most of all the hunter, a dis-service.

Show me someone who's never made a bad shot and I'll show you someone who hasn't hunted much...

 

[JimP]

Look like he was target shooting, shoot for the center of the target.

I'd say that the shooter did hit part of the liver hitting that far back.

 

[Safari Dave]

If the small intestines are where you want to shoot them...

Maybe the PH enjoys days of tracking.

Maybe he just likes to collect trophy fees on animals that will live to be wounded by the next archer.


(I know I've told this before, but on my first PG safari to South Africa, someone killed a wildebeest during a cull-hunt that was going on at the same time that I was there that had 6 or 7 broadheads in it)






Let's see...

Blue Wildebeest trophy fee - $1,000 - x 7 woundings = $7,000.00

Cull hunt trophy fee for wildebeest = $400.00

Lodging/daily rate/tip (for 8 trips for PG ) = $13,500.00

That archery-hunted, perforated wildebeest netted the safari company at least $20,000.00!



How much does a wildebeest cost a SA game ranch? $400?



Could I place an order for 25 ????

 

[pilar]

There are so many youtube videos of poorly hit animals it astounds me. We do people post videos of bad shooting

There is a video on YouTube of a guy hunting lion in RSA with a cross bow , first shot lion facing hunter, thunk right in the mouth/throat lion runs off , they walk up again & again & again, 4 arrows ;( , finally the lion charges and the three ph’s All shoot him with rifles ( & apologizing profusely “ we had to shoot in defense “)
if I owned that company no way in hell I would let the guy post that video especially on a cheesy CBL Hunt
very sad video

 

[BeeMaa]

The client may have had a severe case of buck (or eland in this case) fever. No telling what the cause could be for such an errant shot.

Easy to sit here and armchair quarterback. Fact is that if you hunt long enough, you will eventually encounter this. Maybe not personally doing it but being there and watching it happen. I suppose PH’s see this much more often than they would like.

Looks like a tough day for all involved.

 

[HookMeUpII]

If I could perhaps be allowed to differ a bit . . .

Anyone who hunts enough will make a bad shot from time to time . . . and frankly, I don't believe anyone who says they've never made a bad shot. We practice, we try our best, but sometimes we fail. When we do that, and the animal is wounded, we have to redouble our efforts to find the animal and end its suffering. And then practice some more.

But to pretend that bad shots don't happen, or to refuse to show them or talk about them, implies or suggests that there's been some intention involved, and I'd think that's very rarely the case (though I have heard of it).

There's nothing wrong with being honest and honestly appraising your shot and saying "I made a bad shot." In fact, it's a good thing. I know of young hunters who make a bad shot and feel as if they're the only one who's ever done that. I reassure them and get "but I never hear about it."

Well, read some of my hunt reports on this site and you'll see that I admit to making bad shots when they happen. And they do happen ( a certain mountain nyala comes immediately to mind . . .). If I'm ever completely calm and composed when looking at an animal through my scope . . . well, that will be the day I give up hunting.

Having said that, this particular shot on the eland was way too far back and they were lucky to recover it. It was a bad shot and not saying so does everyone, and most of all the hunter, a dis-service.

I don't disagree and I think the real problem here is the outfitter showcasing a bad shot. They happen. Animal moves, hunter just has a bad setup, grabs the trigger, etc.

The outfitter should have just let it be. Bad shot, lucky to recovery the animal, everyone still goes home happy...that should have been it. But nope. They chose to post it on social media. Why? I don't know.

Are they trying to advertise that you can make a bad shot and they will still find the animal? Are they trying to showcase the nice eland they have access to? I don't see anything positive from this. It brings bad press to Africa hunting.

 

[Bert the Turtle]

“Bit far back” may be classic British understatement (don’t know the cultural background of the person who said it). If so, it would translate to roughly " as I have no adjective to adequately describe the magnitude of your error, I will simply point it out to acknowledge that I fully recognize how much a mess of things you've made"

 

[ACM]

A man I knew for a long time that guided hog hunts with bow at night had a funny saying. In heavy Czech accent “Every time I ask a hunter where he hit a boar, they say behind the shoulder. There’s a lot behind the shoulder… the guts, the feet, the tail, the ass”
It’s much better with his accent and personality.