Wounded? Yes or No?

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I was going through some of the old threads and happened to come across a topic that made me think that it would bring about some constructive discussion which is probably due for some renewal. Hopefully, some of the members who are yet to embark on their first safari will find this useful.
The post is simply for educational purposes.

When, in your eyes as a hunter, do you accept that an animal has been wounded as opposed to a clean miss?

 

[Flipper Dude]

I would suppose blood for me. I was going to include an obvious reaction to the shot, like a classic drop and rear kick, but in that instance you’ll find your trophy quickly. I suppose a drop to the ground right at the shot, lie for a short time then get up and escape would qualify as well.

 

[JimP]

To me it is the animals reaction. But I have had them rear up on their rear legs, take off like shot out of a cannon, just stand there, and a few other things.

On my last hunt I took a shot at a kudu. My PH and tracker said "good shot" but a hour later he was finally on the ground. Fractions of a inch really matter. We tracked that bull from the thick brush to some open country and then back to patchy brush to finally get the second bullet into him and needing a third when he got back up as we approached.

I have also had animals that took off with zero sign that they had been hit. I had a mule deer at 20 yards once where after I took the shot took off. I checked where he was standing, no blood. I looked again and no clipped hairs. I followed his tracks, still no blood. I went back to where I shot him from and made sure that I was looking at the correct place. I was. I figured that It was a clean miss, I didn't know how but that is what the evidence said. I headed back to my truck for some lunch only to come upon this buck laying in the trail surrounded in a pool of blood. He had ran a good 100 yards before he dropped.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I have also had animals that took off with zero sign that they had been hit. I had a mule deer at 20 yards once where after I took the shot took off. I checked where he was standing, no blood. I looked again and no clipped hairs. I followed his tracks, still no blood. I went back to where I shot him from and made sure that I was looking at the correct place. I was. I figured that It was a clean miss, I didn't know how but that is what the evidence said. I headed back to my truck for some lunch only to come upon this buck laying in the trail surrounded in a pool of blood. He had ran a good 100 yards before he dropped.

Barnes?

 

[sgt_zim]

Man, tough question.

I shot a white tail buck a number of years ago from a tree stand, only about 65 yards or so, 30-06, 165 gr pills, slight quartering-to shot. The buck didn't even react to the shot, let alone act as though he'd been hit. He just kept walking into a privet thicket 30 or 40 yards away. I sat there stunned, asking myself "how did I miss that???"

My youngest son was with me, he was probably 7 or 8 at the time. I finally said "well, let's go down there and see if there's any blood on the ground." It turned out to be a very good hit, with a nice pool of blood on the ground where he was standing when I shot, and a patent enough blood trail that my young son was able to "lead" the tracking job, right up to the dead buck 50 or 60 yards away.

Sometimes they act like they've been shot when they haven't been, sometimes they act like they haven't been shot when they have been. I just don't have a hard and fast rule on it.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Sometimes they act like they've been shot when they haven't been, sometimes they act like they haven't been shot when they have been. I just don't have a hard and fast rule on it.

This is exactly what we are referring to. Now, when there are trophy fees on the line to complicate things even further, how does one come to an agreement?

Of course, I'm only playing devils advocate here.

That Zebra in your avatar by the way is unreal. Simply magnificent.

 

[BnC 04]

Just my 2 pennies worth but I would think if blood, meat, hair ect is found at the target site or following the tracks then I would expect to pay the associated fee.
A simple "looks like you hit it, you owe me" probably would require a bit further investigation.

 

[sgt_zim]

This is exactly what we are referring to. Now, when there are trophy fees on the line to complicate things even further, how does one come to an agreement?

Of course, I'm only playing devils advocate here.

That Zebra in your avatar by the way is unreal. Simply magnificent.

That zebra was just pure luck. I'd been hunting them for 3 days, this was the first one I saw where the view wasn't of a back side heading away in a cloud of dust. She just stood there broadside, unaware of my existence until she got slammed with a 286 gr A Frame.

Same safari back in August, I was out after blesbok. I had a fairly open shot at a ram from about 150 yards or so. It was a smooth miss, and I'm blaming a twig or something between me and the ram that deflected the bullet cuz I *never* miss. In all seriousness, I just knew it was a clean miss. How did I know? I could have been wrong, my PH too. But after 40+ years of shooting, I can just sort of "feel" where my bullet went.

Long way of saying that in some cases, we just have to rely on intuition, which for many of us is informed by decades of hunting and shooting experience.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Just my 2 pennies worth but I would think if blood, meat, hair ect is found at the target site or following the tracks then I would expect to pay the associated fee.
A simple "looks like you hit it, you owe me" probably would require a bit further investigation.

So, you get set up on a Waterbuck at 30 yards. They are feeding, unaware to your presence. The shot rings, he flinches and runs off. No blood to be found. They are notoriously tough, and are known not to throw a lot of blood. How would you handle that?

 

[1dirthawker]

re: the waterbuck,

i would ask one of those amazing trackers to follow the beast, i would be in tow with a loaded rifle. the odds of missing clean with a rifle are very, very small at 30 yards (unless brush was involved, then maybe don't shoot) but, i would expect that i would be paying for that animal.

had a similar deal shooting at an impala, 180 yards, facing me off sticks. (3006 loaner rifle) the shot felt perfect when the trigger broke. ram ran off with 4 of his buddies. ph asked how the shot felt, told him, it felt perfect. i did not hear the bullet hit, and recoil kept me from seeing the reaction of the ram.

ph started tracking, followed for 250-300 yards, no blood. (i still don't know how he followed that ram) then points at a single drop, so, i knew i was paying for the ram regardless at that point. 20 feet later, another drop, ph says "lung blood, we will find him soon now" 30 feet farther was a dead impala.

so, at a reasonable distance, i would assume a hit animal until proven otherwise. i don't want to pay for stuff i missed, but, i felt comfortable enough to send the bullet, i have to assume i hit it.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

so, at a reasonable distance, i would assume a hit animal until proven otherwise. i don't want to pay for stuff i missed, but, i felt comfortable enough to send the bullet, i have to assume i hit it.

Interesting way of looking at it, as compared to assume missed until proven otherwise.

Long way for an Impala to go after clipping a lung. Kudos to the PH.

 

[JimP]

Barnes?

Yes, it was a 225 grain TTSX out of my 340 Weatherby.

It managed to just miss the lungs and heart on a slight angle we found out at the skinning shed. It did have a nice exit wound.

 

[Hunt anything]

No matter what happens after the shot I will go look for sign of a hit, I’ve seen all sorts of reactions from both hits and misses. On the paying a trophy fee it would be blood, hair or meat and maybe the thump of a hit.

 

[Vintageguy]

I think there has to be an agreed upon benchmark met for a charge to take place and blood being found is a the most common. I once tracked a deer several hundred yards with no blood found because I knew my crosshairs were right where they needed to be when the sear broke. I saw no indication of a hit and discovered about 50 yards from my position and about half way to the deer a clearly hit branch. The deer was found by the tracks only. Another deer I saw a good reaction from at the shot and found a small amount of blood where it stood ran for 1/2 mile without slowing and crossed onto land strictly closed to outsiders. I killed that very same buck, positive Id beyond question, a week later with a nicely healing gash across the top of his shoulders from my ball the week before when he ducked at the flash and short delay from my flintlock because of my leaving the load from the previous day in it rather than loading fresh that morning. He was running a doe at the time.

 

[PARA45]

After I've exhausted all possibilities, and I've looked in and out. Two stories below.

A good friend shot at a buck at about 110 yds at last light. With the recoil he didn't notice if the buck jumped, kicked or anything. We went looking, where my friend saw the buck run in the woods. We looked to close to two hours and nothing, not a drop of blood. When my friend comes to me and said, let's go, I think I must have missed him. I said, let's look one last time. We want back to where the buck had gone in the woods, we follow doing circles to try and find any blood and nothing. Again, an hour or so has gone by and we are about to call it, when I just happened to look down, and there was a speck of blood half the size of a grain of rice. I said blood, and now this hound dog was on point. We found the buck about 85 yds from where we were looking. My friend bought me a nice box of cigars for my work. LOL.
Story 2. I shot a whitetail buck at about 95 yds away or so. It was in the peak of the rut. I shot this buck with a 7mm Weatherby Magnum, using 139 grs bullets Weatherby factory ammo. I shot and there was no reaction at all, so I was like, WTF, and reloaded. The buck started to turn to the left, when I was ready to pull the trigger again, the buck wabbled and dropped dead. That buck didn't know he was dead. The bullet went between ribs and made a pencil size exit with no blood. Once on the ground, there was a good size pool of blood.

 

[USN]

Trust the PH and trackers, I as the hunter know if it was a hit most of the time. If a question arises as to hit or not comes up I will defer to the pros. That said, would never hunt with a PH that I didn’t trust 100%.
That’s where only going with “outstanding” outfits, such as yours comes into play.