Wounded? Yes or No?

[JG26Irish_2]

I agree 100% with the comments to trust your PH with regards to hits. My earlier point was that animals do not always react the same to hits and some do not react at all to fatal shots. A fresh blood trail is a pretty definitive indicator. Also, the sound of the bullet impact is another. However, the lack of that sound does not mean the animal was missed. Often, a double lung broadside shot that is a bit too far back will not make enough of an audible impact sound to be heard over the rifle shot. If you hear it you know but if you do not, you cannot assume it was a miss. Several of the clear indicators such as fall, hump up, jump, buck, run with the front leg limp, etc are all great indicators of an animal that was hit. Just, know that if none of those were evident, you still may have killed or wounded the beast.

Even a very experienced big game hunter cannot come close to the level of real world expertise that a modestly experienced PH will possess. Think about it. We hunt for a week or 10 days or perhaps a bit longer every year or two in Africa, plus maybe an annual deer/elk/antelope hunt in NA if we are lucky. A good PH who stays booked most of the African season may hunt 200 days out of the year and literally witness hundreds of animals reactions every season. So, yes trust your PH. He/She is going to go out of his/her way to treat you right and, if possible, recover your animal. If you do not believe that, then I would suggest that you may not be hunting with the right outfit.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

I agree 100% with the comments to trust your PH with regards to hits. My earlier point was that animals do not always react the same to hits and some do not react at all to fatal shots. A fresh blood trail is a pretty definitive indicator. Also, the sound of the bullet impact is another. However, the lack of that sound does not mean the animal was missed. Often, a double lung broadside shot that is a bit too far back will not make enough of an audible impact sound to be heard over the rifle shot. If you hear it you know but if you do not, you cannot assume it was a miss. Several of the clear indicators such as fall, hump up, jump, buck, run with the front leg limp, etc are all great indicators of an animal that was hit. Just, know that if none of those were evident, you still may have killed or wounded the beast.

Even a very experienced big game hunter cannot come close to the level of real world expertise that a modestly experienced PH will possess. Think about it. We hunt for a week or 10 days or perhaps a bit longer every year or two in Africa, plus maybe an annual deer/elk/antelope hunt in NA if we are lucky. A good PH who stays booked most of the African season may hunt 200 days out of the year and literally witness hundreds of animals reactions every season. So, yes trust your PH. He/She is going to go out of his/her way to treat you right and, if possible, recover your animal. If you do not believe that, then I would suggest that you may not be hunting with the right outfit.

Well said

Trust your ph and tracker!!

 

[russ473]

Normally PH and tracker can hear if its a hit or not and can see the animals reaction, ive tracked clients animals for a long distance without blood and then found the animal with a huge pool of blood, can be very tricky situation and call to make...

 

[IvW]

What I am concerned about is how do you take a shot at night at eyes and make a totally un educated guess as to where to aim? Left or right of the eyes? How low? How far left or right?
Baffles my brains.....

We all wound animals, sometimes things happen like twigs or brush in the way that was not visible etc. But making sure of the shot before pulling the trigger will go a long way to avoiding these issues.

Yes we have all wounded animals....

 

[SoVa]

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.

I agree with @BnC 04 i will add that this conversation is best had with your PH/guide before the hunting starts so everyone knows the rules they are playing by not after the shot in question has happened.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

This thread and a few other recent posts have mentioned wounding animals that go unrecovered. These uncertain shots hitting animals or possible misses, shooting through brush or trees on on multiple occasions resulting in bad shots and wounding animals, some shots on animals with blood trails that indicate hits and are deemed likely non-terminal, are both concerning and confusing to me.

Likely due to my experience in South Africa where, as I understand it, if you draw blood you are responsible for the animal shot. My understanding is, unless there is some very specific circumstance that concludes in a mutual agreement of dismissal of the responsibility, the animal shot has to be paid for by the person that shot it, even if it is not recovered. Is this true for other African countries? Are animals in other countries where the concession is low fence for example, considered “free game”? If so, is the animal that is shot, not the responsibility of the shooter?

It is my inexperience with other African countries (Other than SA) that raises the questions.

Why not just pass on a bad or uncertain shot, instead of taking the chance of mortally wounding an animal? I have passed on bad or uncertain shots many times in Africa…