Your MOST Unbelievable HUNTING shot(s)

[BWD]

This thread is a perfect example why one might want to leave ethical or not ethical out of the equation. If you think you can make the shot... take it,imo. Like RC says, "if ain't nothing flying, ain't nothing dying".

[Brianlocal3]

My best to date was during a fall turkey/deer outing.
I was still hunting thru the oaks when I heard a sound that could only be a flock of turkey's down the ridge in the creek bottom.
As I worked my way down I could see them about 60 yards, and they were heading towards a CRP field.  I couldn't make it to them in time and they soon disappeared into the grass. I decided to follow anyway, hoping my noise would be covered by their own.

I could see the grass moving ahead, but no birds. Finally at about 30 yards they flush up and start to fly towards the Treeline, and without thinking I swung up and released. I center punched the trailing bird and it dropped in the field like a brick. I couldn't believe it. Then I took me another 45 min just to find it in the 5' talk grass .

Another one of my favorites was where I was set up 1/2" up a steep ridge with my set up facing the creek bottom.  I had a big long nose doe heading my way, when all of a sudden she stops, stomps and hightails it outta there. Just at that time I hear rustling to my right coming from the bottoms, as I look over a coyote is trotting up the creek bottom towards the doe.  I swung up, released and watched my arrow take it in the neck. I found him 25 yards later under a gnarly Osage tree.

[Sockrsblur]

Great great stories! Thanks for posting them guys. Ken I laughed out loud at the arrow going through the top of the tent! I could totally picture it, I love watching arrows fly far and free like that... simple beauty.

[ThePushArchery]

This is a great thread.

I have one that stands out in my mind, that is small game related. The big game I've killed have been pretty standard 10 - 25 yard shots from ground and tree. Nothing to write home about.

I had just recently switched to shooting dedicated vertical bow with a lengthy pause at anchor. Really working on my form to get to a solid anchor and expand through the shot with my back. I was sitting about 20 feet up in my climber at the top of a hill. The hill sloped down behind me extremely aggressively. A squirrel did a 10 yard loop in front of me, and headed down the hill never stopping to offer me a shot.

He finally stopped off my left shoulder down the hill. I thought to myself, "shooting vertical bow, I can get my bow pretty close to this tree and shoot over here" never with the intention of actually taking a shot this far down in elevation and distance.

I drew just to feel how it felt. Once I got to anchor and started expanding, it felt perfect, my sight picture looked perfect. So I loosed the string. The arrow struck right behind the squirrels shoulder and he was dead on the spot.

My hunting partner came over to my tree on the way out, and I asked him to recover the squirrel and pace it off. 37 paces with about 40 feet of elevation difference between the squirrel down the hill and my 20 feet up the tree. It was incredible.

[Mudd]

I remembered one more.

I had been doing some horse trading and got a "Sheldon" in trade.

Like always I try to get new bows to the range ASAP so off I went.

I had just laid the bow down to retrieve my arrows from the target when I hear something in the tree tops of the tall pines.

I see a Fox squirrel in the very top jumping from tree to tree. I grabbed my bow and a small game arrow,swinging up and releasing, almost all in one motion.

Here is the results:  

 

 

I looked for the photo of the squirrel fried on my plate with mashed potatoes and gravy. (not found)...lol

God bless,Mudd

[longbowman]

Way back in time, 1967 to be exact, I was still trying to kill my first deer with a bow.  I only knew a couple of people who ever did it.  I was sitting on a limb of an apple tree on the edge of a field where I had seen deer eating before.  A dusk 3 doe come out half way across the field an walking briskly left to right like they had some place to go.  I knew they weren't coming my way, Fred Bear and Howard Hill can do it so I draw back my 45# Browning, hold a million feet high and way out in front of the lead doe and let it go.  The deer kept walking, my arrow was on its way down and I thought, "Wow, that's gonna be close!"  Suddenly I see a massive amount of blood on the side of the doe and she makes it 30 yds and goes down!  77 yds!  I've been doing this for many years now and would never dream of taking such a thoughtless shot like that again but it was amazing at the time!

[Biggamefish]

About 3-4 years ago I was hunting with my father.  We had sat the morning and like always we got down and walked around, ate lunch and did some shooting before we got back on stand.  We were walking through an open field with a pond above us and I see a dragon fly zig zagging over the grass.  My father must of saw it at the same time as me cause we both just looked at each other.  I could tell by his face he was saying you couldn't hit that in a million years.  Not to let my father down I drew a 2117 with a 125grn judo out.  Strung it on my 43# Ben Person Mace.  I looked out at the dragon fly racing from my left to right, pulled back and let the arrow fly.  The Dragon fly split in two at 10 yards out.  My father just shook his head as he stared at me.  I naturally told him with such an amazing shot he had to do the cleaning and cooking of it.        

  He made me a little plack for it with a new york hunting tag and all and gave it to me for Christmas I still have hanging on my wall.

[Ray Lyon]

Well, it's interesting that Terry put a 3 story limit on because that's what I have. I'd have to say mine were all about 'witnesses' making them 'great'.  

The first was way back in the early 1970's. I grew up on a cherry farm and we had some large mowed yards. I would spend a lot of time chasing gophers around the farm, both out in the orchards and in the yard.  Well, mom was out doing some stuff in the front of the house and a gopher popped up some distance away as I had just come out of the house with my Howard Hill longbow and Judo tipped cedar shaft.  I said 'mom, watch this', drew back, released and after a second, wallop. Drilled him from 39 yards. Mom shrieked and I whooped it up.  

Number two came in the late 80's when I used to travel to Montana to hunt elk and mule deer in the Big Sky area. A compound hunting friend of mine and I were doing a day trip up the mountain and had just started in when a 3x3 buck stood up. I was in the lead and using a Howard Hill back quiver still. I had an arrow on the string and off before the buck moved and hit him as pretty as you could want. He trotted about 35 yards and tipped over. We paced off the shot afterwards and it was 33 yards. My buddy said 'I had just started reaching for an arrow and you'd already had yours in the air'.  

The third came when I was hunting with another friend who was toting a compound. We were hunting southern MI farm country with little plots of hardwoods and lots of fence rows and scrub areas.  We got close to his parents house and pulled out the judo points because we often see rabbits along the path to the house. As we moved along slowly, a rabbit took off through the briars about 10 steps away and as I drew and swung with him he approached a small opening and I bowled him over as he hit the opening.  My buddy said he couldn't believe I made that shot.

Well, there you have it. As I said, I think the fun of all those was having someone to enjoy the moment with.

- The Jerry Pierce Buck    nov.27 1999

This is a true story, a short version !

I hunted NJ NY and Pa. all my life -- Thousands of hours in a tree stand over a 40  year period !
Now I venture to Iowa--- the trip, the so called guide - Outfitter-- is yet another story.
I had to put off the trip until the week of Thanks Giving--- I passed some nice bucks-- my so called guide after a week of hunting
my so called guide said are you going to shoot a deer with that recurve ! How BIG of a buck
 do you want to shoot--
I said, I  will know it when I see him --
It was the last day of my hunt--- he said -- pick you up at 10:30  
 
The morning was the first real cool day of the week. I saw  a coyote and some pheasants--
It's now 10:25    something told me to stay.
All the time I am ther I just know it it going to happen-- just a feeling-- I feel confident--
At 10:30  I am not ready to leave. I say one more minute--  
That is when I hear it, somone walking in the Switch Grass--  I can't see far in the ambush spot. He popps over the fence--
Like a dream -- is this realy hapening-- wake up Rob
How big is he--- the biggest deer of my life---
will probably never see one bigger--- ( I never have)
If he continues up the hill, I will not get a shot-- if he makes a left turn down the trail.
It will happen !   HERE HE COMES, WALKING SLOW WITH HIS TOUNG HANGING OUT,HEAD DOWN FROM HAVING SOME FUN. dESPITE A FULL MOON ALL WEEK.  hE IS HEADED BACK TO HIS BED.
sCOUTING DURING THE WEEK, i THINK HE IS THE ONE i SAW - JUST A FLASH - THIS WAS THICK COVER--  
tHERE WAS ONLY A FEW TREES ON THE SIDE HILL.
tHE ONLY PLACE FOR ANY KIND OF STAND .
ok HERE COME THE EXCHUSES - i HAVE BEEN IN THE STAND FOR 5 HOURS-- i HAVE NOT PULLED BACK MY BOW-- my  65# jERRY pIERCE BOW FEELS LIKE 100 POUNDS - AS i DRAW BACK-- HE IS POINT BLANK--
HE IS MASSIVE-- WITH POINTS ALL OVER, THE BASE OF HIS ANTLERS HAVE ABOUT 2" OF CEDAR BARK ON THEM--
All the practice, all the thoughs of what to do go out the window, I cannot wait as he comes down he trail-- more like a rabbit path--
I can't wait, I make the mistake of not letting him get broadside. He is quARTERING  TOWARD ME
I pull back - I hit the wall - the arrow is gone.
Can't take it back--  
He never  looses his  stride, a combination of crunchy leaves and a quite bow - or God !  he never hears a thing.
Except for the next arrow that comes out of the quiver - ( the fastest draw I ever made) the rubber on the quiver makes a tiny little squeek.
He stops right below, he looks up--eye ball to eye ball. Minutes go by, my my arm is getting tired. The other hand holding the arrow is now startring to shake. wHEN WILL THIS END
IN one giant leap he is out of sight. I turn completely around, never expecting to shoot in that direction.
There he is     -}----->     to be continued !

- The Jerry Pierce Buck    nov.27 1999

This is a true story, a short version !

I hunted NJ NY and Pa. all my life -- Thousands of hours in a tree stand over a 40  year period !
Now I venture to Iowa--- the trip, the so called guide - Outfitter-- is yet another story.
I had to put off the trip until the week of Thanks Giving--- I passed some nice bucks-- my so called guide after a week of hunting
my so called guide said are you going to shoot a deer with that recurve ! How BIG of a buck
 do you want to shoot--
I said, I  will know it when I see him --
It was the last day of my hunt--- he said -- pick you up at 10:30  
 
The morning was the first real cool day of the week. I saw  a coyote and some pheasants--
It's now 10:25    something told me to stay.
All the time I am ther I just know it it going to happen-- just a feeling-- I feel confident--
At 10:30  I am not ready to leave. I say one more minute--  
That is when I hear it, somone walking in the Switch Grass--  I can't see far in the ambush spot. He popps over the fence--
Like a dream -- is this realy hapening-- wake up Rob
How big is he--- the biggest deer of my life---
will probably never see one bigger--- ( I never have)
If he continues up the hill, I will not get a shot-- if he makes a left turn down the trail.
It will happen !   HERE HE COMES, WALKING SLOW WITH HIS TOUNG HANGING OUT,HEAD DOWN FROM HAVING SOME FUN. dESPITE A FULL MOON ALL WEEK.  hE IS HEADED BACK TO HIS BED.
sCOUTING DURING THE WEEK, i THINK HE IS THE ONE i SAW - JUST A FLASH - THIS WAS THICK COVER--  
tHERE WAS ONLY A FEW TREES ON THE SIDE HILL.
tHE ONLY PLACE FOR ANY KIND OF STAND .
ok HERE COME THE EXCHUSES - i HAVE BEEN IN THE STAND FOR 5 HOURS-- i HAVE NOT PULLED BACK MY BOW-- my  65# jERRY pIERCE BOW FEELS LIKE 100 POUNDS - AS i DRAW BACK-- HE IS POINT BLANK--
HE IS MASSIVE-- WITH POINTS ALL OVER, THE BASE OF HIS ANTLERS HAVE ABOUT 2" OF CEDAR BARK ON THEM--
All the practice, all the thoughs of what to do go out the window, I cannot wait as he comes down he trail-- more like a rabbit path--
I can't wait, I make the mistake of not letting him get broadside. He is quARTERING  TOWARD ME
I pull back - I hit the wall - the arrow is gone.
Can't take it back--  
He never  looses his  stride, a combination of crunchy leaves and a quite bow - or God !  he never hears a thing.
Except for the next arrow that comes out of the quiver - ( the fastest draw I ever made) the rubber on the quiver makes a tiny little squeek.
He stops right below, he looks up--eye ball to eye ball. Minutes go by, my my arm is getting tired. The other hand holding the arrow is now startring to shake. wHEN WILL THIS END
IN one giant leap he is out of sight. I turn completely around, never expecting to shoot in that direction.
There he is     -}----->     to be continued !

[Sockrsblur]

Ok I'll ask... where is Charlie Lamb?  

[D. Key]

Mine was more of a self defense move than anything.  No...It wasn't on the Plains of Africa against a 500 pound Black Mane Male Lion or Kodiak Island against a 1200 pound Kodiak Brown Bear, it was in a ground blind in Central Texas a few years ago while deer hunting.  I was hunting an oat food plot, sitting against an scrub oak tree when a killer 2 pound fox squirrel decided I looked like a 180 pound acorn.  He came at me with the intent to kill and eat me (alive if necessary). I've seen hundreds of squirrels in my days but this one was on a Seal Team 6; Search and Destroy mission to take no prisoners.  In an instant after he saw me he leaped from an adjacent oak onto the top of my back rest oak and closed the distance in about 1/2 of a second.  Like a flash he was barking and chirping unlike anything I had ever heard.  Instinctively (and out of complete fear for my life), I stood and drew my Morrison Cheyenne recurve, just to shoot in his direction, in an effort to distract him from his "Mission to Kill".  To my disbelief the Cedar shaft with a Zwickey Black Diamond entered just behind the head and pinned him to the oak, only 18" away.  Heaven only knows what would have happened if my instinctive shooting skills had not taken over for me and saved my life.

[ChuckC]

well, this was unbelievable. . .  Went hunting with two buddies when I lived in the Memphis TN area, a long time ago.  We drove to the site together and then split up to hunt.  Mid morning, I hear something approaching, but it didn't sound like a deer.  Here comes buddy #1, head down, talking to himself.  He asked if he could borrow an arrow so he could keep hunting.   ? ? ? ?

Well, at first light, a big ol skunk walked under his tree and he nailed it. . . to the ground.  It started fighting and fussing and SPRAYING and so he kept shooting.  Quiver completely empty (6 arrows), he climbs down and runs to buddy #2, tells the story and they go back to his tree where B2 shoots almost all of his arrows (5) at the skunk before he stops moving.  At which time they discovered the skunk was standing on a gravel bar, just under the dirt and all of the arrows were toast.

To make it worse, after we loaded for the drive home, he took off real fast onto the highway and his spit can (we all chewed like hell back then) came tumbling off the dash and spilled all over.

Yup. .  unbelievable
ChuckC

[Terry Green]

These are great.  Yeah, the Tent shot is pretty unique and unbelievable. Right up this threads ally.

Keep them coming....    

[KyRidgeRunner]

Love this thread...  No amazing  stories to tell but have enjoyed everyone else's!

[habujohn]

I love the stories, Barry Wensel should tell his mountain lion tale on here.  I have a few but my favorite was a bear hunt that I did in Northern Michigan back in the early 80's.  The week long archery bear season was on it's last day in early October.  The bear of my dreams is coming in from the south but stops on a windfall some 50 yards out and sits there checking the wind.  He gets his break as the wind swirls in his favor and with out hesitation he bails off the windfall.  I knew the area very well and soon he was on a well worn trail that wraps around me.  The bruin is moving at a lope and from my left to right.  There is a very small gap between two poplar trees and the runway is right behind the trees that the bear is heading up.  My bow comes up and just before his nose hits the opening I let her loose.  The 2117 shaft tipped with a big old snuffer cuts through the chest and out the other side, sticking in the dirt as the bear puts it into overdrive.  He makes the top of the ridge and piles up, my first P & Y bear on the run at 32 yards.

[tim roberts]

It was a long, hard day on the water, first time shooting carp in the deep stuff. The fish were far, few, and not much but baking sun in between. After searching all the places the fish should have been, we went looking else where, along our way, I noticed four fish in a group, all swimming away from us, as I approached full draw, I mentally realized that these fish were about 15-20 feet out, and about 5 feet deep, about the end of my range in that deep of water, while not wanting the narrow profile of a fish swimming away, I hesitated a few seconds, and one decided to turn, as he turned I dropped my arm just a bit and let it go. The bubble trail hid the sight of the arrow, and a few seconds later the fish was letting me know that the arrow had connected, upon landing him I found it to be center of the body!
Thanks,

[Gdpolk]

My best shot to date wasn't hunting.

I was practicing with a fiend. It was hot and sunny so we were under the only good shade tree and shooting at tennis balls thrown out randomly. There was a hornet that came out and wanted us out of the shade. Well we didn't like it and I was having a good day so I told Michael that I'd shoot the hornet. Well I drew back an arrow with a field point on it and let it loose. I split the hornet in two on my first shot at him between his head and thorax. My buddy still talks about that shot today.

[joe ashton]

My most memorable shot was a clean kill shot on a 5X5 Bull Elk.  I was 12 feet up a ponderosa and the bull was 5 yards away.  I will always be able to see that shot in my mind...!

[Ray Lyon]

Originally posted by elkken:
 Now this tent was WAY down the mountain, I mean a little spec, I was shooting a Cascade Nighthawk Magnum and Dale was shooting a Brackenbury Legend.  Dale pulls back the Brackenbury and arches a shot toward the sun and down the mountain. When it hit the tent it let out a popping sound like a big ballon.    

That's the stuff that (Brackenbury) Legends are made of.