Best shot you ever made?

[Tejano Scott]

but the kill shots are the ones that I always remember...

Me too... And this is HONESTLY my best KILL shot ever.

Approx 5 yards, with a BB Gun, on a fly. I saw it land on some outdoor furniture we had when I was growing up. I was approx 11 years old when I made the shot, and I will still never forget it.

 

[M. Sage]

Just under 500 yards on 20" gongs at a 3 gun match. I took a complete guess at how much I needed to account for drop and wind (didn't help that the wind wasn't steady), but it only took me two tries to put one on target. I doubt anybody was as surprised as I was when the first shot was right by the target. I think I muttered "holy shit", I was so surprised by it.

Shooting my first round of skeet with my FN, at station 1 the second in the double was just going past me when I swung around as far as I could twist and popped it.

An array of c-zone steel targets at about 70 yards, making hits at a rate of about three a second with my AR.

 

[1slow01Z71]

Last day for my permit, hadnt seen shit then all the sudden 4 cows were running mid ridge across the canyon, got her on the 3rd shot from 365yds with my 300WSM.

Little on the small side but like I said last day of my permit and the evening hunt.

My dad killed a mule deer back in teh 80s with his 8mm RM from 880yds(calculated using a ballistics chart and elevation needed to make the shot). One day Id like to get a long shot like that.

 

[London]

Not much, but a perfect head shot right between the eyes with a S&W 629 at 25 yards... freehand with no sights. It was my last cartridge and I felt like doing something stupid with it. Made my friends jaw drop!

 

[coboblack]

This is a story my step dad always tells about me when "Wild shots" or "great shots" are brought up. Its probably better to hear when my step dad tells it, because he tells it from a shocked and humorous stand point and I only remember it through the eyes of a kid who felt like the shot was pure skill lol.

But one of my best shots ever, with anything, was actually with a bow, and Im not talking about my Mathews MQ1 compound bow...I'm talking basically a kids bow like the one this kid is holding. (this isn't me or the bow, but just an idea of what kind I'm talking about)



We have a lot of Native American on my father's side ( Apache, Choctaw, and Muscogee Creek ) and when I was young and the movie Dances with Wolves came out...I got really interested in that side of my family and wanted to learn how to shoot bows and arrows and hunt and track animals etc . Well, I was living in Sherman Texas at the time, next to a big field and the edge of some woods and there was a crap ton of rabbits.

Well, one of my buddies had a bow (or someone did, I forget how I got a hold of this thing) but I remember having to ask my dad if it was ok if we went and "hunt rabbits" with it. He looked at the dinky bow, with dull arrow tips and said "sure", thinking we would never in a million years be able to actually hit the side of a barn, let alone a fast ass, zig zagging rabbit with one.

Well, we go off to where we usually stir up rabbits, (we would chase them into a back yard and catch them when they get stuck trying to jump through chain link fence, play with them and then let them go) well, we were kids but we took this first hunt seriously lol everyon had a job and and we planned this hunt to where we had one kid stirring the bushes, and then another to direct it so that it had to run past me and then I would be the shooter.

Well, dustin stirs one out and my other friend rounds him off to an opening where the rabbit comes out where I am, cuts, switches directions an then B-lines it away from me. Well I have this cheap bow, with this dinky arrow and I'm aiming, watching this this run, I remember feeling the rhythm of how fast it was going, I followed it trying to match its speed and then I aimed where I thought it would be by the time I shot, adjusting for the rabbit and how the speed of my arrow.

I really felt like instinctively I knew exactly what I was doing, it felt perfect. Its running, and I'm leading perfectly and I just felt in the zone and then let at the right moment, *TWANG*....I let it fly....this arrow shot and I must of hit this rabbit, at a dead run, at like 20 or 30 yards away. It was incredibly, and as a kid and that being my first shot...I would of told you it was all skill and I could of done it again lol

It just flew perfectly up and then came down, but it came down right on the rabbits back bone. I was so proud, but then we run over and have to track some blood from it into the bushes and we find it there, not only is it not dead....the arrow paralyzed its back legs and it dragging itself with its weak front legs. It looked horrified and pitiful and I went from proud hunter, to horribly sad 9 or 10 year old boy. We pick up the rabbit and take it home to my dad thinking he can fix it and we can keep it as a pet and he was shocked that I actually hit a rabbit.

He would of never said yes if he thought It was even remotely possible for me to hit it. He explained to me we couldn't keep it as a pet or let it suffer, so he made me come watch him dig a hole, take the shovel and break it neck and then bury it. I remember feeling so horrible and that was one of the best shots of my life because not only was it a one in a million shot, but it was a shot that taught me to respect the animals I hunt and to eat what I kill.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

Great shots guys, keep 'em coming. I forgot to throw one out there. Here goes...

I've never been much for target shooting - average. I seem to shoot very well when shooting game and when it counts for some reason, maybe its the "give a damn" factor

Anyway, we used to setup shallow water holes in the middle of dense brush for hogs to wallow in. This particular watering hole also had that tall grass, about waist to chest high as you walk up and a 10' metal tripod. It's a bit daunting walking in since the main exit for the hogs is where you walk in at. We had a bow hunter get chased into a mesquite "tree" at that hole earlier in the year by a big aggressive hog Seriously though, they can tear you up with those big tusks.

So my dad and I are walking up to "ambush" some hogs. He has an AK and I have a SIG P220, I'm in front. We can hear them as we're walking up. We get about 10 yds away and all hell breaks loose. They made us - hogs are running all over through the tall grass. My dad is damn near running over me from behind to get on the tripod like a little girl , passes me and jumps on the first step.

I run and jump up and grab the ring on top of the tripod with my left hand, pistol still in my right hand (I could jump high enough to dunk back then). As I'm swinging from the tripod I can see over the grass to the other side of the watering hole and put a head shot on a hog about 20 yds away with the .45 as its coming out (moving). DRT - that kind of stiff reaction you get when you get a nerve or brain shot.

I've got tons of stories, some true some marginal . I'll save some more for another time - like the time we hunted deer w/ machetes.

Anyway, keep it up guys - this is GREAT stuff!

 

[Tejano Scott]

I've seen a few amazing shots on deer my dad took while I was younger. I saw him hit a doe who was jumping a fence (in the air) from about 125-150 yards out of a stand.

Another shot we still laugh about today. My dad killed a HUGE buck, dropped him on 1 shot. We NEVER found the bullet hole. Neither could the meat processor. We've had 2 prevailing theories: 1) It died of a heart attack; 2)It went in the deer's mouth and out it's asshole.

 

[TXDARKHORSE361]

1) It died of a heart attack; 2)It went in the deer's mouth and out it's asshole.

That's great, sounds like something me and my dad would come up with. I remember when I got my first hog, I was between 8 and 10, it was my first kill, took me forever to squeeze that trigger but only took one shot and my dad still has the video, you can hear the pride in his voice when you watch it.

 

[Kyle]

Parker Compound bow. 65lb draw. 100 grain practice tips. Aluminum Shafts. 40 Yards. Arrow stuck in arrow. I've split many arrows but this one was special.

 

[coboblack]

Parker Compound bow. 65lb draw. 100 grain practice tips. Aluminum Shafts. 40 Yards. Arrow stuck in arrow. I've split many arrows but this one was special.

Nice Robin Hood

 

[Jakashh]

It went halfway across the roo... i mean... I made some decent groups with Scott's Anschutz at Gatesville!

 

[Jakashh]

Kinda like Scot, I actually shot a cockroach first shot with an airsoft deagle from about 3 yards away. The sights were poo, but I managed to get 3 hits with 3 shots. 2nd one flipped the bitch over, 3rd one killed it I think.

 

[40Arpent]

A couple weeks ago I dropped a hog on the run, at night, 200 yards with an SPR, offhand shot to the brain.

Cody, how much of a lead did you use, and how did you estimate it? I want to get better at running shots on hogs...

 

[Army 1911]

Best shot on the range was the first one. It split the X. I mean dead center even top/bottom left/right. It was all down hill from there. Another time I put two rounds through the same hole with witnesses. Should have quit while I was ahead both times.

 

[codygjohnson]

Cody, how much of a lead did you use, and how did you estimate it? I want to get better at running shots on hogs...

He was moving from right to left, faster than 6mph but slower than 10mph, so I held the front of his head at the right duplex for 5 mils (Army Mildot). Comes out to ~35" of lead on his head, a little under 45" to the impact. Round was a 69 grain SMK. It's a lot to do in a few seconds, but within 300 yards, its roughly the same time to target for any round, so you really just need to take an educated guess on it's speed and lead with that info. Hogs run right around 10mph when spooked, time to target is about .13 seconds per 100, so 5 mils is about perfect regardless of range if they are running perpendicular. If they are quartered away, split it in half.

It's really written out a lot more complicated than it is. I had to look up a lot of the info I wrote, because I can't, nor can a lot of the greats, remember all of the figures, just the tricks on how to get your bullet where you want it. 5 Mils will usually do it. Even if you make 50% of the shots, it'll still really impress the guys you hunt with...

 

[ROGER4314]

The best shot ever for me wasn't with a firearm. I worked in an engineering department in Tulsa and the place was overrun with mice. They were very bold and ran around openly. They even ran up a co workers leg. I saw one of the little bastards slinking along the baseboards about 12 feet away so I reached into my desk, opened up a paperclip and grabbed a rubber band and set my fingers like a sling shot. I let fly with the paper clip, hit the mouse in the ribs and it died right there with a little blood flowing from the mouth.

I have a whole collection of target spotters that I blasted from 200 yard matches. When I shot 17HMR at 200, I used a scope and the 3" spotters we usually used to mark your previous shot drew your sight away from the bull. We called it "following the spotter." I asked them to use painted golf tees to mark my shots. My collection of destroyed spotters includes several golf tees that were splattered. So check this out.........Put one hole in the bulls eye, the guy in the pits marks it with a golf tee then you blast the golf tee away .....all at 200 yards! It was a tradition to collect the splattered markers to present to the shooter when the stage was over.

Flash

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

Best shot on the range was the first one. It split the X. I mean dead center even top/bottom left/right. It was all down hill from there. Another time I put two rounds through the same hole with witnesses. Should have quit while I was ahead both times.

That's when I put a different target up and take that one home.

He was moving from right to left, faster than 6mph but slower than 10mph, so I held the front of his head at the right duplex for 5 mils (Army Mildot). Comes out to ~35" of lead on his head, a little under 45" to the impact. Round was a 69 grain SMK. It's a lot to do in a few seconds, but within 300 yards, its roughly the same time to target for any round, so you really just need to take an educated guess on it's speed and lead with that info. Hogs run right around 10mph when spooked, time to target is about .13 seconds per 100, so 5 mils is about perfect regardless of range if they are running perpendicular. If they are quartered away, split it in half.

It's really written out a lot more complicated than it is. I had to look up a lot of the info I wrote, because I can't, nor can a lot of the greats, remember all of the figures, just the tricks on how to get your bullet where you want it. 5 Mils will usually do it. Even if you make 50% of the shots, it'll still really impress the guys you hunt with...

You're explaining the "ambush" approach right? We used to either do a "moving lead" or a "run into it lead." I'm sure neither of those are the proper terms

Anyway, the way I always remembered such things was real simple...about 2 head lengths in front of a running hog usually works depending on the size of the hog and if they're trotting vs running (or running at an angle) just cut it down. So trotting = 1 head length and running = 2 head lengths. Not real precise, but its easier than math if you're in a hurry.

If you look at hog anatomy their brain is about the same height as the intersection of their heart and lungs. So if you miss the head you can claim a vitals shot

 

[scout789]

I was about 12 y/o, single shot .22 with open sights. A crow on a fence post maybe 100 yds away. Held the front sight high in the notch and squeezed. Crow never knew what hit him. Still can't believe I was that lucky.

 

[bigjohn]

I was 15 on my first dove hunt in Oklahoma on my Dads ranch. My Dad was trying to evaluate my shotgun prowess, and spotted a dove on the bank of one of the ponds. He told me to go down, and scare it up, and shoot it. this was the 3rd time id handled a shotgun, and the first outside of boyscout camp. Sure enough, i walked down to the pond, and scared up the dove, raised my gun strictly on instinct pulled the trigger, and the dove fell out of the sky. I looked back with a big smile on my face, and my father nodded with approval. Maybe not my most difficult shot, but the most memorable to me.

 

[TundraWookiee]

My longest kill shot was 427 yards on a 145 lb whitetail from a ridge down into a valley just around dusk. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect neck shot. We had just set that feeder up a few days before and nobody had measured the distance but before I took the shot I thought it seemed quite a bit further than our typical 150 yards. We all had argued a bit about it but thought it just seemed further due to the elevation. It wasn't until I took that doe that we took the rangefinder up there to measure it. Almost exactly 450 yards to the feeder...we moved it in a bit the next afternoon.

About a month ago I had some friends over to my place to shoot and had setup a little shooting gallery with clays at different distances as well as other various targets. Distances were from around 3 yards to about 80 yards out where I figured we could mess around with some rimfires. Jokingly, someone said we should make it a pistol challenge. You pick any available clay and shoot as many as you want...you get $1 for every one that you hit, but lose $2 for every shot you miss. My buddy was first up and broke even with 2 hits and 1 miss before he stopped. I pulled out my G19 and hit 5 in a row at medium ranges but jokingly decided to try for one out at about 75 yards since I had a lead built up. I nailed it and proceeded to finish off the other mid-range targets before missing one out at about 50 yards where I called it quits. Everyone was pretty impressed...I'd say it was just pure dumb luck though. Still felt good.

Always felt good to take out grouse with a slingshot when I lived in Alaska...something about actually hitting what you aim for with that that makes it so satisfying. I still prefer my guns most of the time though