What was your most difficult shot?

[375 Ruger Fan]

September 2007 was my very first archery hunt. I had been shooting a bow for about a year, but just at targets. I had a Mathews Switchback XT, drawing 70 lbs. Unfortunately, I didn't know much about arrows and relied on the salesman at the bow shop in Louisiana for advice. I ended up with good arrows for deer hunting, but not so good for elk. The arrows were probably in the 450 grain total weight and had G5 Montec three blade fixed.

I arrived in Montana and the same afternoon sat in a blind on the edge of a hayfield and took a nice whitetail buck with about a 40 yard yard pass through shot. A great confidence builder.

The next day we rode horses for about 3 hours, into a wilderness area camp. A couple days later, I had a shot at a 5x5 satellite bull and missed it. It was about 30 yards away, but steeply downhill. I airmailed the arrow, right over the elk. I was mad at myself, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

The next day, we were hiking along (me, my hunting buddy and the guide) and saw a couple cows moving up above us. The guide made a few, faint bull calls and another bull replied. It too was sort of faint, so we weren't real excited at this point. We moved about 30-40 yards down the trail and called again. A big, big bull responded and the hair on the back of my neck was standing up!

The guide, Randy Petrich of Rising Son Outfitters, said, "Guys this might happen real quick." He positioned the two of us about 30-40 yards apart. Randy then moved about 20-30 yards behind us, with all three of us forming a triangle. After a few more calls and Randy raking a limb across a tree, the big bull appeared about 70-80 yards away. He slowly, very slowly, kept coming towards us, bugling frequently. The big bull would stop and graze for awhile in one spot, which was frustrating to watch. It's the kind of scene that would have been great to video. The goal was to get the bull within 30 yards of us for a shot. The bull was coming in towards me, but no real shot opportuning. I had a tree between him and me and all I saw was antlers sticking out from each side of the tree. I was pretty excited to say the least. At one point, I thought the bull was turning and going to come out from behind the tree. I went to full draw and held it for as long as I could and the bull didn't move. I finally had to let off and you know how hard that is to do. Luckily, I didn't lose or un-knock the arrow. I watched the bull for another few minutes and he looked like he was about to move, so I drew again and the same thing happened. I had to let off. Surprisingly, I was calming down a bit. The bull appeared to be finally getting ready to move again, so I drew for the third time. The bull walked out slowly, giving me a broadside at 28 yards. I shot and saw the arrow go into the bull, but not a pass through. I could see the fletching and it was a few inches too far back. The bull ran about 10-15 yards and then went to walking. He walked by my hunting buddy, who shot and missed. The bull slowly walked off, in the same direction where he came from. We sat there for awhile, debating what to do next. It was late in the day and not much daylight left. We decided to back out of the area and return the next morning. We did that and searched and searched all morning. Finally, just after noon time, we found the bull. A Pope & Young qualifying 6x7. Not bad for my first archery hunt!

 

[MS 9x56]

Easy choice. The best shot I ever made was also the luckiest shot I ever made that resulted in the biggest whitetail I have ever taken. Also it wasn’t taken with a rifle but a rifled barrel shotgun. I was hunting a very large buck my son and I had been hunting for 3 years. I woke up the day after Thanksgiving and there was 2” of fresh snow on, foggy and dead still. I woke up fed the animals and knew instinctively exactly where that buck would be. I started down the old logging road into an area thick with mountain laurel and new growth pine. I got to a spot, when I had an overwhelming feeling that the buck was watching me. I stopped and was carefully searching the area for any sight of the buck. Suddenly I saw an eye and a nose, I cranked the scope up to 9 power trying to make out an antler when he bolted down the hill. I looked ahead and saw a stump about 20 yards ahead where I could get above the brush. I ran for it and jumped up on it as the buck had reached the creek bank stopped and turned back to see what had spooked him. I aligned the crosshairs on his chest and squeezed the trigger. The buck dropped on the spot but was thrashing around. I ran to the creek bank as he went down into the creek. I raised the gun aligned on his neck and pulled the trigger, nothing no click, nothing, I quickly realized I had not pumped the action to chamber another round. I quickly rectified the issue and put a finishing shot into his neck. I then realized I was shaking so bad I set the gun down leaning against a large pine and looked at my prize. His antlers were submerged in 6” of water and still stuck a foot over the water. I went down to pull him out of the creek and realized this deer was much larger than any I had taken before. Grunting and groaning I finally got him up the bank. I sat on a stump catching my breath when I finally notice both his front legs were broken just above the knee joints. I then looked up at the stump I was standing on and it was a long 164 paces from the creek. My first shot had dropped 14” from point of aim and as luck would have it took out both his front legs. It was only then I realized he looked so close because I had cranked the scope up to 9x trying to make out the antlers and never turned it back down. 2 years later Ivhad that buck scored at 152” which may not be big in many places but in my area is a true giant. Best and luckiest shot I have ever made. The great spirit was smiling upon me that day.

 

[bashaw]

I've made some long shots over the years and I've missed some gimme's, usually overconfident on the easy shots or Buck fever, but I'd have too say my toughest shot was my California Bighorn in the Owyhee of Oregon. When I found him he was 330 yards away bedded down I had to belly crawl about 10/15 yards. I'm prone head down hill 30 degree slope and laying at a weird angle, this is a once in a lifetime draw and everyone on this forum know how much Sheep hunts cost, I was sweating shaking and trying to aim, finally I said to myself settle down this is one shot you do not want to miss, got my breathing corrected still sweating I shot between the shoulder blade he went head over heels for close to 250 yards dead, it was a steep Son of A Buck but I made it happen

 

[Daniel Cary]

This is odd

My coworker just got him, he's had a bacterial lung infection for over a month. He couldn't move 20ft without calling for help .. perhaps fungal.

 

[trperk1]

Kudu on first safari to Limpopo. Mainly, I just had a hard time spotting them. It was a April hunt so I had the foliage working against me. We had some bad luck haunting us too, like flat tires. Then to make matters worse, I missed, twice. When I finally got it done, after 5 days, it was a big old bull on the rut following a cow. Easiest shot of the trip. My lesson with this, on both my misses I shouldn't have shot. It's my fault as I pulled the trigger but one of those things where my view was different than the PH's. We hunted the following year and discussed this. During a stalk on a Wildebeest, my PH called the shot and I didn't take it. He got sort of pissed at me. I had him move 5 feet to the left where I was standing and he apologized. I'm not dogging him as we've become good friends BTW.

 

[Elkeater]

My toughest shot? First deer? First elk? Heck I don’t know. I’ve made some pretty slick shots that left friends shaking their heads. One that comes to mind though is a particular cow elk I shot in Colorado a number of years ago. We had spotted a herd of maybe 100 head up above timberline at maybe 12,000 feet elevation just before dark. Me a couple buddies made the two hour hike in the dark the next morning to a point close to where we had seen the elk the night before. As daylight came on I glassed the herd about 1000 yards out. We quickly cut the distance. I had already killed a bull earlier in the year and had a cow tag in my pocket. My other buddies had a bull tag and a cow tag and neither had ever killed an elk at all. I had them crawl down about 20 yards below me. They timed their shots and dropped a bull and cow. At the shots the herd ran straight away and I sprinted to a rock about 30 yards ahead of me. The herd paused and I picked a cow and shot her. Thankfully we were at 12,000’ cause i guessed the cow at 325 yards. I later ranged the shot at 404 yards. My .300 win mag with a 180gr accubond dropped her in maybe 30 yards. I hit right where I wanted to because the thin air made my bullet hit high. That was a heck of a chaotic fast shot for 404 yards. A little luck involved too. The pack out was miserable. We shot those three elk at like 0730 and that cold miller highlife back at the truck at 1730 never tasted so good.

 

[Uncontrolled_round_feed]

My best shot occurred a few days ago on the CO 4th rifle opener. Solo DIY 5 miles in, first elk. Took the next three days to pack him out. 448 yards, 6.8 O’Connor Special did the job as it has since Winchester released it 99 years ago. Very happy

 

[steve white]

As OP I should have listed my own tough shots. Both were due to failing light. The first low light scope I ever purchased was a Nickel Supra Marburgh 1.5-6x42 made in the 80's with dark purple and blue reflecting lens coatings. It is still on my old 7x57 MS rifle. I don't know about where you all live, but in East Texas the deer become near nocturnal and the only shot you might get can be in the last, last few moments of light. One doe was eating sweet potatoes while silhouetted on the only clean spit of sand around. She kept looking in a certain direction so that I thought a buck was coming in. But if he didn't I wanted to take her. I kept my eye glued to the scope and finally touched off the shot when I did not dare let it get any darker. There was a tremendous orange muzzle flash that surprised me until I looked off the scope and saw that there was only a small luminous orange glow left in the western sky. I could also see some of the first stars so I will presume that I was a well past legal shooting time. Oops.
Same gun, hunting Ft. Hood, TX army base, my only chance came when I thought I saw a tiny flash of white, but could not possibly have seen to shoot with iron sights. I threw up the rifle and that scope lit up another doe that I would never have gotten without it.
Do I have a better Zeiss HT scope today? Yes. But I made some outstanding shots in low light over the years with that old Nickel. Strangely, I have not seen another Nickel scope with the particular lens coatings like it has--may have been one of their last as they went out of business, I think. Or rather, have reorganized and now charge a bazillion dollars for olympic grade running boar scopes.

 

[BryceM]

Oh, I don't know. For the most part I try to avoid tough shots. It's hard enough when everything is perfect. Maybe one story comes to mind.

Last year we were hunting pronghorn on a private ranch in NM. My partner that day wounded a nice buck and he took off at warp speed down the mountain. He was headed for the property fence and we didn't have permission to hunt the other side. He finally stopped and I ranged him at 620 yards. I also had a tag in my pocket and I asked him if he wanted me to try to put him down. He agreed.

I dialed up the scope on the trusty .260 AI, held as best I could from a bipod in a sitting position (to clear the brush) and fired off a round. He spun around a few times and stopped again at 740 yards, now very near the boundary. I dialed up 740 and fired again. This time he dropped in his tracks from a spine hit. I'm not sure which of the three participants was most surprised. From a bench 740 is realistic, but in field conditions from a sitting bipod, it was at a bit lucky. My first shot passed through his sinuses without doing much damage. It felt good to salvage a bad situation.

 

[sniper7]

difficult to say but I’ll choose between 2 stories.

First whitetail I ever hunted as a young man at age 13 was a doe tag. Finally saw one while walking at a bit over 300 yards. My best friend growing up; his dad took me anywhere I wanted and made sure I got to hunt anything he had the opportunity to offer as my dad only hunted pheasant and elk and we had some excellent hunts.
Either way we see this doe and he tells me to lean on this fence post and take her. Turns out it was an electric fence…between several houses electric zaps I crush her and she drops across the creek.
Upon retrieval I freak out due to nuts hanging off this “doe”. A little button buck which is legal but I had no clue.

Second would be my first trip to Africa. I went big and after elephant. After over 100 miles of hunting and tracking finally with a few up close and personal encounters, on day 13 I get my chance.
Except it was charging out of heavy thicket at under 20 yards head on up a steep hill with head down.
First shot missed the brain low, second shot in vitals and third broke the right hip. After some crashing and some stressful tracking we came upon the bull which was done for.

Quite the difference in animals (and price) but both are at the top of my mind!

 

[npm352]

I had a solid string of running shots on mule deer and antelope where I was really in a groove for a few years in a row and hitting them well while running. Those shots aren't my preference, but sometimes I take them when needed, and I got pretty confident. I haven't had to in a few years since. Technically, they were probably the toughest.

I also felt my leopard was difficult for me. It was in the dark, but only 56 yards and on a dead solid rest. The angle was head on when I actually shot (not planned that way...just how it stood on branch)...but I was damn near hyperventilating I was so nervous and jacked up on adrenaline. It was day 11 of 14. Day 2 of the safari I shot a lioness off a bait, which was amazing, but I was not nearly as nervous. I'd gotten a CBL right before the ban, but the lioness was wild. The leopard was the main quarry and finished my Big five. I've spent most of my life hoping to get a leopard and fretting about screwing up a leopard shot.

I would also say Vaal rhebuck can often present difficult shot situations, as far as Africa goes: little animal, open terrain, high winds.

 

[Longwalker]

I think the toughest shots are defined by the ones with the most serious consequences if you don't do it right. I've made my share of "miracle" shots on game like geese or coyotes or deer. But the couple shots that stand out as really serious were in the last two years, both on dangerous game. I've written about both incidents in reports here. The first was last year.
A huge bull elephant charging us in very thick brush. The six people in our hunting party were all in grave danger. At first we couldn't even see him, just the noise and seeing the tops of bushes being crushed and pushed aside as he came. At fifteen meters he emerged, accelerating instantly to full speed. At thirty KM/Hr, in less than two seconds we would be crushed.
I'm so very glad I have shot many, many shots at incoming geese, "charging" rabbits, barn rats, and other less formidable creatures. Muscle memory, quick reflexes and a will to survive are far more important than classic accurate rifle shooting form and deliberate decision making in such situations. Instinct and intense focus takes over when an elephant is coming fast at spitting distance.
We're all alive because of that.

the Second: In July this year I had a different situation, not quite as serious but with grave potential. I chose to shoot a cape buffalo at a distance that was probably too far for my skills and equipment. At about 120 meters, I used my Merkel .450-400 double rifle to shoot a bull cape buffalo that was in a herd of dagga boys. I pulled the shot just a bit forward and a little high. About three hand widths off. Instead of a high shoulder shot, the bullet just missed the centre of the spine at the base of the neck, hitting bone but not the spinal cord. Buffalo dropped, but got up later and started to depart - shielded by his herd. A second shot from the rear did not do much but turned him slightly. As I was beginning to get a sick, sinking feeling of wounding a buffalo that was walking steadily away, farther and farther and with many dangerous, very lively companions, he looked just slightly to his left. I swung the reticle a bit in front, squeezed the rear trigger and placed a bullet neatly behind his left ear. What a relief!

 

[TheGrayRider]

Toughest hunt & shot? Bongo - Equatorial African jungle of Cameroon. May 2024.

All four shots under 15 yards and I still couldn’t see the bongo bull because of the extremely thick vegetation and lack of penetrating sunlight.

I can still hear the PH yelling, “Shoot, Shoot, Shoot!” at the top of his lungs with me yelling back,”What the hell do you want me to shoot at? Darkness and green vegetation?”

Happy hunting, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

 

[Rafiki]

I guess I'd have to sate a 140 yard off-hand neck shot with a 243 at a running turkey in South Dakota. My buddy Don and I were in the truck going from point A to point B when we spotted it. I bailed from the truck with my A-Bolt while Don skidded too a stop and said "no way are you going to hit that f**king bird". I shot, the bird dropped and Don simply said "I'll be damned". Don is gone now but I still have many fond memories of hunting with him over the years.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Warthog, RSA, 2022. We were actually on my PH's home property, where he lived and raised cattle. We had been trying to fill my hunt with a big male but were not having much luck. Finally, an old respectable female showed and I elected to take the shot.

Shot over a couple cows, between a fence wire, and next to another cow about 150 yds away. I told my PH I was nervous. He said he wasn't and not to worry.

I think he said "Best case, you bag your pig. Worst case, we are having steaks tonight."

Basically right where my gun barrel is pointing. You can see the fence.

Best case scenario. They have a sense of humor in Africa, that's for sure.

 

[Mike70560]

The following is an excerpt from a hunt report on the Omay back in 2012. I asked Lindon what would have happened had I missed, he said it would have been a long ride back to the camp. That was a hot grueling hunt.


The Thanksgiving Day buffalo:

Thanksgiving Day was day six of the hunt. That morning Lindon and I headed back to Della. We checked a spring and walked back to the road with no luck. We then decided to drive to Secret Valley, about an hour away. We ate lunch and took a break. At around 1:00 we struck out toward a spring. We found tracks that appeared to be fresh but it rained lightly that morning. After a couple of hours of tracking we were on fresh tracks made after the rain. We finally caught up with the buffalo at the top of the hill. During the course of tracking we covered around 12 kilometers and gained over 1100 feet in elevation. We were moving in for a shot and I felt a puff of wind on my back. About 5 seconds later the buffalo ran. We bumped them two more times and either they saw, heard, or smelled us. We caught up to them a fourth time less than two hours before dark. Lindon and I made the final stalk on our own. We crawled flat on our stomachs to a fallen tree approximately 75 yards from the best buffalo. It was lying down with the last twenty yards of the shot through trees. After making certain which was the correct one I stood up and fired one shot offhand at the bull with my 470 Krieghoff. The buffalo never got up, as I shot it in the spine, near the front shoulder. I reloaded the one barrel and we moved forward about twenty yards and I put a second shot in it. We moved to within 20 yards and a final shot found its mark. Six hard days of hunting were now over with a nice buffalo on the ground. We cut the head off and hung it in a tree to keep it away from the hyenas. Since we crossed the Ndepe hill/mountain we were back in Della. It was an easy 3 kilometer walk back to the truck since the driver moved back to Della, arriving after dark.

 

[HookMeUpII]

View attachment 650832

Toughest hunt & shot? Bongo - Equatorial African jungle of Cameroon. May 2024.

All four shots under 15 yards and I still couldn’t see the bongo bull because of the extremely thick vegetation and lack of penetrating sunlight.

I can still hear the PH yelling, “Shoot, Shoot, Shoot!” at the top of his lungs with me yelling back,”What the hell do you want me to shoot at? Darkness and green vegetation?”

Happy hunting, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

That's awesome and a dream hunt right there.

 

[Kelly G]

Dall Sheep 2006
West Alaska Range
493 yards
Ruger M77 Stainless
7mm Rem Mag. 160 Gr. Speer Hot Core

 

[chuckwellington]

Whitetail forky. Five yards. 20 gauge. Direct frontal. Mid November chasing a doe. He was bobbing every which way. Aimed for the chest. Hit him in the eye. I was ten years old. Haven’t looked back.