Best handling rifle for running game.

[schoolmaster]

What smooth handling rifle is your choice for shooting running game?

 

[MrTom]

None of them.

 

[schoolmaster]

Well the seanario is a wounded deer needing a finishing shot. Leg broke or jaw broken.

 

[rugerbh103]

In the parts of Virginia where deer are run with dogs a shotgun is the standard.

 

[schoolmaster]

Well am looking for an inline muzzleloader for use in season.

 

[rangerod]

JMO but for handling I really like the Triumph. I would think the Knight Ultra Light would also be a good choice.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Running game with a muzzleloader is an iffy proposition at best. If you MUST attempt it, make and model are secondary to how the rifle fits you. It should shoulder and point without conscious effort. No fumbling with sight or target acquisition. I'm not just talking muscle memory either. That comes later.
My Firehawk is the only rifle I would even think of trying it with. It fits me so well I literally can not shoulder her without the sights ( aperture and bead) being right there. I can do it with my eyes closed. I look at what I want to puncture, bring her up and VIOLA... Never had a rifle like her.
Given that a even a leisurely second shot is completely out of the question, even with a paper cartridge its 26 seconds until I can get round 2 ready to go out of my P53 Enfield, running game is a shot that should be passed. Issues such as lock time, hang fires, low velocities ( by breechloader standards) all have to be taken into account.

 

[schoolmaster]

I have had to attempt a mercy shot on running deer that were wounded/ crippled 3 times only one successful. I hate it when I can't end their misery. So wanting to know what works for other hunters when in that situation.

 

[MrTom]

Ending these scenarios starts by finding out where the deer came from and who shot it poorly. Then club them. With today's smokers and propellants and bullet /sabot combos there is no reason to be wounding deer like that. Party hunting [drives] is legal where I hunt and most all of the wounded deer I see coming out of the area being driven were shot [at] while running. Just re-enforces my desire to see deer drive outlawed where I live. I'd like to see dogs taken out of deer hunting too.

When we see an animal come into our property we pass on it unless it stops and offers a decent shot. Most are going a hundred miles an hour and usually followed by an idiot a half hour later...and the idiots get turned right back the way they came. They can drive around the section and pick up the trail. As mentioned, running deer are at best chancy. I won't attempt a running shot, injured or otherwise. Not with a muzzleloader and that's all I hunt with anymore.

This is a touchy topic for me schoolmaster and nothing against you.

 

[CatamountRob]

What’s going to be best is whatever fits you the best, whatever comes to your shoulder and immediately is on target. It’s probably going to be open sighted or have a low power scope. Think more along the lines of a well fitted shotgun that you could mount with your eyes closed.

 

[CatamountRob]

Ending these scenarios starts by finding out where the deer came from and who shot it poorly. Then club them. With today's smokers and propellants and bullet /sabot combos there is no reason to be wounding deer like that. Party hunting [drives] is legal where I hunt and most all of the wounded deer I see coming out of the area being driven were shot [at] while running. Just re-enforces my desire to see deer drive outlawed where I live. I'd like to see dogs taken out of deer hunting too.

When we see an animal come into our property we pass on it unless it stops and offers a decent shot. Most are going a hundred miles an hour and usually followed by an idiot a half hour later...and the idiots get turned right back the way they came. They can drive around the section and pick up the trail. As mentioned, running deer are at best chancy. I won't attempt a running shot, injured or otherwise. Not with a muzzleloader and that's all I hunt with anymore.

This is a touchy topic for me schoolmaster and nothing against you.

Ever watch Europeans hunt driven game? It’s a skill like everything else.
Just because you or I can’t do it doesn’t mean no one can.

 

[snapbang]

I know many of you dont like deer drives but we do it 2 times a year during muzzle season. Last Saturday we drove 3 woods and pushed out 60 deer. Killed 5. Season is near over and farmers are asking us to come back and remove some more. Just too many deer.

We have a mile or so between the pushers and the blockers. By the time the deer reach the blockers they have calmed and are moving slowly. I know we wound one once in a while but bet our percentages are pretty low.

But when animals are moving my favorite was my sidelock with a 32" GM barrel with RBs. The heavy barrel moved the balance way forward. Once you got the barrel swinging on pace with the animal it tracks real nice.. So I would say a gun with the balance of weight far forward.

 

[dbowling]

1st thing would be to practice running shots with whatever rifle you will be using, like rolling a tire downhill with a target in the middle or something along those lines.. Doesnt matter how smooth the gun is if youve never practiced the shot, sorta like shooting clay pigeons for 1st time most people only hit air but once they start hitting and there brain figures out lead/sight picture it gets easier and easier.

 

[Scotts98rt]

For specifically shooting at running deer. 21in. Brl. Thunderhawk. Under 6 lbs. Lead conical, with red dot . Would be my answer.

 

[Nit Wit]

I have shot two running here in Maine,both with a White Bison .451. In Maine we have close shots many times. I passed on a 230lb or so this season, he was about 45 yards and just loping, probably could have made it. I made the right choice in my mind. Not much worse than losing wounded game!
Nit Wit

 

[retrieverman]

This thread is interesting to me, but I guess I still don’t completely understand exactly what’s being asked here. Is the OP planning to wound game or preparing to have to ”dispatch” someone else’s wounded game?
I used to get called to track wounded game for other people, and I always carried a shotgun with buckshot or my combo gun 12 ga over 308 with buckshot in the 12 ga barrel.
In my opinion, choosing a muzzleloader (no matter how well it handles) to shoot at moving game doesn’t seem like a very practical choice. Just my opinion though.

 

[schoolmaster]

Not planning to wound game. Who does that? Hunting during muzzle loading season. Muzzle loaders only legal weapon. My last encounter was a doe running by with a broken lower jaw. I was fortunate enough to fire a killing shot. There is no way I can in good conscience let a crippled deer go by without trying to end it's misery or to stop leavingng it to suffer for days.

 

[deermanok]

I hear what you're saying. A short barrel carbine would probably be a good choice.

 

[eekjellander]

This thread is interesting to me, but I guess I still don’t completely understand exactly what’s being asked here. Is the OP planning to wound game or preparing to have to ”dispatch” someone else’s wounded game?
I used to get called to track wounded game for other people, and I always carried a shotgun with buckshot or my combo gun 12 ga over 308 with buckshot in the 12 ga barrel.
In my opinion, choosing a muzzleloader (no matter how well it handles) to shoot at moving game doesn’t seem like a very practical choice. Just my opinion though.

I suspect either one you carry is illegal in muzzle loader season , and the premise that OP is planning to wound game is a real stretch of your imagination at best! I have on occasion done both ,making a lucky shot on a poorly hit deer mine or someone elses and consider it a skill set to be admired . Seeing a cripple run off to die would be the last thing anyone should want ,and nope never see a tracking dog when you need one just coyotes making an ugly end to an animal that maybe could have been prevented / my opinion Ed

 

[schoolmaster]

Yes I am thinking a heavier barrel carbine maybe with either open sights or a reflex sight. Get the stock adjusted right and practice shooting at moving targets. Should make me more effective if an emergency comes up.