March 13, 2024
By Matthew Every
Many big game hunters in America are on the fence about shooting running game. Some are completely against taking a shot at an animal that’s on the move, and some are okay with it under the right circumstances. This past season, I hunted with a group of buck trackers in northern Maine that expected to shoot a running deer. They took most bucks by following their tracks in the snow and shooting them out of their beds. Together, we covered an average of eight miles per day in thick cover, hoping to just get a glimpse of a buck. If that deer happened to be running, it would be the only opportunity to shoot it.
Preparing for that hunt got me thinking more about shots at moving game. I read books about it, and did a lot of online research. I was surprised to find that in Europe there is an entire discipline devoted to shooting running game. It’s called a driven hunt, and the hunters who participate aren’t just capable of hitting animals on the move, they can make vital-zone hits consistently.
To learn more about how these hunters learn to shoot, I spoke with Josh McBrayer, director of shotgun sales for Blaser USA . Before moving to Texas, McBrayer lived and worked in Germany for 10 years. While there, he participated in driven hunts all over Europe. To do this, he had to learn about local hunting customs, obtain one of the most difficult hunting licenses to get in the world, and spend a lot of time on the range shooting moving targets.
McBrayer says that running shots are not only possible, they can be done ethically if you know what your doing. What struck me was that a lot of American hunters don’t have this skill in their toolbox. Even if you’re opposed to shooting running game, you will probably see a running animal in the woods at some point in your hunting career, and you might have to take the shot. I can think of a few times while hunting where I’ve either jumped a wounded buck or had a wounded deer run past my stand. In those scenarios, the ethical thing to do was to shoot and shoot fast.
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Below, I’d like to share a few of McBrayer’s tips about shooting animals on the run should you find yourself in a situation that requires it.
How to Shoot Running Game To shoot game on the move, you need the right rifle and optic. According to McBrayer, ethical shots at moving game usually happen at less than 100 yards. In Europe, hunters either use a low-powered variable scope (LPVO), a red-dot sight or iron sights. Even though most hunters in the U.S. rely on their scopes for 100+ yard shots, they can still gain an advantage from a driven hunter’s set-up.
The most important takeaway is to have good low-end magnification for your optic. You need to be able to drop a scope down to 1x or 2x to track a moving animal as it runs through the brush at close range. For a woods hunter, or anyone who hunts in habitats with mixed forest and ag land, an LPVO can do everything a bigger scope can do and more.
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“I love a 1-7 power scope becasue it’s kind of dual purpose,” said McBrayer. “I can use it on a more traditional hunt when I’m sitting in a stand, or I can take it on a driven hunt.” With practice, 6X or 8X should have you covered for any shots under 250 yards, and the lower magnification of an LPVO gives you a wider field of view should you need to dial down to 1X for a fast close-range shot.
When it comes to rifles, hunters shooting driven game need to have a quick follow-up shot ready in case they miss or wound an animal. Europeans don’t use a lot of semiautomatics, but the lack of semiautos in Europe doesnt prevent hunters from shooting fast when they need to. The majority of driven hunt rifles fall into two camps: traditional bolt-actions and straight-pull rifles like a Blaser. In the right hands, a straight-pull Blaser or traditional bolt-action can run as almost as fast as a semiauto, with a slight edge going to the Blaser. Northwoods American buck trackers tend to favor pump-action rifles and lever-action rifles because they are lighter to carry and more reliable than semi-autos.
Whatever you choose, your rifle should be capable of making fast follow-up shots, and you should choose a low-powered optic for close-range work.
How to Practice for a Running Shot McBrayer says that the best shooters he knows in Europe get a lot of trigger time at the range. To practice for running shots, they use shooting cinemas—live-fire indoor ranges with videos of animals running through the forest. They also have ranges with targets on moving tracks. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of places in the U.S. where you can shoot moving targets with a rifle. But you can still get practice on static targets, or build your own DIY moving target range.
McBrayer says the first thing to do is get off of the bench. Take shots offhand at 50 and 100 yards with the thought of shooting tigher and tigher groups on paper. You won’t get sub-MOA accuracy, but that’s OK. Just focus on improving every time you go out. You should also use this time to familiarize yourself with your rifle and get better at shooting and working the bolt quickly. Start slow, then work with a tool like a shot timer to speed up.
After that, you can graduate to moving targets. McBrayer knows some shooters in Europe who practice on floating balloons that they release with a string in front of a backstop. Even though the balloons aren’t moving side-to-side, they’re still moving, which helps shooters judge lead and distance. McBrayer also knows shooters who have constructed their own small-scale moving target setups. Some use air rifles and small metal targets, which are great for backyard shooting. Others build tracks with pullies and electric motors for targets. In America, buck trackers use a tire with a target in the middle, and they’ll have a partner roll it down a hill in front of them.
McBrayer feels that the main thing a shooter needs to figure out is how far to lead an animal as they swing their rifle. “Determine the distance of the animal, determine the speed, then figure out your lead,” he said. Understanding this only comes with experience, but you need to start somewhere. “First practice on shorter shots, and slower moving targets. As you build confidence and get more comfortable, you can push out to farther and faster targets.”
Take Stock of Your Surroundings and Make the Shot When it comes time for the shot, McBrayer uses a sustained lead shooting method that he adjusts for distance or speed of a running animal. But on closer shots and slower animals, lead doesn’t matter so much. He simply keeps his sights trained on the vital zone and swings his rifle with the animal. On farther or shots on animals that are moving fast, McBrayer will figure out how far he needs to swing in front of an animal before pulling the trigger. He’s figured out these lead distances by practicing at the range, and they are now second nature.
Before an animal runs by McBrayer’s stand, he identifies good shooting lanes and gathers what he calls picking points—a series of landmarks that he ranges with a range finder. “Picking points are so important when determining distances and lead,” he said. “They makes factoring in things like the speed and angle an animal is running a lot easier in the moment.”
With the ranges in mind, McBrayer is free to swing on an animal without hesitating. Should he miss, he can adjust on the fly and make a follow-up shot. Sometimes, when shooting through a tight window, McBrayer will aim for the opening before the animal gets there, and try to time his shot for when it runs through. When everything comes together, McBrayer will place a shot in the vital zone, dropping the animal in its tracks.
