Shooting through Twigs

[Five Seasons]

It probably is not a good idea to intentionally shoot through brush

 

my thoughts. spend more time trimming shooting lanes in the off season or making runs so they eventually come into your lane, then to worry about trying to shoot through some brush.

[TreeGuy]

my thoughts. spend more time trimming shooting lanes in the off season or making runs so they eventually come into your lane, then to worry about trying to shoot through some brush.

Or stay in the fields....

[Daveboone]

I didn't see anything on the dduplex site that hasn't been touted by various slugs manufactured in the past. Due to sheer mass, a 12 gauge slug is less prone to deflection anyway, and is generally held to closer shots. Very nice deer ya got there,there Bkln, but how do you know it hit anything in route? About 15 years ago I had a boxcare of a doe stumble within 5 yards of me, I held mid chest and fired. She ran off, untouched.Fresh snow on the ground, no question. Afterwards I found the pencil sized sapling the slug hit, and sent who knows where. Big slugs deflect less than small. Regardless, allways try to find a hole to go through.

[dbHunterNY]

I just tried to post a link and it locked everything up.  not happy I have to retype this.....

 

David Petzel of Field and Stream did some testing on for Gun Nuts on shooting through brush.  He shot through some brush right in front of a paper deer target.  He was shooting a 45-70 loaded with 300 grain bullets, a stout load I think.  He basically proved that brush still deflects a bullet.  my engineering mind thinks the smaller the "twig", the closer the brush is to the target, the faster the bullet, and the heavier the bullet, the less it will deflect and change point of impact.  watch the video and come to a conclusion yourself.

 

Search it on youtube... "The Gun Nuts; Brush Busting Bullets".  I can't figure out how to just paste it as a link.

[bluecoupe]

I tried posting a link using the icon and it's not working for some reason  -

Edit: ah ha - the plot thickens - error message: You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community.

 

No clue what it's trying hard to not tell me but it doesn't like something about the youtube qualifiers I guess.
 

 

 

But posting just a link itself seems ok. (Not using the icon, just posting the http.....)

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2013 by SteveC

[dbHunterNY]

thanks for posting the link SteveC

[NFA-ADK]

The best shot is a clear one, if not pick a opening if possible. The more twigs the more deflection.  I avoid those shots because I want a clear shot at the vitals. 

 

 

[bkln]

Fellows, I wasn't talking about bullets (like the guy in the video) it was all about slugs..., that's much more power and shorter distances. I'm talking .62 cal slug at 50 yards, I would not take any shots in the brush over 75 yards. This is not a rifle gripe, this is shotgun country.... I tried and it worked for me, so I will do it again, your mileage may vary...

Dave, I don't know if it hit anything during the flight, all I know I shot through the twigs and I hit the target, was I lucky ...? maybe, I just reported what happened... I got two deer like that, so maybe there is something to this story... just saying....

 

[Ford]

I remember an old article from Guns & Ammo, or something similar that did an experiment with hunting rounds and wood dowels. That was interesting, but was before the internet.

[bluecoupe]

With my point of aim I want zero possibility of deflection so I never really investigated but I think this is the link that you're referring to:

 

http://theboxotruth.com/docs/bot40.htm

[Ford]

That's good, but a different one.

This article used small dowels, like pencil size.

If I remember correctly, it did bust some myths about big slow bullets like the 45/70.

[TeeBugg]

My father and myself both have remington 870's. We call em BrushBuster, and BrushBuster 2. For very good reasons. I dont think those guns have missed a deer in the brush more than 3 times over ten plus years. In the wide open now thats a different story lol. Thick brush is always a no no, and obviously we dont want to take shots into minimal brush, but it happens and weve got alot of venison to prove it.

[dbHunterNY]

slug guns will have less of an effect due to a bit more mass than your average deer hunting bullet.  the original post was asking about a 270 so I tried to post something about a rifle.  I'm mostly with you guys shooting shotgun slugs though.  that said the bullet in the video was a 300 gr 45-70 and it still affected it some, so I'd still pick and choose your shots like some of you have said you do.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

May or may not deflect, the story I read on the dupleks website could be true, half of Europe is shooting wild boar on the run through the twigs and they are getting meat on the table. I tested it cause I thought it smelled like BS and was nicely surprised, these weird steel slugs do recover in flight and hit the target. Case and point this morning....... :-)

what did your slug hit before it hit her and where was the twig/branch/tree in relation to the two of you?

[BackWoods Hunter]

slug guns will have less of an effect due to a bit more mass than your average deer hunting bullet. the original post was asking about a 270 so I tried to post something about a rifle. I'm mostly with you guys shooting shotgun slugs though. that said the bullet in the video was a 300 gr 45-70 and it still affected it some, so I'd still pick and choose your shots like some of you have said you do.

Thanks. My original question has definitely been answered. Don't shoot through twigs with a rifle.

But let's go ahead and move it on to a shotgun. I've been wanting to buy one anyway. If I should be hunting in these woods with a shotgun than that just gives me a reason to get it. Let's face it, I don't have near enough room to make hundred yard shots anyway. Everything is close range, 50 yards or less.

[bluecoupe]

Way too many people think slug guns are only if you can reach out and touch it. Not true. Given a clear, and safe shot, I'd take a 150 yard shot with my 12ga, no problem.

I still look to avoid all obstacles though which is one reason I sat a 2x7x33 Leupold on top

 

[Mikejd]

Were I hunt and were all the good deer want to be is in the thick stuff. And we have plenty of meat on the pole each year. I dont think I have ever seen a clear shot. No fields by me.

[G-Man]

The original brenneke slugs work well thru brush and small trees.. hard antimony lead.. but if I had a choice no brush shot is best, but you can't get em if you don't shoot at them....

[NFA-ADK]

I use a 44 Mag in Winchester Model 94 as my brush gun.  The cast core 320gr. or 340 grains punch a hole straight through deer.  I have not actually shot one though the brush yet, even a small sapling feet from my prey caused me to wait for the perfect shot.   

 

Makes me wonder IF the slower moving 44 mag at 1470 fps and slower would have less of a deflection than the faster moving high powered bullets with less weight?  Well at least that's the logic!  I think its time to hit the range!

 

 

[adkbuck]

Jack O'Connor wrote about the ideal woods rifle and shooting through brush.  Jack favored heavier bullets and recommended round nose or flat nose bullets rather than spitzer or spire point types for shooting in brush.  According to Jack, round nose and flat nose bullets have a center of gravity that is closer to the front of the bullet which makes it less likely for them to de-stabilize when they hit a small twig. 

[Big Indian]

Depends on what you call Twigs. If you ever bow hunted you would find out how they can scr** up a shot.

Great point, Lurking

 

I found that out the hard way !!   I am such an awesome shot  hahaha that I put an arrow through two twigs and it landed right on the ground next to the beautiful 8 pointer I waited for all season last year.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Big Indian

[dbHunterNY]

There's a difference between shooting through brush and picking a small opening in it to shoot through. I avoid it if at all possible. What I referenced before was a big heavier bullet and was still an effect. I think jack o'connor logic posted is sound though even today many years later.

[Five Seasons]

another zombie thread!

[Pygmy]

Over the years I have read several articles concerning "brush busting".

 

In one the tester constructed  a maze of dowels and placed a target beyond it, and shot groups with various guns and projectiles.

 

The conclusion in most cases was that NOTHING , even heavy, slow moving rifle bullets or shotgun slugs,really busts very much brush without significant deflection, enough to cause a miss, or worse yet, a bad hit at normal hunting ranges.

 

Always try to pick an opening...

[A Sportsman]

Pygmy, I have read the same, and believe I have experienced a few misses on Deer where unseen twigs ruined my shot. Luckily not wounds.

Even when you tell yourself to wait for that clear shot mistakes can and do happen in that moment of truth. Thosee twigs can be all but impossible to see unless you are really looking hard for them. Which is why I think it is good practice to strictly strive for a clear shot. That said, if you are close to the deer and can see clear as day, and there is some little bush right up against his body I would take the shot.