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How far to lead? Depends on the speed the deer is running, the angle towards or away from you, his distance from you, and the velocity of the round. Too many variables whether using a fixed lead or followthru in my opinion.

Here are two hypothetical examples

150 yards away, runnning 30 mph directly broadside, with a slug gun with say an estimate average velocity of 1350 FPS over the distance. The round takes 1/3 of a second to get to the target. The deer is running at about 45 feet per second. That shot requires about a fixed lead of 15 feet ahead of the vitals.

100 yard shot running 10 mph moving away at 30 degrees, with a slug gun with say an estimate average velocity of 1500 FPS over the distance. The round takes 0.2 seconds to get there. This shot only requires about a 1.5 foot fixed lead ahead of the lungs.

From a hundred yards and if the deer was not moving too fast direclty broadside and you were shooting a hot round at say 3000 feet per second or more, aim at the front edge of the deer and it would hit the vitals or worst case the shoulder.

Running? No way for me unless it was a followup
 
deer flip vid was cool!! [up]
 
I was hunting in Ohio in '08 and shot a buck running full tilt, with my Knight Revolution. It was out about 60-70yds and I led him about a full deer lenght. The shot was perfect and he went down instantly. It was a lucky shot. But, I bared down on him and concentrated. I'm not the best shot in the world but it is possible. Can I make that shot again?? Not so sure...[hihi]
 
I passed on a running doe this past Monday with my Muzzy.

To shoot at a running deer trying calculate lead is un-ethical. The chance of making a humane is minimized. You can do all the calculations about FPS and speed of the animal and you are still probably not going to make a clean kill. First of all it is impossible to practice such a shot. So the amount of lead is just guess work. Second and more important is the vital area of the deer is moving vertically as the animal goes through a bounding stride. So in addition to leading it you would have to time your shot so you get it at a point in the stride that is on the same level as the horizontal cross hair of your scope.
 
WAAAAAAY TO DAMN DANGEROUS TO SHOOT AT A DEER ON THE RUN. FAR TOO MANY HUNTERS IN THE WOODS TO TAKE THAT CHANCE. BESIDES, MOST HUNTERS WILL PROBABLY NOT TAKE HIM DOWN ON THE FIRST SHOT AND WILL HAVE TO TAKE THE 2ND AND MAYBE THE 3RD SHOT. UNLESS YOU HAVE A CLEAN SHOT AT HIM STANDING THERE "DON'T TAKE IT."
 
k, im just leaving ohio, the area ive hunted for the past 12 years and every year its the same thing....big bucks running in open fields. 100+ yard shots. What does the peanut gallery think?
might be just me, BUT isn't kind of tool'ish to ask the opinion of fellow hunters while calling them the "peanut gallery"?

That being said, you stated you've been hunting this piece for 12 years...I think you should have figured this out for yourself by now. What are you going to do, throw a slug or muzzy bullet at a great buck running in a field at 150 yards while trying to remember what the "peanut gallery" on NJHunter said to do? [wallmad][confused]
 
The Benoit Brothers practice in the off season by rolling tires with a plate in them. If they didnt shoot running deer they would'nt have 90 percent of the bucks they have hanging from there meat polls every season. We all cant wait for a deer to be undisturbed standing broadside over a bait pile. Take the shot if you have it, but make damn sure of your target and what is beyond. No one will tell you what lead to put on a deer there is way to many variables. Good luck.
 
I agree with Mallard the tracking family the Benoit's up in Maine exclusively shoot at running deer with 30/06 pumps and kill a bunch. If you practice or do it your entire life you can get good at killing running deer. I don't need to kill one that bad so wouldn't take a running shot.
 
with buck shot ive taken many while running i wud never try using slugs its not worth wounding a animal and not recovering it i tried it once with bow the deer was like 10yards away slowly trotting 2ft lead and i center punched its heart wouldn't do it again though to many things can go wrong
 
Njpassthru you missed !! Maybe you would but I shot about 5 deer running with a slug gun hit them all right in the boiler room so maybe before you call somebody wrong you should know what your talking about . Watched a video years ago how to shot running deer that's what they show you how to do it .njpassthru maybe you should watch it you mite learn something
 
Absolutely take the shot!!!
These guys saying NO spend too much time watching hunting on tv and less time actually doing it. This is what they prefer you to do.
"Alright aim, load the bullet, cut to comercial break, load the gun cock the hammer, finger on the trigger, cut to comercial break thank your sponsors, redo everything we already seen and shoot but dont give the money shot before cutting to another comercial break." Its Hunting not Hollywood people.
The point is to kill the deer!!!!! Its not spiritual, not everyone has a dreamcatcher hanging from there rearview, I'm not trying to be one with mother earth I'm trying to kill the thing!
So in closing, yes I do urge you to to take the running shot IF AND ONLY IF you are capable of doing so.
 
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