I've rarely gotten into situations where a fast second shot is needed, but last year I could have used a semi-auto when a huge buck appeared crossing a haul road fairly quickly and I forced a quick shot at it. It was just beyond the flat part of the road by the time I grabbed my rifle off the blind's shelf and snapped a shot off as it's front leg went into the ditch. My shot grazed the top of the back and it jumped vertically and spun around in the air, and retreated...re-tracing its path across the road. Distance was only about 120 yards. I might have had another shot if I was using a semi-auto, but was somewhat dumbfounded by its actions and assumed it had a lethal hit. If I'd had a semi-auto, I may have gotten my wits together and fired, but I just sat there waiting for it to fall, not even trying to work the bolt.
As it turned out, I just grazed the top of the back and didn't draw blood, just a small pile of back hair. We followed the trail for almost an hour, but didn't see a drop of blood. Then, lost the trail among others. I still don't know if a semi-auto or lever would have gotten that nice buck, but it's "water over the dam" so to speak.
Later in the season, I jumped a couple of large does in the hardwoods and they ran from left to right. There were so many trees in the way, I didn't bother to shoot at such a low-percentage chance. Would I, or someone else tried a bunch of shots with a semi-auto? Maybe, but it wasn't a good opportunity and would probably have resulted in a wounded deer. I didn't need/want that. Buckshot with a semi-auto shotgun may have been tempting, but we didn't need the meat, since all family freezers were full of moose meat.
As it turned out, I just grazed the top of the back and didn't draw blood, just a small pile of back hair. We followed the trail for almost an hour, but didn't see a drop of blood. Then, lost the trail among others. I still don't know if a semi-auto or lever would have gotten that nice buck, but it's "water over the dam" so to speak.
Later in the season, I jumped a couple of large does in the hardwoods and they ran from left to right. There were so many trees in the way, I didn't bother to shoot at such a low-percentage chance. Would I, or someone else tried a bunch of shots with a semi-auto? Maybe, but it wasn't a good opportunity and would probably have resulted in a wounded deer. I didn't need/want that. Buckshot with a semi-auto shotgun may have been tempting, but we didn't need the meat, since all family freezers were full of moose meat.