Different sounds of gunfire

L

Lt. Skrumpledonk Ret

New member
When I'm hunting deer I notice a plethora of sounds of gunfire all around me. Many times I've noticed one shot can make two very distinct sounds. There is an initial 'crack' or 'thud' which, I'm guessing, is the bullet hitting the deer or the ground. And then there is the longer, not-nearly-as-concise roar of the shockwave coming off the supersonic bullet.

Ka-BOOM!

If the shot comes from very far away those sounds blur together.

Have I got that right? Or is the initial sound the bang of the gas coming out of the muzzle? I wonder because opening day there was a shot that had an incredibly long delay between the two sounds.

It's fun to analyze while I'm bored out of my mind; trying to get blood flowing to frozen extremities; waiting for the wind to die down.
"Hmmm. That one sounded like a shotgun half a mile away pointed away from me and he missed."
"No. That was a rifle two miles away pointed towards me and yes, he missed. (No initial thud)
 
You're not going to hear the bullet hitting anything if you're very far away.

There are different sounds mostly because there are different guns. An 18" pump 12ga shotgun doesn't sound like a 24" semi-auto 20ga which doesn't sound like a 24" bolt-action 30-06 which doesn't sound like an 18" semi-auto .308.

Variations in echo are primarily due to variations in terrain and direction of the shot. Did they shoot directly away from you and toward a mountain side? Did they shoot "toward" you and there's no major obstacle for 3 miles distance?
 
I've never paid much attention to that level of detail but I have noticed that a big bore sounds a lot different at range than a bottlenecked cartridge.
 
Depends on distance, to some extent, but Boom-Whop is usually a bullet hitting meat. Boom-Swish is a bullet that didn't hit meat.

Hitting meat is somehow a different sound than hitting a rock or tree. Maybe more of a Crack than a Whop, for rocks and trees. :)

A fusillade generally means an unhappy Nimrod. :D
 
What I noticed is how the terrain and temperature seem to affect it. Sound is different on the flatland vs. the hills. Snow cover greatly muffles it too. Sounds different in the bitter cold , more of a crack.
 
Just about everything out there affects it. Temperature, atmo pressure, terrain, your hearing position in relation to it, etc.
One thing not mentioned, I have heard a number of echoes out there, in some areas.
Canyons, perhaps, where the sound will ricochet back to you.
dc
 
How far away you can hear certain sounds seems to depend on the terrain and vegetation. For example....

In even years, I hunt Elk in a 3/4 x 2 mile bowl with dense vegetation everywhere, and rock faces inside and above the trees.
In odd years, I hunt Elk in a 3 x 8 mile valley with rolling terrain, a mix of clearings, streams, open stands of trees, dense stands of trees, and areas of scrub.

In the bowl, you're lucky to hear a handgun shot, at all, from 500 yards away. At about 1/4 mile, even rifle shots are quite muffled and hard to identify.
But, in the valley, you'll hear distinct, easily identifiable shots and impacts, from miles away.

Even hearing "Bang-Thwop" coming from outside the valley is quite common. It can be rather annoying, at times. The sound carries in from everywhere, so opening day of the season sounds like World War 3, with only the occasional shot connecting. :rolleyes:

It doesn't seem to matter where I'm at - if I can hear the shot, I can hear it connect (if it does).
 
I know terrain plays a big part in the sound and can also fool ya big time.

I live at the head of a big holler(Appalachian lingo;)). Someone can be miles from the house but be down in the holler shooting and it sound like they are shooting at my back door.

There's a very thick stand of pines close to the house and if you're shooting from the middle of the pines, you can hardly hear the shot here at the house.

Too, the sounds will ricochet off the hills making it sound like the shot came from a totally different area then it was actually fired.
 
One thing I've noticed - If a grizzly bear hears ANY gunshot in September or October, he knows there is a very good chance of a free meal!

I don't know how they do it, but for some reason, those darn bears have figured out what a high-powered rifle shot hitting an elk sounds like!

Maybe it's the WHOMP, as Al suggests!
 
It's the "zip" zing" sounds that will send a chill up your spine the first time you hear it and actually realize what it is?
 
I've never heard a bullet hitting an animal from more than a few hundred yards.
Click to expand...

I've killed a lot of deer and antelope at assorted distances and have never the bullet hit home.

As pointed out, guns and cartridges do sound different but there are so many variables that there are now hard and fast rules as to where the shot came from and distance.
 
My Dad's older 300 Savage had a distinctive crack compared to my uncles 30-30 carbines. Velocity probably had something to do with it.

Jack
 
Kreyzhorse said:
I've killed a lot of deer and antelope at assorted distances and have never the bullet hit home.

As pointed out, guns and cartridges do sound different but there are so many variables that there are now hard and fast rules as to where the shot came from and distance.
Click to expand...


I've heard it on deer that other people have shot, a couple times. Circumstances have to be just right. They have to be fairly close but far enough from the deer that there's a slight delay and far enough from you that the blast isn't too loud.

Woodchucks, I hear it a lot. :D They're "juicier" and the bullets are going faster.
 
Where you point the barrel makes a big difference

My first buck Dad heard me shoot - swore it was 100 yds away. I had to admin a coup de gras (shooting down towards the ground) he never heard it. And consequently never made it over to help me and I ended up lost and dragging that deer out myself till 10 pm at night. Which btw was on Thanksgiving! Have a happy all.
 
I know what you mean because many things go through my mind while sitting in the woods for hours. Often I sit in my tree stand and try to figure out maybe what caliber they are shooting in the distance and how big was the deer they shot. I hear some shots that I would swear that came from an elephant gun and wonder why is it necessary to use a gun that large on a deer. Hey different strokes for different folks if you want to burn lots of powder on Bambi then that's ok. As others mention I hear a lot of fast follow up shots during muzzle loader season, knowing that someone decided to use the rifle.

Also it can be real deceiving as to where some shots came from. I think sometimes it depends on which way you have your head turned and terrain does play a big part. Just this year I was hunting down in the hollar ( yes that is the way we say it where I come from) and my brother in law was about a quarter of a mile away at forty five degree angle. There was a gunshot on the joining property but between us. He just knew that I had shot a deer and I also thought maybe that he had shot at one. He sent me a text and asked if I had shot. At that point I knew that it was our neighbor on the joining property.
 
I love the sound of a high speed bullet hitting a prairie dog, makes me smile. The first deer I shot, on a damp foggy morning about 300 yards from the house, my dad was doing chores and heard the shot, said it sounded like someone whacking a sack of feed with a board, I was young and still trying to cut the throat when he showed up, didn't realize that with no heartbeat wasn't any blood going to come out. Otherwise I never assume a hit or miss from the sound of the shots, too many variables, echos, wind, etc. etc. Sometimes I hear shots and think good grief sounds like a .22 Mag, and other times I think Oh My some just shot a deer with a civil war cannon.
 
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