When I was golfing once when I was younger, I creamed a third shot on a par 5. As I watched the ball sailing over the green and to the right, it hit a tree and went in without ever touching the green, it just bounced off the tree and went straight into the cup - I'm a hack at golf - so, it was my only eagle ever. THAT was a freak shot...now on to hunting...
Two years ago me and two other guys were putting a hunt on some elk in a place we call the "gnarly hole". Elk love it down there because there is no way to get in there without making a ton of noise, there is no way to shoot them from above, and there is water and lots of elk yummies at the bottom. So, we thought we'd try and flush them out and use a typical military hammer and anvil type movement. Two guys went down in there to flush them out, and I'd flank them (the anvil) and be waiting when they ran out. So as I'm getting into position I run into a pack of at least three wolves (couldn't legally shoot them yet) who were behaving very aggressively towards me (turns out they had a deer down). So I'm done. I'm trying to gain elevation to get an open field of fire in case they really get violent - screw the elk hunt - at this point. I'm concerned about being attacked, and concerned about shooting a collared wolf and going to jail. After a bit, they stopped harassing me and I'm lost, can't get anybody on the radio, and just trying to figure out where the truck might be. The sun is setting anyways, only 15 min. or so left of shooting light when 100 yards away and slightly down hill from me in medium thickness of timber I see the whole freakin' heard running full bore. There is a small knoll they are running behind so I can only see the upper 3/4 of their bodies, but I unsling my rifle aim and settle. Little did I know that one of my hunting party (Steve) was coming in behind the heard and doing the exact same thing. This all happened so fast that by the time I got my act together I was aiming on the very last elk, a very large cow - the same one Steve was aiming at. I still don't remember how much of lead I gave her, there was no time to calculate speed, distance, wind, etc. I just threw the rifle up, and aimed, and after I pulled the trigger I saw a cloud of dust behind that knoll. As I walked up to the top of the knoll, Steve was standing below it looking at the elk. "Nice shot Tommy" he said (He's the only person who ever calls me that) "you shot her right out of my scope". To this day I still can't believe I made that shot. She must have been running 30mph, and in trees and 100 yards away (97 actually) the bullet double lunged her and she dropped in a heap. I was so sure he'd shot her - until I pulled out my 180gr Fail Safe from her far shoulder. He shoots a 7mm mag. In retrospect, that shot was so improbable, too many trees. Speed, time, trees and mental state were all working against me. But it was an amazing (freak) shot.
