I have only drawn blood on one animal in Africa that we were unable to recover, and the trackers concluded that I had only scratched it. However, I was taught to reload and shoot again quickly and continue shooting until the animal was down or my ph said to stop.

When told to stop, I was taught to maintain a sight picture on the animal until it was down, and approach the downed animal with a loaded rifle prepared to shoot again if necessary. I believe that if you maintain your sight picture and concentration on the animal, if it does not collapse, you stand a better chance of connecting with a follow up shot. I have had to shoot a downed animal that "revived" twice, and was glad for my instruction on approaching animals locked and loaded. Both cases got exciting quickly.

I have been halted twice from shooting at an animal that was not down when primed and ready based upon the ph's observation of the animal and its behavior. In both cases it was with animals that were being taken for "rug" trophies. Patching bullet holes in a rug is difficult, a point he must have known. Ku-dude

On my first African safari, we had been hunting for about seven days and had taken every animal without having to track afterwards. We were feeling pretty good.

We had only zebra left to take. After too much chasing herds across mountains, got a good shot on one standing on a ledge. He tumbled down several hundred feet. The PH knew by then that I would normally continue firing and hitting as long as the animal was in sight. But we wanted the zebra skin in reasonably good condition so the PH told me not to shoot again. If the solid hit didn't kill the zebra, then the fall most certainly would.

Needless to say, upon reaching the bottom of the steep hill, the zebra hit the ground running and was out of sight instantly. Blood was found on the steep hill and on the trail along the bottom of the hill, but it soon was a lost trail. Two more days of looking/tracking found nothing.

Five days later and fifty miles away, we came across a zebra. Shot him twice and he fell. Upon reaching the animal, the PH declared there was dried blood from the zebra's nose and therefore it was the same animal that I had wounded five days and fifty miles away. Therefore, there was no lost animal fee to pay.

The mysteries of Africa.

Hammer

PS -- Since then, I keep shooting as long as there is any sign of life or movement, and I ain't too finicky about shooting dead ones again.