Don't always hear it when shooting game, but recently here in Nevada hunting coyotes and using a silencer/suppressor/can/moderator (pick one) the sound is heard more often. Hi velocity varmint bullet with impact just over 100 yards and beyond.

The question is: How often if ever have you heard this when there was a miss involved?

Yes and no.

Yes I heard the sound and had missed the varmint.

No, the bullet hit a dead tree branch instead.

Have heard the miss hit a few times when the ground is muddy.

The terrain and conditions tend to be very dry here in the Mojave Desert. The shot I'm questioning was in similar if not drier conditions and the brush was extensive. A pair of coyotes came to the call (snowshoe hare distress) if you can believe that. Being distracted by the second yote after the shot which the first yote disappeared instantly (distance to target was 200 -225 yards) and said thawaak was heard by myself and companion. Sight picture looked good of course. I think I lost the first sight line through the yucca's and couldn't find the coyote. Then again could have missed.

Appreciate the responses.

I've seen high speed photos of animals just as a bullet is about to exit. The skin bulges out just before the bullet tears the skin and exits. I think that rapid bulging out displaces air creating a sound wave kind of like when beating a drum. I used to wear Lee sonic ear plugs when hunting and the valves in the plugs closed when the rifle went off but had apparently opened by the time the thawaack sound got back to me, so I heard it a lot then but rarely when shooting without using them. I now have a set of electronic earmuffs and think I will try using them deer hunting to see if the results are the same as with the Lee sonic ear plugs.

Excellent idea to try the muffs... thanks

When shooting supersonic bullets through a muffler you can hear a reflected shock wave when the bullet passes by anything that will reflect sound. I have heard multiple bounces from a pole fence - sounds almost like the bullet is generating noise in its travel down range.

Almost every time a person shoots you will hear the bullet strike something. Critters that are mostly liquid have a different sound (more resonant- hollow) than wet soil or other more solid objects. Longer shots are easier to hear than close up due to muzzle blast. My dad taught me to listen for the sound when I first started hunting, something I passed on to my wife and children when they started.

In the process of learning that a 22LR will not reliably kill Wyoming Jackrabbits I heard this sound as CCI Stingers impacted at 125yards out of my UNsuppressed 10/22

After hearing this sound several times I switched to a 223 Remington varminter.

Could no longer hear the sound, but "splatter" and "pink mist" replaced it adequately

I don't think anything sounds like the thawaack sound when an animal is hit. It makes you giggle and dance a wee bit when that sound comes back to you.

If you heard it my guess is that you did hit the critter but maybe not in a vital spot and perhaps the hair absorbed the blood.

Love that sound.

anybody that has shot prairie dogs has heard it alot

Kugelschlag.

Electronic ear muffs magnify the sound really well!

We always called that "Meat Pop"!

Randy,
Like that. Requires no interpretation.

I'll bet you made a killing shot and
just couldn't find it when looking.
In brush n yucca at times it's heavy and
mighty hard to find the exact spot they
were at when shot. We've lost several that
way.
George

I shoot lots of sparrows and starlings with an air rifle. I love the sound of a double thump. The first thump is the pellet hitting the bird and the second is the thump when the dead bird hits the ground after falling from a tree or wire. When you hear the second thump you know it was a deadly shot.

Hunting coyotes over bait at night in MN my budy and I use 243 win 70 gr nosler BT they make a very good thwack with almost any hit when we are in different blinds and get one we text thwackkkk the other guy nose exactly what that ment. we shot about60 in the lasy 3 years Kevin

Wolfhunter: using the big bore like that I'll bet you don't save many hides, if you do, you do a lot of sewing up, or take a loss on value.

PaulS:
Sometime for kicks and educational value.
Go down range and have someone you trust fire a couple past you at 20-100 feet or so and you WILL hear that roar, zing, or whine from the bullets.

One time while elk hunting I got back to camp long before the other guys thought I could. After I'd left they went out on a point to sit watching for anything I might kick out. A 6pt bull walked between us and they fired several times. I thought at first Don was playing with me with his pistol til I saw the bull. When I started shooting from camp they thought they'd hit the truck. I had at least five bullets hit within ten feet of me making long cuts in the dirt. Damned dangerous once I realized it wasn't him playing games on me. Folks can get shot that way real easy. That was the last time I hunted with either of them too.

George