Has anyone else noticed the phenomenon whereby an animal flinches after you squeeze the trigger before the pellet reaches it? I'm thinking this is due to the animal hearing the report of the rifle before the subsonic pellet reaches it.
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Game flinch
- Thread starter AnimalHitman
- Start date
What kind of animals? Are we talking about birds? Check this YouTube video "Can birds see bullets?" from Ted's Holdver if you haven't watched it yet. Pretty interesting. Maybe they can see it or maybe they feel an air pressure wave/barrier being broken. Who knows. I ain't no scientist lol.
https://youtu.be/8Rp-2_dAJ0k
https://youtu.be/8Rp-2_dAJ0k
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Sub sonic ammo = sound gets to target before the pellet does. In archery they call it "jumping the string".
I have a quiet gun, and with the right conditions I can hear the pellet go ziiiik! as it get close to the target. The pellet moving through the air makes noise, also.
I have a quiet gun, and with the right conditions I can hear the pellet go ziiiik! as it get close to the target. The pellet moving through the air makes noise, also.
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I have to assume since we are shooting below the speed of sound that nervous bottom of the food chain animals hear the shot and flinch to look or prepare to exit quickly. And then there are times they stay after i miss 3 times. Lol who knows for sure.
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What they are seeing is your eye thru the scope.. remember doc Holiday ( Val Kilmer) when he says "say when?" same as those critters. They can read your eye. 
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Yeah, that's my reasoning, critta. But maybe I'm just trying to rationalize my crappy shooting!
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Yeah, Pesk; I've watched that video. This is the kind of dynamic I talking about. Although I tend to think it's more the animal hearing the gun report than seeing the pellet. It'll be interesting to get my SUMO out in the field and test this theory. At any rate, I'll have a much quieter gun and she sure looks sexy!
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Jim, have you ever noticed a deer flinching from the sound of your release before the arrow hits the target?
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No, but I have only shot foam deer and they hardly move at all. I have seen videos on the YouTube, and have read about it.
An internet expert, I am. I have the certificate too.
An internet expert, I am. I have the certificate too.
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Pellets make quite a bit of noise when they are inbound.
I hid behind a big tree by some targets one day. My buddy was shooting my .25 marauder maybe 100 yards or so. Anyways I was curious, wanted to see if I could here my Marauder from that far, like what would the prey hear kinda deal. Well I could not here my pellet gun at all, but you could hear the pellets coming from across the field. They where humming pretty dang good.
I hid behind a big tree by some targets one day. My buddy was shooting my .25 marauder maybe 100 yards or so. Anyways I was curious, wanted to see if I could here my Marauder from that far, like what would the prey hear kinda deal. Well I could not here my pellet gun at all, but you could hear the pellets coming from across the field. They where humming pretty dang good.
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I have a video where a sparrow at about 60 yards jumped just before being hit.....Haji caught that when he watched it.
This one.....short video but it's the last bird.
https://youtu.be/mL2Aj79756Y
This one.....short video but it's the last bird.
https://youtu.be/mL2Aj79756Y
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I’m not going to say the game animals and birds door don’t move intentionally before the pellet arrives. But I’ve seen a scientific analysis that showed with a pellet at 900 FPS, and traveling 100 yards, the animals nervous system doesn’t physically have the time to react. We’re talking sound here of course. If I can find it again I’ll post the link. Since the pellet is at 80% the speed of sound, the sound only gets there a very short time before the pellet. That time difference is smaller than the reaction time of the game animals and birds.
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Anyone ever notice the mist (gas) that is expelled out the end of the barrel when a gun is fired? That’s where I’d bet my .02 cents worth of opinion.
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Wow, Kay; that's really interesting! I love that kind of field testing. So, I guess ya can't win. If you can hear the wizz of a pellet, animals with their acute hearing will too. Thanks for that
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Bob, thanks for that. I am extremely interested in animal behavior, I am a good shot, but only a fair hunter. The latter aspect is definitely the part of my game I need to up. What I do like about hunting is that every shot has its own unique set of considerations.
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Wow, Centercut; I would really like to see that study. I am now fascinated by this subject! Here is what I turned up on a Google search:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2674200/
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/can-you-explain-this-hunting-physics.375898/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2674200/
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/can-you-explain-this-hunting-physics.375898/
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Sam, are you saying the animal may see the mist? I'm sure there is a combination of factors that contribute to an animal moving before pellet hits pelt.
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Maybe you should try it with the Sumo but shoot from within an enclosed blind or inside a room far from the window or door to get the maximum effect and silence so the room's acoustics deaden the sound.
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