Question for those who have hunted lots, both with and without.

Supersonic. I won't go sub-sonic.

Do you find over time that your kill ratio improved much?

For sure.

Goty first suppressor in 2012. That same year it became legal to shoot game animals.

My annual doe hunt is in country where there are high numbers. We hunt wheat fields, and not feeders. More acres, more opportunity. More times than I can remember, I've hit a doe in the brain stem and kept my position. Minutes later I have had the opportunity for a second doe. And there have been times I've been blessed with a third doe in the same sit.

When laying into a sounder of hogs at 200 yards or more, they have trouble locating the origin of the shot, and will often close in to the shooter. Then you can hit even more hogs before they figure things out.

Suppressed is the only way to hunt.

Yes. Several times I've put down two or even three deer in the same string of fire and had chances many other times. I've done it with both bolt and gas rifles. Thinking back, I can remember one quadruple (MLD doe hunt, two does two fawns per LO request, four shots in under 2 seconds).

If at all possible, my hunting weapon will always be suppressed.

I won’t go as far to say for sure but I think it helps in certain circumstances. I can say if you drop a pig at a feeder from 500 yards away even with a Suppressor the others may not hear it but they don’t hang around wondering what’s wrong with Arnold.
I call a lot of predators each year and I can’t say it definitely gets you extra chances but it sure doesn’t hurt and makes hunting more pleasurable and that I can say for Sure!

How much of that do you think is the suppressor, short time, and fawns?

Ive been on mld hunts and shooting 3-10 mature does in a sit from one stand with un suppressed weapons is the norm.

That makes my back hurt

No

Its not for the faint of heart and its more like work than hunting lol

I didnt get to go nearly as often as I would have, just no opportunity.

This coming fall will be my first opportunity to do so. I am stoked to try and this thread is hyping me up!

That's pretty much where I'm at with them.

I bet they do hear it at 500 yards, though. They'll sure enough hear the meat report.

Note that I said string of fire, not sit. The quad was D-F-F-D (gas 6.8), the first three coming ~1second as they were grouped together. The other doe was about 30 yards away and had yet to turn and run when I moved to her and fired. The doubles I remember are two does, one at 150 yards, one at 225 90 degrees apart (bolt 6.5CM). I shot the first, pivoted and dialed, and immediately shot the second who hadn't even looked up. I've paired does at 240/280 (bolt 6.5), same line of sight; 100/110 (bolt 6.5), where one went down, the other jumped 10 feet and looked around; two bucks 90 degrees apart at 90/55 (gas 6.8). There have been several other combos but those experiences give me the idea that the suppressor makes a ton of difference to their response.

It does make your back hurt.... 61 in one morning is the most I have helped kill and clean. None of us has Suppressors. That was 8 guys with rifles and I had a bow... I only got 4. But we only hunted 3 hours.

This is a very interesting suppressed/non-suppressed while downrange test I came across.

What are your thoughts on this test?

It represents what animals hear when in the line of fire.



May need to just follow the link. https://youtu.be/DZ_BgeG0P1o

Hogs in a wooded area - not so much. They will haul pork butt from the sound of the round smacking their relative or friend, but it is much more pleasant shooting suppressed.

That's what my take away is. Especially if you have a hunting partner, or don't want to wake up everyone within 5 miles when shooting hogs at 2am...

I do think as long as the direction of fire is away from people of houses, the sound is much reduced.

But what you are shooting at probably can't tell the difference.

Not necessarily any difference that I can tell.......one morning's hunt with my unsuppressed 7-08 and 120 BT's.

Pretty much what I thought. If you don't go sub-sonic, then down range the bullet makes the same amount of noise, suppressed or not. So why would animals react any differently to suppressed fire?

Texaslawman has used a suppressor and shot hogs on the far side of the sounder and has had the sounder run towards him. It seems that the sound of the bullet impacting the animal was the loudest thing they heard and ran from THAT sound.

Ive had hogs fun towards me shooting with anything from a 22 lr to 300 wby and 12 gauge with slugs and buckshot.

Pretty big wheat fields I can see from home (1000 yards + across) Get the sounder closer to a tree line and I suspect they hear the sonic crack echo off the tree line behind them, that's why they've come toward me.

The few I've hit with 7 Rem Mag, and brake, the remainders went into the tree line.

They wouldn’t.

Interesting video. It seems like the choice of suppressed/unsuppressed is completely a matter of the shooter, not the animals (other than subsonic ammo).

Great summary!

I agree.

But a couple of comments in this thread: https://texashuntingforum.com/forum...33/gonew/1/they-are-fighting-back#UNREAD appeared to make it sound as if a suppressor was going to be the magic wand to killing more hogs.

After hunting behind and around suppressors for years, I can't say that I've killed more animals one way or the other.

But shooting suppressed is much more fun and less damaging to ears. It's shameful suppressors are still NFA items. Ignorance and anti-gun agenda is all it is.

It ought to be the accepted rule for youngsters shooting, to have and use a suppressor. Maybe more kids would grow up with their hearing intact.

We all ought to be able to go buy a suppressor just like we buy a muffler for the lawn mower, and without any more hassle.

When I first started hunting suppressed it seemed like I killed more hogs sitting in my blind. When I would shoot a hog, the sounder would scatter but often times they came right back. Now when I shoot a hog they scatter and don’t come back until the next day. I recall one weekend where I killed 19 sitting in my blind. I hunted a total three times and killed 8, 5 and 6. The hogs ranged from piglets to 120ish pound boars/sows. Fun weekend, but I’ve never done anything like that again.

The other difference I’ve noticed is when I shoot hogs in the wheat field. In the past, I would shoot a hog or several hogs and the rest would run, but stop. This would allow me to stalk again and take a few more hogs. Now when I shoot the first hog they leave the field in a hurry.

In the end, I think it may be more related to hunting pressure vs hunting suppressed as to why I killed more back when I got my first suppressor.

Actually that's not what it showed at all. Peak decibels aren't what determines the reaction. If you've ever shot suppressed, the volume and duration of noise is greatly reduced and the tone is altered significantly. That is what makes the difference in their response.