I was walking back to the house from the mailbox yesterday when I heard a gunshot coming from the opposite side of my house and fairly close. Then I heard a second one that sounded like it was about 50-75 yards to the right of that and a third about the same distance to the left. Problem is, the opposite side of my house is a several hundred foot cliff, followed by roughly 100 yards of pasture and then a large river. There was nobody shooting in my yard, down in the pasture, or on the river that I could see. "That's odd" I thought.

Then, about ten minutes later, I hear a crack, a whoosh (not a zip) 1/2 a second later, and a boom 1/2 a second or so after that, with the boom coming from an area around the corner of the river to the north of me and it sounded like fairly close...roughly 200 yards. There were eight or nine of these crack/whoosh/booms and I saw some deer scattering on the ranch next to me (in the same direction).

I've been shot over before in the Army and during hunting seasons and all I've ever heard is the speed of sound crack and the muzzle blast a second or so later. Never the woosh.

Ideas?

Kinda sounds to me like you were shot 'near'. The topography of the land might explain some of the audible effects.

The 'crack' part is what worries me.

I was in downtown Dallas when the production for the movie JFK was doing some filming. In particular, the sound people were recreating the gunshots reverberating thru the down town buildings and the effects were a phenomenon I've never heard since.

I've been hunting while shots were fired in the distance, but never close enough to be concerned. I've known people who were camping on remote public lands and had other campers open up with what sounded like full-auto fire in the middle of the night.

Your story reminded me of this incident:
@ 11 minute video


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_2wWktUH71I

Close rounds sound like bees to me. I heard them zipping by and impacting a brick building when I was shot at. The sounds of shots in a city are different than out in the open. The sound bounces off buildings and can trick you easily.

What puzzles me is the length of time between the crack and the whoosh. While not long, there was a definite crack/pause/whoosh/pause/boom.

It would seem that they'd be nearly simultaneous.

Hmmm...

^^^Depends on distance from the shooter. I’ve worked the pits on a long range while in the service, and at 1000 yds the bullet striking the target is there before the sound of the shot from the rifle/mg.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

Supersonic crack of the bullet, the "wind" (disrupted air) the bullet caused, followed by the sound of the gun?


Reminds me of the first time I was shot "at" suppressed. (not really at, but shot past with a small hill and brush in between) I couldn't figure out what was going on. "Someone shooting a .22 off to the right, but someone else is shooting a pistol maybe way up on the left??" Also hearing strange other sounds that didn't compute, ears and brain were arguing. Then it dawned on me what it was.

Fireworks maybe?

A number of years ago, I was doing some long range shooting with a former brother in law. I was tending the targets at 900 yards, which involved pulley-ing them up from behind a berm, after the shot lowering them and putting a disc-shaped marker over the bullet hole (to allow them to be seen at range), then raising them back up.

It was kind of fascinating to hear the "slap" of the bullet piercing the paper, then the "crack" of the shot a second or two after.

Being shot at, to me, sounds like a fast, invisible bird flying by.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
What puzzles me is the length of time between the crack and the whoosh. While not long, there was a definite crack/pause/whoosh/pause/boom.

It would seem that they'd be nearly simultaneous.

Hmmm...

Depends on the distance. The speed of sound is around 1,125 fps plus or minus depending on conditions.

So if you're up close, it's almost simultaneous. If you're far away, there's a delay.

To me, bullets have been supersonic when they passed over, so there was a crack noise, with only one exception that was fired a long way away. That one didn't crack as it was no longer supersonic.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
A number of years ago, I was doing some long range shooting with a former brother in law. I was tending the targets at 900 yards, which involved pulley-ing them up from behind a berm, after the shot lowering them and putting a disc-shaped marker over the bullet hole (to allow them to be seen at range), then raising them back up.

It was kind of fascinating to hear the "slap" of the bullet piercing the paper, then the "crack" of the shot a second or two after.

I've worked the target pits quite a bit at 200 yards. Took a while to get used to and target frame strikes were scary.

Sounds kinda like a bee passing close by.

I had a kid shoot a .22 into the windshield of my patrol car 30 years ago. The sad part is that he was aiming for his father.

Another wonderful base housing domestic.

December 23, 1964 my partner and I were in a foot chase of a counterfeiter in the rural Painesville-
Chardon area of Ohio. The counterfeiter was shooting at us with a S&W 357 magnum revolver, and I was returning fire with my Colt 357 revolver. At
one point during the chase, the bad guy turned to
face me and I SAW his gun discharge, but within a
split second a loud CRACK sounded by my right ear.
After about a quarter mile foot chase, my Colt put
a Super-X semi-wadcutter through his left shoulder,
and chase was over! He lived.

Someone shot at me as I was driving. Bullet came from left rear and glanced off the lower left of my windshield. The bullet headed away and to the right front. A diagonal shot from the rear on the driver's side.

Cracked the windshield, but I never heard anything. Probably a pistol, maybe a 9mm.

I did have a moron shoot at a target next to mine - as I was setting mine up. I'm remembering making him eat the dirt and taking his firearm away. Late teens.

Personally.... I think it's worth a call to police. If you heard those sounds that distinctly, chances are those rounds were in the direction of your home and I'm pretty sure there are laws against shooting in the direction of a structure.

Back in the early 1960's when I was 15, my best friend at the time and me used to walk thru the woods and old clear cuts with our 22's plinking at things with good backstops. One day while we were just walking, someone started shooting in our direction with what sounded like .22's. We yelled at them several times and the bullets just kept coming, so we started shooting back. We heard no more gun shots. They got the message.

I have plenty more times I’ve been shot at, even shot at during deer season while working in a survey crew deep in old growth forests and making lots of noise yelling numbers back and forth. We all turned towards the gun shots and started yelling. Seconds later we heard a car door close and a vehicle drive away. Why they couldn’t hear us before shooting in our direction remains a mystery.

This is one thread, in which, I hope I never have the experience too be of any help.

In the British Army - one with a deal of experience of being shot at - we are taught how to estimate the range of the shooter by the 'crack and thump' method. With real-live experience it can be surprisingly accurate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb4BP7lZnk0

In any case, if you can hear both, you're fine, but if you get one in the napper you won't hear either.

Take your pick.