How to miss the deer, Chapter 14

[Fremmer]

Here are some more helpful tips that will demonstrate how you can consistently miss a deer, brought to you by Fremmer's School of Learing the Hard Way:

1. See the deer step out onto the field from the timber; range is about 120 yards, deer standing broadside.

2. Get real excited.

3. You are sitting on the ground. The deer appears to be nibbling on a tree branch and is not looking out onto the field. Ignore your inner voice that says "be patient" and aim at the deer by resting your arms on top of your knees. Lots of wobble? Ah, just ignore it. Don't use the kneeling or squatting positions that you practiced all Summer. Those knees provide a great platform, and a little bit of wobble never hurt anyone.

4. Ignore the tree that is two feet way and that you could use as a rest for the rifle. A Rest? Who needs a stinkin' rest? Continue to ignore the wobble.

5. Remember, you gotta take the shot FAST. Don't wait at all -- not even a couple of seconds.

6. Don't pick a spot certain on the deer to shoot at. Instead, just put the crosshairs in the general vicinity of the deer's body.

7. Now you need to pull the trigger. Well, pulling is pretty slow, and remember, the deer is patiently nibbling at the tree, so you gotta shoot FAST. That squeezing the trigger stuff is way too slow. Instead, jerk at that trigger; it'll hit "somewhere." Remember, you gotta shoot FAST.

8. Well, you missed, and the deer is quickly trotting into the timber. But don't pause to see if the deer will stop! Instead, rack that bolt hard, and take another quick shot at the trotting deer. Don't forget that your shot has to be really FAST, and we know how well you do with those FAST shots.

9. You missed with the second shot; deer is now bounding into the timber.

10. Well I'll be durned! There was another deer behind a tree nearby the one you've shot at twice. It is now trotting away from the edge of the field and into the timber. But stay stubborn. Don't wait! Rack that bolt again, and, you guessed it....

11. Take another shot at the second deer, but take it as FAST as you can. Give that trigger a good jerk. Why wait to see if the second deer will stop? Hmm. You missed the third shot at the trotting deer.

12. Both deer have run into the timber. Even though you are sure that you missed all three shots, go to the areas where the deer were when you took the shots, and look for blood. No blood anywhere. Well, better make sure you didn't wound one. Start walking into the timber and looking hard. Trip over logs twice. Have eye jabbed by tree branch. Cut your thumb on something (branch?). Curse a lot. And get covered in thorny what-cha-ma-callums -- all over your jacket and pants; those will take hours to get out. Do this for about an hour and a half. Luckily, you don't find any sign of a wounded deer.

13. The fun is not over yet. Be honest with your hunting buddies when they ask you how many deer you got from all that shooting. [NOTE TO SELF: in the future, when they ask you what happened after you've missed, do NOT admit to flubbing the shots. Instead, blame the gun, the ammo, and/or the scope.]

14. Enjoy your new nickname: "Mr. Sharpshooter." Even better, enjoy it when one of your hunting buddies informs the Secretaries in your office about your shooting skills; don't be surprised when you hear a voice over the intercom that says "Mr. Sharpshooter, you have a call on line one." [and you -- and everyone else -- will also get to hear the sound of the other secretaries laughing in the backgound]. And yea, that one IS going to stick. At least until you actually manage to screw up by being a little bit patient and making a good shot the next time.

[pax]

Dad always told me you could tell how other hunters were doing just by listening: One shot, one deer. Two shots, maybe one deer. Three shots, no deer.



pax

[Art Eatman]

A lotta times, you can hear the bullet hit. Depending on distance, you can tell a miss.

Boom, whop: Hit. Boom, whish: Miss.

, Art

[Fremmer]

Too much whising, not enough whopping!

[Foxman]

Hey chill out Fremmer, we mostly have done some of this at some time, ( a little honesty here guys!) have a beer and relax in the chair think just how good, patient and controlled your gonna be next time. Unless its got a rack on its head the size of a pine tree, then it could happen again perhaps

[Fremmer]

I've been thinking about why I've been taking these shots so quickly this Season. I didn't do that last Season (my shots were much more measured, and I exhibited a good deal more patience then), and I think I may have the answer.

This Summer, I did quite a bit of practicing with my new rifle, and a considerable amount of it consisted of trying to take a very quick shot at a paper target from various ranges. I would stand or kneel, quickly raise the rifle, and try to take a fast, accurate shot. I was trying to duplicate a situation where a deer flushes, and you only have a moment to take a quick shot.

However, none of the deer I've seen this Season have presented themselves in such a situation. Instead, I've seen the deer from a Stand and/or from a position where the deer were not moving (or moving very slowly), and they were unaware of my presence. So I'm thinking that my lack of patience this Season occurs when I revert back to the quick shooting style that I practiced in the Summer, instead of pausing a few moments (or even longer)and actually thinking before I take the shot.

Have any of you ever experienced such a thing, or am I just groping for a lame excuse?

[Foxman]

Just groping I'd say. Hey forget it, we have all done things. I was creeping and worming round to get on a nice buck, early morning, clear day and he was about 150 yds off. He had had is butt to me and I got in a position for a side on shot. Lined up on his neck gently squeezing up on the trigger and he took off like an F16, never even looked back, went into the tree line forever. I thought what the heck! I never made a sound or anything, then I realised that I had been so busy creeping and worming I hadn't noticed a gentle breeze get up over my shoulder and pretty straight to him! Plenty of kicking grass humps and cursing, never saw another buck all day

[kingudaroad]

Be honest with your hunting buddies when they ask you how many deer you got from all that shooting.

Or you can use the old standby, "Nope, wasn't me, I didn't shoot. Didn't see a thing. I did hear those shots though. Bill, wasn't that you shooting?"

[FrontSight]

Quote:

Dad always told me you could tell how other hunters were doing just by listening: One shot, one deer. Two shots, maybe one deer. Three shots, no deer.

Pax, was this in areas that only allowed one deer a season? In some areas now a days, you might hear multiple shots, and find a dead & tagged deer from each one...

[FirstFreedom]

Or you can use the old standby, "Nope, wasn't me, I didn't shoot. Didn't see a thing. I did hear those shots though. Bill, wasn't that you shooting?"

There ya go... Funny stuff, Fremmer; thanks for sharing. Most of the time, you'll want to do a little 'voice grunt', or if there's wind or the deer is more than 50-75 yards away, whistle, so the deer will stop. They will look in your direction for 2-4 seconds usually before resuming browsing. This gives you plenty of time for a precise shot (if you have one).

[MeekAndMild]

Fremmer, good one! I'd suggest a walking stick you could use as a monopod.

You need to add another chapter about black powder shooting with deer sitting there like sheep to watch you while you frantically swab and load and start and seat and prime and cock and...deer walk off.

Pax I shot 3 times one day. Got a doe on the first shot, missed her friend on the second and got #2 on the third shot. Missing is easy when you let the adrenalin get the best of you, but a steady rest helps recover. Nearly converted me to centerfire rifle hunting if black powder wasn't such a challenge.

[Fremmer]

I did better today. I was sitting in the timber, and my friends managed to push 6 does in my direction; the does almost ran smack dab into me (I picked a good spot near a path). The does were about 20 yards away when they suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, realized that I was there, and began to scatter. Instead of shooting right away at moving deer, I waited a couple of seconds to see if one would stop. And one did!

And yes, a .308 will kill a doe that is 20 yards away. Now let's see your mighty .30-06 pull that one off!!!

Nearly converted me to centerfire rifle hunting if black powder wasn't such a challenge.

Blackpowder sounds fun; I've been thinking about buying one of those rifles and adding an extra hunting Season!

[20cows]

And yes, a .308 will kill a doe that is 20 yards away.

And to think I didn't believe the .308 was good beyond 15!

[Gary Conner]

Awful feeling ain't it?

When I was about 18 or 19, I was driving down a ranch road on the Chianati Ranch with my Dad going into Presidio Texas to get some ice.

I drive right up on a B&C record class Mule Deer buck, standing right smack in the middle of this ranch road, curiously watching my truck coming in his direction. He just froze there, obligingly, in the middle of the road.

I hit the brakes, jump out, and grab a 30.06 from behind the bench seat, and unfortunately, insert a 7.65 clip in the gun, rack in a round, and promptly jam the rifle up perfectly. (Later my Dad was able to force it out with a cleaning kit rod)

Well, instead of removing the clip and putting it in the 7.65, and shooting it dead right where he was apparantly taking a break, I stand there like an idiot, trying to unjam the now useless 30.06.

Finally, this record class Mule Deer got bored with waiting around for me to kill him, and decided to liesurely bounce on over toward Ojinagua Mexico.

Thus ended my method demonstration of "How to comically blow the biggest opportunity of a lifetime" while experiencing my first really lamentable case of Buck Fever.

[fisherman66]

I drive right up on a B&C record class Mule Deer buck, standing right smack in the middle of this ranch road, curiously watching my truck coming in his direction. He just froze there, obligingly, in the middle of the road.

I hit the brakes, jump out, and grab a 30.06 from behind the bench seat, and unfortunately, insert a 7.65 clip in the gun, rack in a round, and promptly jam the rifle up perfectly. (Later my Dad was able to force it out with a cleaning kit rod)

The accelerator can, at times, be just if not more effective as the trigger. Legal means; smeagal means.

[Gary Conner]

I was so shook up looking at those horns, I doubt I could have hit him with the truck either!

The way my luck was running that day, I'd probably drove off into a canyon.

(I was ashamed to add in the original post, there was also a fully loaded 30-30 lever action Winchester behind the seat that I never even thought to grab and just shoot him with)

My Dad told that story on me, at every deer camp we were ever in, 'til he passed away. He thought it was the funniest case of Buck Fever story he ever witnessed. I on the other hand, did not think it was all that funny back then.

But now, I can see a little humor in it. But I still kick myself over it.

[fisherman66]

I missed "the event of the year" at our camp this year. I wish I could have seen it....

Upon driving into camp in the middle of the rainy day a big racked buck was right in the center of camp. 2 of the 3 guys piled out of the truck fast to get a shot. The first guy jumped from the driver seat and slipped on the tube step and fell in the mud, throwing his back out...the bolt slipped out of lock and an unfired round went flying. The second guy hopped out of the passenger side door and reached back to grab his empty lever action 30/30. He draws a bead and squeezes. Nothing, he loads a phantom round and squeezes...click. The third guy figured he never beat the guys in the front so he just watched the debockal unfold. He said that he was laughing so hard he wouldn't be able to hit the buck if he jabbed the rifle in it's ribs. The first guy is still trying to chamber a round, but his back hurts too much to grab the thrown round (He forgot about the others in the magazine.) The deer decides it's time to go and lopes off.

[Gary Conner]

Fisherman:
Sounds like something I would do. Sorry to hear about the old boy hurting his back.

[bclark1]

so what does 15 or 20 shots mean? always wondered that.