A miss. Now what?

[RugerM77.270]

+1

If that buck went back to feeding I'm sure it's a miss!!!!!!!!

I buddy of mine shot a deer Thanksgiving, that went back to feeding. He thought he missed and was going to shoot it again but right before he shot he saw the intestines fall out through his scope. It took another 30 secondds for the deer to stop feeding and fall over.

 

[jwp475]

I buddy of mine shot a deer Thanksgiving, that went back to feeding. He thought he missed and was going to shoot it again but right before he shot he saw the intestines fall out through his scope. It took another 30 secondds for the deer to stop feeding and fall over.

I agree 100%, just because the Deer went back to feeding doesn't guarantee a miss. IMHO seen it before also

 

[4xforfun]

I don't know....some times you just know it's a miss.

Here is what happend to me last weekend. I let someone use my gun during the week. He shot his deer at around 575 yards.....no problems.

Saturday I am fed up with hunting for heads, and ,since it was the last weekend, I decided to kill a "rat". My rat showed up at about 925 yards across from my "shootin shack". Broadside. Exactly 925. A little breezy, but .... Any way....Shot 1...didn't even get a reaction. Shot 2....same......Shot 3.......shot four........ Now, I am boiling mad.....and very confused. I just quit shooting. Watched him for about 20 min.....got even madder....and went out and got my match gun. By then, the deer went back to chasing does and didn't give me a decent shot, so I knew he wasn't hit. I took my hunting gun, set it up on my rest, and shot at my target at 300 yards...hit 10 moa high (30 inches). After his job was done, he spun the dial the wrong way.....*%#)^%@!%$

At least I figgured out the problem, which, I "confermed" about 2 hours later...this time at a touch over 800. Same deer, different outcome.

But, I knew for a fact that I didn't touch that deer the first time around. But, since I wasn't looking eight friggen feet over his back, I couldn't see my hits, either.

 

[Eaglet]

I buddy of mine shot a deer Thanksgiving, that went back to feeding. He thought he missed and was going to shoot it again but right before he shot he saw the intestines fall out through his scope. It took another 30 secondds for the deer to stop feeding and fall over.

I guess it's never too late to learn something new!

I have been hunting since I was 8 y/o in Nicaragua, Central America, and also in this great country, I have seen them shot with shot-guns, 22 LR., 22 magnum, military 30-06 full metal jacket with the tip clipped off, of course that would be elegal here; but so that you get my point, I've seen deer shot on the hoof, in the guts, in the horns, in the butt, you name it; but in 46 years of hunting, I have never seen a deer or any living thing go back to feeding after being shot. Friends I've seen drunken chickens running around with their heads cut off, or without head, and that's pretty weird, but as I said, I've never seen the other.

 

[mw185]

Thanks for the thoughts and replies. I,ll give the rest of the story. Ranged deer at 504yrds, got set up, watched as deer fed quartering away until I had a better shot angle, then took the shot described. I couldn;t believe I had missed-checked many of the things mentioned then decided to range again. Found out the deer had moved aprox 50 yrds while preparing and waiting for shot-learned valuable lesson! Made corrections and made perfect shot. Good news, I had accopmlished goal of deer over 500yrds, bad news he had 5" spikes and I thought I was filling my doe tag-I almost cried as I attached my buck tag and a year of dreaming of big mulies was over-another hard lesson learned. The experience got me thinking what would I have done if the checked range was the same?

 

[4xforfun]

Thanks for the thoughts and replies. I,ll give the rest of the story. Ranged deer at 504yrds, got set up, watched as deer fed quartering away until I had a better shot angle, then took the shot described. I couldn;t believe I had missed-checked many of the things mentioned then decided to range again. Found out the deer had moved aprox 50 yrds while preparing and waiting for shot-learned valuable lesson! Made corrections and made perfect shot. Good news, I had accopmlished goal of deer over 500yrds, bad news he had 5" spikes and I thought I was filling my doe tag-I almost cried as I attached my buck tag and a year of dreaming of big mulies was over-another hard lesson learned. The experience got me thinking what would I have done if the checked range was the same?

Been there. Done that. Got the tee shirt.

 

[long450]

As for now, take rifle to the range, hopefully without changing anything and see where it is shooting.

It is easy to turn knobs the wrong way. Be sure that didn't happen.

If your rifle is sighted in at say 300 yards and you used known or balistically calculated elivations, you should have landed close enough to the animal to get some kind of reaction besides continuing to feed.

By the way, sometimes in wind blowing away from you at that range you may not hear the impact of the bullet. My bet is that the shot was over the animal. Don't give up. Learn something and try again. Good luck!!