The Great Kahuna

Reply to Uncle Matt: do not judge lest you yourself be judged. I don' t see how anyone used to whitetails can use the word " absolute" about their confidence in making a shot unless the deer is hogtied to your tree stand. The key word is " can" , as in, confidence you can make the shot. Can doesn' t mean will -- anything can happen in the woods, even at 35 yds. No doubt Mauser was confident he can make that shot, but got flustered by a misfire with a new weapon, then mis-hit his target and lost it, spent many hours trying to rectify the situation. How many gunhunters who switched to bow has that happened to the first couple of seasons, especially if they either choose to, or have to, hunt alone. I know a guy who takes caribou in the artic with a long bow, but he still can lose his treestand in thick and unfamilier forest. The thing we do is hard and unpredicatable. We don' t run the woods, the woods run us. I don' t see where " guilt" enters in. If you think it can' t happen to you, then your belief in your ability has jumped reality.

GBhunter

this is kind of related, one of the fine fellows that hunts with me was muzzleloader hunting about 4 years back and shot at a beautiful 8 point buck. he followed the blood trail untill there was no blood trail and looked all over. Well two years ago my dad and i along with some friends were taking a liesurly walk through a bog/swamp on the land where we hunt in northern wisconsin, and wouldn' t you know it we walked around the bend and there was a bleached skeleton that had bones and hair scattered all over with an 8 point rack on the skeleton. any way, we brought the head and antlers back and asked the guy if it was the buck he shot at and he thought it was. he said it was and to this day it is the biggest buck we have seen on our property. We found the skeleton about 1 and 1/2 miles from where the shot was taken.

mauser06

thanx guys...some of you made me feel better.....im not going back out with the flinter until the snow falls...just so when i may have to track i can have a little help...i dont want to mess up twice...today my friend was with me and i had him stand where the deer was and i sat in my spot...i dont know how in the heck i seen the deer...it honestly looked like a nice clear shooting lane...but today more leaves were down and the sun was shining and i could barely make my friend out....the forest canopy is thick and it made it dark and i couldnt see all the brush in my way...the trees and bushes grow up then branch out making it look like i had a perfect lane..but i didnt....i didnt notice until today.....and i know exzaclty where my sights WERE on the deer....but stuff happens..maybe i hit a twig..maybe i jerked...thats why i asked where does it sound like i hit....i know where i aimed....im not a moron....and im far from a lead flinnger......i only put 1 round in my deer rifle no matter what...before i deer hunt again im getting ribbon to mark blood trails also....just so i dont have to hang my hat at every spot and walk back and put it at the new find every time i find more.....man that would be a heck of a good story if i could ended it with a deer...misfire..then a quick pan prime then still getting the deer at such a close range...it would been a great story....but stories dont always have a happy ending....i learned ALOT from this expirience and i really feel it will make me a better hunter....i wish i woulda known this all 2 days ago.....in the early spring im going to shed hunt the whole area.....i hope i dont find her....it would be a waste of a good deer....i hope she comes by me in the late season....im going to be in that very spot....i still feel bad about the deer but i honestly did my part....the only other thing i could do it try to track it with dogs...but thats illegal i do belive...and i dont have a deer dog anywhere around here..... and it got upto 60 today....shes wasted if i would find her.....i feel horrible....but i killed myself looking for her...my feet and legs are just throbbing....i have blisters on my feet and everything......noone can tell me i didnt try my hardest......just a terrible thing happend and thats the end.....

cayugad

What happened is unfortunate. That is hunting. All you can do is accept this incident as a learning tool. Practice a little more with the rifle. It always makes me feel better. I have friends who kid me because I am out there pounding lead through my muzzleloaders all year long every chance I get. I have seen a few of them shoot, and they should not be using their rifles if they can not shoot better then what I saw, but then who am I to tell them to practice more. They think they are good enough with the gun. With you there were many circumstances that could have caused the shot to stray. The problem is, like you I take this hunting serious, and like you I hate to hit one and then not recover it. Better luck next time, and I salute you for taking as much time and effort you did in your attempt to recover the animal. I like to see that. I have seen people make a hit, and because the animal did not drop in their tracks, claim it was a miss and and " the animal will probably make it." Well I say run that thing as far as you' are possible. You did that. You have better luck next time, and I will be looking forward to your post of how you dropped one in their tracks.....

wimp

There' s not much more to be said here, just a few things i want to say. I commend you for looking so hard, I don' t feel you made a killing shot. I bet you hit her in the leg. Also you really need to zero your rifle. There should be NO compensating in the field. The bullet should strike where the crosshairs are period.

uncle matt

Can someone please define a " mis-hit" for me, I couldn' t find it in my dictionary or any of the online dictionaries either.

" Mis-hit" ?

Like I said before no offense was meant. I' m sure Mauser wasn' t happy with himself or the outcome, and did the best he could and spent his time trying to find it. Even returning with a friend to help later.

I think he will be doing some serious practicing before heading out again smoke-
polin' .

But carefully read what he said about when his friend stood where the deer was and he was in his spot...." I could barely make my friend out."

With the weather the way it was for him, he should be able to find a carcass around if it eventually died from it' s wound. Depending on how soon you discover it, you may even be able to tell where it was shot. If it' s too torn up from predators & scavengers, you can return when it' s down to the bones and maybe see where that chunk of bone came off.

We live and we learn, everyday.

Uncle Matt (in IL)

mauser06

yes uncle matt....i beat the heck out of myself over this...and still am..my bodyspaying and my minds paying....and im not going back out until the day after christmas with that gun....and if its not shooting straight by then im not going...any i honsetly did not see all the brush that day i shot the deer....it was dark and gloomy and the canopy is thick making it practically dark...and the sticks are really dark and no leaves on them or anything..they were invisible...i could see the deer fine...i checked before i shot to make sure it was clear...i kept my cool the hole time....i didnt rush the shot...i was actually thinking about letting it walk...but i had what i thought was a perfect shoulder busting shot.....i was wrong.....if i would seen the brush i would never shot.....im going out small game hunting there either tomarow or thursday or saturday and will look and smell around for any sign of her....theres not much predators here...its an urban area...maybe a few crows will be the worst of them..and skunks opoussums and coons....bout it though.....and i dont know where yo ugot mis-hit from....misfire maybe.....i said that i had a misfire the first time i pulled the trigger...i ate lunch and my gun tilted leaving the powder in my pan(shooting a flintlock) all over and it didnt ignite the main charge....i then reprimed it and got the second shot off.......

txbowjunkie

You did your best and should be commended on your efforts.

Don' t let those who posted discourage you from your quest. There isn' t a hunter here who hasn' t made mistakes in the woods. Learning from your mistakes is what makes you better.

Good luck and get back out there!

SchuylkillOutdoorsman

I agree we all make mistakes, yes my aim is true and i practice. Stuff Happens, if we were perfect we would all be done hunting the first day.

I think you did a great job trying to find her.

Ive been there and done that I know how you feel. [:' (]

sse

mauser - I think what some people honestly find upsetting is the fact the deer was not easily brought down given the range of the shot. That' s the oustside of bow distance. A lot of guys have no problem bringing down a deer with a patched round ball out to a hundred yds, so that' s something to work toward.

I' ve heard one reason to stay put for a while is the wounded deer might circle back after a while. Unless you were hunting in real isolation, I tend to believe/hope the deer was recovered by somebody else.

Regards, sse