Technical question

[Oak]

So I spent the last couple of days up in Wyoming looking for a deer. Found lots and lots, but as usual, I was way too picky and came home with nothing.

After making several observations while hunting up there, I have a question that I'm sure someone here can answer: When you miss the first 5 or 6 or 12 shots at a deer, what makes you think you're going to hit it with the next one???

I have a new-found understanding for why there is currently an ammo shortage.

 

[Wyodeerhunter]

After making several observations while hunting up there, I have a question that I'm sure someone here can answer: When you miss the first 5 or 6 or 12 shots at a deer, what makes you think you're going to hit it with the next one???

luck.

CO guys coming up to WY to deer hunt? muahahahahhahahahahhahahahaha

Thats almost as crazy as me buying a 700 dollar airline ticket to go scout out a new deer area in a couple weeks while the season is going......almost as crazy.

 

[duckhead59]

Oak....cuz you think it's the gun!...LMAO!!!!

 

[AZ402]

Well:

 

[1_pointer]

No lead in the air, no hope in the heart...

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Dude, Have you thought of a shotgun or maybe a snare? I think I had a 742 Woodsmaster like that, if the first shot didn't get his just start heating up the barrel. PS: What 1_pointer said. John

 

[elk_hunter]

Hehe...Oak, same thing happened to me this year in NV. Maybe it's an optimistic attitude or the constant second-guessing thoughts that the operator is failing, not the equipment.

 

[Oak]

Yeah, I just read your story and figured that you would think I was talking about you.

 

[T Bone]

Dust and adjust, maybe?

Were you on the trigger or just observing others' fine skills?

 

[Oak]

Nope, I didn't shoot. None of the six bucks I saw on this hillside yesterday interested me. But apparently some of them interested the other 6 hunters up there. After witnessing the shooting display and seeing no blood drawn, I can begin to understand how success rates are typically so low.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

OOOPs, After the earlier post about your rifle being all screwed up I thought you had done the shooting. My Bad! John

 

[duckhead59]

LOL...heck Oak...I'm with draftstud...thought the same thing here.
In the case of other unknown hunters you encounter...hell...its beyond me...Ive seen things in the field that defy logic...but the 'more lead in the air and I might hit it' seems to be a common virus in the field everywhere.
In all seriousness, when it comes to shooting rifles...I dont think most people realize/understand:
1) where their rifles really shoot at various yardages
2) the distance they are really shooting
3) what effect that 'lil bounce' in the cross hairs has on point of impact
4) what shooting that gun more than 1 time a year the week before season would have on ability
Hell the list goes on and on...its pretty funny to watch as long as they arent wounding game...lol!

 

[elk_hunter]

Oak, did you ever figure out the gremlin plaguing your gun/equipment (from that other thread you started)?

 

[Ridge Runner]

Heck Oak.. Hope you were observing from a fox hole with all that lead flying

 

[Oak]

Oak, did you ever figure out the gremlin plaguing your gun/equipment (from that other thread you started)?

Yep, see that thread for my answer. Not sure what the problem was with the scope, but it was the scope. I whacked on the ground hard enough last year that I expected to get up and find the scope in pieces. I guess I'm darn lucky my goat ended up being only 30 feet away!!!

 

[oleefish2]

I took a guy from NC once that forgot his shells and so I let him use my gun. After wounding a nice 5x5 mule deer we were able to sneak to within 50 yards. He then ejected all 3 rounds without pulling the trigger. He was pissed because the gun did not fire. I could not convince him that it was not the gun. I reloaded the gun and he took 3 more shots to hit the deer. Another key factor is adrenalin. olefish

 

[Outdoor Man 2]

I say if you don't get excited, quit hunting. But most of us think we can shoot 1000 yards, and never practice. I was hunting with my brother in law, who is a biologist with our state wildlife and fisheries department, when I heard at least ten shots one morning. When I finally got over to pick him up, I thought he must have shot a whole herd of deer. He told me he only shot at one, but it was "a couple of hundred yards next to that bush". I told him that it looked more like maybe four hundred yards. After our disagreeing for a while, I pulled my rangefinder out of the boat and took a reading; four hundred and twenty yards. He was shocked, but he had never practiced that far, and didn't have a rangefinder either. Worse thing was we did find blood, and tracked that deer probably half mile through the marsh, and never found him.