Methow Hunt

[Pathfinder101]

Sounds like you need to go to the range and/or chill out. This isn't a video game, don't just sling lead at an animal.

Or scope is off, or hit a branch, etc,....we have all missed shots in our day. On the range ill hit the bulls eye 100% of the time. I wish i could say the same out in the field.

Just take deep breaths BigBadMulies! you will get em next time!!

first time ever using this rifle and yes the scope was most likely off! Going back over this weekend to hopefully seal the deal with a buck!

Not to open up a can of worms here, but did how much did you shoot it before the season began?

[Big_bad_mulies]

Sounds like you need to go to the range and/or chill out. This isn't a video game, don't just sling lead at an animal.

you act like it was a montage of crazy shots

[Big_bad_mulies]

Sounds like you need to go to the range and/or chill out. This isn't a video game, don't just sling lead at an animal.

Or scope is off, or hit a branch, etc,....we have all missed shots in our day. On the range ill hit the bulls eye 100% of the time. I wish i could say the same out in the field.

Just take deep breaths BigBadMulies! you will get em next time!!

first time ever using this rifle and yes the scope was most likely off! Going back over this weekend to hopefully seal the deal with a buck!

Not to open up a can of worms here, but did how much did you shoot it before the season began?

well my rifle is on point, always shoot great with it, but due to it having to stay here with a gunsmith fixing it, I had to use my grandpas extra rifle and I never got the time to get some practice with it or anything

[Big_bad_mulies]

And for everyone else that thinks I was just shooting like a mad man, I was not, all shots hit the empty hill side, I wouldn't ever shoot like that into the open, I know better than that.

[Pathfinder101]

And for everyone else that thinks I was just shooting like a mad man, I was not, all shots hit the empty hill side, I wouldn't ever shoot like that into the open, I know better than that.

Well, it's good to know that you were not putting anyone else in danger.  Try not to be offended here, but honestly, you probably should not have been hunting with a rifle that you had never shot.  I coach a high school rifle team and I can tell you without question that just because a rifle is sighted in to someone else, it is rarely sighted in for you as well.  We all are built differently, see differently etc...  My dead-center zero at 100 yards may be two inches low and left for you.  At 300 yards being that far off is enough to gut-shoot something that you were aiming at the shoulder on. 
Also, a word about shooting at running targets.  I spent 21 years in the Army, and I can tell you that it takes a lot of time and practice to hit something that is running.  I used to be able to do it pretty well with an M16, but I don't try it anymore because I don't do it enough.  I get shots at running deer.  Instead of blasting away at something I might wind up wounding, I sit down, flip out the legs on my bipod, find the deer in the scope and wait for him to slow down or stop.  I would rather take a 300 yard shot at a standing deer than a 50 yard shot at a running one. 
Sorry, don't mean to preach at you.  As has been said earlier, most of us had to learn this stuff the hard way too...  Just trying to help.

[CMG]

great advice pathfinder 
  Another thing to note: Typically, but not always, mule deer will stop and turn to see what spooked them, 100 to 300 Yrds out. use those few seconds to position youself for a good shot. you will only get one.  If you don't get that shot, tracking, wind, and some knowledge about how deer behave when being chased by their predators are useful knowledge to be successful.

Ever watch someone get so excited they unload their whole magazine without "firing" a shot.

  Alot of truth their!

[hogsniper]

Thanks for the story!  Memories made in the hills with your gramps are something you will never forget. Excitement starts flowing and things happen. Way to tell it how it is and when you get one down post some pics!    Armchair critics kill sites like this IMO!   

[TheHunt]

Big_bad_mulies, 

Only take 1/20 of any of these responses. This site is notorious for internet police, internet saints, etc...   

I enjoyed your story thanks for sharing...

[MLBowhunting]

Good luck this weekend.

[bearhunter99]

As has been said, the biggest rule to being successful is to be patient.  Sometimes they will give you an extra shot, sometimes they won't but you have a phenomenally higher success rate at a standing target than a moving one but once you take the shot on a moving target the chance of them stopping is pretty slim.  It is extremely tough once the blood is flowing to slow down and resist the temptation to keep "slinging lead" but you will find your overall success rates creep up if you can master the patience aspect of it.

I also agree with Pathfinder.  I have always broken in and sighted my wife and daughter's guns, but they always had to adjust them to bring them to center for their shooting style.  For whatever reason my wife pretty consistently shoots about 2" right and 1" higher than I do when shooting the same gun  

Keep at it and remember to breathe!

[bradslam]

Big_bad_mulies, 

Only take 1/20 of any of these responses. This site is notorious for internet police, internet saints, etc...   

I enjoyed your story thanks for sharing...

Some would call it internet police, some would call it constructive criticism.  Most of the posts I see on here are very politely trying to educate.  For instance, Pathfinder is providing the experience of a 21 year career in the Army and of a coach of a high school rifle team.  Why not learn from his experience, instead of dismissing him as an "internet saint?" 

One glaring thing that stood out to me in the story was that he apparently didn't follow up his shot.  Don't assume that you missed just because the animal runs away and you saw dirt flying above it on subsequent shots.  It's possible that the dirt flying is from the impact of the bullet after it passes through the animal.  Always try to trail the animal to look for evidence of a hit.  Sometimes there is no evidence at the site where they were shot, but farther down the trail blood will appear.  The shots from over the ridge could have been from a completely different animal.  Once, I jumped a huge 4-point and couldn't get a good shot.  A minute or two later, I heard a shot from the direction it went.  Dejectedly, I hiked that direction to see what I had missed out on.  I found a hunter standing over a 2-point who told me that just after he shot his buck, the biggest buck that he had ever seen came running by. 

There are lots of years of experience on this site and also some people that don't have a clue.  The only thing you can do is take it all in, critically think about the information, and use what works for you.  Good luck.

[boneaddict]

Well put!

[Pathfinder101]

Big_bad_mulies, 

Only take 1/20 of any of these responses. This site is notorious for internet police, internet saints, etc...   

I enjoyed your story thanks for sharing...

Some would call it internet police, some would call it constructive criticism.  Most of the posts I see on here are very politely trying to educate.  For instance, Pathfinder is providing the experience of a 21 year career in the Army and of a coach of a high school rifle team.  Why not learn from his experience, instead of dismissing him as an "internet saint?" 

One glaring thing that stood out to me in the story was that he apparently didn't follow up his shot.  Don't assume that you missed just because the animal runs away and you saw dirt flying above it on subsequent shots.  It's possible that the dirt flying is from the impact of the bullet after it passes through the animal.  Always try to trail the animal to look for evidence of a hit.  Sometimes there is no evidence at the site where they were shot, but farther down the trail blood will appear.  The shots from over the ridge could have been from a completely different animal.  Once, I jumped a huge 4-point and couldn't get a good shot.  A minute or two later, I heard a shot from the direction it went.  Dejectedly, I hiked that direction to see what I had missed out on.  I found a hunter standing over a 2-point who told me that just after he shot his buck, the biggest buck that he had ever seen came running by. 

There are lots of years of experience on this site and also some people that don't have a clue.  The only thing you can do is take it all in, critically think about the information, and use what works for you.  Good luck.

It's OK.  I wasn't offended.  I assumed he wasn't talking to me...

[DeArBuCK4me]

5 or 7 years ago me and my son went hunting and saw the buck we been dreaming of, probably 3 to 400 yards away we rushed to our guns and he fired 4 shots at the animal while it looked right at us all shots missed and the dear animal slowly went down a hill to never be seen again.
It was soooo painful but one thing we learned then was that just because you see an animal it does not mean you need to fire now. if we had waited and had a little patience it would have been ours.
learned by our painful mistake.
I kicked my self for a couple years and lost sleep over it. the way it goes.
I have to say that today if the same situation happened I would remain calm and would stategically hunt this animal. 

[Ripper]

Practice makes perfect, or at least a lot better than not practicing.  Good luck next week and cherish the time you have with Gramps. These are the memories that will last a life time. Seriously though, a lot of good advice has been given, so take a little time to practice with Gramps gun so that you are more familiar with it. being familiar with trigger pull is very important to make a good shot. I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to seeing your smiling face holding up a nice rack.