Free: Contests & Raffles.
you are 100% right. it was poor judgment.
Quoteyou are 100% right. it was poor judgment.The only thing I see bad judgment in is (I'm assuming here..), that you don't practice shoot to that distance. The 300winmag is very capable of taking an animal at that range. Up hill. Down hill, Horizontally. I see no issue with shooting straight down on an animal. I've known a lot of hunters over the years that prefer the spine shot or neck shot over the heart/lungs. If your target is sitting/laying still, then I see no issue with this if you're an accomplished shooter and know the trajectory of the bullet being fired. This is where a range finder with the angle of trajectory comes in handy where it will re-calculate the actual horizontal range to target. Please read here: http://www.chuckhawks.com/shooting_uphill.htm (especially the last paragraph)With all that in mind, I'm going to guess that 'straight down' was probably not quite straight down. And, I'll infer that there was a 40 degree down angle as in Chuck's example. So, 400yds becomes 335yds. Now ask yourself.. If you sighted your rifle in a couple inches high at 200yds to attain a MPBR (maximum point blank range) of around 300yds. Horizonally the bullet trajectory only changes a few inches. You point it up a little and it eventually comes down a little. Somewhere 'near' middle range it passes the plain of the scope crosshairs. (horizontal sight)Please looky here: http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_trajectory_table.htm The 300winmag with a 180gn bullet shoots MPBR to 303yds. Which would signify that you could have just held dead on and hit the kill zone. But instead, you hit antler of a sitting Deer, missing the kill zone (if you held say... 6" low, then you missed by a lot more), by as much as 18"..Even if the horizontal distance to target was only 200yds, the scope crosshairs would only be oh... And get this, you sighted in horizontally at 200yds... 4.5" lower than bullet path if you sighted in ~2" high at 200yds. Two possibilities! YOU FLINCHED or the load/rifle is not near as accurate as you think. Now, I realize that I was not there. I also realize that a buck can move his head and as such the head gear can reach to the top of the spine if he scratches an itch. I'm doubting that you fired when he was putting his nose straight up in the air. I have infered a possible different angle, but please also realize if the horizontal distance was only 15yds, (as an assumed nearly straight down shot), the bullet path would not be much different or 'out of the kill zone at all'. Would you hold a foot low for a buck that was standing across the road from you? NO! You would not. You would aim dead on and have a bullet strike somewhere within the 8" kill zone. Edit: I'll add another posibility. A 40mph crosswind moved your bullet off the intended path. You missed, but it was most likely not because you didn't aim low enough.-Steve
The same pricipals I wrote about certainly apply to an arrow in flight. There are a lot of tree stand bow hunters that have shot over a target game animal, or over-compensated and shot under an animal. -Steve
no worries chester. plus jacks right. im willing to admit when im wrong. as far as the other stuff... i find it funny. lol
Personally I think road hunting creates a lot of situations that make hunters look bad to the non-hunting public.when people jump right off the road and do thier thing it turns into a "Skagit Elk" sized log for the Anti's fire which is not a good thing for all hunters.
