mauser06

me and 4 buddies were bored today and my archery buck is mostly gone already so i said lets go doe hunting. i was the only shooter...they all pushed for me...

first drop they sent me a buck and 2 doe..buck gave me a beautiful shot but no buck tag...the 2 doe saw me sneaking down the hill to get closer and never gave me good shooting so i didnt shoot..

saw alot of deer the next drive but no shooting i liked so i didnt fire...

final drive a group of 4 came through the cut corn field 20-30yds away at a slow trot. tried stopping them but they wouldnt stop...hammer was back...gun on a fence post...they were walking but nothing too fast...i felt comfortable or i wouldnt have fired..always able to find another doe no sense in wounding one...set the trigger on the biggest one(a cow!) KABOW!!! hmmm she doesnt look hit...got a really good look at her and was pretty confident she wasnt hit..

something like 6 more came to me while i was reloading..wouldnt have shot anyways knowing i might have hit one...went tracking the ones i shot at...i thought i may hit her after seeing 2 run the open field and the other 2 never did...

no blood, hair, nothing...hmmm she might have been moving, but i shouldnt missed at 20-30yds...followed her tracks down to a kinda thick pasture...THERE SHE IS!!!! laying there!! thought for sure she was dead..but i wasnt taking that chance...cracked back the hammer and snuck closer and closer...25yds away i caught an ear flicker...got down and rested the gun on my knee and settled the sights behind the shoulder...KABOW!!! smoke clears...YOUR KIDDING!!! shes still laying there now looking around!! made a 20 second reload and was repriming when she finally bolted...went down to the bed...nothing! followed her tracks again 75yds...nothing...actually jumped her again..she wanted to stay in the thick pature opposed to the open fields...she left untouched...

i couldnt believe it...25yds bedded down and i couldnt hit her..

got back to the farm and put up a popcan on the fence post 30yds away...leaned on another post...KABOW! dead center 50cal hole right where i had the sights....

replaying both shots the rest of the evening, im almost posative i lifted my head both shots.....


they dont call em flinchlocks fer nothin!!!

i wont lie...i havent shot the rifle since july or august...between college and moving to a new house and bow season and everything else going on in life, i just didnt make it back to the range...but knew it was shooting well and knew the load...just wasnt intune today....

lesson learned....dont quit practicing and follow through with the shot!! im confident both shots went over her back....maybe friday i will connect

cayugad

All I can say is WOW!!! Good story mind you, but that is some bad luck to miss a deer twice at that range. I guess things happen. Maybe a touch of buck/doe fever. Anyway, better luck next time and you sure can not say you did not get a chance at one.

lonewolf5348

Mauser great story

I learned a long time ago when archery hunting for some 35 plus years never never look for the arrow in flight
just draw,aim and follow threw both with the release and keep the bow hand up.
I missed a few at close range a few years back with the bow all because you want to see if the arrow is going to hit the target.
I say the same for flinters I think a lot of guys flinch only 2 reason ne they are looking also at the lock to see if all is going well and not following threw keep the sights on the sight picture.
I look at it no reason to think on the lock it ant going to make it spark any better and if you set it up correct it should fire every time.

mauser06

i really thought my sights were off again after missing the sucker laying down...but sure enough, they arent..

couple years ago i missed another gimme shot to find out my rear sight was only being held on by 1/2 a turn of ONE screw...never noticed till i missed and looked at my gun dumbfounded...

just one of them days i guess...but, i started flintlock hunting 5 or so years ago for a challenge...so far the only thing ive killed with it is 2 groundhogs...deer i never have luck with it...sometimes i wonder if the gun isnt cursed...usually never get shots while my buddies are shooting like they are in the revolutionary war bumming powder from me or something goes astray....

no excuses today....100000% my fault...

would really been something to get a 3rd shot at her!! never noticed how much smaller of a target you have while they are laying down...i mean 25yds or so and knowing the anatomy of a deer i was confident in the shot, but she stood up and i couldnt believe how much bigger she got lol...another second longer and i would took a 3rd crack at her..

snow covered the ground...i know i never touched her...chaulk it up for another good day afield...killing aint all its about...we had a blast today and saw a pile of deer...upwards of 50 were seen by the 5 of us today...

need to find my shooting sticks before friday...they usually help me follow through


lonewolf...im the opposite...i shoot 10000s of arrows a year and watch it fly everytime...thats PART of my followthrough..watched it sink right through my buck this year...just how i shoot a bow...

i know i wasnt watching the lock...i KNOW my gun goes off...cayugad and some of the other big time flinters around here helped me through the years..im confident in my gun...but i know when that both shots went off i flinched and lifted my head...still replaying the shots over and over like a bad dream lol....i never had that problem before...the gun fires quick and ive never really noticed the flash going off before...and it fired quickly today too....just flinched....

frontier gander

What was your load?

If she was laying down while the other 2 took off, im kind of thinking you did hit her.

BTW, is anyone having trouble using fast reply? I cant use it without getting an error. Always have to use the other reply button.

jaybe

That was my thought, FG - why would she be lying down if not hit? I've never seen a deer do that unless they're hit, but if they ARE hit, they will sometimes lay down the first chance they get (when they feel safe - over the first hill, into the edge of cover, etc.).
If you had snow all over, you sure should have been able to see blood, but that one isa mystery to me.

frontier gander

Im thinking gut shot. Ive seen gut shot deer do that and they'll go on forever if you dont get them with another shot.

mauser06

frontier...i was shooting 90gr of Schuetzen 3fg with a .490 ball and .015 patch....

she ran down the hill with another deer...2 went left to the pasture 2 ran the open fields...but thats kinda how they were running anyways..the 2 groups of 2 were running together. the pasture is super thick and nasty...definently a good place for them to hide..better than the open fields for 500+yds...

if i didnt have FRESH snow, id still be out there looking...but none of them ran any faster after the first shot....no a hair or speck of blood to be found...and my buddies were on the far road and got to watch me miss the 2nd shot and watched her run a counrty mile...i followed the tracks a good way and never found a speck of anything...if i didnt have snow i wouldnt be so sure...but the snow just fell...i would surely found some sign of a hit in the 200 or so yards i followed her tracks.

initially i thought i hit her because she broke off like that too...but then i remembered there was another deer with her which my buddies also watched run off with her that i never saw and said she was fine too...ran too far too fast to be hit...the hill they ran up after the shot is a monster...

even with a roundball im sure i would had atleast hair if not a blood splatter in the snow...90grs of Schuetzen should definently gave me an exit hole too..im confident she was untouched

mauser06

man...typing at the same time lol....

i thought it was kinda odd too...but there was a 2nd within feet of her i never saw...it was really the closest bit of cover...and really, they are pretttty dang safe in there...besides the super steep long hillsides leading into the gully, its pretty brush choked. i went to her bed and looked around and smelled around(i know gut hits can be smelled alot of times) nothing to be found...with snow, i dont care what i hit, i shoulda/woulda found some sign of a hit

ive been on my fair share of hits...everything from doublelungers to gutshots to nicks and grazes...one thing they all had in common...there was sign to be found within 20yds..let alone dang near 200 in snow...i wish i could show you this hill they ran up...its every bit of 150-200yds and as close as you can get to being verticle but still be a hill not a cliff...a wounded deer will not climb that hill...

bronko22000

IMO I too think you probably hit her with the first shot. After she ran the second time it might have been better to back off for a few hours then go back and find her. A few years ago I shot a doe with a 50 cal ball. I was on a dirt mound from a strip mine and shot at her around 75 yds. Snow on the ground, watched her run about 250 yards and pile up. I went to where she was standing when I shot. (I always like to follow the trail even if its to learn something). From where she stood to where she laid there was absoutely no blood. The ball hit her higher than I wanted, punched both lungs but never exited. All the blood was internal.
Another hunt my friend shot at a doe standing with 3 others. She showed no sign of a hit. Again no blood, but snow. He noticed that one set of tracks appeared to be dragging a leg. Sure enough. He followed the track and found her laying less than 100 yds away -dead. Again no blood.