I am still sick...can't imagine what happened. Setup a treestand in a fencerow at edge of corn field. Buck come in along end rows of corn, at 60 yards I put crosshairs right on his chest and gently squeeze the trigger. BOOOOOM! Buck stands there a bit, comes towards fencerow turns and walks along fence and jumps into woods and walks off.

I get down, search area. No hair, no blood...no ANYTHING. He didn't act like he was hurt or wounded and I am sure he wasn't.

There were some tree limbs between he & I and I thought I was clear...but one must have been in the road that I didn't see.

HOW BIG OF A TWIG DOES IT TAKE TO DEFLECT A SHOT? 150gr. pellets, 350Gr. FPB?

I sit for another hour and then go home. I put up my shooting target in the yard, load the gun and hand to my son and ask him to shoot it. Thinking maybe the scope got knocked around or something. He (wise guy LOL) blows the bulls-eye out dead center at 75 yards with my gun. I reload again and I sit down and place the shot 3/4 inch high, right above his bulls-eye perfect center.

My EGO was wounded like crazy....it's the first time that I have pulled the trigger on a deer with that gun that the deer didn't get a FREE ride home in my truck. There had been 7 in a row!

I guess that's why they call it deer hunting and NOT deer killing!

A 1/4 inch twig will do it and they're hard to see when you're concentrating on the deer. You are not the first by a long shot nor the last either. It happens all the time. That Murphy fella has a hand in it. Better luck next time.

Any size twig would do it. The closer the twig is to the shooter, the more pronounced the deflection.

In looking "up the skirts" of several batches of FPBs, I have noticed some have minor defects. I set those aside and use the best looking bullets for hunting.

More twigs, limbs & trees have saved the life of many a Deer. The next time your in your treestand, look through your scope at the same sopt you shot at the Buck and if you look long enough you just may see what you hit. Chaulk one up for the Deer it was his LUCKY day.
(BP)

That's a shame, but it does happen. When I make a shooting lane I go a litle over board clearing things away, but it has paid off in the long run.