Iron Archer

Whats up guys,

This past weekend I missed another deer![:@]I know my rifle is on at 100 yards, the deer was only about 80 yards tops from me. I was hunting out of a blind, had a good rest and the shot was slightly down hill. I'm using 180 grainwinchester ammo.
My questions is should I switch to a smaller grain? and how low should I have aimed at that close of a distance. The other deer I shot at was alos about 55-60 yards. I know I'm not moving when I shoot, I love to shoot that gun cause its the smoothest rifle I have ever had.

What the hell am I doing wrong here? Any help would be greatly appreciated so thanks in advance.

Alsatian

Set up a paper target with a bulls eye on it at the point where the missed deer stood and shoot 5 rounds at the bulls eye. If the 5 shots hit within about 1" to 1.5" (corresponding to 2" to 3" diameter circle) of the center of the bulls eye, you just muffed the shot -- "buck fever." If each of the 5 shots are NOT so disposed, either you are not a very skilled marksman or your weapon is not accurate.

If you are the culpret, don't get depressed. Shooting is a skill which is developed and improved through practice, not a genetic trait inherited at birth. Spend time at the shooting range working at shooting accurately and you will get plenty good enough to take deer reliably at 100 yards.

If your weapon is the culpret, several problems are possible. You scope may move in the scope rings. Think of shooting your rifle as similar to delivering a sledge hammer blow to your rifle -- this might cause your scope to slip in its rings if the screws aren't down tight or other problems exist. I have experienced this problem before. Your reticle could be broken loose from one or more mechanical mounting points within your scope. Either of these problems can lead to the rifle not maintaining a constant targeting point. Be aware that if you change ammunition -- brand, bullet grain weight, bullet style, etc. -- this will very likely change the targeting point of your rifle. Sight-in your rifle with the ammunition you will hunt with and don't change. If your rifle barrel is dirty -- old powder residue, copper build up from shooting copper jacketed bullets through the barrel -- this can cause inaccuracy. If the barrel is corroded from long use or failure to clean, the rifle may be inaccurate. There may be other issues I'm not identifying.

But the main issue is to run the test with a steady target at that distance with your current rig and see what happens.

Handles

How do you knowyou missed? Because the deer didn't drop? Because you didn't find any blood? In our group of 13 we found 3 dead "missed" bucks. No blood trails for any of them, none of them "appeared" to be hitincluding one that I watched with binoculars as it was being shot at.All found within 200 yards of the last place they were seen. I'm guilty of doing the same thing once. Thought it was a clean miss, no blood, dead buck 400 yards away...

What bullet are you using in 180 Winchester? That may be more important than bullet weight (180 gr. is very popular and effective in a 30.06.

Was the deer moving? What angle was it at?

How many other people helped you look for the deer, how long, how far did you look?

If you are on (By the way, whatsize group and where are you hittingto be "on"? I've noticed being "on" varies greatly between hunters and/or hunting groups.)at 100 you should be on at 80 or within a 1/2 inch. Either you hit the deer, and they are now dead or wounded,or you are unconsiously changing your point of aim as you pull the trigger (looking at the deer's head, jerking the trigger etc.)

People on this forum are great helpers, but we really need more exact info from you in order to help.

Iron Archer

OK,

The deer was a doe (doe fever?).She was not moving,she was perfect broadside from me, I shot, she looked around, sniffed the air, looked at the blind, and continued to feed. I shoot again, cross hair right on mid shoulder, same thing, only this time she walked slowly across the powerline out of sight. Shells are winchester 180gr silver points.
I looked along with a friend for roughly an hour, no blood, no poop, nothing. Checked where she went in the woods, no blood there either.
Like I said before, I have been dead on at the range, groups are all within 1.5-2 inches each other.

What I'm thinking is I am probably out of practice. For the past five years I have been strickly a bow hunter. This is the first year I have been able to use my rifle since I'm hunting in a different county and it is allowed.


Thanks for the replies. guess I'll go back to the range and practice more.lol

eldeguello

Did your bullet pass over the deer's back??

Where were the crosshairs pointing when your rifle went off??

IF you can answer these two questions, it will tell you if your bullet is going too high due to being fired at a downhill angle.

I do NOT think your problem is due to the fact that you are using 180-grain bullets, or to the fact that you were shooting a little downhill! I don't believe going to a lighter bullet weight will help!

I will say that if you "had a solid rest" on a hard surface or object, a modern HP rifle will tend to shoot away from such a rest, often quite a bit away! That COULD explain a shot over the back that looked good when the trigger broke!I suggest that you take a "deer" target out to your stand, put it where the buck was standing,climb into the stand, and "reshoot" your shot to see where the bullet strikes for you using the same rest.

Maybe all you need is more shooting practice. If you are killing deer with a bow, obviously "buck fever" does not affect you much!!

Handles

You need to shoot your rifle as others have suggested, and imo at the range again. You could have a problem with your scope.

Iron Archer

Luckily I have never had buck fever. I am the kind of person who can take a deep breath and relax to make a shot. I actually got a very nice 8 pointer last year with my bow, put a perfect shot on him.
I will be going back to the range this week to do some practice.


Thanks guys.

Borty77

I killed two deer in the past week with my .30-06, before it fell in the creekwhen my canoe flipped. Both were less than 50 yards. I held the crosshairs dead on, and both were perfect shots that took out the heart. I shoot 150 grain corelokts, they should shoot a little flatter than 180s.

keyshunter

Iron,
One other thing you need to consider is intervening brush. Assuming that the rifle and scope are ok, and that you made a "good" shot,a small branch can really send the bullet astray. Regardless of the nonsense you hear and read about brush bucking calibers, "THERE AIN'T NO SUCH THING". Any bullet can be deflected by brush, and it doesn't take much. I grew up in Pa. and started with the quintessential Pa. deer rifle the .30-06 pump with 180gr bullets. I shot many deer with the 180, and did quite a bit of target shooting over various ranges with it. There is no way that a rifle sighted at 100 yds. would exhibit enough trajectory difference to miss a chest shot at 80 yds--uphill, down, sideways, or inside out. But, hit an unnoticed piece of brush...

Ought Six

The 180 grain bullet is a prettygoodbullet for the 30-06. While the 168 grain is the flatest shooting, the 180 gives you the best of both worlds...superior bullet penetration and trajectory. 150s will work fine on deer, but the inch or two of trajectory advantage does not overcome the 180's ability to penetrate. Having considered the 30-06 to be "my go anywhere and shoot anything rifle", I prefer to use a standard load so the I am well aware of my rifle's trajectory. I doubt seriously that your ammunition is the culprit.

Most likely, you either have a rifle problem, optics problem, or operator error. Being anal about good shooting rifles, I would check your action screws. Are they tight? I would check your scope mounts/rings. Are they tight? I would shoot multiple groups at paper and look for flyers or shifts in point of aim.