I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

Well this morning my dad took me on the juvenile hunt and i got to shoot my very first deer with a 30-06. So at around daylight i seen a doe about 50 yards or closer so i took the sot i hit her she ran off with her head down and tail between her legs i was sure it was a good hit. So me and my dad waited a little while and then went tracking. We werefinding good blood then it disappaered and then we fund itr again. So were we dure we was going tofind her but the we found a log that she crossed and found out my shot was a gut shot. So we contiuned looking we seached hard foe 3 hours and never found her. So tht was my very irst deer i have ever got to shot at and i hit her. I feel really bad right now caue i made a bad shot on her and can not find her i feel like a really bad hunter i gaveit myal on tracking. we tracked her for about a mile and half. Has this ever hapened to any of you all??? i hope that this will be my first and last gut shot i ever make. i feel really bad right now. This is a lesson i have learned from and will try not to make tat shot again.
I was aiming for her heart and i must have jerk or she step as i pulled the trigger off. Man i feel really really bad right now???
Thanks you all for looking please reply if you want to.

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

Mossberg, your experience is a reminder to all of us to be careful in our shooting. An experience like that will make you a better hunter in the long run,as tough as it is for you now. It's good to know you're a sensitive hunter, and I'm sure you'll be a credit to the sport in the years to come.

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

Well nobody is perfect. You tried to find her and you didn't do anything wrong intentionally. With a gutshot you have to let the deer go and lay down so as not to push her too far. You could try looking again or bring a dog and try and track her. If you don't find the deer it will feed other animals and be reentered into nature. Next time try and relax a little more when you shoot. Maybe you need a youth model rifle in a smaller calibre. Youth models are shorter and fit younger people better.


Edited by - meatgazer on 11/02/2002 17:56:30

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

mossberg835283514 you are not a bad hunter, if you think you are the only hunter who ever gut shot a deer you are wrong. By this post you have proven you are the kind of hunter we need more of, you care and respect you quarry, you want a clean kill. I count myself as very lucky because according to my father I am a natural shot, not everyone is, and when you throw on top of that buck fever, even the msot experienced hunters fall victim to it sometimes and either wind up with a total miss or a gut shot. With time the buck fever will come under your control, just learn from what has happened.

From this experience you need to walk away with the following lessons learned:

1. when pulling down on a deer take your time, pick the exact spot you want the bullet to hit and squeeze the trigger, talk yourself through it reminding yourself to breath, aim and squeeze the trigger.

2. When a deer puts its head down, arches it back and puts it tail between its legs, it is gutshot 90% of the time.

3. When a deer is gutshot, never start trailing it or even heading in it's direction for at least an hour, this lets them lay down and bleed out, rather than running for long distances on adreniline.

Please try and remember that your feelings you are having right now are what is going to make an excellent hunter out of you over the years and not one of these slobs that could care less if they wound a deer and lose it or not.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

i have always been a great shot...all my life if i would shoot at it chances are i got it...my dad was impressed that i was so good even at young ages...last year(i was 14) already successesfully bagged 2 deer in my life...i was on a junior hunt like you...doe comes trotting along..15yds or so..click the saftey off and let one rip...very little blood...we searcherd for 3 hours to find a 50 yd blood trail and thats it..m dad seen where i hit it was above the lungs but below the spine..so nothing got hit really...i was sick for a week...regular rifle season...big monster doe shows up at first light about 45 yds away..i click the saftey off and shoot...she doesnt move!i couldnt believe it! a clean miss...few days later 4 does come across a hill about 45 yds...i take the lead doe...hit so low i just grazed her...searched forever to find one drop of blood..talked to a guy hunting about 1/2 mile away and he said a few mins after the shot he seen 4 does and they all looked fine..she got away too..i planned on never deer hunting again after that year! that summer i buy a leupold to put on my gun because all i had was ashotgun scope before because of the rear sight on my mauser but the guy fingured a way to get a full sized scope on so i did...my dad took my old scope to put on a slug gun...the guy was mounting it and asked if it was new..my dads like no why? the guy told my dad to move the powers and look at the crosshairs...everytime i moved the powers the crosshairs moved! i still feel sick knowing there are 2 deer out there with holes in them because of me...but atleast i know it wasnt my fault...now i wil never buy junk scopes..everybody has to learn lessons...some the hard way..like we did...you probally got the fever over your first deer and pulled the shot...its a terrible thing but now you know not to let it happen again...

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

This is a good reminder to the "bigger is better" crowd that high calibers do not guarantee a kill. Well executed, well placed shots are the priority. By doing this, low calibers work well too. I suggest folks remember this before they condemn someone that shoots a lower caliber. Thank you.

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

sorry about your luck. I've got a similar story. It happened about 4 or 5 years ago. I took a shot at a nice looking buck and hit him. Well i figured it was atleast a lung shot so i got excited and went looking for him (didn't wait hardly anytime). That was my biggest mistake. Well I saw him about 150 yards away from me laying on the ground so I figured he was dead. I started to walk up to him he heard me coming and took off like a jet plane. I found some blood and tracked for about 4 to 5 miles. I shot the deer at 0700 and tracked until 1200. Then i went back to my house and got my wife to see if she would help. We got back to were i seen the last blood sign around 1330. We searched until night. Even met a couple of other hunters and asked if they had seen anything (They didn't). We never did find that deer. I couldn't sleep for a week. It made me sick to my stomach if I even thought about it. Some things in life we can not control. We are only human and we do make mistakes no one is perfect. I did learn from that shot that i need to give the deer atleast 1/2 hour before I start to track him/her. It sounds to me like your a good hunter that cares about the sport and the animals. Just learn by this experience and try to correct what you did the next time. Take tazmans advice it sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Good luck on your next deer.

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

You tried to recover the deer. That's all you can do. Learn from your experience. Practice shooting your gun. Know where it shoots. Here's the hard part: try to be patient.

Get back out there and try again. Have fun.

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

Hey, keep your chin up:)

Must of us all young and old have made bad shots by accident and even not being able to find the game.

Like you said you did your best and tried your best. You live and learn and you will get better with every hunt. Keep practiceing on those targets, and listen to the good advise of others.

Good Luck!

KEEP HUNTING THE GREAT OUTDOORS & GOD ALIVE, PASS IT ON!

RE: I feel like a bad hunter ...
 

Everyone makes mistakes, and as long as you learn from them and make an effort not to repeat them, then there is no problems. My Father is probably the best, most ethical hunter i know, and instilled in me a 1 shot 1 kill philosopy. Even he has gut shot a deer, I think nearly everyone has done something and later said, "What the hell was i thinking?" Some cases people are lucky and nothing terribly bad happens, other cases the deer runs off. Thats life, don't let this bother you too much, as long as you learn from it.