and then........

HUH? I must have missed something. I've killed a lot of deer in my life. I've never seen a mule kick on a missed deer . Sounds to me like the deer is hit and hit hard.

I didn't read ever sentence to every post in this thread so I apologize if this has already been explained further. But if it hasn't, 40 yard radius?? Are you kidding me? You have a deer that almost flopped ass over head and you look for blood in a 40 yard circle? I've found deer hundreds of yards away without a single drop of blood anyplace. I've picked up the begining of bloodtrails 100 yards away from where I shot before. Please tell me there is more to the recovery efforts than that.

I think that's been covered.

Thanks for the tip

That's fine. Do the higher priorities, but don't go into the woods with a rifle you haven't shot.

Yes 40 yard Radius. If you didn't read the whole thread don't post.
We still looked all over the place. No blood hard to track so we was wondering aimlessly in the direct I thougth at first then. We when criss cross all through the are I hunt. Nothing. No blood no Deer. hince the title.
Will you guys that are so perfect please let all of us know the proper format.

To give you a clue. We was on a power line thats40 or soyards wide.
The deer was on the edge of the woods where the corn pile was. She Never kicked. Just reared up on her hind legs not Kick. Will take a pic this weekend of the spot so you can see so maybe to better understand. 5 yards in front of here is very thick brush that was a cutdown several years ago. Lots of under brush and short pines. She went straight in so Wewent and looked through the whole area the best we could.(I shot a doe there last year. Nice blood trail and the wife found her)
Sorry if I didnt give play by play details of the event. Trust me next I will right a 50 page book with an outline so some of you will be uable to understand. But I guess the simple thing would have been to get the moral of the storyand shoot your gun before you take it hunting.'

And yes I am PISSED!!!

If you are PISSED, I hope it's not at the above reply. NYBH expresses my feelings exactly.

You should be PISSED...... atyourself andyour wife.You for letting herhunt with a gun she has never shot before, and her for doing it.

Say what you want, that's the bottom line....

We have all missed before, that's not an issue. Ask anyone who has ever missed a deer before because they were shooting a gun they never used (fired) before and see how many replies you get. That should tell you all you need to know.

I think you're out of line here because you emphasized the fact that there was no blood and I felt bad until I read about your wife never firing that gun before.

If that was my kid, (and yes, I hunt with three sons) he would be spending a lot of time at home during deer season, becasue he should have known better.

Now to answeryour question.....Sounds to me like that doe was hit a and hit good. I suely hope I am wrong and she lives another healthy season in her woods. If not, what a shame!

First off, I'm going to say I'm new to this forum. I found it to get information on black powder hunting. I'm getting a new black powder rifle for Christmas and have never owned or shot one before. The deer hunting bug didn't hit me until I was 24 years old and I've been deer hunting about 26 years now with a shotgun using slugs. I'm looking forward trying the black powder gun. Twice I have hit deer and wasn't able to find them, once was exactly like Merlin11274 explained but about 5 years ago. I shoot my shotgun throughout the year and I'm very comfortable with the way it shoots, the recoil, etc. It just happened and I know how Merlin and hiswife must feel. I'm sure he and his wife realizes that it was a mistake to take a gun out that she has never shot before. For all we know Merlin and his wife could hold college degree's, be a PhD, or whatever. I find it bad that they were jumped on and called "irresponsible and ignorant" Futhermore I do believe Merlins post does do somebody some good, maybe someone else will see this and think "hey maybe I'd better shoot this gun" before the season opens. I just don't think it's right to bash someone in a public forum, this is a forum where you have the ability send someone a private message if you so desire.

I am beyond pissed at myself for it not her, she trusted my judgement.But I am not gonna beat myself up for it. I felt at the time she should be ok to use it. I sighted it in didn't see much difference between the recoil of it and the .30-.30 she is use to shooting. At the time I didn't think it would be an issue. But after the miss and how I seen her handle it the following sunday target practicing. I decided to post about it to let people know to practice first cause my greatest error was not thinking she was nervous about shooting it. Nothing to do with her ability of not being able to shoot. Cause she nailed the bull with it every shot once she got a betterfeel for it.
Did not expect to get beat up and down by a few people who think the are high and mighty. To be honest if this is the reaction people get when the post a mistake for others to learn from then what is the point to the forums.

First and foremost,

Kshafer,
No reason to apologize to me, but I do accept. I too apologize to you, and hope that you’ll also accept.
You said you don’t have a mentor, well I may not be able to be some great mentor for you, but I will provide you with a bunch of info if you wish.
I’ve got some good stuff to offer on ballistics, shooting, practicing and different forms of hunting. I would encourage you to participate in many different forms of hunting. I admire that you have taken on the responsibility to provide for your family at such a young age, and would be honored to help any way that I can.

I know from my previous posts my childhood may seem like an episode from “leave it to beaver”, but it wasn’t. I come from a broken home. This same guy (my father) who did take the time to teach me, also left my Mother for another women. I grew up in the not so great part of town. My mother quit going to college to work while my father went to earn his first degree, since they both agreed that he would have a better chance at making a higher salary. Ultimately leaving her somewhat uneducated after their divorce, and not being able to earn much of an income. When I was your age I asked for a tool box for Christmas. My mother, brother and uncle all questioned me. I simply stated that I wanted them, so they complied. But the real reason were the times I watched my mother weep after having to spend money we didn’t have, and sometimes on repairs that I thought I could make, if I had some tools. Some times children bare the burden of responcibility. But that is what is going to prepare you to be a man.
Once you’ve filled the freezer, I would encourage you to take part in some “active” hunting. And just so you know, your slug gun is the perfect weapon. I find that I am much more comfortable stalking or “running down deer” with my shotgun than I am my straight shooting 30-06. Because, when the moment of truth comes, chances are, you’ll have to be fast and accurate, and it will most likely be an up close and personal experience. Open sights will allow for a lot more peripheral vision, which gives you that small amount of time to make a decision. Decisions like, do I lead him, or find an open lane ahead and time the shot? Do I have a shot? You’re less likely to shoot at or close to another animal, which you do not intend to kill, which may be near by. Many hate the bead, I have come to prefer it..

Sparky,
I don’t think you read what I wrote. You may have read what you wanted to read and interpreted it how you wished.
My opinion on ethics vary, and considerably, given the situation that one finds themselves in. I mentioned this earlier in the thread, and admitted that if I needed the meat I would take more shots, and some would most likely result in missing. But that isn’t really what we’re talking about here is it?
You see the author was creative enough to change the direction of my concerns to the missed shot, when really it is the not having shot the gun before taking it hunting and then not making an effort to recover the animal that really bothers me!

First off, the word mistake keeps being used. I think if you look at what happened and think about it, you’ll come to the conclusion that the word “mistake” is a lofty way to define what took place. Merlin knew he should have gotten his wife to shoot and subsequently sight in the rifle before she went hunting. But, he didn’t, therefore making this situation, well, a lot of things, but not a mistake. What does that say about him? Do you think he did this intentionally, for the sole purpose of creating this noble post that reminds us not to do what he did? Do you think he did this to teach his wife a lesson? Or do you think he made a really irresponsible decision? In my opinion, it was an irresponsible decision, and not a mistake. He then eluded to this entire thing being some great lesson for us all to learn from, but again, if you go back and read, I would say that this to is a lofty description and poor cover also.
And as if this wasn’t bad enough, how about the dishonesty? First he mentioned in post #3 that he missed only one deer in his life. The shot was at a hundred yards and he was shooting a 30-30. Okay that is fine so far… According to post #6 it happened when he was 13 years old, and that is fine too. But, also in post #6 he claims he hung up the 30-30 at age 16 when his father got him the .270, but wait, this contradicts what he said earlier(in time not in this thread). First the .270 was his first gun according to his own quote in post #7 and repeated by me in post #10. A few years later is when he got the .30-.30, but wait, how can this be? How do you hang up the .30-.30 when you get your new .270, when the .270 came first? And oh yeah, the 30-30 that he missed with isn’t Marlin that he loves, it was a Winchester, but he mistakenly called the Winchester a Marlin… Hmmmm…. And in post #7 the distance of the missed shot has now grown to 125 yards? Go read, think and comprehend…

C.Davis,
I do stalk hunt. I stalk into their beds, I stalk a particular animal (also known as hounding, or running down deer). I do get close. Go back and read my friend. I didn’t make huge claims of marksmanship. I was called a liar if I say that I’ve never missed. I haven’t missed, and I’m not a liar. If I were to tell you a bunch of really cool stories about how I was able to overcome the odds and shoot down hill, in a cross wind at a running deer, 250 yards away in the woods and shoot him right through the heart yeah. But I don’t make those claims, because I pick my shots carefully as described earlier in the thread. But the shots I take would I guess be considered boring, right?

Sjsfire,
It will do someone some good. But what did this post offer before it was questioned? You don’t think they should have been called irresponsible or ignorant. I’d like to hear what words you would choose to describe what took place. Funny how you state that you can send private messages, but chose to post publicly yourself. But I’m sure there is good reason. You probably felt strongly in you opinion and wanted to share with others, which is how I felt also. But thanks for pointing out the private messaging options.

All,
The bottom line is, there was no mistake, this thread wasn’t created on some profound notion to remind us to all make sure we practice, and dishonesty is a factor here. All you have to do is read it, and be able to comprehend.
This thread is the epitome of poor hunting ethics. To summarize, it was written by a dishonest person, who acted irresponsibly, while filling the role of a mentor to a new hunter, a bad shot was taken and very little attempt to recover a most likely wounded animal. And then the author tried to pretend that it had some deep ethical meaning behind it and should serve as a lesson, or reminder to us all to do what is right, but only after he was questioned on it. And some of you are trying to justify it by relating to it! You people who are in that group are weak! You are weak because you cannot think beyond the words on the paper (or PC), or form your own opinion, or stand up for what is right.

Jimmy S & NY Bowhunter,
It is good to see that some of us can see through the Doo-Doo tinted lenses… I’m glad there are others out there!

Good day.

i agree 100% with nybowhunter on this.. i shot a deer last weekend.. it kicked and ran off i knew it was a good hit.. got down out of my stand and my dad came over, luckily there was snow on the ground because we saw the hoofprints but no blood until about 50 yards... and about 10 yards later there the deer layed.. so i think you shoulda done a more thorough search and look for places where leaves were kicked up or something because a deer doesnt kick unless it is hit, and sometimes they just dont bleed right away

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My bad. I just thought you forgot to add another zero after 40 [:-]

why dont u guys just settle this with a fist fight...