disgusted!
 

I was sittin in the rain. All of a sudden I hear a grunt REALLY CLOSE to me, so I turn and see a doe that just ran up on me, 15 feet away. Right behind her was the biggest buck I ever saw on the property that I hunt on, also 15 feet away. I reach for my gun, and the buck sees me, but doesnt know what to make of me. He looks at me, and then back at the doe, and then at me again, AND THEN Something lands 2 feet away from me, so I look real quick... A freaking 4 pointer jumped right over top of me! I focus on the monster again, and get my gun up.. And as soon as I begin to pull the trigger he bolted. I try to find him in my scope, and I do, and try to center up on its shoulder.....BOOM! Brush in the way, I missed the buck. I felt like ripping the scope and mount off my gun and throwing my gun away. I was sick as a dog! UGH!!!!! That buck was a 170 class buck! Now excuse me while I beat myself up.

RE: disgusted!
 

Yea I would rip that scope right off. I prefer to hunt with open sights. My friend and I go hunting a lot together and he uses a scope while I don't and by the time he has found the deer in his scope it is too late while I could have taken 2-3 shots on the deer. Just my opinion.

RE: disgusted!
 

Deer are deer full time, and we are part time hunters. At least you didnt wound the deer and loose him. Knowing hes still out there will keep you coming back! Better luck next time!

RE: disgusted!
 

I used to hunt with open sights like buckman. I had a severe eye injury this year and I can't see anything without optical assistance(binos and scopes). But when my eyes straighten up I don't think I'll hunt without a scope. Just have a variable scope. My opinion optics don't have to have as much magnification as we use. Best results I've had is 1.5-5x. And on running/moving deer you can actually concentrate more on animal through scope. Don't give up, in 1995 I missed a droptine 150 class at 15 yds with a iron sighted 50 cal. I recovered.

RE: disgusted!
 

that stinks man

RE: disgusted!
 

Yeah - that's a tough break.
Of course, I don't know if we should believe it because you sign your posts with :D:D:D

RE: disgusted!
 

yeah, well I told people before that some unbelievable things happen sometimes... Heck, they happen to all of us.

but if the simple version of the story is more believable, then here.

A BIG buck stopped in front of me, I took aim, then the buck took off running... I tried to shoot, but I missed. I looked and looked for blood, walked for a long time, but never found any. No hair, no nothing. better?

RE: disgusted!
 

I use variable scopes on all my gunsand I keep it on its lowest power setting all the time, just for situations where deer get close and personal. Then if I see a deer far off I usually have time to crank up the power to get a better aim.

RE: disgusted!
 

Unless you are hunting a field perimeter, or very open timber/brush country, a shotgun is basically a short range weapon. They can be modified to hit consistently at ranges of about 200 yds with sabots, but more or less they are meant for ashot from 75 to 150yds at most. Within those ranges it is probably more efficient not to have a scope, particularly if you hunt inside timber pockets away from field edges.

My father has bifocals, and when shotgun hunting he prefers a scope for consistently aquiring his target. So, maybe some folks need the optic. I always turn my scope to the lowest setting when hunting tight spots. This comes with discipline though, lots of folks seem to forget that little particular.

RE: disgusted!
 

What kind of scope do you have, like what magnification is it and what was it set to. Most over do it on scopes for the situations they are in.

Paul