Shooting through trees
 

So last year I was in my stand...it was built on a three tree base with the front tree being a pine...we didn't trim the branches on it and last year I spotted a buck through the branches, i could only see its ears and antlers. I thought it would be smart to let it pass because it was a risky shot. Because I didn't take the shot I've been ridiculed by my cousin whom I hunt with. Please tell me it was smart of me not to shoot.

It was smart but are we talking about pine needles and a shotgun/muzzle loader or branches and a rifle. If your shooting a shotgun/muzzle loader and you have pine needles in front of you go for it but branches will deflect a rifle bullet very easily and same with a shotgun. I would also not shoot thru pine needles with a light caliber rifle.

branches and a 243 rifle, sorry that i didn't specify.

i would say nj on not shooting...depending on the distance, the bullet might not cross the same spot as the scope would....so just because its a clear shot through the scope, might not be for the bullet..or vice versa even.
tell yer cousin to jump in a lake, that ya cant believe he woulda took that shot...flip the script on him.
a branch will detour a bullet..the thing with trip ot is ya have 3 30 cal slugs, maybe one wont hit a branch and ya get lucky, or maybe ya just wound something..
verdict...wait for a good shot..nj
my daughter had a 9 point..60 yards at 1st..i called him in to 43..but she just couldnt get and hold a good shot..so she didnt shoot....and it was wide open, no branches er anything...buck fever i imagine? i commend her even more than if she got the buck..cause she didnt take a risky shot.

well, since i could only see the antlers and the ears through the branches...i knew it wasn't a clear shot for the bullet either.....its funny because he shot at a deer and just skimmed it....

If all you could see were ears and antlers what would you aim at? If you cant even see the body or neck or anything vital what are you to aim at? It sounds like the only shot you had was point in the tree and pray the bullet miraculously hit the deer.

Your cuz is an idiot. When a hunter passes up a shot due to safety or chance of wounding the animal, he is demonstrating responsibility and respect...nothing less should be expected of any of us.

That said, depending on range a bullet can be easily deflected when the objectis impacted. There have been articles on this proving that the angle of deflection is worse when the object is closer to the gun than the critter. Think about it like this. You shoot at a feer and nick a limb close to you deflecting the bullet only a fraction of a degree but the deer is 75 yards away, you will most likely wound or miss. If the limb is only a few feet from the critter, you most likely would not notice a difference in the impact from point of aim.

I can tell you I have butched several deer with buck shot in them from idiots like your cuz who will shoot at anything they can see with no regard for if it can make a clean kill. I would say calling him an idiot is being kind.

Good for you. Have a great season.

Personally I wouldn't risk it and get a pole saw out there. When hunting with my muzzle loader 1 year we were pushing a section of woods and I had a nice doe jump up and I took a shot at her. It was only 40 yards and clear open except for a 2" sapling right where I aimed at that very second. Long story short I drilled the 2" sapling cutting it right off and never hitting the doe. Due to the scope I couldn't see the sapling. If i had known it was there I would have waited for her to get around it until I had a clear shot.

Hunter gun safety rule: Make sure of your target and what is behind it. You did the right thing.

Good for you! You definately did the right thing. It's hard to demonstrate restraint, but it is the responsible, ethical thing to do in a situation like that. I passed on a doe on opening day with my crossbow. It was only 15-20 yards away. She creeped in on me without me seeing her. I didn't like the angle and there was some brush around her that could have possibly deflected my shot.... so as hard as it was, I passed on the shot. After loosing a nice buck a few years back, (after what I believed was a clear, unrestricted shot) I wouldn't chance ANY shot I wasn't 100% comfortable with.

You did the right thing, no doubt. I mean, there isn't even a hint of reasonable thinking that would lead to you having taken the shot.

In response to Chas, shooting at a moving critter can be tricky, and is usually inadvisable if not always inadvisable. Swinging on a deer, especially with a scope, is never a good thing to do, though. If you are going to shoot at a deer that is moving, find a clear spot ahead of it and wait for the deer to enter your sights. That said, shots on moving deer should only be on walking/slowly trotting deer in my opinion. Anything faster than that and you run too great a risk of wounding the critter.

You did the right thing.

You don't have to explain to anybody if you think it is a bad shot. I am getting old and can't tell you how many bow shots I have passed on and been ridiculed for, usually by guys that lose an average of 2 deer a year. Then again, you did not say the deer was moving. I have shot a few between the eyes and through the ear. If I feel good about the shot I take it, if not no. It is up to you.

Patience and persistance always pays off better than foolish decisions. You did the right thing in passing on that shot.

Ethical hunter, Good for you! You can feel good about not taking that shot .

i think you did the right thing if you are ever dought a shot its probly better not to take it

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of guys who shoot where they THINK the deer is.....don't be one of them.

I was "bragging" last weekend at the hunting camp that I've fired 5 shots at deer with my 30-30 in the last 7-8 years.

I've dragged out 5 deer.....

I wasn't bragging, just trying to make a point to the guys. I've passed on at least 6 or 7 (or 20) shots at flags through the brush.

In my younger days, I've emptied my rifle out at MANY running deer and almost always missed completely or I spend HOURS looking for a deer that got "winged" but still can run 10 miles before it dies....thats just not cool anymore.

I've found that, if you're patient enough, many deer will give you a shot that you KNOW you can make.

You done good. Take only ethical shots at clearly identifiable targets.

I guess it has been 20+ years or so ... my No. 1 hunting buddy of mine and I performed an admittedly unscientific test firing through about 30 yards of wild plum bushes at a full size cardboard cutout of an "average" sized deer, broadside. We had been reading about so called "brush guns", and were skeptical to say the least.

We used a 243 Win. (100 gr.), 30/30 Win. (150 gr.), 308 Win. (165 gr. and 180 gr.), 270 Win. (130 gr.), 30.06 Spr. (180 gr. and 200 gr.), 7mm Rem. Mag.(150 gr.), and 444 Marlin (300 gr.). Fired 5 shots each from about 75 yards away. Moved the target around behind the plum bushes the idea being to sort keep the interference about equal. Then took a look a the hits. It was an eye opener for us.

Shots were very seldom in the "kill zone". Lots of "tumbling" holes. Several "Shrapnel" hits. And a few flat out misses.

The big surprise to me was that the so called "brush gun" of the group, the 444 Marlin, fared no better than the others.

We even tried a load of 3' - 00 buck shot shell out of 12 ga. full choke .... 1 shot at 50 yards. And while the 00 sure cut a swath through the bushes, blasting twiglets here and yon, pellets were all over the place with only 6 hitting the deer at all.

Of course this "test" could not have measured penetration of any of these rounds .... but was a fun thing to try.

Your cousin is a moron...hunter safety and ethical hunting are more important than anything unless your stranded and starving and have to eat or die.

You my friend made the right decision and from what I understand 243s seem to fly away when they hit even the slightest branch or twig.

I've passed up more than one deer due to lack of a good shot and trust me it feels a lot better than taking a bad shot, wounding a deer and having it run off never to be found, suffer and die. That's not a good feeling.

There are plenty idiots already out there which is a good reason not to be one.

Wow! so Im not the only one thats happened to, I was crushed when I went to look for blood and I saw the sapling cut in half, but at the same time thankfull I didnt wound the doe.

I bet the guy carrying that decoy into the woods is glad you didn't take the shot either.

It's up to the individual.......
 

to know when to shoot; when not to shoot; and his own experience and practice.
Whenever deep wood hunting, even with a relatively close shot, I would prepare myself to look at every tree and branch between me and the deer. If YOU have the shot; if YOU don't have the shot. And if so, you can learn how to be better prepared next time.

The best trophy I ever shot, weren't the antlers but the neck shot that dropped the deer on the spot. I only saw the antlers and the neck. But I spent a lot of time at the range and studied deer physiology. I took the shot I was trained to do. Not a shot I merely lucked into.

If you're trained, you take the shot. If you're not trained you might take the shot and miss. In hunting, some are left behind. Unlike in school, or so they say.