Deer aren't paper bulls-eyes.

[Stumpkiller]

I snatch up every large piece of cardboard I find. Then I cut it out into the shape of a deer. Then I take them to the range, and the most fun is to take them to the woods with you and set up a 3d range, if you will. The cardboard blends in just like a deer does, and it makes you pick a spot. Once I know my gun is sighted in, all I use are my cardboard deer. Great confidence builder to make difficult shots in the woods and get real experience. It makes you use improvised rests, and shoot through holes in the brush and all that good field stuff that you just cant get otherwise. It works for me, try it.

I agree 100%. Even shooting at a 1 ft x 2 ft board in the woods at various distances gets you used to picking a spot and taking the shot.

Small game hunting offers more shot opportunities and can also help. I still get an adrenaline rush the first deer I see - which anymore is during bow season in October.

 

[S.Kenton]

The best and most effective advice I can give ya is JUST BREATH..and focus on a small part of the deer..rather than the whole deer. I normally take a deep breath and try and relax before squeezing the trigger, while exhaling I pull up on the deer and focus on a small patch of hair right behind the front shoulder...I used to get so excited and the old ticker would tick so hard, I thought for sure the deer could hear my heart pounding..anyhow assuming your sighted in correctly, breathing exercises could help.

 

[hellerodsyahoo.com]

been there, done that. Hang in there, not every hunt is perfect, or every shot, just enjoy your time in the woods and do your best. I missed a very nice buck in Co. two years ago, came home checked my gun-- it was dead on-- I just missed and that buck lived another day, most bucks that cross my path aren't that lucky!! LOl--that's hunting------

 

[S.Kenton]

very true statements!... if we ALWAYS made a perfect shot,...it would get boring after a while.
:thumbsup:

 

[Trench]

All good advice here Trench. Are you resting you rifle on a log or just your arms (elbows)?

BTW: What part of the state are you hunting?

Skychief.

I was resting elbows on a fallen tree both times. I'm hunting north of Tippecanoe State Park around Monterey, IN.

 

[stone knife]

You do have to pick a small spot on the deer to aim at. Don't aim at the whole deer.

Are you absolutely sure you missed? They don't always bleed right away. And they can run a long way dead on their feet.

Yep

 

[VEARL]

All I can say is "Keep blazing away" I've had shots that I've blown and some that were good.
Seems after I do miss a shot, the remainder of my shots are good.
I would love to see a deer coming at me from a long way off. Seems that I get the ones that are somehow right in your face when you first see them. Startles the hell out ya, and heart rate goes sky high.
Gotta luv it though.

 

[BillinOregon]

'Tis better to have had two clean misses, than never a shot at all, sez I.

 

[roundball]

My .58 shoots where I point it, too. So, obviously, I pointed it above the deer.

There's another possibility. What makes you sure you missed them? That you shot over their backs? Many deer with fatal hits run off in a way that shows no signs of damage, go 50-150 yards before going down.
Spence

Actually a very good point...its not like making a high shoulder shot with a .30-06 where shock power alone drops them in their tracks.

90 some odd percent of the time, deer shot with a PRB through the heart/lung aea are going to run some with no indication of being hit...and sometimes they don't show any blood trail for several / many yards for a variety of reasons.

 

[jethro224]

Some good advice posted here.

I aim for the spot slightly above their "elbow". There is a crease along the shoulder that should look just a little darker than the rest of the hair due to the shadow. The lungs are under there.
Focus in on that crease instead of the whole deer, and DON'T look at the antlers if it's a buck! :haha:

BTW, those sheets of printer paper with an X drawn thru the center for the shootin' contests can be good practice. :wink:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Time for a little plinking and shooting in field positions. Sometimes the thought of "the" trophy can make us forget the "drill"!

The plinking will confidence build and demonstrate the need for a set drill, aim small, check the sights again, it's there, squee, it's gone.

Good luck, it'll come together friend :thumbsup:

B.

 

[buttonbuck]

also they are a lot cheaper than the printed kind or how much you spend on printer ink.

 

[M38]

Could be a number of things...here's another thing to analyze:

While I hear you say you had your elbows resting on a log, if your sights are set based on shooting hunkered down over the rifle on a bench at a range...where it basically can't recoil back and up...its almost a certainty it will shoot high when shooting anywhere OFF the bench because then the rifle can recoil back and up before the ball clears the muzzle.

Always do final sight in and practice from your most common hunting position...for me its literally sitting on the ground leaning against a post at the range, simulating sitting leaning against a tree...elbow braced down on my chest cradling the rifle right in front of the trigger guard...very comfortable, very steady.

This is good advice. My .54 shoots high off of a bench rest, but is dead on when I shoot it sitting with my back against a tree.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

A very common problem with open sights is that in the excitement of the moment, aiming on game, one may fail to get the front sight down in the rear notch. Our attention is concentrated on the game, we want to see the whole animal and that dang rear sight blocks out the view so we have a natural tendency to hold the front sight high above the rear and thus shoot very high.

 

[Heavy Eagle]

:hmm: By your discription, sound to me like you are lifting your head as the time you fire to see if you hit your target. That tends to cause the shoot to go high. Complete follow thru when you shoot--it be hard to do but don't look to see if you hit the deer until the smoke exit completely from your gun. :thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

I dunno, I disagree with that only because I found myself lifting my head when I first got my custom .58. I'd shoot 3 or 4 shots touching and one 3 or 4 inches low, was scratchin my head tryin to figure out why when I realized what I was doing...I cured myself of that right quick.

 

[Roy]

well Trench... I did a Trench this morning.. shot over the back. Small Buck that I was hesitant to shoot, thought it was a doe at first.. He stomped his foot at me and tried to figure out what I was. Turned to walk off so I figured thats a good quartering away shot.. Took it and I should have aimed lower. I found his tracks and where the ball hit the ground.. No blood and no hair, but didn't stop me tracking him for several hundred yards.. You could tell where he went the way the ground was tore up from him getting the heck out of there :haha: It happens.. :v

 

[RC]

well Trench... I did a Trench this morning.. shot over the back. Small Buck that I was hesitant to shoot, thought it was a doe at first.. He stomped his foot at me and tried to figure out what I was. Turned to walk off so I figured thats a good quartering away shot.. Took it and I should have aimed lower. I found his tracks and where the ball hit the ground.. No blood and no hair, but didn't stop me tracking him for several hundred yards.. You could tell where he went the way the ground was tore up from him getting the heck out of there :haha: It happens.. :v

:shocked2: WHAT???????...
...time ta sell that one! :blah:

 

[Roy]

:haha: not the guns fault..

 

[Snow on the Roof]

Now, I hear these Roy Stroh rifles and fowlers never miss. I just heard a story about someone hitting a deer off-hand at 84 yards with a Stoh smoothie. I'm sure when my Stroh rifle arrives, all my woes will be alleviated. :thumbsup: [/quote]

Yep, and that is what keeps Roy and all his brethren in business :wink: .
Trench, the problem isn't your rifle its in that hair covered computer of yours. Focus and experience is all that is needed. Relax, don't over think the situation and believe in your ability to do the job at hand. Hunting is a time honored pursuit. One which is meant to be enjoyed with out the stresses of everyday life. I believe, in part, this is why we choose to carry flintlocks in the woods as oppossed to contemporary arms. We seek simplicity and perhaps a touch of nostalgia with our time in the forests.
Hunting with primative weapons is not about numbers either in total bag or scoring points. Again, relax, enjoy your time in the forest and rejoice in that adreneline "rush"!

Snow