my most memorable shot ever!!!

[adkmountainken]

my greatest shots yet for ya!!! yesterday on a beautiful, crisp, fresh fallen snow morning myself and a good friend set out for a couple hours with our muzzleloaders. i was carring my trusty .45 flinter "Miss Fish " on the way in at daylight i jumped 2 deer out of their beds but could not get a shot as i could not make out my sights yet! oh what deer sign there was, tracks and beds everywhere, i just knew one of us would get a chance at a deer today and with no meat in the freezer ( thats a whole story in its self ) a plump doe would be a welcome sight. as i sat at the edge of a swamp my friend Rob circled around and started to push through it towards me. i had sat myself in a spot by a couple big pine trees in case i saw a deer i would be conceled until it was time to shoot. about 3/4 way through the hunt i spot a big deer and a average sized deer coming out of the swamp. i could see that it was a LARGE doe and another adult doe about 100 yards out and coming my way. i stepped back and put the pine tree between us. i now could not see the deer but she couldn't see me either and with open spots on both sides i could see if she angled of. i slowly pulled back the sharpened flint and prepared for a shot. a couple tense minutes passed an i guessed she either stopped in her tracks or she was really...... HOLY COW there is and ear at 10 yards sticking out behind the pine tree! i pull the set trigger and he the click which sets the front hair trigger she steps from behind the tree right at me slowly walking. at 5 yards i whistle to make her stop. she looks up, i can count eye lashes at 5 yards. i settle the front blade right between her running lights. a slight pull of the trigger, CLATCH, WOOOMP, i am engulphed with smoke. it clears and she is looking at me bewildered!! i hat MISSED at 5 yards. she trotted about 100 yards and looked at me again. i reloaded on the walk ( not easy ) and got to about 75 yards. leaned against a tree and settled the sights a little in front of the ear, between ear and eye. CLATCH, WHOOOOMP. ANOTHER CLEAN MISS!!!! believe it or not i was not upset or mad, a little perplexed but all i could do was laugh!! Rob called me on the radio and asked if we had meat. i told him no i missed at 5 yards and then again at 75 both standing shots. no response from Rob. i asked " are you there??? " he answered "Yes just letting those words sink in!!! "
Before we left the woods i fired my rifle for the third time at 20 yards at a mark on a tree. it as off 4 inches to the right. this rarely happenes with my equipment as i am a fanatic about accuracy and spend a lot of time at the range. however i have changed load amounts a few times and have filed my sights a lot the last 2 years and i believe it is time for new sights!! it is the first time i have missed with "Miss Fish" i fear i will never live this one down, 5 yards, YIKES!!!! should have thrown my bowie at her!! and YES, i am sure they both were clean misses as at 20 yards and under i take head shots to save meat and in sure a quick, clean kill. so go ahead everyone, let me have it. i have a smile on my face and a lesson well learned!!

 

[Britsmoothy]

Sometimes we get humbled friend! No need to kick your self. Better luck next time. :thumbsup:

 

[jtmattison]

Head shots :nono:

:shake:

HD

 

[beaverbill]

:nono:

 

[playfarmers]

Better luck next time. I took a couple of deer with head shots over the years, but after shooting a buck that someone else had hit in the jaw, I don't do it anymore. It was a nasty sight.

 

[adkmountainken]

ok what gives? 5 yards, head/neck every time. quick and simple. have made this shot on my last 2 deer. .445 rb and 70 grains fff, very effective. i know my rifle VERY well and it is dead on, i have spent many a day at the range. i do not know if i hit the sights or what happened but i do know that they were dead on at the range before season and the last time i shot it. i am a very ethical hunter, if i did not feel i could place my shot EXACTLY where i wanted to i would not take a head/neck shot, however i am VERY comfortable with this shot.

 

[jtmattison]

It's great that you have such confidence in your rifle. However, you just proved that things can go wrong and throw your shot off its mark. With such little room for error the head shot is the worst possible shot in my opinion. I have seen deer that died a slow death because their jaw was shot off. It's not something I would want to be responsible for doing. The game we hunt deserves better than that. I understand when you shoot them in the head they feel no pain and go down instantly but with a clean shot to the vitals they go down in a matter of seconds also.
To each his own but I bet you won't find too many hunters who will take head shots.

HD

 

[hornbuilder]

WELL SAID .HUNTING DAWG :hatsoff:

 

[Halftail]

A clean miss is better than crippling and loosing a[url] Deer.In[/url] my mind anyhow.With the fresh snow on the ground you surely would have known it if you would have hit.At 5 yards I would have taken that head shot too.No harm no foul.

 

[MikeC]

I'll chime in. Heads shots are IMO unethical because of the margin for error and causing a nasty wound. Reading your post it looks like you tried another head shot at 75 yards, is that correct?

If you aimed for the lungs that deer would be in your freezer.

 

[adkmountainken]

if i shot for the lungs that deer would have been gut shot. i did learn a lesson as nothing is %100 sure thing. as i said it was 5 yards, i have %100 confidence in my ability to put a ball where i want it out to 20. after 20 yards i go for heart/lungs. i only take head/neck standing still. but i did learn my lesson.

 

[The Baron]

Good for you for not letting the misses ruin your enjoyment. We all miss, and I will hopefully be able to learn from you the next time I miss and take it in stride. :hatsoff:

 

[MikeC]

if i shot for the lungs that deer would have been gut shot. How do you figure that? I have shot deer at that range and the ball zipped through the lungs as that is where I aimed. i have %100 confidence in my ability. Yes but as you found out there is allot more going on then just your ability.

 

Well said and well written. I never go for head shots for exactly the same reason you mentioned. Not even for varmints - it just is not worth wounding the critter.

 

[shmrck1]

Dawg,
I'm not pro or con on head shots, but it seems
to me that a 15ft head shot is as responsible as
a 60+ yard lung/heart shot.The actual target
area when you cinsider the yardage most likely
favor the head shot at 15 feet.IMHO
That is 1/2 a first down for you F/B fans.
snake-eyes

 

[jtmattison]

Regardless of distance or conditions I think it's just not right to try head shots. Anything could happen. I'd rather try to hit a pie plate at five yards than an apple. Which shot would you be more confident taking?

For the record, it was not my intent to hijack this thread and turn it into an anti head shot thread.

HD

 

[adkmountainken]

my rifle was off about 4 inches to the right ( no clue how that happened ) which if i shot for heart lungs and if i'm doing that i would be shooting low behind the shoulder for the heart i would have hit stomach/rib area.
Also let me explain something here. i honor every animal i hunt and hunting to me is very special. i do not take a shot unless i think it is a slam dunk shot. i am not hunting becouse i love to kill. killing is a very difficult thing for me and i always feel pangs of remorse. i try to bring about the kill the fastest way i can. a head shot is lights out, down and lethal. i am about the closest thing you will find to a tree hugging hunter. i know this is hard to believe especially when disscusing head shots. i have learned many great lessons from my brothers and sisters of the forest. this is another lesson learned. and no i am not saying i will never take a head shot again but you can bet i will know my rifle better!! i have very thick skin and i appreciate all the feed back both pro and con.

 

[Brian Rice]

Ken absolutely respects the animals he hunts. Although we have never met in person, I know much about him from his posts here and elsewhere. I for one would be honored to share the woods with you buddy. Glad you had a good day in spite of the misses. It is a good thing you have a sash to hide the fact that your shirt tail has been cut. LOL!!!

I missed one from that close once after drilling my touch hole liner out a little and not re-sighting in afterwards. I was off by more than 4" too. HA HA!! I killed one deer, missed what I was shooting at(lungs) and hit the spine. I reloaded and tried to shoot her in the head to finish her as that is all I could see as she was down and looking around. After I missed then, I quickly climbed down out of my tree, reloaded and walked up to her and shot her at point blank range. I climbed back up my tree and proceeded to reload my gun. Not 10 minutes after reloading I had another doe walk thru at less than 10 yards and I MISSED!! I reloaded angrily and as soon as I got the ramrod in the pipes, another doe appeared to my left at about 30 yards. I clean missed her too. I had shot 5 times in less than an hour and had ONE dead dear. I am not a World Class shot, but I can hold my own; so I knew something was wrong. When I saw my pattern or lack of on paper at 25 yards, I remembered drilling my touch hole liner out a TINY bit a few days before the hunt. Sure enough, I had to up the charge 10 grains of 3f to get it back shooting correctly.

Brian
AKA Carbon Caster

 

[RICKYD]

:thumbsup: :applause:

 

[scott024]

at 5 yards her hide should have been tanned. a miss is as close as you get to catch and release hunting. 2 years ago i missed 2 deer in an hour, i knew something was wrong, took it to the range on the way home and i was right, it was me. i had mental block and was aiming how i once had the rifle sighted in.