hi folks
was reading through other posts and was commented on one bout why you never hear alot of people posting bout their mistakes etc......
got me thinking because as one of the replys correctly stated if you havent missed or mis-shot then youll never learn or are a liar.
sooooo
here one from me...it was from around 5 yrs ago and i had been stalking for maybe a year or thereabouts....im luvky that i had my brother as a mentor and was doing ok but we had a sever lack of our own ground or deer availability.
So when i got the chance at a syndicate in perthshire i jumped at the chance it was ok price mainly roe with some occasional chance at fallow and red coming thru...and it was a block of forrestry on a hill with a section of "valley" of mmorland heather so all in all a bit of a mixture.
anyhoooo.....
id gone down (from montrose) one morning early doors ....had walked through the the forrestry with little sign....and had come out onto thebelow the woodland onto the tope dge of the valley but opposite side of the ground form my motor so a stalk back to the car was on....
anyway got most of the way back to the car and was bit despondant at seeing nowt (again!) and i was around 120 yds form the tree edge on an old vehicle track ....i had kinda stopped stalking and trying to be quiet when out the blue i clocked a roe buck bout 10 yds out of the tree edge browsing in the open.....amazingly he hadnt clocked me either....
ok slowly got the sticks set up ....put the old mannlicher model L .243 onto the sticks and had a glass..... coooll!!!! ok ....sh*t!!! buck fever kick in and im trembling like buggery....still browsing side on and not clocked me....calmed down breathe and squeeze....boom...muzzle flip (non-modded at time ) and i see the buck run to my left along tree line for around 40 yds then turn into the tree line and amble in quite the thing!!!!
**^^^*£*!!!!!! i hadnt seen the reaction in the scope but the shot "felt" ok ...mmmm
ok wlked over to where it was hit and spent ages looking for hair blood etc .....nowt....by this time doubt well n truely set in... i missed...so wlaked bakc to the car and away home
brother phones me spears at me i tell him the story..etc etc.. he just looks at me funny but doesnt say owt....
next week i go down hes available to come too so i have rifle and we go round the ground and nowt...heading back to the car same route as previous week and he says " where you shoot tha last beast n miss?" so i showed him.....hes spying like hell ..."where it go in?" "over there but dont bother it was buck fever clean miss " 5 minutes later he shouts " come here" in a tone of voice that just hit me.....wondered over and not even 5yds in thew wood heres a buck lyin agianst foot of a tree looking like its resting...but you can see exit wound ....perfect placement too!!!....
by now im gutted i feel so low its unbelievable and im swearing n cursing ....brother looks at me and says" i kinda thought after you siad it just "ambled " back into the wood you may have hit it"
so he looks at me and says "well get yer knife out" "what you talking bout the vension is ruined and summit has been chewing on the back end a bit"
"yeah i know but your taking the head...we will boil it up and plaque it and every time you look at it you will always be reminde of today and last weeks stalk and know that if your ever in any doubt FOLLOW UP THE SHOT AS BEST YOU CAN!!!"
i still think exactly that when i look at that head which was no medal by any means but a memory ill never forget and hopefullyi learned from it.
if only i had bothered to walk the extra 50 yds or so and into the wood i would have found the beast....i was so full of doubt ...buck fever...doubty in my ability coz i was a novice etc....
so whats yours?
sauer
was reading through other posts and was commented on one bout why you never hear alot of people posting bout their mistakes etc......
got me thinking because as one of the replys correctly stated if you havent missed or mis-shot then youll never learn or are a liar.
sooooo
here one from me...it was from around 5 yrs ago and i had been stalking for maybe a year or thereabouts....im luvky that i had my brother as a mentor and was doing ok but we had a sever lack of our own ground or deer availability.
So when i got the chance at a syndicate in perthshire i jumped at the chance it was ok price mainly roe with some occasional chance at fallow and red coming thru...and it was a block of forrestry on a hill with a section of "valley" of mmorland heather so all in all a bit of a mixture.
anyhoooo.....
id gone down (from montrose) one morning early doors ....had walked through the the forrestry with little sign....and had come out onto thebelow the woodland onto the tope dge of the valley but opposite side of the ground form my motor so a stalk back to the car was on....
anyway got most of the way back to the car and was bit despondant at seeing nowt (again!) and i was around 120 yds form the tree edge on an old vehicle track ....i had kinda stopped stalking and trying to be quiet when out the blue i clocked a roe buck bout 10 yds out of the tree edge browsing in the open.....amazingly he hadnt clocked me either....
ok slowly got the sticks set up ....put the old mannlicher model L .243 onto the sticks and had a glass..... coooll!!!! ok ....sh*t!!! buck fever kick in and im trembling like buggery....still browsing side on and not clocked me....calmed down breathe and squeeze....boom...muzzle flip (non-modded at time ) and i see the buck run to my left along tree line for around 40 yds then turn into the tree line and amble in quite the thing!!!!
**^^^*£*!!!!!! i hadnt seen the reaction in the scope but the shot "felt" ok ...mmmm
ok wlked over to where it was hit and spent ages looking for hair blood etc .....nowt....by this time doubt well n truely set in... i missed...so wlaked bakc to the car and away home
brother phones me spears at me i tell him the story..etc etc.. he just looks at me funny but doesnt say owt....
next week i go down hes available to come too so i have rifle and we go round the ground and nowt...heading back to the car same route as previous week and he says " where you shoot tha last beast n miss?" so i showed him.....hes spying like hell ..."where it go in?" "over there but dont bother it was buck fever clean miss " 5 minutes later he shouts " come here" in a tone of voice that just hit me.....wondered over and not even 5yds in thew wood heres a buck lyin agianst foot of a tree looking like its resting...but you can see exit wound ....perfect placement too!!!....
by now im gutted i feel so low its unbelievable and im swearing n cursing ....brother looks at me and says" i kinda thought after you siad it just "ambled " back into the wood you may have hit it"
so he looks at me and says "well get yer knife out" "what you talking bout the vension is ruined and summit has been chewing on the back end a bit"
"yeah i know but your taking the head...we will boil it up and plaque it and every time you look at it you will always be reminde of today and last weeks stalk and know that if your ever in any doubt FOLLOW UP THE SHOT AS BEST YOU CAN!!!"
i still think exactly that when i look at that head which was no medal by any means but a memory ill never forget and hopefullyi learned from it.
if only i had bothered to walk the extra 50 yds or so and into the wood i would have found the beast....i was so full of doubt ...buck fever...doubty in my ability coz i was a novice etc....
so whats yours?
sauer