This is why I dont particularly like chest shots, its not theoretical its purely practical and it actually happened to me, its not a “ what if “ scenario.
Its a record of what I experienced over a single weekend with a group of ( mostly) experienced Continental hunters, all of them hopelessly imbued with the “ chest shot only” ethos.
They shot quite well, I had the binocular on the animal for every one of the losses and saw the impact, but finding them was beyond us and I really hate the waste.
3 weeks ago I had some visitors to look after, full day out Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 2 parties and 5 guests in all, 3 of them used one of my rifles
( .270 and 6.5x55) and 2 brought their own, K95’s in 7x57R and 7X65R.
The first 2 guests on Friday AM were experienced hunters, both have extensive experience and opted for the walk and stalk option. We managed to spot and stalk a pricket and first shot was good, into the throat with the animal face on. It dropped and the carcass showed a little damage to a shoulder and some green contamination but a lot less mess than there might have been so I’m happy enough.
Second man up, we spotted another pricket and as we made up our minds we saw a nice 6 pointer behind, both deer walking towards us, sticks up, man on the rifle and wait for the opportunity…3/4 on shot, the deer dropped, skidded forward and ran into the trees with a leg swinging. No indication at the shot site, no blood, no deer and no sign to be found despite a diligent search. I had no dog due to being out for a few days and staying in a hotel. What the deer ran in to was heavy thicket stage Sitka planted on drills, no fun to crawl about in.
A break and a change of pace, down into the mature timber and I spotted a nice solid 8 pointer, the guest pinned him with a high shoulder shot and that was the end of their outing, 3 shots, 2 deer in the car and 1 in the trees.
Off to the weigh and pay, the pricket is graded “B” , shoulder damage, the bigger animal “C” due saddle damage.
I hunted that afternoon with my own 3 guests, 2 experienced and 1 absolute beginner but we had no success despite seeing plenty. We even spent a while looking for the lost one from this morning with no luck.
Saturday AM and as we drive in I spotted a good stag crossing an open clearfell area, “one of you needs to shoot that, get out of the car”, a few minutes later we’re admiring a nice even 8, the shot is a little high and a little far back but it dropped on the spot, so good enough. I take the other 2 out on a walk and stalk, we get on a group of stags and hinds and shoot a mature stag standing 1/2 on profile at 120M. The head drops and it runs into the trees 70M away, I can see blood in the right spot and a front leg swinging but its moving fast. Once again, theres no sign of it, 3 of us looking in some thick nasty shite for over an hour but nothing, we retreat and will check for ravens in the PM.
On the way down I spot another stag on a heather bank about 50M out from the trees, we have a nice solid rest at just about 150M with the stag in profile. Can you neck him or break the shoulders? The stag turns slightly away, and the shot is low behind the on side shoulder breaking the off side leg, but it makes the trees. We find a few splinters of bone but that’s it, despite a lot more crawling about. Its gone. Visibility in the trees is about 10M with rocks, holes and hollows everywhere. If you were a lost lamb, Jesus Christ himself wouldn’t find you here.
When we collect Eric he has dragged out the 8 and added a 6, shot quartering on, front of the shoulder, straight down.
So off to the weigh and pay, both graded “C” due saddle damage.
We had one more deer in the PM, pinned high through the shoulders, it was the mans first deer so no complaints, but it graded” C”.
We had one on Sunday morning, neck shot after I threw a tantrum over lunch the day before and threatened to revoke all whiskey privileges unless there were substantial improvements in placement and practical shooting skills. That one graded “A”.
One shot in the PM, a 6, high shoulder, dropped on the spot but again, saddle damaged, “C”graded.
So there you have it, 10 deer over the weekend, all but one chest shot, 3 not recovered despite what appeared to be good solid hits, one grading “B” and the rest “C” .
The one neck shot was picked where it fell and graded”A” .
So no more “ chest only, its always fatal “ for me or mine it may well be, but that wont do you any good if you can’t find it, also, the financial penalty is pretty severe even when you do.
From now on I’ll keep the range down, carry a cane and flog the bejaysus out of anyone that doesn’t do what I say.
) Only weighed 69 kilos, And It wasn't a small deer either head wise 9 points with obvious signs of still improving to eventually become a great stag If he was left he was probably 4-5?
. Not a problem.
