'When' you mess up. Not 'if'

[Edd101]

not to bullet trajectory / drop but to point of aim.

Head down deer can be tricky, especially quartering on.

While I absolutely own the fact that my shooting had a lot to do with this I can still picture the trajectory being wrong. Although I was further back than I should of been, shooting down at an angle, on reflection, the bullet was always going to come out at the bottom of the animal and I hadn't considered this path. The combination of my error meant that patch was the bottom of the ribs in the stomach area hence partially pulling it out of the animal. I guess my question would be whether I am therefore better to be moving point of aim forward towards the chest. I'm wondering whether that then means I'm hitting the shoulder before anything and that could cause me problems aside from the loss of the shoulder. Does that make sense?

 

[Utectok]

Speaking personally I can’t remember the last deer I shot in the heart deliberately. I shoot about 60 deer a year, low numbers I know for some on here but enough to get the hang of it. I shoot middle of chest 90% of the time favouring slightly forward of middle, sort of Hylar shot. The rest head or neck but that’s usually quite close stuff and always a last option.
Chest shooting you do loose a shoulder usually but you loose a lot more if the deer runs off and you can’t find it which is often the way with heart shots deer.

 

[TringSaint]

Maybe not using aids like range finders helps time the shooting and stalking skillset, as without one you are assessing distances by eye or experience and will seek to reduce distances that appear to be ‘too far’ by stalking in closer, as opposed to pinging it with the rangefinder and trying to dial in a longer shot.

I will always try to stalk in to <150m if I can, just because I want to limit the chances of a cock up, albeit one of my most recent shots was just over 200m on a cwd but I was on a very stable platform on a windless day and the deer was moving around very slowly as it browsed the crops. Anything other than this then I would have moved closer to it.

 

[ejg]

Those who have shot a lot will sooner or later have something go wrong. Fix that situation if possible. Many of the things that go wrong could be avoided with better training or education as well as more emphasis on evaluating the past shots or past shot placements. Even on the range one can observe that some fire huge amounts of shots until they seem to get a lucky group instead of trying to find the reason for misses so the technique could be corrected. Often one can also recognise if parts of the gear need improvements. I don't like shooting sticks and can already see through the scope what kind of accuracy I could achieve and don't use them on deer... but that is me.
edi

 

[VSS]

Yes good point but heart shots are alway a high tariff shot in my view

Regardless of all other factors (gradient, trajectory, wind, quartering animal, etc etc) I think that aiming for the heart is a mistake.

It seems to be drummed into new stalkers that the heart is the thing to aim for, and it can take a few unpleasant experiences (as @Edd101 is finding out) to learn that aiming for the heart is far from ideal in practice.

 

[Edd101]

this is probably one of my biggest take aways!

 

[User00056]

I still cringe now. I have vouched to get plenty of time on a range with sticks and perhaps timed shots etc before my next outing. Its already in my head for the next stalk that's not even booked yet and perhaps over a year away so I really need to go back to basics for a bit and am looking forward to it

You can't beat yourself up over this! I'm a pretty experienced stalker and I still managed to mess it up. It was one of the very few times I was on a guided stalk (I usually stalking alone) and perhaps I was influenced by nerves. Regardless though, if it can happen to an experienced shot, it can sure as hell happen to a novice!!

Nobody here will be judging, and I'm pretty certain there'll be more than a few who can relate but haven't fessed up

 

[Sandy25]

After my previous post of my first solo stalk I've been out a couple more times and blanked....then went out again last night.

As many said it can and will go wrong! Thankfully in the scenario I've described it didn't lead to a wounded deer which is at least a positive takeaway. However, it's really highlighted to me how much more I have to learn and consider before pulling the trigger.

I stalked into what I thought were a group of 4 roe down a very steep bank (probably 1:3) and started to set up for a downhill bipod shot off a small terrace section. As it turns out there were another 4 deer just below me that I semi bumped. They didn't run but were aware there was something in the vicinity. I was worried the whole thing would be blown so quickly set up on one of the original does down below on a grass field. Probably about 120yards. As I was worried the rest were going to run off I didn't take as much time as I probably could of. On reflection I was in a good position and I suspect I did have time to observe and fully think.

The deer was broadside, quartering a little towards me with it's head down grazing. I chose the standard 90deg aim point...I now realise this was my big mistake. Anyway, took the shot and heard the impact. It ran about 20m and then fell with legs kicking a touch. As I came down the bank I could see things weren't right. On approaching the deer I could see the exit wound had pulled part of the stomach out.....clearly this was not good.

On inspection of the carcass I had totally missed the heart. I suspect I had pulled the shot right handed which was towards the back of the deer. Anyway I had a double lung and liver shot. I guess on the flat while not super ideal is acceptable. However with the trajectory being from top down slightly quartering it meant the bullet had spilled gut contents and caused the exit wound I described earlier. I really hadn't taken enough time or don't have enough experience to consider all these factors. Something I need to work on.

Obviously it all could of been much worse with a wounded deer. Last night and this morning I've been researching downhill shots and can totally see where I went wrong. My choice of aim point was further compounded by rushing and pulling the shot which has all lead to a messy carcass. I'm a bit of a deep thinker and a perfectionist so tend to ruminate on these type of things. I elected not to take any photo's of it all I guess through annoyance/sadness etc at things not being perfect....but life is never perfect. The photo below was taken on a totally different day does show how steep the bank is. Randomly it does actually show exactly where I took the shot so I've added an arrow although this makes it look a much shallower angle than it is in reality. The right hand side of the photo is a better indication of gradient! Maybe more experienced members can offer some further advice where possible.

View attachment 413014

Pulling shots happens to everyone. I shot a MJ doe the other day from a dough seat, and pulled the shot slightly exactly as you described.

From now on I shoot all MJ through the shoulder as they are so small to prevent any haemorrhaging and “green soup”.

 

[WeatherbyUK]

Great post - we all mess up sometimes; if you ever stop feeling bad about it then it’s time to stop hunting, but until then we share the experience and hope others learn from our mistakes

 

[homer]

It’s surprising how much the bullet drops going down hill we all zero on level ish ground never downhill to see what happens , a good lesson learnt

I always thought bullets shot high when shooting up/down a steep angle?

 

[shakey jake]

I always thought bullets shot high when shooting up/down a steep angle?

Yep

 

[Edd101]

Yep

How much does distance influence this? Just referring to earlier comments that at 100yd/zero it makes no difference?

 

[VSS]

How much does distance influence this? Just referring to earlier comments that at 100yd/zero it makes no difference?

Depends on the gradient.
A bullet fired at a target that's at 100 metres range, but up or down a 45° slope is only actually influenced by gravity for 50 metres, hence why the bullet would hit high.
Even so, in real terms it's not likely to make the difference between a hit or a miss at such a close range. Other factors have a greater influence.
Where the gradient is very small, like firing from a highseat at a target 100 metres distance any difference would be imperceptible so it's not something you would ever have to worry about.
You also have to factor in the change in point of aim required when shooting deer from above or below. You need to aim high on a deer that's below you, and aim low on a deer that's above you. This is a completely separate issue from the effects of gravity on bullet flight as a result of shooting up or down hill

 

[Edd101]

Depends on the gradient.
A bullet fired at a target that's at 100 metres range, but up or down a 45° slope is only actually influenced by gravity for 50 metres, hence why the bullet would hit high.
Even so, in real terms it's not likely to make the difference between a hit or a miss at such a close range. Other factors have a greater influence.
Where the gradient is very small, like firing from a highseat at a target 100 metres distance any difference would be imperceptible so it's not something you would ever have to worry about.
You also have to factor in the change in point of aim required when shooting deer from above or below. You need to aim high on a deer that's below you, and aim low on a deer that's above you. This is a completely separate issue from the effects of gravity on bullet flight as a result of shooting up or down hill

Thanks for the excellent, explanation. Makes perfect sense in relation to what I did wrong on my last stalk (along with a pulled shot).