Have you ever ?

[chill123]

Have you ever taken a shot and immediately after, had the terrible feeling of where the hell did that end up ! You continue stalking though not really concentrating ,just thinking about that shot . You drive home thinking about, that shot and for days afterwards you think about where that shot ended up . How do i know? it happend to me recently and i intend never to let it happen again . I would appreciate your views ?

Chill

 

[tjwaines]

Kind of depends where the rifle was pointed at the time? If it was a shot at a deer then there should only be two options :
It either hit the deer
Or it hit the ground behind it.

Have regretted a rushed shot in the past but never wondered where said shot had gone!

Tom

 

[Taff]

Yes and tj O to be so perfect, never had a bullet hit a blade of grass a twig you never seen and the deer just stands there, did the bullet hit the back stop or did it fly into the air, if you have never asked this question you have not shot enough.
Chill was only asking the question as he is feeling sxxt about this bad shot and hopes to learn from it.

 

[Gazza]

Should never ever happen but as you have found out it can. One thing for sure it will never happen to you again. Whether you want to keep beating yourself up is up to you.

 

[tjwaines]

Apologies I didn't mean for that to sound patronising or oh so perfect. Have had a few deflections that have resulted in clean misses, once badly shot a hind, through the rear end withers after a deflection and gut shot a buck in the same manner, but can't say I've ever had a miss or deflection that I thought to have pinged into the air. It does happen though and I can imagine what it must feel like.

Tom

 

[tjwaines]

Apologies I didn't mean for that to sound patronising or oh so perfect. Have had a few deflections that have resulted in clean misses, once badly shot a hind, through the rear end withers after a deflection and gut shot a buck in the same manner, but can't say I've ever had a miss or deflection that I thought to have pinged into the air. It does happen though and I can imagine what it must feel like.

Tom

 

[shootingduckdog]

Chill,

without getting into the details of your particular shot I can sympathise with your situation. I can think of a few situations where the original judgement can have been ok and then the outcome becomes less certain.

- you have a zeroed rifle and are aiming at the target. Upon the shot there is no reaction from your target. Where did that go?

- you have taken the shot and wether you have hit your target or not (bullets passed through) the scenery when you get to point of impact is not as expected/understood before you took the shot

- you hear the ever exciting "wheeeeee" as some quantity of your bullet decides to ignore the backstop it has just struck and disappears into the ether. ( I have heard the whirr of a ricochet from rounds that have hit both foxes and deer)

When I started out I used to look for the bullet strike the other side of the deer/fox as I was so concerned. The .22 in the summer still scares the crap out of me.

At the end of the day no one can reassure you that an errant round wont end badly but I would hope you can take solace from the fact that the decision to fire originally was the correct one and that the subsequent doubt/concern is due to diligence and is out of proportion to the real risk.

 

[BIG white hunter]

Chill,

without getting into the details of your particular shot I can sympathise with your situation. I can think of a few situations where the original judgement can have been ok and then the outcome becomes less certain.

- you have a zeroed rifle and are aiming at the target. Upon the shot there is no reaction from your target. Where did that go?

- you have taken the shot and wether you have hit your target or not (bullets passed through) the scenery when you get to point of impact is not as expected/understood before you took the shot

- you hear the ever exciting "wheeeeee" as some quantity of your bullet decides to ignore the backstop it has just struck and disappears into the ether. ( I have heard the whirr of a ricochet from rounds that have hit both foxes and deer)

When I started out I used to look for the bullet strike the other side of the deer/fox as I was so concerned. The .22 in the summer still scares the crap out of me.

At the end of the day no one can reassure you that an errant round wont end badly but I would hope you can take solace from the fact that the decision to fire originally was the correct one and that the subsequent doubt/concern is due to diligence and is out of proportion to the real risk.

exact,and further more i have had many occassions with just such a wonder, you will be safe and keep that solid background,i can think on two occasions in two years with exactly the same person,stalking stags.and on approach too the exact stag i wish to cull we have shot with a clear and very safe shot and i have found a poor bloody hind after the shot,has fell and died to the round having traveled through,on the second time this guest arrived on the estate he shook my hand and commented on what had happened the year before.......i remembered and absorbed the thought and definetly said to myself,one off poor hind......we stalked for the day and up here i am stalking poss 4 stags amongst app 100 plus hinds.ok stalked the stag all good good distance good safe shot no hinds close...or with in 10 meteres radious..fired complemented the chap on a good clean kill approached gralloched the stag,loaded the stag on the pony,app 50 meteres right a dead hind...i went back to the kill and the firing point the bullet...a 308...had deflected of the fourth rib on exit and gone at a 45% angle and killed the hind,poor bitch..it happens and whither they talk about it or not,it definetly happens,cheers.

 

[shudadunityonksago]

Lamping bunnies with ,22 , head shot bunnie sat in front of a limestone rock , the rick o shy put the hebi gee bees up me .

That approx 6yrs ago and i can still remember it like it was yesterday .

 

[bogtrotter]

Lamping bunnies with ,22 , head shot bunnie sat in front of a limestone rock , the rick o shy put the hebi gee bees up me .

That approx 6yrs ago and i can still remember it like it was yesterday .

.22 will ricochet more readily than full bore.

 

[alaskagray]

Chill been there done that know how your feeling you will always remember it as Shuda says

 

[bogtrotter]

exact,and further more i have had many occassions with just such a wonder, you will be safe and keep that solid background,i can think on two occasions in two years with exactly the same person,stalking stags.and on approach too the exact stag i wish to cull we have shot with a clear and very safe shot and i have found a poor bloody hind after the shot,has fell and died to the round having traveled through,on the second time this guest arrived on the estate he shook my hand and commented on what had happened the year before.......i remembered and absorbed the thought and definetly said to myself,one off poor hind......we stalked for the day and up here i am stalking poss 4 stags amongst app 100 plus hinds.ok stalked the stag all good good distance good safe shot no hinds close...or with in 10 meteres radious..fired complemented the chap on a good clean kill approached gralloched the stag,loaded the stag on the pony,app 50 meteres right a dead hind...i went back to the kill and the firing point the bullet...a 308...had deflected of the fourth rib on exit and gone at a 45% angle and killed the hind,poor bitch..it happens and whither they talk about it or not,it definetly happens,cheers.

Yes it definitely happens had it a couple of times with guests and once myself needed a young Stag for the big house
[early August warm day, stags lying down on the top I am not a fan of neck shots but it was only about 60 yards
shot the stag and also a second one 20 yards and 45 degrees behind the first both shot through the neck.

 

[smullery]

I've found myself too relaxed on a cull and the "shot" chose its own path.

Me, not the machine.

Stan

 

[jamross65]

Check the newspapers over the next couple of days. If no article relating to what you did, stop worrying but remember for the next time.

 

[downwind]

Check the newspapers over the next couple of days. If no article relating to what you did, stop worrying but remember for the next time.

On the one occasion that I paid for a hill stalk (many years ago) the stalker and I had one unsuccessful stalk into a nice 10pt stag which was spooked by a passerby. As the day drew to a close we came onto a smallish roebuck. "You can take that one", said the stalker, "it will help my cull figures". I pointed out the fact that it was skylined, he said that's OK, there's thousands of acres out there with no one on it. I still shudder when I remember taking that shot, resting the rifle on the stalkers shoulder, and missing the roebuck completely. To this day I cannot understand why I felt pressured into squeezing the trigger, but I did and have frequently wondered where that bullet landed.
I can honestly say that I did exactly what jamross65 said, I listened to every news broadcast for days, fearing to hear a report of some poor unfortunate being hit by a stray bullet.
I learned from that mistake Never again!!

 

[arron]

its a fact that does happen ,however the bullet is somewhat deformed and loses it airodynamics after impact and in theoryshould spin in a large arc and hit the ground but may go a considerable distance ,but non the less its scary

 

[smullery]

Guys,

Shoot in Africa where, in the Bush, there is no backstop.....

That's the way it is.

Stan

 

[corky]

Chill,

without getting into the details of your particular shot I can sympathise with your situation. I can think of a few situations where the original judgement can have been ok and then the outcome becomes less certain.

- you have a zeroed rifle and are aiming at the target. Upon the shot there is no reaction from your target. Where did that go?

- you have taken the shot and wether you have hit your target or not (bullets passed through) the scenery when you get to point of impact is not as expected/understood before you took the shot

- you hear the ever exciting "wheeeeee" as some quantity of your bullet decides to ignore the backstop it has just struck and disappears into the ether. ( I have heard the whirr of a ricochet from rounds that have hit both foxes and deer)

When I started out I used to look for the bullet strike the other side of the deer/fox as I was so concerned. The .22 in the summer still scares the crap out of me.

At the end of the day no one can reassure you that an errant round wont end badly but I would hope you can take solace from the fact that the decision to fire originally was the correct one and that the subsequent doubt/concern is due to diligence and is out of proportion to the real risk.

thats me exactly when i first started,used to confirm bullet had hit deck even though i usually had huge hillside as backstop and miles away from any houses etc!!theres no harm in being too safe although i think about shots years ago i didnt take cos i was not happy but but realised afterwards they were still like that,always better to err on the side of caution is still the way i am than and never ever get pressurised to take a shot if you arent happy about it and dont take the shot then you will have nothing to fret about after