Thread: First deer for me

Missed my first public land deer the other week. Bloody heartbroken but obviously doing something right.

Originally Posted by superdiver

Missed my first public land deer the other week. Bloody heartbroken but obviously doing something right.

Are you sure you missed it? I having taken it upon myself to guide more than a few newbs over the years have seen it more times than I can count (and I have extra digits comming from the souf) "fark I missed!" "You sure mate looked like a hit a bit far back to me" "na I musthave missed" "I am going to look and you are comming too" "ah fuck im pretty sure I missed it ay" "come on cunt its over here somewhere...oh look there it is!"

Not saying you didnt miss, it happens even to the best/most experienced here me and everyone else here included but you have to follow it up...deer can bugger off like nothing has happened when a bullet has passed right threw them and die out of sight...maybe even hundreds of meters away.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Are you sure you missed it? I having taken it upon myself to guide more than a few newbs over the years have seen it more times than I can count (and I have extra digits comming from the souf) "fark I missed!" "You sure mate looked like a hit a bit far back to me" "na I musthave missed" "I am going to look and you are comming too" "ah fuck im pretty sure I missed it ay" "come on cunt its over here somewhere...oh look there it is!"

Not saying you didnt miss, it happens even to the best/most experienced here me and everyone else here included but you have to follow it up...deer can bugger off like nothing has happened when a bullet has passed right threw them and die out of sight...maybe even hundreds of meters away.

Spot on Cam. Splash behind an animal that is witnessed by the shooter can also be very misleading.

If you cannot see the swirl of the projectile on the way to the target but can see splash and it is way off high low or behind etc, most people would assume a miss when the projectile has just hit bone or deflected inside the animal.
I have seen some horrible shooting over the years and confidently walked away knowing 100% it was a miss.
But I follow 99% of perceived missed shots these days.

Another thing that annoys me is people not being ready for a second shot that often presents itself because they seen the animal drop, only to get up again because it was hit in the leg, top of the spine or in the guts.









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Originally Posted by R93

Another thing that annoys me is people not being ready for a second shot that often presents itself because they seen the animal drop, only to get up again because it was hit in the leg, top of the spine or in the guts.








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+1 on that Dave, seen this happen so many times, guys jump up and start giving high fives while you lye there watching the animal and see a kick next thing it's up and gone...less than ideal

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Originally Posted by BRADS

+1 on that Dave, seen this happen so many times, guys jump up and start giving high fives while you lye there watching the animal and see a kick next thing it's up and gone...less than ideal

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I really have to check myself when a client that has regaled you with heroic shooting exploits, stuffs up.


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On ya stretch.

There are no 'mistakes' ...just learning opportunities. Well done. Having similar issues to do with learning kayak fishing...


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Good report, missing is part of the game, it brings you back to reality especially when it a nice close easy one, well done. It's all a learning curve and we are always learning weather old or new at the sport.

Nice one @stretch good to see you get one. Now where's two now that you have some practice under your belt
By the way love the photo of you and the deer, you look like you have a band aid in your left hand and your trying to stick its head back on looks like it was good eating

Nice one mate I was lucky and my first deer presented itself at 20m so was a dead sight easier than your first shots. My brother however is a bloody good shot but had such bad buck fever he missed every deer presented for about 3 trips (atleast 5 cant remember exactly it was quite some time ago) and while on these trips he would comfortably shoot goats out to 300m. The excitement and nerves dont help and your mechanical problems meant you should be proud of your success. Plus now you will check your gear better than the rest of us.

Yep, well done, and nicely told, first deer, is something to remember, enjoy the fine dining,
and you got it done with Murphy, tagging along,

Well done mate, my first 3 shots (two at one of them) where misses......great result and well done for keeping your nerve on the third as it can blow your confidence out of the water.....

Originally Posted by Scouser

Well done mate, my first 3 shots (two at one of them) where misses......great result and well done for keeping your nerve on the third as it can blow your confidence out of the water.....

Yep, I was feeling pretty demoralised after my misses.

Good report Stretch, nice to see a good frank report, you can never have enough practice to confirm your setup and poi at various ranges. I spend a fair bit of time at the range shooting my various rifles, and it sure pays off.

That scope you have will be able to dial perfectly well to adjust elavation for extended ranges. I have some of the older 4-12 Diamondbacks on some of my rifles, which i purchased with the BDC reticle, but i found they dial perfectly. Have shot steel with my 223 to 600 yards by dialling the diamonback. A really good zero is however super important.

A hold over reticle can certainly be used to good effect out to 300 - 400 yards, but dialling is always better. Use a good ballistic app on your phone and you are away, like Strelok or Shooter.

Congrats on the first deer, looks tasty, and im sure there will be more to follow.

Too good Stretch.

I missed a fallow at 5m once It was at full pace toward me but still it was 5m