First deer for me

Had an interesting weekend. Departed Auckland Friday morning and headed down the other end of the island to meet a mate who had been promising to get me onto my first deer. Learned some valuable lessons along the way.

Saw my first deer. Saw my 50th deer. Missed my first deer (230m @30°). Saw my 100th deer. Missed my second deer (320m). Finally got my first deer. Spotted at 300m, but given my previous performance, I opted to sneak in to 60m. Got it. Missed two other golden opportunities at less than 100m because of an equipment failure.

Lessons learned - some easy, some hard:

I learned that my marksmanship is not what I thought it was. I've been hunting for about 4 years, and most of that has been in the bush at ranges from 5m to 100m. I was ill-prepared for style of hunting experienced this weekend. I know the theory (or thought I did) of external ballistics, angled shots, hold-overs etc, but have very limited practical experience in such shooting scenarios. This was embarrassingly exposed. Twice.

Know your rifle. Sporterised 1917 CG M96. This particular one is known to be accurate when set up correctly and in the hands of a capable shooter. I have previously shot it to 300m and had hits (on steel) using the predicted hold-overs. Then I upgraded the scope from a fixed 6x to a 4-16x Vortex Diamondback. Perhaps I didn't zero it correctly, as the predicted hold-overs didn't work this time. Same rifle, same ammo, same shooter. I know many of you will say "only a poor tradesman blames his tools". I've admitted my skill is not what I thought it was, but can't help but think it wasn't the only factor.

Know your rifle, 2.0. This particular rifle has an aftermarket Timney trigger fitted, which has worked fine up until now. At some point something came loose inside, and as a result, the bolt would no longer cock properly. This could be worked around by holding the trigger in the correct position as I closed the bolt to ensure it was cocked. I have since disassembled the rifle and found that the front grub screw that retains the trigger was loose, resulting in the slop. This failure (and my failure to notice the bolt was not cocked) resulted in another two animals escaping.

Very pleased to have shot my first Fallow, but in hindsight the meat is secondary to everything else I gained from the weekend. Know your gear inside and out, and practice practice practice with your chosen rifle/ammunition/optic combo.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fbb08a0916.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9dc20b924a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f04f3434b6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...78c016f2bf.jpg

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Nice one mate, and congrats. Doesn't matter how long you hunt for, or how experienced you are, you always keep learning. That's one of the joys of hunting.

Good to see you got your first deer so the goats and pigs are being given some degree of reprieve. You’ve mentioned the learning aspect and the bonus of getting some meat. There will always be someone somewhere who faces a steeper learning curve than you on this occasion. Congrats on the ‘harvest’ and the admission of faults.

Every day is a school day as they say, Congatulations and cheers for posting :cool:

Well done,

One thing is for sure is that Murphy fella shows up more often than you would hope even when you think you are sorted he is always waiting

Anyone who tells you they haven't missed a few hasn't shot many. Cograts and may they be the first of many :)

awesome:cool:

well done stretch got my first deer with my m96 i went for a hunt with daughter yesterday and everything seemed to be against us so you get days like that :thumbsup:

The first will always be remembered and it seems to get easy from there on.:)

Good on ya fella[emoji106]

If you do enough hunting you will miss a heap more for whatever reason. It happens.
Not worth over analysing or beating yourself up over it.

Trust me. I have missed shitloads of deer and when I did miss it would bother me for ages afterwards. Took ages to accept the more hunting you do the more it happens.

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You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, and a percentage of the shots you do take.

Well done getting there in the end. For what its worth this may help to explain those misses.
The original scope, fixed power (with a mildot or bdc reticle? )gave holdover values that worked.
You upgraded to a variable power, Im guessing with the same reticle and zeroed it correctly so in theory the hold overs should work.
The diamondbacks are second focal plane scopes meaning the reticle graduations are true only at the scopes maximum magnifaction, so if you wound back to 6x which you are familiar with each dropmark will be 2.25 times greater than you expect leading to exasperation and second guessing

Well done, I thought after close to 60 years at the game I was the only one who stuffed up, now I know there is 2 of us.

You never forget your first, nice one! Don't worry about the misses, learn from them and keep at it. If someone says they've never missed they are lying. Keep it up.

Honest self-appraisal, delivered succinctly which I enjoyed. You attained the desired result. I'm sure it will taste good!

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

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:thumbsup:
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:thumbsup: 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.....:thumbsup:

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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.....:thumbsup:

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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 :XD: It was at full pace toward me but still it was 5m :D

Good on you. Be no stopping you now. Might be worth putting some nail varnish on those trigger screws.

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Originally Posted by Brian

Good on you. Be no stopping you now. Might be worth putting some nail varnish on those trigger screws.

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I put a small dab of weak Loctite on them last night. Away laughing now.

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Originally Posted by superdiver

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

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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.

Awesome work. May there be many more :thumbsup:

good1 always good to get 1 under ya belt. Ive missed a few when I started and have learned some hard lessons along the way... all of which have payed off now that im teaching my boy to shoot. good luck with ya next adventure.

Well done stretch,enjoy yr 1st deer.Dont worry about the missed shots,they are called learning shots.And you become a better hunter for it.

Well done that man!

Thank you for taking the time to share it with us!

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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.

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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.[emoji16]


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As guides should you not brief them on putting another up it straight after the shot? If not brief them prior to the shot tell them to immediately after? Cant boo hoo them for not knowing what they don't know.

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Originally Posted by Gibo

As guides should you not brief them on putting another up it straight after the shot? If not brief them prior to the shot tell them to immediately after? Cant boo hoo them for not knowing what they don't know.

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You can brief people on tons of shit mate. Not just shooting related and it all goes out the window once they are amped.

Dumb I know, but you also give some clients credit for their experience when you get shown photos and told stories of their exploits.

We have made a lot of new rules and changes on how we deal with the shooting side of things regarding new clients for this season.
We get a lot of regulars that we trust.
We have also started to carry a rifle ourselves which can be a pain in the ass.

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