Close.....but no cigar!!!!!

Went for a hunt in the Whirinaki Forest at the weekend, I had enjoyed being in there for the ‘Forum Rusa Hunt’ which got changed
From Galatea to ‘Rushy’s Roost’……checked with Rushy first to make sure he would not be there that weekend, cheers mate!
Went with forum member ‘woodsyboy’, my hunting mate, usual story of drive down Friday night, set up camp (I slept in my truck)
Couple of cold ones to take the edge off and into the scratcher….

Up at sparrows, quick cuppa to get things warmed up and ‘into it’, for the guys who were on the above trip, we went straight in from camp
Following the possum trappers trail for easier access! (two dead rats in traps, and one possum, sweet!)
The conditions were perfect IMO, hardly any wind, in my face when there was some, and light rain which would help to muffle our noise!
Picked up a game trail with sign (real deer shite this time guys, not berries!) and started to really slow down and stalk…
When WB and I hunt, if we don’t go solo, the lead guy on point has one up the spout with the safety on, 2nd guy is unloaded, this is what
We do, so please don’t hijack this thread with your personal safety procedure, were not going to change!!!!
As I was negotiating a steep sided gully hanging off a tree root, I got around it and was in the process of gathering myself, when…..
‘Fuck me with a rubber banana’….there’s a red ‘spiker’ staring straight at me from about 25 mtrs…..could only see his head behind a deadfall,
Now it what seemed like a lifetime but would have been less than 2 seconds about a thousand ‘things’ raced through my mind…..i can remember these....

‘A deer, fukin shoot it’

‘Its true, they just stand and stare at you’

‘Wow, what a beautiful looking animal’

‘Remember to take the safety off, you dumb cunt’

I slowly raise the barrel towards my target, slipped the safety off, went to close my left eye to line up and….he went into ‘warp factor ten’ mode…..
As he crashed downhill to my left I let go a ‘hail mary’ shot and of course, missed!!!!!!
Woodsyboy shit himself from the rifle crack, he told me later his first impression was that I’d done an accidental discharge……but he quickly
Chambered a round when he heard him crash through the bush, but didn’t get a shot off….

Now….after a couple of nights sleeping ‘on it’ and after running it through my melon a thousand times, I have no doubt my dangly bits were in the
firm grasp of the hunter’s nemesis known as ‘buck fever’…..as I have yet to shoot a wild deer, as soon as I saw it, my very first thought was ‘get it!’
now I have mulled over the moral high ground of saying I would not ‘head shoot’ or take a running shot….but the ‘fever’ had me big time and I badly
…..AND I MEAN FUKIN BADLY wanted to put that lad on the ground……..

He was the first Red I have ever seen, and although I have spooked 3 Sika’s in the Kaimanawas, that was the first shot I have let off, always thought, at least
To myself I would be more composed when ‘it’ finally happened……FAIL, big time

I only took up hunting this year at the ‘tender’ age of 55, so I knew I had a big learning curve ahead of me, but it’s the challenge I have set myself, lesson learnt…..

Note to self, engage brain before weapon!!!!!!!!!!

Buddy!!! So close!! I'm gutted for you just reading that because I know how badly you want that first doc land deer - I am in the same boat!

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Brilliant Eric. Like I have said to many a good man. They are definitely there but it is a real challenge. I bet you had a grin from ear to ear that night anyway.

youll get there mate.

there comes a point when you look back and think, "how the fuck was I ever that useless?"

and things just start falling into place effortlessly.

youve done well just getting to the point of spotting the deer, now just slow things down and concentrate on the rifle controlls, safety, bolt trigger,

and try not to shoot at a running deer. for one it scares the shit out of everything near by meaning you gotta walk kms to get to undusturbed country, two it risks poor shot placement and having to do a long drawn out track to not find a deer that is balled up dieing slowly(does your head in) three the chances of you hitting it is slim to none unless you are a calm cool culler that is a crack shot(not buck fever newby)

what helps me is i pictured the bullet as if its stabbing the deer with a knitting needle, god knows why but it really gets you concentrating on whats beneth and not just shooting the deer in the middle (gut shot) right down to the square CM you want to hit
meaning that when you squeze that shot off you are confedent (not surprised) that the deer is dead as soon as the bullet connects

If my hunting partner shoots at spooked deer as they run away Id have a quiet word to them saying the above. and that if you slow yourself down you will speed up exponentially

also practice snapping your rifle up quickly on stumps and thumbing the safety as if it was an animal to become more fluid

That's not a fail at all.failing is pretending to hunt from the computer
get back to that spot and try again hell.be around. Good luck.

Good stuff. Get back out and have another go

Good work getting onto it in the first place :cool:
As Bill999 said, don't shoot unless your sure of a humane kill.
Don't dwell too much on the buck fever episode, learn from it and move on otherwise it will just fcuk with your mind
You have spooked 3, shot at 1 now only one thing left to do and I'm confident it is so close now you can probably smell it.

Good stuff.
Iv shot plenty and missed a gimme not that long ago so it happens.

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I hunt open country most, after a number of years in the bush. First few animals on the tops I rushed these like I was in the bush, now, I sit and watch the game, setup the video camera, set up my rifle, check the wind, range the animal, crunch the numbers for bullet drop, ear muffs on, wait for him to turn board side, check the wind again, line him up, touch the trigger, watch him fall over. I practise this about every week on steel targets in field shooting situtation. Almost all the time you want, did this on Saturday afternoon on a couple of nice eating Chamois, worked well!

Shooting in the bush is hard, even though hes closer and once he's spooked, even harder. Like Bill said, practise shooting in the likely situtations you hunt in. The more time out looking well bring results!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill999

youll get there mate.

there comes a point when you look back and think, "how the fuck was I ever that useless?"

and things just start falling into place effortlessly.

youve done well just getting to the point of spotting the deer, now just slow things down and concentrate on the rifle controlls, safety, bolt trigger,

and try not to shoot at a running deer. for one it scares the shit out of everything near by meaning you gotta walk kms to get to undusturbed country, two it risks poor shot placement and having to do a long drawn out track to not find a deer that is balled up dieing slowly(does your head in) three the chances of you hitting it is slim to none unless you are a calm cool culler that is a crack shot(not buck fever newby)

what helps me is i pictured the bullet as if its stabbing the deer with a knitting needle, god knows why but it really gets you concentrating on whats beneth and not just shooting the deer in the middle (gut shot) right down to the square CM you want to hit
meaning that when you squeze that shot off you are confedent (not surprised) that the deer is dead as soon as the bullet connects

If my hunting partner shoots at spooked deer as they run away Id have a quiet word to them saying the above. and that if you slow yourself down you will speed up exponentially

also practice snapping your rifle up quickly on stumps and thumbing the safety as if it was an animal to become more fluid

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Fantastic advice Bill, big thanks, ive wondered for the best part of the last 6 months how i would react when i finally saw one (as opposed to spooking one, which shocks me more that the deer!)
i know what you mean about taking a 'wild shot' and maybe wounding the poor bugger who would probably die slowly....i amazed myself that i turned into somebody i didnt think i was....
as it was (almost) the first deer in my scope, i MUST show more control and patience in future......the 'fever' took over, but at least ive experienced that now, cant wait for 'next time'.......

Yeah, Neckshot, the 'spot' is marked on my GPS.....as they say, 'the more i go out, the luckier i get!'......

Cheers Toby, im stuck in work right now planning the next one!!!!!!

Phillip & Rushy.....i will get there in the end....just have to keep learning 'the craft'......

how fun was that rush of buck fever tho?
Its like loosing your virginity all over again

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill999

how fun was that rush of buck fever tho?
Its like loosing your virginity all over again

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Yeah mate, its like im 'popping viagra' every 6 hours....haharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

not that i NEED viagra....unless you know where i can get it cheap???????

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sako75

Good work getting onto it in the first place :cool:
As Bill999 said, don't shoot unless your sure of a humane kill.
Don't dwell too much on the buck fever episode, learn from it and move on otherwise it will just fcuk with your mind
You have spooked 3, shot at 1 now only one thing left to do and I'm confident it is so close now you can probably smell it.

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Cheers Sako, as ive psychoanalysed myself since, i dont want this obsession to become a monkey on my back......but as everyone on here has told me, we all go through this stage, its my turn now!

yea best to move on and get back out their hunting, if you are after practice between hunts take your deer rifle out and shoot a few rabbits, turkeys, peacocks just something each week or so to get the handeling of the rifle to become second nature, its money well spent on ammo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scouser

Yeah mate, its like im 'popping viagra' every 6 hours....haharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

not that i NEED viagra....unless you know where i can get it cheap???????

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I bet the misses loves it, wait till you finally get one! ;)

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Least ya saw something and a running shots ok if you have clear line of sight imo

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scouser

i amazed myself that i turned into somebody i didnt think i was....

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:thumbsup: Nothing wrong with it, it's the animal in you. Been happening since well before man took on Sabre Tooth's

Hard luck on the Red Scouser. Every trip out hunting you learn new things, which is good. We all have/will missed a shot on a deer (or two) at some stage, all part of the learning curve.

As stated above, its good to get out and practice shooting, anything from targets, cans, rabbits, anything really with your main hunting rifle. It helps to build up muscle memory and familiarise yourself with your boomstick. Gives you one less thing to think about when you have to make a snap shot, until you get to the stage where all you think is..."fuck! its a deer! fucking shoot it!" as you so poetically stated. :thumbsup:

Thats not a fail Scouser least you were out there doing it and not firing blanks:yuush:

hey, if it was too easy would it be any fun? Its times like those that keep me coming back for more!

Given time and practice, its possible to place good kill shots on running game with confidence. If the North Auckland branch of the DA ever get the Running Boar range going again, it's absolutely the best thing to build confidence and get dialled in on moving game. I never thought about shooting anything on the run until I'd shot 50mRB and 10mRT competitively for a while and now I won't hesitate, providing, of course, it's safe.

For those whose local DA branch has a functioning 50mRB range, get stuck in! In Europe, many countries won't let you have a hunting permit until you've shot a specific score on their running game target. Some are at 100m and you have to get two shots away during the targets run. Quite challenging and a good way of ensuring a reasonable skill level is reached before the hunter goes after real game.

Good stuff though Scouser, you'll nail one next time :D

Absolutely not a fail Scouser - that's bush hunting.

Now you are on your way you've found something that works (got a chance) and something that didn't (missed) so it's just an ongoing process of keeping what works and changing what doesn't.

Good advice from Bill and others. First one I got was a snapshot that was pure instinct from really close. After it's head had exploded I realised that the -clear- flip covers on the scope were still on.duh.

Even though it's hard on the knees I find one of the things that works for me is to crouch down and take a look from about knee-high - sometimes I am rewarded with the sight of a few legs sticking down from a clump of ponga fern that I wouldn't have seen from 6foot up.
keep at it - the harder ya work, the luckier ya get

Unlucky this time Scouser. Chin up, and back out there young man!!! :thumbsup:

Good on ya mate, true about the buck fever and it never goes away , you just have different levels of dealing with it, speed and confidence comes with experience, in my opinion a closed bolt uncocked is the safest way to hunt but sounds like your aware of your buddy and are onto it ,

man that running boar sounds like the ticket
we have to practice on boring old rabbits with our 22s

Big thanks for all the words of advice and encouragement.....theres no stopping me now, im hooked.....big time

im not dwelling on the miss, rather the fact that i finally 'lined one up'.....

that is a great attitude :cool:

just remember where you saw it, winter deer dont move round too much, then watch to make sure the wind is in your face and stalk in slowly to that area stopping and looking more than walking

[QUOTE=phillipgr;149573]I bet the misses loves it, wait till you finally get one! ;)


Ermmm, if your suggesting what i think your suggesting thats between 'mrs scouser' and myself young man!