Would you have taken the shot?

[Saltwater60]

I was hunting this morning and it was a really nice day. No deer killed but stars were amazing, had a visit from a black bear in the middle of the night, heard about a dozen turkeys gathering first thing this morning, had a small owl fly within 3’ of my left shoulder and snatch a rodent off the forest floor. I’m assuming it was a small screech owl but I’m not sure as it happened fast. Thought it was a grousse but it flew silently.
Now to the point. I was sitting for a while and saw nothing. Lots of shots the next ridge over but only 2-3 shots my ridge. I decided to stalk since the logging road was clear of leaves and I could do so pretty silently. I was glassing the side of a hill down slope and saw nothing. I turned to glass the up hill side and bumped two deer. They took off moderately fast but the slowed down about 40 yards from me. I was able to get my crosshairs on the bread basket. The deer was a very nice size and was at about a 35 degree angle to me. I had the cross hairs on him for a bit and remember thinking turn, just turn for me you bastard. I wanted a better shot a bit more broadside since I was thinking the angle of the bullet wouldn’t kill the deer at the time. After taking more time to assess this situation I think it would have killed him. I’m a bit bummed as it was a very good sized deer and would have been my first. I was confident in the fact that I would have made the shot where it needed to be placed but the shot would have been a bit rushed. At the time I wasn’t confident it would have killed the deer. I guess I’m still not so what’s your thoughts? Would this deer have died quickly? I don’t have much room for tracking so I pretty much need the deer to drop pretty quickly.

 

[Carlos Hathcock]

I don't think anyone will make a prediction on the results of said shot. I do give you credit for not taking a shot you considered questionable. You had the control to not go blasting away with reckless abandon.

My measure of a good hunter is not the size of the mounts on the wall but the number of ones they let go.

 

[togmaster]

If you weren't sure at the time you did the right thing.

 

[Saltwater60]

I don't think anyone will make a prediction on the results of said shot. I do give you credit for not taking a shot you considered questionable. You had the control to not go blasting away with reckless abandon.

My measure of a good hunter is not the size of the mounts on the wall but the number of ones they let go.

Last thing I wanted to do was wound that beauty and left it rot in the woods. It was the biggest deer I’ve seen at my parents property. Usually just small does around. Starting to see some buck signs and a few runs here and there. Thanks.
I’m just pissed I scanned the ones side of the hill instead of the other but hey I had a 50/50 shot.

 

[Saltwater60]

If you weren't sure at the time you did the right thing.

I know. Gut instinct is usually the best thing to follow. My question is would that hit have killed the deer for future reference.

 

[Acer-m14]

the deer i got last year was about 25 to 35 yrd from me down hill .. and a at a 45 degree angle , head away from me .. hunting with a 270 win ..
i just lined my shot up so the exit would be on the front shoulder away from my side of the deer .. .. so the shot was basically , in the side front part of the liver area, up thru the lungs and out the lower shoulder ...

he didnt even jump when hit .. just walked 3 steps and fell over .. the kinetic energy just blew up the insides .. chest cavity full of blood when dressing it out ..

with a rifle up close like that im looking to hit as many organs as i can except the intestines yukkk lol ..

 

[tony]

@Saltwater60, you made a good call today. From your description it sounds like you may have had to place the shot further back in order to hit vitals possibly hitting the paunch, not so good. Better not to take a shot you don't feel confident at taking.

 

[Saltwater60]

@Saltwater60, you made a good call today. From your description it sounds like you may have had to place the shot further back in order to hit vitals possibly hitting the paunch, not so good. Better not to take a shot you don't feel confident at taking.

Ok. This is good because this is what I ended up with as well after thinking about it for a while. Placing the shot further back would have exited at the right spot.

 

[MoMan]

I give you credit for not taking a shot you weren't confident in. My rule is to ALWAYS, shoot for the exit hole. What I mean by that, is that the exit wound is where your shot will ultimately do the most damage. I always shoot for the shoulder, to 'anchor' my deer right where it stands, if need be, I will put another round downfield to make sure it doesn't suffer. The last thing I want to do is track, and possibly lose a deer because it 'disappeared. I took a nice fat doe this evening at approximately 185 yards this evening, and dropped her right where she was standing, because I was in an elevated shooting house, the bullet did it's job, and killed her before she hit the ground. I anchored a nice buck last year at about the same distance, and same results, he dropped and died instantly. Having said this, I also have passed on a 'lot' of deer because they were either outside of my comfort range, or I didn't feel like I could drop them on the spot. Let me also add, that I'm up there in my late 60's, and do not have the stamina, or desire to be tracking deer anymore.

Again, if your not confident in the shot, you absolutely made the right choice. NO ONE should ever fault you for you 'shot' decisions. You are your own critic, and ALWAYS keep that in mind!!
Here's hoping you have a successful deer season, and above ANYTHING else; STAY SAFE out there!!

 

[Acer-m14]

this should give the OP a LOL .. put your drink down im not responsible for electronic water , beer , wine .. ect damage ..

first day of gun this morning .. took the new to me M44 out .. nothing but a bunch of turkeys making noise .. time for lunch so i leave
and head to friends house .. i get there before them .. .. prank time .. where i park is blocked some from a big bush ..
so i go grab his deer bow target ( has a nice rack ) and place it on the roof of the car .. LOL ..

omg the names i was called when they pulled in the driveway .. LOL

 

[Saltwater60]

I give you credit for not taking a shot you weren't confidant in. My rule is to ALWAYS, shoot for the exit hole. What I mean by that, is that the exit wound is where your shot will ultimately do the most damage. I always shoot for the shoulder, to 'anchor' my deer right where it stands, if need be, I will put another round downfield to make sure it doesn't suffer. The last thing I want to do is track, and possibly lose a deer because it 'disappeared. I took a nice fat doe this evening at approximately 185 yards this evening, and dropped her right where she was standing, because I was in an elevated shooting house, the bullet did it's job, and killed her before she hit the ground. I anchored a nice buck last year at about the same distance, and same results, he dropped and died instantly. Having said this, I also have passed on a 'lot' of deer because they were either outside of my comfort range, or I didn't feel like I could drop them on the spot. Let me also add, that I'm up there in my late 60's, and do not have the stamina, or desire to be tracking deer anymore.

Again, if your not confidant in the shot, you absolutely made the right choice. NO ONE should ever fault you for you 'shot' decisions. You are your own critic, and ALWAYS keep that in mind!!
Here's hoping you have a successful deer season, and above ANYTHING else; STAY SAFE out there!!

Good point. Even though the deer was only 40 yards away from me the path to get to the deer was a long road and very steep up. It’s a good 10 minute walk, probably a 5 minute walk to where the deer was. The path make a long half circle and the deer was all the way at the other end so I would have had to make the entire half circle. A straight shot was not an option so it would have had a huge head start on me.

 

[218bee]

You did the right thing. I was in a similar situation a few years back and didn't take the shot. No regrets to this day.

 

[Saltwater60]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Still kicking myself for missing them in the brush. Everything was so brown and I scanned just to before that area. Probably bumped them since I was standing there for a bit. Oh well.

 

[JaguarJaguarGolf]

As everyone else has said . Good decision.

If your kids were starving and you hadn't seen a deer in weeks you would be justified in a different decision.

Not shooting shows more self control and respect for life than taking a doubtful shot.

 

[meketrefe]

You might have doubts but hunting is and it should be about a lot more than just harvesting the animals. So far it looks to me you achieved something very important in hunting that is to show restrain since you didn't feel confident. Later you can analyze the situation amd discuss it and see if you could have taken the animal even at the cost of ruining some meat but what you did is a positive score in the ethical hunter's book.

Pulling the trigger is easy anyone can do it What you did is the hard thing to do and says a lot about your character.

What gun and caliber are you hunting with?

If you are hunting in public land be careful, lots of unqualified trigger happy people out there.

 

[Robin]

You made the right decision at that moment in time. There will be other moments and you will make the right decision then, as well.
robin

 

[Saltwater60]

You might have doubts but hunting is and it should be about a lot more than just harvesting the animals. So far it looks to me you achieved something very important in hunting that is to show restrain since you didn't feel confident. Later you can analyze the situation amd discuss it and see if you could have taken the animal even at the cost of ruining some meat but what you did is a positive score in the ethical hunter's book.

Pulling the trigger is easy anyone can do it What you did is the hard thing to do and says a lot about your character.

What gun and caliber are you hunting with?

If you are hunting in public land be careful, lots of unqualified trigger happy people out there.

It was private land and it was an AR in 6.8SPC. All I can say is I’m super happy with how fast I went from not knowing deer were there to putting the binoculars on them for size and getting the cross hairs in the kill zone. I impressed myself there as it was very fast. They only had 80 feet to cover before they were out of my sight.

By the way thank you. I do value an animals life and I’m not broke or starving. I hunt for fun and of course to get some good meat. To me it’s more about the experience and you never know what you’ll run into or see. I never expected that owl to fly within 2-3 feet of me. Literally if I lifted my hand I’d have smacked it out of the sky. How many people can say that?

 

[meketrefe]

It was private land and it was an AR in 6.8SPC. All I can say is I’m super happy with how fast I went from not knowing deer were there to putting the binoculars on them for size and getting the cross hairs in the kill zone. I impressed myself there as it was very fast. They only had 80 feet to cover before they were out of my sight.

By the way thank you. I do value an animals life and I’m not broke or starving. I hunt for fun and of course to get some good meat. To me it’s more about the experience and you never know what you’ll run into or see. I never expected that owl to fly within 2-3 feet of me. Literally if I lifted my hand I’d have smacked it out of the sky. How many people can say that?

The 6.8 spc is the best "killer" caliber of the smaller most popular AR ones between the 5.56, 6x45, 6.5, 7.62x39, 300 Barak, and 5.45 but still a small compact caliber so don't want to risk tricky shots and potentially badly wounding an animal and/or slow death.
I feel I would have done the same with an AR even if I had the 35 gunner with 180 or 200gr round that would probably anchor the deer but it can destroy a lot of meat anyway. It would have been the same situation with a heavy 308 and one would have to decide between taking a smaller risk of a more powerful round but also destroying forelegs and potentially good meat in the process.
In reality it is hard to know w/o being there but for me the safest way is to hit the off switch (put it on the plexus area) with lots of speed and momentum and a bullet that you know to produce a massive temporary cavity and this way assure an instant comma most of the times following by a quick death where the animal is already out.
Even after not getting the deer it looks you had a great experience in the outdoors breathing the fresh air.
I will not hunt this year due to covid and our work schedule being impacted but I do enjoy all hunting and even if I don't take one single shot
in the entire season I just love to see the dogs working the hunt, walking a lot and having fun outdoors.
Personally I do not care much about trophys but the actual experience of being outside and doing the exercise and away from everything else.

 

[Bustedknees]

The perfect target in nature doesn't happen often .. So over the years I've learned to take the shot instead letting it walk. More lead in the air has meant more downed bucks. Im not talking unsafe shooting but taking shots outside the bread basket works also. Last years first round downfield was at the back of his skull, missed but the following shots put him down. The neck is risky but it folded a deer in his tracks a few years back. Too each his own but keeping a rifle silent just kills me.

 

[MoMan]

You might have doubts but hunting is and it should be about a lot more than just harvesting the animals.

^^^ GREAT advice right here^^^!!
REMEMBER, it's called 'hunting', and not 'KILLING' for a reason!!

 

[Saltwater60]

The perfect target in nature doesn't happen often .. So over the years I've learned to take the shot instead letting it walk. More lead in the air has meant more downed bucks. Im not talking unsafe shooting but taking shots outside the bread basket works also. Last years first round downfield was at the back of his skull, missed but the following shots put him down. The neck is risky but it folded a deer in his tracks a few years back. Too each his own but keeping a rifle silent just kills me.

Funny thing is I just said to myself not long before this there is no perfect shot just good shots and bad so so keep that in mind when taking a deer.