Missed Again

[I luv herfrds]

One of these days my son will get his first deer.
We went out Thursday after school to look around and jumped a herd of around 10 head. All does with a really nice mule deer buck with them.
They all busted out of there and were gone.
So we waited til this weekend, yesterday the wind was blowing so hard you couldn't find anything, so we went out today.
Found that same buck back where we first found them. He had just a doe and fawn with him.
We snuck up on our bellies to see them. Got him lined up, but he couldn't get a clear sight of him so I handed him his back pack. He got all set up and waited. I was wondering when he was finally going to shoot, he finally did. Missed. Dang, next round, missed again. Dang. next round, missed again.
Now this buck just jumped up on the first shot, walked a short distance with the second and continued to stand for the third. I couldn't believe it.
The buck then just took off went a ways and looked at us and trotted off.
We thought that he might have hit him, so we waited for 2 hours went out and jumped him again, but he didn't stand still so he couldn't get a good shot. Didn't act wounded then.
Going to wait a few days and head back out now that we know where he is hanging out.
Hope he has better luck next time.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Could be he gets buck fever. He get one sooner or later.

 

[kerley]

Did you check your scope, better luck next time.
Tom.

 

[I luv herfrds]

We went back out and rechecked his rifle. He was shooting about 2 feet high at 75 yrds. No wonder he missed.
Checked mine and it was 6" high.

 

[kerley]

We went back out and rechecked his rifle. He was shooting about 2 feet high at 75 yrds. No wonder he missed.
Checked mine and it was 6" high.

Sight it in and go back and hit the jackpot.
Good luck. Tom.

 

[chenocetah]

This thread reminded me of my oldest sons first hunt alone when he sat in a deer stand by himself (he was 7 yrs old at the time). He had been hunting with me since he was 3 and had taken a good many deer while he was in the stand with me looking over his shoulder. I had sat him up on a food plot lane one evening that was about 125 yds long and left him with one of our company radios and his trusty little single shot 223. About 30 min before dark I heard a shot ring out from towards his stand as I was hunting myself in another stand about 500 yds away with my youngest son who was 3 at the time. I patiently waited for him to contact me on the radio, wanting him to be a man and take charge of these situations by himself, but after about 5 min I couldn't stand it anymore and called out over the radio to him. You know as a father you begin to worry about all the things that can go wrong and wonder if he has shot himself or fell out of the stand or Lord knows what else. My brain was racing as he came back on the radio and said he had shot at a doe and he missed it. Well, you know what's coming now. Old Dad is going to try and still be the guru and know-it-all on the radio. We all know that many times a deer takes off at the sound of the shot and it might appear that the shot missed, but in actuality the deer has suffered a mortal wound. So......Here I am on the radio for the next minute or so giving my son a pep talk and telling him not to be so discouraged because he may not have missed and I knew he was a good shot and I would go get the coon hunting lights and we would look for blood and try and find his deer and to just try and concentrate on where the deer was standing when he shot so we would know where to start our search when I got there. My son came back on the radio and just calmly said he knew he had missed because the doe he shot at was at the far end of the food plot and it was STILL STANDING THERE EATING!! We have gotten many laughs out of that story over the years. My sons are 21 and 17 now and we spend every minute we can hunting or fishing together when we're not working.

I luv herfrds - You are doing the best thing you can ever do in spending time with your son outdoors and no matter how many deer your son harvests in the years to come, or how big a deer he ever gets in his lifetime, you can never get the first one again. I hope it comes soon for both of you. Good Luck!!

 

[Jogeephus]

Be sure to check that the screws on his scope mount are not loose. One loose one will cause all kinds of trouble.

 

[hillsdown]

I agree with you too cheno. ILH it so so cool that mom takes her son hunting. You have the scopes fixed and sighted in, now just be patient and he will get one. It will mean all the more to him ,not just because he kept on persevering, but because his mother was out there with him every step of the way..

 

[I luv herfrds]

It just about drove me crazy that he missed 3 times. He shoots great with his Henry .22 Mag lever action rifle. You should see him shoot those gophers and prairie dogs.
Hitting those little gophers with that is pretty good practice.

He just needs to get straight on telling me when he see's something in the brush. Just saying "over there" does not help. :lol2:
Working on the "Clock" such as at 11 o'clock half way up the hill.

 

[randiliana]

It just about drove me crazy that he missed 3 times. He shoots great with his Henry .22 Mag lever action rifle. You should see him shoot those gophers and prairie dogs.
Hitting those little gophers with that is pretty good practice.

He just needs to get straight on telling me when he see's something in the brush. Just saying "over there" does not help. :lol2:
Working on the "Clock" such as at 11 o'clock half way up the hill.

I think that they are all like that ILH. At least our kids are the same :lol2: . Good luck to you guys, now that you've got your guns sighted in.

 

[I luv herfrds]

GOT ONE!!!

Dad took him out yesterday and they were way back in a deep coulee. They snuck up on a herd of 4 does.
From what I am told it took him three shots, two of which hit the deer in the chest. Turns out she had already been shot by some other hunter in the butt.
That boy is so proud of his first deer.
We went out today since it is the last day and only saw 2 does, but were too far away and spooky to try to get near. No deer for me, but I'm thrilled for him.

 

[randiliana]

Congratulations!!!

 

[Jogeephus]

Good deal. Now the pressures off. I wouldn't be surprised if next year you'll be telling us about the head shot he makes at 400 yards while the mulee is in full sprint. :nod: (oh with a 12 mph crosswind) :mrgreen:

 

[Angus Cowman]

Good deal. Now the pressures off. I wouldn't be surprised if next year you'll be telling us about the head shot he makes at 400 yards while the mulee is in full sprint. :nod: (oh with a 12 mph crosswind) :mrgreen:

You forgot while jumping a bus

 

[Jogeephus]

Good deal. Now the pressures off. I wouldn't be surprised if next year you'll be telling us about the head shot he makes at 400 yards while the mulee is in full sprint. :nod: (oh with a 12 mph crosswind) :mrgreen:

You forgot while jumping a bus

Lengthwise to be completely accurate.

So whatever was the original problem? Buck fever, scope, bad luck, misalignment of stars, bad karma or a combination. I'm an expert at missing horned animals so I like to refine my technique.

 

[I luv herfrds]

I think it was a bit of Mom misjudging the distance and some buck fever.
We did check his gun and it was shooting 2 feet high and a 1 foot to the left. Only problem is he was using my gun which was shooting 6" high.
Got his gun sighted in now and that is what he used.
The rounds were about 6" apart and each one would have been a killing shot.

 

[Jogeephus]

how much does an average deer up your way weigh? How do you like to process them?

 

[I luv herfrds]

They will weight around 125-150#.
I will normally smoke them. Son wants some steaks so I will cut the back straps into the steaks and smoke the rest into jerkey.

I do it differently. I really hate that ground stuff they call jerkey. I will cut it into strips and sprinkle with some Tender Quick salt. Let them sit for a few hours. Pat dry and stick a tooth pick through one end and string it through the rack.
I have a Little Chief smoker a friend gave me. I have experimenting with different wood chips. I have done a mix with apple and hickory. turned out pretty good. Going to have to see what I have left over.
I smoke the meat for several hours until it is almost completely dried out. I like it that way.

 

[Jogeephus]

That's about the same size as ours. I would have thought ya'lls were bigger or are you talking dressed weight?

Yeah, I don't like the ground up jerky either. Made some a couple of years ago and wasn't impressed. Have you ever tried using a jerky board when you slice it or do you have another good system? To me slicing the jerky can be the toughest part if you don't have a good system.

 

[I luv herfrds]

I just take a good sharp knife and cut it into strips. Nothing fancy or inventive.