The Do Over

[JohnFunn]

I'm not your typical Beast, I'm a wanna be.

2014 - sight new 165 gr 30-06 ammo in at 100 yards and assume 4-6 inch drop at 200. Miss 2 decent mature GA whitetails of about 120-130 inches at 200 yards on 2 consecutive mornings. Check gun and ammo shoots 1 inch low at 100, 12 inches low at 200. Should have checked after missing deer #1 but it was windy and tree stand moving. Private lease.

1994-1995. Doing a push for my father, uncle, and ex-wife. Shoot deer ex-wife nicked the day before at about 10 ft in a thick swamp, get blood splattered all over me and scope. Hit hardwoods and ex-wife is right there in front of me. Said she heard something in some briers about 65 yards left of her, push thru them and a cluster of deer break out away from her and across in front of me, towards my uncle. Big 8 running at 40-50 yards thru wide open oaks. Had the crosshairs on him (everything was red hue from the deer blood) and did not shoot the buck cause the freezer was full with the deer I had just shot (#3 in 2 days). Buck was 140 class and 200+ dressed. Private farm.

1990-ish. Sneaking around with a bow - went left around a bush and got that inkling in my nugget to go right, backed up 2 or 3 steps and went right. Enormous buck sneaking away to the right. Looked like a horse with a rocking chair on his head. His main beams were dark chocolate, thick & gnarly, low and wide, tips out past his nose. I was taught not to lead a deer with a bow cause the arrow would go in front of it. Let's just say that's not true. Good height but thru guts and one hind leg. 2 splotches of blood and a bent arrow... I sat right down and didn't move for 30 minutes on my watch after shooting and then snuck over to the arrow to assess the damage. Never found him. Deer was what I'd call 180 class and 250 dressed - enormous. Public land.

Not intentionally dwelling on those events, they would be good do-overs, but all were "accidents". Time to make the opportunities happen on purpose.

I think that's what traps folks into bad hunting habits - every 5 to 10 years they get an opportunity at a good one and they feel that the guys who take them consistently hunt private land managed for big deer. After all - they saw a good one, hopefully got him, so they must be doing it right.

Wow that's a big drop with a 30-06 from 100 to 200 yards. I shoot 150 grain and sight it in an 1 1/2" high at 100 and its just about right on at 200....so...really from 0-250 you dont have to adjust much, if any for elevation. So for the sake of this convo...ive shot um from 12-350 yards...you cant ask for much more than that from a rifle or a bullet.

Well said in the last paragraph too...i myself have thought that exact thing, i know now that i was wrong. Being a new bow hunter has challenged me to think differently and has not only lead me to this site but allowed me to learn Happy hunting

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[Hawthorne]

I've had a few. Some missed shots, not being ready when a big buck appeared, and picking the wrong tree.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Rubline]

2005, Wyoming. Had a crack at a big public land buck with a 6" track. We do a lot of walking and when the encounter happened my gut told me to stay put. I continued walking and jumped this particular buck. Had him in my scope for 1 second before he jumped off a 10 foot rock ledge heading into a deep gorge. If I had waited, I may have killed old No 6.

[Rich M]

Wow that's a big drop with a 30-06 from 100 to 200 yards. I shoot 150 grain and sight it in an 1 1/2" high at 100 and its just about right on at 200....so...really from 0-250 you dont have to adjust much, if any for elevation. So for the sake of this convo...ive shot um from 12-350 yards...you cant ask for much more than that from a rifle or a bullet.

Well said in the last paragraph too...i myself have thought that exact thing, i know now that i was wrong. Being a new bow hunter has challenged me to think differently and has not only lead me to this site but allowed me to learn Happy hunting

[ Post made via Android ]

I was surprised too. I typically shoot 150 gr at about 3000 fps - 2 inches high at 100 = 3 inches low at 200 with my set-up (M70). The 165s are 2600-2650 fps range to have a heavier bullet with same or less recoil. Most shots are inside 100 yards. I've looked at ballistic calculators and such and find they are not correct with my guns, not 243 or 30-06.

Bow hunting is a whole 'nother level of hunting. A good bow hunter is a better rifle hunter - being quiet and that whole wind thing makes a huge difference.

[JohnFunn]

Wow that's a big drop with a 30-06 from 100 to 200 yards. I shoot 150 grain and sight it in an 1 1/2" high at 100 and its just about right on at 200....so...really from 0-250 you dont have to adjust much, if any for elevation. So for the sake of this convo...ive shot um from 12-350 yards...you cant ask for much more than that from a rifle or a bullet.

Well said in the last paragraph too...i myself have thought that exact thing, i know now that i was wrong. Being a new bow hunter has challenged me to think differently and has not only lead me to this site but allowed me to learn Happy hunting

[ Post made via Android ]

I was surprised too. I typically shoot 150 gr at about 3000 fps - 2 inches high at 100 = 3 inches low at 200 with my set-up (M70). The 165s are 2600-2650 fps range to have a heavier bullet with same or less recoil. Most shots are inside 100 yards. I've looked at ballistic calculators and such and find they are not correct with my guns, not 243 or 30-06.

Bow hunting is a whole 'nother level of hunting. A good bow hunter is a better rifle hunter - being quiet and that whole wind thing makes a huge difference.

Huh. ..interesting on the ballistics? I guess I've never really heard good things about the 165 (are they boat tails?) They seem ideal on paper but never seem to perform. Heck if your looking for the energy and your sure you're not gonna shoot over 100 yards. ..might as well go to 185's and get the full amount of "knockdown "! :) Otherwise it's really really hard to beat a premium box of 150's IMHO

[ Post made via Android ]

[wickedbruiser]

2013, I set up on a small ridge about 75 yds downwind of a tiny swamp doe bedding. A couple of does piled out and up the opposite ridge. 20 minutes later this buck came out of the bedding, across the adjacent ridge and down towards me. Stopped him dead broadside for what I thought was a 20 yard shot. Blew the shot under. Came back the next morning and range it 30 yards. 2 days later my wife almost smoked him driving as he chased a doe across the street. Got 1 post season pic in January and nothing after that. No words of him being shot either. Haunts me to this day.

Not the biggest but coolest buck I've encountered



[ Post made via Android ]

[tbunao]

Mine would be my first year back in the stand. Leading up to it I did not shoot much and only felt comfortable out to 25 yards. It was the first sighting of a buck I called White Oak. He came out of a thicket and made a scrape. It was to far for me. I had one more encounter with him as he was about to do the same thing then he winded me and was never seen again. The next year I went and set up in that same tree this time I was armed with a rangefinder. That scrape is 34 yards from the tree. Today, I shoot 3-4 times a week and regularly shoot out to 90 yards. Still to this day he's the biggest buck I've seen on stand and is quite possibly the individual moment that's molded me into the hunter I am today.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Lockdown]

Fortunately I've been pretty lucky on my shot placement for the good bucks... missed many does and smaller bucks back in the day. Two in one night, in fact.

As far as big ones go, I've had two trips out West where I ended up killing a decent buck (with both I contemplated before the shot on each one, which should have been my sign) but ended up missing opportunities on much larger bucks later in the trip.

In 2009 my buddies talked me into going West River Sunday evening of opening weekend. What a mistake that was. We were all getting discouraged (5 of us) and only had a doe down after a day and a half. The next morning I ended up doe bleat canning a 100ish inch 8 point in from 500 yards down to 40. He came up a small rise and I shot him in the throat as I laid prone. The scenario was just too cool and with the trip we were having I couldn't bite my trigger finger. That was Tuesday morning.

Wednesday evening I had to pass on a buck that was bigger, hands down, at last light. I took my buddy to the same knoll overlooking the creek bottom and hay field the next night, and a buck did the same exact thing and he ended up killing him. Real nice 11 pointer:




(I've told this story before on the Beast so sorry for the repeat)
The 2nd one was somewhat of a similar scenario. I tagged out early and was guiding my buddy's Dad. I ended up rattling in a huge buck (when I first saw it I thought it was a big mulie, then realized it was a BIG whitetail) right in to our lap. He started out 600-700 yards away and came to about 500 on his own. Before stalking with an iffy wind, I decided to clank the horns just to see what would happen. He came on a string, walking fast

The problem was, he would never turn. He was walking across a wide open alfalfa field and we were laying on the edge of a big bowl shaped ridge 20 plus feet above him. I would have said shoot anywhere from 200 in, but he kept coming so we let him come. He just would never turn for even a quartering to shot. Finally I said "Ok take him before he gets below the hill" and my buddy's Dad couldn't find him in the scope. "Where is he?" He is only 125 yds away but he didn't follow him in with his scope. His line of sight was different than mine and the buck got below the crest of the hill.

He then used the terrain to his advantage when he was out of sight and winded us. Trigger never even got pulled. I've never been so frustrated in my life. It was probably around a 150" nine with a Beast of a body. HUGE neck. That buck still haunts my dreams.

[Mibowfreak]

There are a few that come to mind, but this one hurts. October 30, 2012, the year I really decided to chase bigger bucks here in Michigan. I had a small property, that was holding a few really nice deer. I stayed out all season waiting for the perfect conditions. Everything was lining up for the evening of October 30. I went to the stand with one buck on mind. The buck showed up just like I thought. The part that went bad, was when I put a bad shot on him, that was to far forward in the shoulder. Never killed that buck, and he lived through that. But a few days later, I killed a different buck. That is the only year I have come that close to filling both my Michigan tags on two great bucks.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[JoeRE]

Wow that's a big drop with a 30-06 from 100 to 200 yards. I shoot 150 grain and sight it in an 1 1/2" high at 100 and its just about right on at 200....so...really from 0-250 you dont have to adjust much, if any for elevation. So for the sake of this convo...ive shot um from 12-350 yards...you cant ask for much more than that from a rifle or a bullet.

Well said in the last paragraph too...i myself have thought that exact thing, i know now that i was wrong. Being a new bow hunter has challenged me to think differently and has not only lead me to this site but allowed me to learn Happy hunting

[ Post made via Android ]

I was surprised too. I typically shoot 150 gr at about 3000 fps - 2 inches high at 100 = 3 inches low at 200 with my set-up (M70). The 165s are 2600-2650 fps range to have a heavier bullet with same or less recoil. Most shots are inside 100 yards. I've looked at ballistic calculators and such and find they are not correct with my guns, not 243 or 30-06.

Bow hunting is a whole 'nother level of hunting. A good bow hunter is a better rifle hunter - being quiet and that whole wind thing makes a huge difference.

Huh. ..interesting on the ballistics? I guess I've never really heard good things about the 165 (are they boat tails?) They seem ideal on paper but never seem to perform. Heck if your looking for the energy and your sure you're not gonna shoot over 100 yards. ..might as well go to 185's and get the full amount of "knockdown "! :) Otherwise it's really really hard to beat a premium box of 150's IMHO

[ Post made via Android ]

Don't mean to sidetrack the conversation but yea Rich M double check some numbers, your zero, everything, that just doesn't add up. Not saying you aren't getting what you posted, but if you are something is majorly wrong. Its pretty much impossible for any 30-06 load of typical velocity to drop 13" from 100 to 200 yards, the physics just won't allow it. If that drop is happening, your muzzle velocity would have to be down almost to 2,000 fps to do that....really slow. A really bad ballistic coefficient can't cause even something like that. Bad powder?

[mainebowhunter]

2013, I set up on a small ridge about 75 yds downwind of a tiny swamp doe bedding. A couple of does piled out and up the opposite ridge. 20 minutes later this buck came out of the bedding, across the adjacent ridge and down towards me. Stopped him dead broadside for what I thought was a 20 yard shot. Blew the shot under. Came back the next morning and range it 30 yards. 2 days later my wife almost smoked him driving as he chased a doe across the street. Got 1 post season pic in January and nothing after that. No words of him being shot either. Haunts me to this day.

Not the biggest but coolest buck I've encountered



[ Post made via Android ]

Piebald to boot!

[cedarsavage]

A few years ago I was sitting in teepee blind on a scrape line. I unzipped the door and was taking a leak, when I looked over my left shoulder and saw one of the biggest live bucks I've ever seen, I pulled my sluggun and hit him in the shoulder, and he took off running I hit in the rear quarter and he piled up and skidded to a stop. I ran up to him while he was in his death throes, I was so shocked by the antlers I couldn't get it together to put another one in him, his throes kept getting bigger and he jumped up and took off I shot at him twice on the run and missed. I looked for two days and never found that buck. So there I was standing over a "dead" buck one of the biggest I've ever seen and didn't get to slap a tag on him.

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[Hawthorne]

A few years ago I was sitting in teepee blind on a scrape line. I unzipped the door and was taking a leak, when I looked over my left shoulder and saw one of the biggest live bucks I've ever seen, I pulled my sluggun and hit him in the shoulder, and he took off running I hit in the rear quarter and he piled up and skidded to a stop. I ran up to him while he was in his death throes, I was so shocked by the antlers I couldn't get it together to put another one in him, his throes kept getting bigger and he jumped up and took off I shot at him twice on the run and missed. I looked for two days and never found that buck. So there I was standing over a "dead" buck one of the biggest I've ever seen and didn't get to slap a tag on him.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Man that's rough! I read a similar story about a guy that did what you did only he put his gun on the deers rack for a picture. The deer was temporarily unconscience but the hunter thought it was dead. The big buck got up and ran away with his gun never to see either one again.

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[deerhunterdon]

1997 My Dad was sick but we didn't know why yet. I sat two tree stands up over a bait pile, and it was rocking . I wanted my Dad to shoot one , cause it had been a 20 year drought ,due to work and health issues he had. At least 5 deer and a buck came in at separate times. My Dad coughed every time he tried to draw . First couple of times we laughed about it, afterwards he tried with a buck and coughed right before full draw. Ill never forget the look on his face when it happened. I took him to the doctors a couple days later and we found out he had terminal lung cancer. He died three months to the day. I wish I could have done something , I dont know what I could have done but I wish I had another chance for him to score.

My Dad always was a you first type of guy. He would take a rotten spot and give you a hot one. He was not a selfish guy. He raised me to do the same. I have always gave up my best spots to others , I am Happy when someone can score. My son tells me I need to think of myself sometimes and he is probably right, but with 5 boys there wasn't really any other option that was acceptable to me. I know you guys know what I mean. Now all my kids are grown and have gotten more independent, I wish could have a do over for those years too. I would have worked harder trying to help them. My poor son Jason (whitetailassasin) was the oldest so he did his share of taking little bros to there stand in the dark and trying to get in your own before light !

[cedarsavage]

A few years ago I was sitting in teepee blind on a scrape line. I unzipped the door and was taking a leak, when I looked over my left shoulder and saw one of the biggest live bucks I've ever seen, I pulled my sluggun and hit him in the shoulder, and he took off running I hit in the rear quarter and he piled up and skidded to a stop. I ran up to him while he was in his death throes, I was so shocked by the antlers I couldn't get it together to put another one in him, his throes kept getting bigger and he jumped up and took off I shot at him twice on the run and missed. I looked for two days and never found that buck. So there I was standing over a "dead" buck one of the biggest I've ever seen and didn't get to slap a tag on him.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Man that's rough! I read a similar story about a guy that did what you did only he put his gun on the deers rack for a picture. The deer was temporarily unconscience but the hunter thought it was dead. The big buck got up and ran away with his gun never to see either one again.

[ Post made via Android ]

I can still see the whole scenario in my mind. I probably shouldn't even tell people about it but it's kinda too rediculous to not share

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