Opening weekend bear hunting results

fratri

fratri

CGN frequent flyer
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Location
SW Ontario
I came back yesterday afternoon and did not have the courage to post the results until now..... Here's the story....

Pyd, thanks for the gloves, between the thermacell and the gloves the bugs stayed away... First night was a tough afternoon, did not see anything and had an uncomfortable tree stand, my butt was killing me....

Day 2 in late morning we went out and set up another stand (2 man ladder stand) over another active bait, I had the opportunity to sit on this new stand (much more comfortable) I get in my stand before 5pm and about 8:40 pm a nice looking bear comes sneaking in....Don't ask me how but I guess anything is possible...

I have been testing my shotgun for over a month, practicing with different slugs and from different shooting positions and distances, I finally decide on one type of slug and sight it in dead on at 25 yds....according to my guide/host this would be the shooting distance...So I practice this shot quite a bit from a bench and off hand... so tell me, how does one miss a standing still bear at 30 yds broadside, especially when I have my gun on the tree stand rest? For the life of me I can't figure what went wrong...

After the shot, the bear looked like it was hit and ran off grunting....I thought I saw through the trees it go down 80yds away or so....no death moan though and it was getting dark in the bush....I waited 5 mins or so and got enough courage to climb down the stand walk over to the area he was standing and look for blood, I didn't see any, my heart just dropped... I went back to my stand, waited for my guide to show up...My guide and his buddy did a complete search of the area with flashlights as I did the best I could guiding them from the tree stand to where I thought the bear was heading, they found no sign of blood...The guide and his buddy concluded, I had a clean miss....

I left the next day very disappointed, came home and first thing I did was go out and shoot my gun from that exact distance, 7 shots all off hand everyone of them in the kill zone, the setup is fine, so how does one miss

I have rebooked myself for next years hunt already.....

Special thanks to my hosts Ray (bigr) and his wife Shannon, great people that made you feel welcomed...See you next year....

Those are the facts, and unfortunately sometimes all the planning in the world doesn't help...
 
fratri said:
I left the next day very disappointed, came home and first thing I did was go out and shoot my gun from that exact distance, 7 shots all off hand everyone of them in the kill zone, the setup is fine, so how does one miss
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Been there, done that. When I was 18 I missed a nice buck, broadside. standing still at 20 yards with a slug gun, 3 shots. Swore the sights were off but test shooting showed them to be true.
 
Don't beat yourself up Franti, it happens to us all. You'll think about that from now on and shouldn't make that mistake again. I'd done it before with open sights as well shooting at a big buck when I first started hunting. I think I was just looking at the front sight, to excited and shot right over top of him at 30 yards LOL. Owell
 
I'm aware of the frustration but yes this can and doe's happen to alot. Remember your heart beats increase your adrenlin starts to flow. Keeping relaxed is key and never taking your eyes off the scope or sights. One deer I shot was 10 yards and not realizing and the point I pulled the trigger I took my eyes off the sight and on the deer. Luckily I hit his spin and broke it. It all happens so fast you don't realize things you do in those last tiny fractions of seconds. Get pissed off that way next time you will make the shot in a more relaxed state. It's not the end of the world and consider yourself fortunate to see a big animal roaming the woods.
 
How high up was your stand ? The bear may well have been 25 yards away when measured level from the bottom of the stand but shooting down on an angle is a whole different thing. It may be possible that you shot high over his back or low and under him Shooting up or down hill can be a tricky business
 
Rob 22 said:
How high up was your stand ? The bear may well have been 25 yards away when measured level from the bottom of the stand but shooting down on an angle is a whole different thing. It may be possible that you shot high over his back or low and under him Shooting up or down hill can be a tricky business
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People may think that it doesn't matter at 25yds, but I have seen it myself. I was sitting on a ridge looking down into a creek bed. A buck came down the creek right in front of me. I put the cross-hairs on his lungs, fired, and took a chunk out of his spine. The deer dropped right there, but I was only 2 inches from shooting right over his back...I think it was even 20yds...
 
At 25 yards there is going to be very little change in distance if you are in a tree stand 15-20 feet high. A simple pythagoreum equation shows .5 of a yard difference. So oit would be like aiming at 24.5 yards. Thats why all these range finders with arc are a waste of money unless you are shooting long range at steep elevations. But 40 yards in (standard archery shots) there is very little change in distance.
Just crack it all up to "Bear" fever and yanking on that trigger a little to hard. Happens to the best of us (more then we would like to admit)
 
I've always found that the close shots are the easiest to miss. Not really sure why, but I have missed some really close ones over the years... :redface: I personally think that since they are so close that you subconsciously think it is going to be easy and don't concentrate.

Better luck next time.
 
Caboose said:
Don't aim at the bear.....aim at a spot on the bear, Better luck next year :).
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Absolutely right, I went to test out my gun again this morning from a tree stand (same height 15')no surprise it did not make a difference from the ground or from the tree, aim at target and bullets goes toward target, aim at center of target bullet goes to center of target...aim at bear bullets goes toward bear...aim at bear hair/spot bullet would of went there....Lesson learned, I hope.....
 
I'd ditch the shotgun and use a good levergun with good sights or small scope, and practice, practice, practice....eventually you will shoot that rifle very accurately and hitting will be automatic, something you will do without even thinking or getting "buck fever".
 
ben hunchak said:
I'd ditch the shotgun and use a good levergun with good sights or small scope, and practice, practice, practice....eventually you will shoot that rifle very accurately and hitting will be automatic, something you will do without even thinking or getting "buck fever".
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right, its the rig not the shooter


the best hunting stories are about the one that got away;)
no biggies frarti better luck next time
 
Was this your first time bear hunting? Combination of excitement over something new, adrenaline, and nerves likely went against you. Don't worry about it. Happens to almost everyone(and those that claim it didn't happen to them, are probably lying). I missed a buck at 25 yards, with a rifle I am very comfortable with. Still have no clue how I did it, asides from a combination of overconfidence and still being a new hunter. When my dad and I went hunting a few years ago, we saw a buck about 100yrds or so. We both took aim and shot. All clean misses. I'm using an Enfield, my dad a Winnie94. I turn to him, and asked why he didn't shoot. He claimed he did. His gun was empty. Looked at the ground... He expelled all the rounds, but didn't fire any. And I know he's not the only one who has done this. I've heard similar stories numerous times.
 
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