A week in and ready to hang it up..

[timberghost35]

Welp, here we are, a eek in the books and I'm already ready to quit. Monday afternoon had an excellent hunt. Had a nice buck walk out right at dark 80 yards from me, thought this is a chip shot. Brand new Bergara B14 Ridge 30.06 with a Leupold scope on it was ready to bark. Well it barked alright, and it was toothless. Complete miss. Felt horrible but just missed. No excuses on it… Should have been a chip shot.

Went Tues morning and yugo the gun and of course it's dead on. Had 2 other people shoot it to make sure….

Rest of the week has been a lot slower with no decent buck sightings, until last night. Had to trim some limbs that were getting on my nerves so really wasn't expecting much due to
Making all kinds of noise. About 5:30, the flood gates opened. Deer everywhere again. About 6:00, had a real thick 7 point with some trash on his bases come out at about 75 yards. Just an old gnarly swamp looking buck. I have caught a sinus cold and coughed a smudge in my hand. He heard me and just kinda stood there for a min. Gave me a good minute to clear my head and get ready. When he cleared some limbs I settled and boom. Deer trotted right back in the woods the way he came and couldn't get a second shot. Complete Miss again…

Don't know what happened or what I am doing, but it ain't right whatever it is. I have killed plenty of deer and have never had this problem until last year. Last year both bucks I killed, I missed the first shot, and killed them with the 2nd. Just this year the deer ain't giving me a 2nd…

Only thing I can think is I'm pulling my head off the gun before I finish to see if I hit him. I know I'm not jerking cause I'm making a mental note not to.

Just not been my season I reckon. Got Sun and Mon afternoons to hunt, then I go back to work Tues. I usually don't shoot does, but the next one that is close, I feel sorry for her cause she is Fixen to let me work some stuff out confidence wise, (but I will prolly miss her too, which is that's the case, the Bergara is cursed and it will be for sale)

 

[Ski]

Hang in there. We all suffer a slumps and setbacks now and again. It'll pass.

 

[TN Larry]

Dang, do you think that you've somehow became recoil sensitive and pulling?

 

[huvrman]

Sounds like my turkey seasons the last 2 years...

 

[kaizen leader]

Welp, here we are, a eek in the books and I'm already ready to quit. Monday afternoon had an excellent hunt. Had a nice buck walk out right at dark 80 yards from me, thought this is a chip shot. Brand new Bergara B14 Ridge 30.06 with a Leupold scope on it was ready to bark. Well it barked alright, and it was toothless. Complete miss. Felt horrible but just missed. No excuses on it… Should have been a chip shot.

Went Tues morning and **** the gun and of course it's dead on. Had 2 other people shoot it to make sure….

Rest of the week has been a lot slower with no decent buck sightings, until last night. Had to trim some limbs that were getting on my nerves so really wasn't expecting much due to
Making all kinds of noise. About 5:30, the flood gates opened. Deer everywhere again. About 6:00, had a real thick 7 point with some trash on his bases come out at about 75 yards. Just an old gnarly swamp looking buck. I have caught a sinus cold and coughed a smudge in my hand. He heard me and just kinda stood there for a min. Gave me a good minute to clear my head and get ready. When he cleared some limbs I settled and boom. Deer trotted right back in the woods the way he came and couldn't get a second shot. Complete Miss again…

Don't know what happened or what I am doing, but it ain't right whatever it is. I have killed plenty of deer and have never had this problem until last year. Last year both bucks I killed, I missed the first shot, and killed them with the 2nd. Just this year the deer ain't giving me a 2nd…

Only thing I can think is I'm pulling my head off the gun before I finish to see if I hit him. I know I'm not jerking cause I'm making a mental note not to.

Just not been my season I reckon. Got Sun and Mon afternoons to hunt, then I go back to work Tues. I usually don't shoot does, but the next one that is close, I feel sorry for her cause she is Fixen to let me work some stuff out confidence wise, (but I will prolly miss her too, which is that's the case, the Bergara is cursed and it will be for sale)

A sharpshooter Army friend told me, aim small miss small. I hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Lost Lake]

Dang. Sounds like you're trying not to miss, rather than relaxing and making the shot, and you're not following through.

Hang in there man, it'll get better.

 

[Jcalder]

Buck fever is real!

 

[EastTNHunter]

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. Focus on your squeeze, trigger break, then follow through when you are not in the woods. Take your time and build the muscle memory of GOOD shooting mechanics.

When in the woods if you have time, leave the gun on safety and go through the whole shot sequence including your trigger squeeze ON THE DEER. Once you've done that, keep your stock-cheek weld, flick off the safety and go through the same sequence for real. If you can't do this on the buck that you are wanting to shoot, then try the "safety-on" sequence on a doe that you wouldn't mind harvesting.

I'll tell you this, when you get the monkey off of your back it's going to be a huge feeling of accomplishment and relief

 

[wsm]

Sorry to hear this ,maybe frigger pull has you pulling off ,not sure .But I hope you get it worked out .Good luck to you.

 

[backyardtndeer]

It happens. I hit low, almost completely missing, on the first shot I took on the deer I killed last week. Luckily he gave me a second opportunity. Not sure why the first shot went low. I have killed several with the gun and my handloads I am using in it. Total confidence in that setup.

Good luck.

 

[philsanchez76]

Sounds like my 2020 season. I missed several does and a really nice buck that year. Using a 12 gauge slug gun. I think I developed a flinch. And I absolutely hated practicing with that gun. Stopped hunting with it and started practicing with my smokeless muzzleloader a bunch. Zero problems since. Hang in there and know you ain't the only one!

 

[JeepKuntry]

My guess is also you're lifting up to see the reaction.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

I went through the same thing once, the issue was I had my trigger lightened up and could flat out shoot a target, but in the woods it was awful. Took it back to factory setting and never another problem

 

[Dennis]

I always tell myself to try and watch the bullet impact in the scope. It seems to keep me more focused.

 

[SC Manimal]

I've learned I suck free hand. If anyway possible I use a shooting rail, shooting sticks, limb, or just get prone. I'm not confident enough to take a shot >50 yards free hand. Not fun to admit to yourself but I stopped missing.

 

[Rackseeker]

May be a dumb question but, are you sure you are missing? Sounds like your equipment is good. I took a coworker hunting and he shot at a nice 8pt. Said he cleaned missed it at 50 yds. I looked for about 30 minutes and a found drop of blood. We ended up finding the buck about 150 yds away.

 

[PalsPal]

If you have a .22, shoot several rounds with it just to practice the entire process.

I went through something similar several years ago turkey hunting. I know it wasn't the gun, but I lost all confidence in it, and sold it and bought another.

Keep at it.

 

[Remi]

My guess is also you're lifting up to see the reaction.

This is my guess as well

 

[Spurhunter]

If you have a .22, shoot several rounds with it just to practice the entire process.

This. I would practice, practice, practice with a scoped .22. Not plinking for fun, but making every shot like it's your life depends on it. When you get to the woods and look through the scope it will be second nature. You won't have to overthink everything at the moment of truth.

 

[UTGrad]

Not necessarily your case but most hunters rarely practice shooting. They buy a box of ammo, confirm zero, and save the last 10 rounds in the box for deer season. That's only 10 shots total to sight in and get a feel for the rifle.

Shooting a rifle is a skill just like shooting a bow, hitting a golf ball, casting a bait casting reel, etc.

I recommend to anyone to at least buy some bulk, cheap ammo and practice shooting a few times in the off-season to get a feel for the trigger pull, scope, etc.

Also, on a multi-power scope, keep it towards the lower end of magnification. I only use the top end when sighting in my rifle. Otherwise, I shoot 100-600 yards on no more than 6x.