My Sika hunt

[howie1968]

Well  i  just  got  back  home  from  a  sika  Doe  hunt  first  of  all  they  are  truly  beautiful  animals   they  remind  me  of  Elk  i  wen  to  a  ranch  in  east  texas  where  i  go  on  some  hog  hunts.  the  hunt  was really  neat  and  saw  lotas  of  beautiful  animals  i  seen  axis  rams  and  others  i  was  shown  a  doe  i  could  take  and  they  were  on  the  move   i  brought  2  rifles  a  remington   30-06  and  a old  savage 30-30 model 840  which  i  aquired  2  days  ago  i  just  sighted  it  in  today  and  therefore  was not comfortable with the gun at  all.  i  asked  my  guide  which gun  and  he said  the  30-30.  i  would  have  felt  more comfortable with  th 06  but  listened  to  his  advice  the  prob  was  the  animals  were  around  145  yards  i  did  not  fel  comfortable  from  the    start  and  the  wind  was  blowing  and  it  was  sprinkling  i  had  my  rifle  on  the  big  doe  when  i  squeezed  the  trigger  she  dropped  upon  seeing  her  drop  i  walked  up  to  her  and  seen  the  bullet  impacted  her  right  in  the  pelvis  area  taking  out  her  spine.  i  just  cant  believe  how  it  hit  so  far  back  i  mean  i  have  never  experienced  this  and  hated  to  put  a  second  shot  on  her  all  in  fron  of  the  guied.  i  pride  myself    on  accuracy   but  that  fence  i  put  the  rifle  on  as  a  rest  was  less  then  stable      i  figured  at  the  shot  since  they  were  walking  she  lunged  or  something  cant  f\igure  it  out  as  i  went  and  rechecked  my  rifles  zero  and  it  was  dead  on   have  any  of  you  experienced  this??[/img]

[denvas]

Unfortunately many things could have happened that contributed to the bad shot.

1.   You indicated that you were not confident in the rifle as you had only owned it for a few days and had only taken it to the range one time. When we have a lack of confidence in our tools, i.e. hunting rifles, we inherently tend to have a lack of confidence in ourselves. We begin to second guess our decisions and capabilities with an unproven rifle. This lack of confidence in turn causes us to hesitate or waver when it comes time to act, i.e. holding your shot just a little longer than usual could of allowed the doe that extra step that placed your shot too far back. This is probably the main contributor to your problem.

2.   You stated that the wind was blowing and that it was sprinkling. Either of these could of have also been a factor in the bullet hitting to far back. What type of experience do you have shooting in windy conditions? How fast was the wind blowing? Which direction was the wind blowing? Was it gusting or was it a steady wind? Please don’t take this personally, but most hunters today do not know how to properly dope the wind when it comes to shooting. Depending upon wind speed and caliber a bullet could have moved as much as 10-12 inches in a stiff breeze at 145 yards. Larger, heavier bullets will drift less than lighter, smaller bullets but they will still drift to a certain extent. Also how heavy was the sprinkling? Just like a bullet can be deflected by the tiniest of limbs, so too can bullets be deflected by rain drops. I know, I learned the hard way on a Utah mule deer hunt 3 years ago.

3.   Finally, because of your lack of experience with the rifle in question and its trigger mechanism, you may have jerked the trigger a bit too hard, thus causing a change in the rifle’s aiming point and not even be aware of it. Even when we can shoot a rifle well from the bench, the excitement and adrenaline rush that occurs when we finally have our quarry in our sights can result in jerking the trigger or over compensation for expected recoil.

Bottom line is you probably need to spend more time with this rifle at the shooting range so that you can become familiar with it and its own personal quirks. Then after you have built up your confidence and ability in the rifle something like this probably would not happen again. Good luck and happy hunting.

P.S. Where in east Texas did you go hunting? I am always looking for places closer than the hill country.

[markc]

Congrats on your sika doe.  I hear ya about the shot.  Remember that when you are on a guided hunt, where you have paid your hard earned cash, the guide works for you.  His/her job is to get you in shooting range of the animal, making the shot is up to you.  

If you find yourself in that situation again, where you do not feel comfortable taking a shot, whether it be due to a firearm, weather, or distance, you have the option to pass on the shot. The guide should be able to get you in position for another shot.  however it is hunting and not shooting of penned animals so  likely there is no guarantee.

Have you hunted much before?  I only ask because you seemed to ahve a hard decision on which firearm to use, and went qith the guides selection.  I guess I should ask if the guide had much experience as a guide.  145 yards is not necessarily out of the 30-30's range,  but I think the 30-06 would ahve been a much better choice under the circumstances you described.

Either way,  congrats on  your sika.
markc

[howie1968]

Thanks  for  your  honesty,  and  you  are  right  most  of  the  time  i  shoot  and  hunt  in  fair  conditions,  but  overlooked  the  wind  doping  I  have a  pretty  decnt  knoledge  of  the  concept   but  as  i  look  back  i  was  over  excited  and  anxious  and  nervous  also.  as  i  went  out  today  and  shot  the  rifle  more  and  was  happy  with  my  ability.  looking  back  and  recalling  the  hunt   the  doe  was walking  at  the  shot  and   being  a  new  rifle  every  thing  you  said  i  bleieve  happened   i  hunt  around  woodville  50  mules  north  of  beaumont  i  do  alot  of  hog  hunting  there  is  Axis  and sika  various  goats  and  sheep  and  other  exotics   he  is  more  than  respnable  let  me  know  and  maybe  I  can  hook  ya  up