lucky bullet

[okieshooter]

I gave my nephew a 30-06 of his grandfathers who passed when he was a baby for passing his hunter safety. A week or so before youth season he found a shell on my woodstove and asked if he could have it and I said he could. My brother takes him on the second morning and before daylight on the way to the stand they see a big buck and a doe laying in a field so they hunker down to wait for legal light to get there. When the sun breaks out they hit a grunt call and the buck rises and very aggressively starts there way. At about 70 yds. he turns broadside and offers the perfect shot. The gun misfires and deer leaves when they try to reload. When they told my wife and I the story she asked if he found it on the woodstove and said she had found it in our washing machine . He had carried this bullet for a week shining it and used it instead of the 2 new boxes my brother had given him. Bet he never forgets this hunt

[Dand]

What a shame!  But a wood stove is a heck of a place to keep ammo! Maybe the stove is never lit?  Mine is cooking away and pretty hot as it will probably get down to zero or so tonight.

Running ammo thru the washer probably isn't the best either.

Best of luck to the youngster next time - how old is he?

[okieshooter]

never light the stove and no idea how it got in the washer. He is 13 and his parents are divorced. He has never got to hunt so this is his first year, just getting him started. Still trying to explain why they call it hunting and not killing.

[Dand]

well good on ya for getting that young man out hunting and in the fresh air. Darned good of you for sure.  Well, he might understand the hunting part by the next time he has an opportunity like the one he just experienced. Hope he learns the patience to keep trying even if success is a rare thing.  There is a lot more to hunting than just pulling the trigger and watching something die - I'm sure you're working hard to build those ethics into his experience. Heck I haven't pulled the trigger on a big game animal for 4 yrs now - have had 3 good legal bull moose slip away before I could get a safe and decent shot, or I was in a place that I could never have retrieved the meat - so no shot. Frustrating but exciting.