Has anybody else had a dry spell?

[YoungHuntr]

Well maybe I'm looking for some true stories to cheer me up. Hunting elk and deer is my passion and for five years I have done everything in my power to be successful- to no avail. I do not mind getting skunked- but the way in which it happens bothers me. I was wondering if anybody has had similar experiences when they started hunting- having so many unfortunate events plague them.

 

I am 16 and no one in my home is a big hunter. I still became enamored with the sport and took it upon myself to pass hunters safety and get hunting, organizing what tags we put in for etc.... I shoot on a regular basis and have never taken a shot past 250 yards. I consider myself a decent shot and know my rifle. I practice a lot on my shooting and I am consistently 1 MOA. I know how important it is to take your time and be calm.

 

Anyways I've been on four Coues hunts. Almost took a shot at a buck before realizing my scope mount had come loose and my scope was wobbling an inch back and forth. Could not take the shot.

 

Last year I went on an OTC elk hunt and shot at two elk. One was close and acted hit, but hours of searching and no blood trail lead us to believe it may have been a miss. I was shooting 165 grain SSTs which since then I place little trust in. I shot at another elk two days later that dissapeared into the brush. No blood trail. Had switched to 180 grain core lokts. Next day it was discovered, meat spoiled. It had fallen at most 50 yards from where it had been shot, double lung, clean kill. It had fallen in reeds literally 9 feet tall. Impossible to see from two feet away.

 

Weeks ago on an elk hunt I took a VERY steady shot at a cow on top of a watering hole berm. She fell. tried to get up twice but rolled down further. Two elk I did not know were there got up and were joined by a third elk after a minute. I had a slim shot window but could not be certain it was the elk I had shot before. Turns out it was. A good blood trail petered out 50 yards away. Never found. I had spent two minutes setting up for that shot, getting prone on my bipod, getting steady. I was ready. And yet I believe she moved at the shot. I could not have shot at her again because I was not certain that she was the same elk (when the two others came out of the hole and were joined by another). I was shooting 165 Grain trophy bonded tips.

 

Anyways I have done everything right it seems, always taking shots that I knew I could make and felt good about after taking, and I have had all these events plague me. It does not discourage me as much as it would some, but I still feel that this whole situation stinks. I will keep trying and am going after coues with the last two days left on my tag. Who knows what will happen.

 

Anyways, has anybody else had such a run of misfortune? I do not wish anything like this to happen to others, but it would certainly help knowing that I am not the only one plagued by such mishaps that seem to be out of my control. I sight in my rifle before every hunt with the load I use and practice often out to 300 yards. I can't help but think its out of my control.

 

So, iy may seem silly, but gearing that someone else has had similar experiences would certainly help. I haven't recovered a big game animal in my 5 years of hunting, but what bothers me is those animals that should have been recovered. One time happens. Twice is unfortunate. Loosing three animals really bothers me. But I will keep trying.

[Evan]

Hunting is full of disappointments and lessons learned the hard way. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. Every person here has had some sort of bad luck, forgot a release, had a loose scope, flat tire, bad weather, etc, etc, etc. Although you had a small string of bad luck, I can guarantee each time you have learned something from it. Those things you have learned, you will never forget and they make you better. You have plenty of good hunts in front of you, I would give a fortune to go back and start hunting at your age. Keep your head up and hunt hard.

[bowhuntaz1]

What city do you live in YoungHuntr? Do you shoot Archery? If so I might put you on a buck in December/January....

[elkhunter]

What caliber are you shooting? Might be the set up. Were there steep angles on your shots? Who goes hunting with you? Having someone watch the animal while you shoot greatly increases your chances of knowing where the animal was hit.

 

 

My pops shot a coues buck above shoulder blade and beneath the spinal cord, the buck did not die, most people would have thought a double lung hit. Buck bedded down in thick stuff and luckily I was watching and was able to get my dad set up on a fatal shot.

 

 

When u go target shooting again, do about 20 jumping jacks and then shoot ur rifle, this will give you a realistic shooting on big game.

 

Coues and elk r hard to kill, if ur off by an inch they will get away

[YoungHuntr]

I know that my string of luck is a small one compared to others, and I do have some perspective. I just wanted others to share their experiences so myself, and others who have had even worse experiences then me, realize it happens to everyone.

 

Unfortunately I am not a archery hunter, but the offer is really appreciated. The angles on the shots have been almost level. On two of the elk others watched the shot and I was by myself on the most recent one.

 

Set up is 30-06 weatherby vanguard with Nikon prostaff 4-12x40 and burris steel rings. Took me a while to save up the dinero to get my dad to buy it.

[mp_moody]

At least you are getting shots at big game animals. I killed my first big game, a javelina, back in January. I've been hunting deer and javelina for the past four years. In fact, that was the first big game animal I've taken a shot at...have yet to have a buck in my scope.

[Coues Sniper]

I feel for you man. I think your biggest obstacle is not having someone in your family help you out. I honestly can't imagine starting out on my own without my old man (extremely patiently) teaching me everything I know and then some. I live a long ways away or I'd offer, but I think the best thing would be to make some friends on here and put in with them next year. Hunting with a group makes it much more enjoyable in my opinion, and the knowledge you will glean from them will be invaluable. Good luck filling your tag.

[YoungHuntr]

At least you are getting shots at big game animals. I killed my first big game, a javelina, back in January. I've been hunting deer and javelina for the past four years. In fact, that was the first big game animal I've taken a shot at...have yet to have a buck in my scope.

 

I feel your pain. I've never had a buck in my scope either, unless you include the spike which I did not shoot at.

 

I honestly would have preferred missing an animal to shooting it and not recovering it.

[YoungHuntr]

I feel for you man. I think your biggest obstacle is not having someone in your family help you out. I honestly can't imagine starting out on my own without my old man (extremely patiently) teaching me everything I know and then some. I live a long ways away or I'd offer, but I think the best thing would be to make some friends on here and out in with them next year. Hunting with a group makes it much more enjoyable in my opinion, and the knowledge you will glean from them will be invaluable. Good luck filling your tag.

 

 

Thanks. I hunt with my uncles for deer but they have been evasive, I know more research, even miore scouting, more time on the ground is what it will take.

[elkhunter]

Just keep at it, you learn from mistakes and not success in life, one day you will put one down and after that they follow like dominos.

 

 

One time I shot at a javelina when I was 10, missed the pig by 2 ft and hit a rock, the javelina fell over and rolled down a hill 10 feet, got up and ran away, zero blood.

 

My sister once shot a javi and it ducked and turned towards her, the broad head hit the pig right above the nose and proceeded to slice the skin all the way up to between the ears with zero broad head penetration.

 

Missed an cow elk with a rifle in highschool bout 80 yards once

 

One time shot a javi with my bow, shot was about 2 inch too low at 20 yards, it broke both of his front legs and I couldn't catch up to it going down hill but once it reached the bottom, he was screwed trying to get uphill with 2 broken front legs, put him down then.

 

 

We all got these stories, just dream about them and learn from it, what could have been done differently etc.

 

Do you have a bipod for ur rifle? Focus on increasing stability on shots in the future, if you shoot a cow elk in the right spot, they wouldn't run far with a 3006 hole in their lungs and drop quite a bit of blood,

[YoungHuntr]

Just keep at it, you learn from mistakes and not success in life, one day you will put one down and after that they follow like dominos.

 

 

One time I shot at a javelina when I was 10, missed the pig by 2 ft and hit a rock, the javelina fell over and rolled down a hill 10 feet, got up and ran away, zero blood.

 

My sister once shot a javi and it ducked and turned towards her, the broad head hit the pig right above the nose and proceeded to slice the skin all the way up to between the ears with zero broad head penetration.

 

Missed an cow elk with a rifle in highschool bout 80 yards once

 

One time shot a javi with my bow, shot was about 2 inch too low at 20 yards, it broke both of his front legs and I couldn't catch up to it going down hill but once it reached the bottom, he was screwed trying to get uphill with 2 broken front legs, put him down then.

 

 

We all got these stories, just dream about them and learn from it, what could have been done differently etc.

 

Do you have a bipod for ur rifle? Focus on increasing stability on shots in the future, if you shoot a cow elk in the right spot, they wouldn't run far with a 3006 hole in their lungs and drop quite a bit of blood,

 

Yup, bipod is on the ridle. Every shot I have taken is off the bipod. First elk I was a little excited, but felt confident. Second elk was a perfect shot did not recover until meat was bad. most recent elk was another shot where the crosshairs were right where they should be when the recoil started but the elk twitched or moved enough something happened.

[SunDevil]

sounds like you are doing things right. you should be good to go with a 30-06 and a bonded bullet. it is a bummer you have not had any success recovering your animals. finding an elk on an OTC hunt is pretty successful in and of itself.

 

last year a buddy of mine shot an elk with a 150 grn bonded 270 at 60 yards. elk was broadside and shot was double lung. there was no exit hole and thus very little blood. fortunately it only ran about 20 yards and fell over otherwise it would have been a challenge to recover. even after gutting we were unable to locate an exit hole but also were unable to recover the bullet.

[KeithV]

Young Huntr, please dont get discouraged if you walked away from those shots doing everything you could and it still didnt pan out than thats hunting. There are a whole lot of variables that take place when you pull the trigger. Also the game animals you are going after are two of the most difficult big game animals in the united states. You are doing right on this forum and a lot of the guys that are on here have done this for many years. I have hunted coues my entire life and still to this day i learn something new about these wily son of a guns. Also the hunt you are on is unit 32 its a good unit but limited access for a four wheel drive let alone your car, keep you head up dont quit trying its not always the kill but experiancing the outdoors in a way that other people dream of.

[YoungHuntr]

Young Huntr, please dont get discouraged if you walked away from those shots doing everything you could and it still didnt pan out than thats hunting. There are a whole lot of variables that take place when you pull the trigger. Also the game animals you are going after are two of the most difficult big game animals in the united states. You are doing right on this forum and a lot of the guys that are on here have done this for many years. I have hunted coues my entire life and still to this day i learn something new about these wily son of a guns. Also the hunt you are on is unit 32 its a good unit but limited access for a four wheel drive let alone your car, keep you head up dont quit trying its not always the kill but experiancing the outdoors in a way that other people dream of.

 

Thankyou. The kill is not what it is about for me. But that meat would be a bonus . I am not the type of person to give up on a sport so fun when I have mishaps, it just makes me want to try harder.

[tjhunt2]

 

I am 16 and no one in my home is a big hunter. I still became enamored with the sport and took it upon myself to pass hunters safety and get hunting, organizing what tags we put in for etc.... I shoot on a regular basis and have never taken a shot past 250 yards. I consider myself a decent shot and know my rifle. I practice a lot on my shooting and I am consistently 1 MOA. I know how important it is to take your time and be calm.

 

 

Last year I went on an OTC elk hunt and shot at two elk. One was close and acted hit, but hours of searching and no blood trail lead us to believe it may have been a miss. I was shooting 165 grain SSTs which since then I place little trust in. I shot at another elk two days later that dissapeared into the brush. No blood trail. Had switched to 180 grain core lokts. Next day it was discovered, meat spoiled. It had fallen at most 50 yards from where it had been shot, double lung, clean kill. It had fallen in reeds literally 9 feet tall. Impossible to see from two feet away.

 

Weeks ago on an elk hunt I took a VERY steady shot at a cow on top of a watering hole berm. She fell. tried to get up twice but rolled down further. Two elk I did not know were there got up and were joined by a third elk after a minute. I had a slim shot window but could not be certain it was the elk I had shot before. Turns out it was. A good blood trail petered out 50 yards away. Never found. I had spent two minutes setting up for that shot, getting prone on my bipod, getting steady. I was ready. And yet I believe she moved at the shot. I could not have shot at her again because I was not certain that she was the same elk (when the two others came out of the hole and were joined by another). I was shooting 165 Grain trophy bonded tips.

 

 

Anyways, has anybody else had such a run of misfortune? I do not wish anything like this to happen to others, but it would certainly help knowing that I am not the only one plagued by such mishaps that seem to be out of my control. I sight in my rifle before every hunt with the load I use and practice often out to 300 yards. I can't help but think its out of my control.

 

So, iy may seem silly, but gearing that someone else has had similar experiences would certainly help. I haven't recovered a big game animal in my 5 years of hunting, but what bothers me is those animals that should have been recovered. One time happens. Twice is unfortunate. Loosing three animals really bothers me. But I will keep trying.

 

YounHuntr, there is alot more to hunting than knowing your weapon and how good you shoot it. Tracking skills are a very important part of becoming a good hunter and you will learn in time. Hunting with experience hunters who know how to track can be a big plus in your learning of recovering down game.

 

I'm glad you shared your stories with us because not to many would have been so honest. I hope you continue to learn and hopefully some of our knowledge will help you along. We all started somewhere. Good luck on your next hunt and I look forward to reading your first success story.

 

TJ