How about an UNSUCCESSFUL thread? LOL
Nov 25, 2013 9:19:03 GMT -5
Post by vtecgsr95 on Nov 25, 2013 9:19:03 GMT -5
Well fella's, this hunting season has been a bit slow, but I did manage to get a doe on friday. I have seen a few other does, but have been saving my either sex tag for a nice buck.
So Saturday, anyone who hunted Illinois knows the winds were 20mph+, and coupled with the 20* weather, it was mighty cold! I saw a young 8 and small doe in the morning, and saw 5 does, a spike buck, and another unknown size buck off in the distance that evening.
So Sunday, weather appears ideal.....cold temps, almost no wind. I get in my Polaris Ranger, back out of the garage and head out for my Dad's property a couple miles away. About a mile down the road, the Ranger acts like its losing power....so I give more gas, but no response. At this point, I mash the pedal, and suddenly I am accelerating wide-open throttle, and it WONT SLOW DOWN!! I am kicking the pedal, realizing very quickly that this wont help, the throttle cable was frozen from the cold air @ road speeds! So I shut it off......trying to decide what to do next.....knowing the clock is ticking for me to get to my hunting spot. I go ahead, start it in gear, and ride the wild bull WFO, get turned around in a field, and head back home.....pulling the E-brake every now and again to keep things under control! I limp it into the drive, kill it, and grab my truck keys, and head back out.
Get to my Dad's, head out to the blind. The wood floor of the blind creaks and pops every step I take, and also as I open the windows. I spot a doe in the field to the south about 90 yards off....not seeming too worried by the noises I made. So I get everything ready, and stand there glassing the field. Within 5 minutes, 2 more deer step out on the east side, est. 130 yards away, and I can tell one is a buck....just too dark yet to tell if a shooter. Another 15 minutes later, deer are pouring into the field, several does, few smaller bucks, and as it turns out, the buck that came out early is a MONSTER! As he starts working his way south, I realize Ive got to take a shot sooner than later, or Ill be shooting @ 300+ yards.
I pull up the RemPac, 5/65 Clays/H4198, .060 veggie wad, 275MH knurled/marked/passed through barrel/and indexed upon loading. Range him at 170 yards....gravy shot. I pull the trigger.....BANG....all the deer stand there and look around like a rap song just started playing. I realized a clearly missed him......so I grab my H&R 20ga. Ultra Slug loaded with a lightfield hybrid, put the cross on his back, pull the trigger.....CLICK...Misfire!! Pull the hammer back again, Click.....Misfire! I pull the gun down out of the window, reload a shell.....meanwhile, somehow these deer are still looking around as if they have no idea whats going on! I pull up......BANG....clear miss. Reload AGAIN, aim a bit higher....BANG, clear miss. At this point, deer are starting to shuffle around, but still are not aware of my presence or maybe where I was. I realize these lightfield slugs SUCK past 100 yards, and get to reloading the MZ. Get it ready (mind you, a few minutes later), and pull up again. This time Mr Big is at 218 yards. I put the cross slightly higher than the vitals.....BANG, he's hit! But then I realize he is limping badly...and doesn't appear to be a lethal shot. As I stand there is disbelief that the buck of a lifetime is wounded by me, he starts limping toward the edge of the field, and lays down in the grass in plain sight. I reload AGAIN, overwhelmed with frustration, and get ready for another shot. I waited a bit to ensure he wasn't going to die right there.....but as I watched, he was merely resting his wounded front leg, and was fine otherwise. So I prepped for my last shot, and all of a sudden another big buck steps out close to him......which apparently prompted him to stand up. He takes another step and is actually in some brush going into the woods now. I raise up for one last shot.......BANG, he disappears in the woods.
This whole story consumes about 30 minutes from start to finish, and I am just livid. I pack up and exit the blind about 7:15am......determined to find the problem. I head to church....needing some time to pray and unwind a bit.....trying to clear my mind. I get out, head to a friends range. He has targets at 115 yards, and I set one out as far as I could, 185 yards. Here is the 115 yard group.
As you can see, my first shot was about 6" low.....and I sighted this gun in at about 3" high at 100 yards! I immediately started looking the gun over, and when I grabbed the scope, it moved! Somehow, my scope base screws had vibrated loose, just enough to allow it to move. I tightened them up, and shot again.....and as you can see, I was back on target as I should have been!
I then backed it out to 185 yards, and took 2 shots. First shot is a knurled bullet that was run through the barrel first, and properly indexed with marks. The second, in the center, was just a standard bullet that Luke smooth sized for me. Looks like I should be able to just about hold dead on out to 200 yards based on what I am seeing. Also, the last shot low and right.....that was the lightfield slug @ 185 yards....using a Nikon BDC slughunter scope, aiming with the bottom mark. These are clearly NOT for long range! The other shot didnt hit the target!
So I came home, removed the scope, loctited all the scope base screws, and I should be good now. I just hope I can get another opportunity to finish the job in 2 weeks! Sorry for the long rant.....just feeling pretty bummed about about the whole thing. I guess Murphy's Law was in full effect for me yesterday!!
So Saturday, anyone who hunted Illinois knows the winds were 20mph+, and coupled with the 20* weather, it was mighty cold! I saw a young 8 and small doe in the morning, and saw 5 does, a spike buck, and another unknown size buck off in the distance that evening.
So Sunday, weather appears ideal.....cold temps, almost no wind. I get in my Polaris Ranger, back out of the garage and head out for my Dad's property a couple miles away. About a mile down the road, the Ranger acts like its losing power....so I give more gas, but no response. At this point, I mash the pedal, and suddenly I am accelerating wide-open throttle, and it WONT SLOW DOWN!! I am kicking the pedal, realizing very quickly that this wont help, the throttle cable was frozen from the cold air @ road speeds! So I shut it off......trying to decide what to do next.....knowing the clock is ticking for me to get to my hunting spot. I go ahead, start it in gear, and ride the wild bull WFO, get turned around in a field, and head back home.....pulling the E-brake every now and again to keep things under control! I limp it into the drive, kill it, and grab my truck keys, and head back out.
Get to my Dad's, head out to the blind. The wood floor of the blind creaks and pops every step I take, and also as I open the windows. I spot a doe in the field to the south about 90 yards off....not seeming too worried by the noises I made. So I get everything ready, and stand there glassing the field. Within 5 minutes, 2 more deer step out on the east side, est. 130 yards away, and I can tell one is a buck....just too dark yet to tell if a shooter. Another 15 minutes later, deer are pouring into the field, several does, few smaller bucks, and as it turns out, the buck that came out early is a MONSTER! As he starts working his way south, I realize Ive got to take a shot sooner than later, or Ill be shooting @ 300+ yards.
I pull up the RemPac, 5/65 Clays/H4198, .060 veggie wad, 275MH knurled/marked/passed through barrel/and indexed upon loading. Range him at 170 yards....gravy shot. I pull the trigger.....BANG....all the deer stand there and look around like a rap song just started playing. I realized a clearly missed him......so I grab my H&R 20ga. Ultra Slug loaded with a lightfield hybrid, put the cross on his back, pull the trigger.....CLICK...Misfire!! Pull the hammer back again, Click.....Misfire! I pull the gun down out of the window, reload a shell.....meanwhile, somehow these deer are still looking around as if they have no idea whats going on! I pull up......BANG....clear miss. Reload AGAIN, aim a bit higher....BANG, clear miss. At this point, deer are starting to shuffle around, but still are not aware of my presence or maybe where I was. I realize these lightfield slugs SUCK past 100 yards, and get to reloading the MZ. Get it ready (mind you, a few minutes later), and pull up again. This time Mr Big is at 218 yards. I put the cross slightly higher than the vitals.....BANG, he's hit! But then I realize he is limping badly...and doesn't appear to be a lethal shot. As I stand there is disbelief that the buck of a lifetime is wounded by me, he starts limping toward the edge of the field, and lays down in the grass in plain sight. I reload AGAIN, overwhelmed with frustration, and get ready for another shot. I waited a bit to ensure he wasn't going to die right there.....but as I watched, he was merely resting his wounded front leg, and was fine otherwise. So I prepped for my last shot, and all of a sudden another big buck steps out close to him......which apparently prompted him to stand up. He takes another step and is actually in some brush going into the woods now. I raise up for one last shot.......BANG, he disappears in the woods.
This whole story consumes about 30 minutes from start to finish, and I am just livid. I pack up and exit the blind about 7:15am......determined to find the problem. I head to church....needing some time to pray and unwind a bit.....trying to clear my mind. I get out, head to a friends range. He has targets at 115 yards, and I set one out as far as I could, 185 yards. Here is the 115 yard group.
As you can see, my first shot was about 6" low.....and I sighted this gun in at about 3" high at 100 yards! I immediately started looking the gun over, and when I grabbed the scope, it moved! Somehow, my scope base screws had vibrated loose, just enough to allow it to move. I tightened them up, and shot again.....and as you can see, I was back on target as I should have been!
I then backed it out to 185 yards, and took 2 shots. First shot is a knurled bullet that was run through the barrel first, and properly indexed with marks. The second, in the center, was just a standard bullet that Luke smooth sized for me. Looks like I should be able to just about hold dead on out to 200 yards based on what I am seeing. Also, the last shot low and right.....that was the lightfield slug @ 185 yards....using a Nikon BDC slughunter scope, aiming with the bottom mark. These are clearly NOT for long range! The other shot didnt hit the target!
So I came home, removed the scope, loctited all the scope base screws, and I should be good now. I just hope I can get another opportunity to finish the job in 2 weeks! Sorry for the long rant.....just feeling pretty bummed about about the whole thing. I guess Murphy's Law was in full effect for me yesterday!!
