10mm Kodiak, it failed me. (I failed it)

[cas]

Back in November, my first full day of deer hunting, I was sitting on a neighbors field. At one point a doe comes out about 200 yards away. Sitting behind a tripod mounted big heavy 6.5CM rifle, this is a chip shot. 90% of my shooting all year has been with this rifle, so you could say I've been practicing for this moment all year.



It's almost too easy. I sort of feel guilty, this isn't hunting, it's just shooting. And she keeps looking back into the woods. I keep hoping a buck will follow her out. After a while, her twins come out. Now I want to shoot even less. And I don't really want to shoot a doe so early in my trip, so I decided just to watch them.



For the next hour I watch them feed their way down and across the field. I didn't know it, my phone was off, but my nephew was across the way on the other hillside watching, going crazy texting me. "Where are you? Do you see them!? Why aren't you shooting!"

Eventually they start working their way straight to me. I figure "Well heck, if you're going to come into pistol range, I WILL shoot you!"



They fed their way into that thick stuff which is both higher and more dense than it looks in the picture, or I could tell at the time. Once in it, I could see only their heads when they looked up. It probably took them close to an additional 45 minutes to feed their way through it. The lead one finally came within 32 yards (laser checked) and after what felt like an eternity of me ready to shoot but nothing to shoot at, she finally stepped into somewhat of a shooting lane. I could finally see shoulder and chest.

I had a solid rest with one arm against the tripod. I flipped the safety off, held just behind the shoulder, 1/4 of the way up and squeezed. The gun barked, her head came up fast and she took a step backwards, which surprised me. Then a couple seconds later she took two more steps backwards?? She's going down! Is she swaying? I think. She's going down! Go on... she's going down. Go on... go on... come on... um... she's not going down? Huh?

Well while she's still standing there looking my way, I guess I should shoot again? Same thing, boom! She takes off running. With great delay the other two follow her. I'm watching her run the 150 yards to the wood line... come on go down, go down.. come on... into the woods. Phooey.

I gather up my gear, pack every thing up and go try and figure out just where she was standing. That's when I realize just how thick that stuff is. Wow. Tons of tracks, no way to tell where she was. But fortunately the part of the field she ran across is pure undisturbed snow still. I pick up the trail and follow it 150+ yards to the woods. Not a speck of blood. I trail here another 75+ yards in the woods, no blood. At that point the tracks blend in with others, I follow them another 50 yards. That's at the top of the other side of the hill. I can see maybe 150-200 yards down the hill. Dark by then, but I have a thermal scanner with me and I look the area over for a while with no sign of a down deer.

Sick about it. Not that I didn't get the deer, but that I might have wounded it.
The next night I went somewhere else and my nephew went there. He had a doe and two yearlings come up behind him, wind him and take off. A good chance it was the same family group, so that made me feel a little better. But my first shot at getting a deer with a semi auto slipped away. I'm guessing the bullets deflected in that junk. Once out in it, I realized the "clear" shooting lane was only clear in comparison to the solid wall of vegetation everywhere else, but in fact had plenty potentially in the way. The deer's reaction though was just so strange, I can still play it over in my head.

[45MAN]

IT HAPPENS. GOOD LUCK NEXT TIME.

[x101airborne]

If you hunt more than 5 minutes you run the chance of losing a deer. It has happened to everyone I know including me and I practice all year with my hunting rifle. I can wipe a turtle off a log sunning at 400 yards and then I foul up a 150 yard shot somehow. The major indicator is feeling bad about it. My youngest son lost one and he wanted to miss school to find a doe I dont think he hit at all (I was with him). We did look two days for the animal and I finally told him if we didn't find it, it was probably fine. He just hung his head and a little tear rolled out. Walked all the way back to the truck with my arm around him. S*** Happens and it isn't always anyone's fault.

[cas]

Two nights later I went back to the same field, but on the other side. With maybe 20 minutes of legal light, a doe came into that same top corner. This time I'd use the rifle, put some meat in the freezer. I had to wait for her to feed farther out into the field to clear some old trees in my way, and to clear as much brush as possible. Watching, waiting, one eye on the deer, one on the clock.

With only a couple minutes left, she finally got out to what looked like clear spot. Either I made a noise or the wind changed, she picks her head up and is looking right at me. Now or never. I put the crosshairs high on her shoulder since I want her down there, and not blood trailing in the dark again. Squeeze the trigger with her looking right at me... "Boom!" and she doesn't even flinch. Just stands there looking at me. I'm looking at her big as day in the scope, stunned.

I very slowly try to work the bolt, quiet as I can but no luck, she takes off. I know I didn't hit her, there was zero reaction, but I go track her in the snow anyways, no blood. Then came the night of "did my scope get knocked out of zero? Should I test fire it?" I went back up there with another rifle in the morning. Saw another doe at sunrise, about 170ish yards, but decided not to shoot because of the distance / rifle I had with me, a strong rain and the luck I've been having. Before going back to camp and getting out the rain, I went up to where I'd been the night before.

There was my answer, I got me a thirty five pointer.

[bula]

My oldest, still best friend quit hunting 30 yrs ago. We were hunting his river bottom, swamp land. Was muzzle load season and he hit too far back, gut shot. He saw the hit, was sickened by it. I came to him when I heard the shot.  WE found fluid/blood but went and had lunch, well, I did. Later we went back in and jumped it and both took the jump shot. A more lethal hit made and we recovered the deer in the dark. We got the deer out, meat was ok, but he never hunted again. It happens. I lost a smallish buck using my SBH yrs ago. Tracking conditions bad, rain, and the trail just lessened and lessened until nothing. We circled, I went back the next day. Nope nada. At that point just hoped the wound would heal.

[clintsfolly]

Setting one night at work break and one of the young guys asked what was your most remembered deer hunt? As others talked of big bucks,long shots and getting multiple deer. My answer was the one doe that I got cocky and hit to low breaking her front leg and cutting her chest! My buddy and brother helped track 8: 30 till 4:00 when she was jumped by my brother and came limping by me and I put her down! To this day ever time it comes up I Thank them both and feel relieved that we finally finished the job.

[cas]

While I'm not cavalier about it, I tell myself well at least a bunch of other animals will live through winter because of it (if I actually hit it and if it died).

I wounded a doe with my .358JDJ Contender decades ago. 150 yard field shot off a solid rest, when hit, it reared up on it's hind legs like a horse (?), then ran off. Too late to track it. Temps went down to near -20 that night. In the morning when I went out to pick up the trail it was 4 degrees. I was pretty sure I knew where they went and headed that way. I jumped them still bedded down and they ran off. Found the bloody spot in the snow where it had been all night. Not much blood at all. I tracked them and pushed them maybe 3/4 to a mile, with only an occasional blood drop. Thick dense timber, I never got more that a briefest distant tail flicker look at them again. I started to think I'm doing more harm than good. If it made it through the night with those temps, and it's losing this little blood, my best bet is to leave them be.

The shot felt good, looked good, which bugged me. That barrel was crazy accurate. So later that day I put up a target at maybe 75 yards and test fired. It was hitting 18 inches to the left. So at 150 yards the bullet must have hit in one of it's back legs.

I'd shot a buck 2-3 days before at about 70 yards and it was dead on. The only thing I could think of is that dragging it up the hill I'd banged the gun really good and knocked it out of whack?
Anyway... the following year we saw a doe with a little bit of a limp in a back leg and assumed that must have been her. Happy she'd made it, unhappy I'd inflicted so much pain for no reason.

[bigbore5]

Broadside doe at 35ft. Super Vel 200gr 44mag from my first Super Blackhawk. 70yds tracking massive blood trail up to a gut pile.

Someone stole my first handgun deer.

That was 37 years ago. Since then I shoot to break the shoulder.

[cas]

My brother in law double action'd a buck trotting by him at about 10 yards. Two chest shots with the .41 Mag. (a load we latter learned was going a lot slower than expected, but still)

Had it happened about 5 minutes sooner, it would have come right past where I was. I had just sat watching a doe watch me for a half hour, counting coup with my .357/44 Bain & Davis Contender barrel.
Anyway we tracked that deer for miles. Eventually sight up the the same thing. No gut pile, but to the edge of the road where it looked like someone had loaded it on a truck. It finally expired roadside and someone grabbed it? Dunno.

As far as the DW Kodiak goes, after that happened I said to myself "When you get home, shoot it and see where it's hitting." And I guess I kept forgetting about it. Went to the range today and brought it along. Put up a target at 35 yards and shot three rounds resting my elbows on the hood of my vehicle. All three were about 4+ inches low, maybe 2 inches to the left. Why I don't know. Last time I shot the gun was on that exact same place about the same distance, it was hitting a couple inches above the sights. So she shot a good 6 inches below where I expected at that distance. That'll do it. Or at least that alone would do it. Again, why I don't know. Have to dig into it farther.

[x101airborne]

Did you do your initial sight in during much warmer weather?

[jfs]

Jan 20, 2023 19:22:39 GMT -5 bigbore5 said:

Broadside doe at 35ft. Super Vel 200gr 44mag from my first Super Blackhawk. 70yds tracking massive blood trail up to a gut pile.

Someone stole my first handgun deer.

That was 37 years ago. Since then I shoot to break the shoulder.

Oh no..... say it ain`t so........ What a bum deal on your first......

[bigbore5]

It definitely was

[cas]

Jan 22, 2023 20:07:34 GMT -5 x101airborne said:

Did you do your initial sight in during much warmer weather?

Not terribly so. Maybe only a 15-20 degree difference. (which considering, isn't much)

[x101airborne]

Not much at all. Just a thought.

[tonyrumore]

I've shot a pile of hogs a few deer over the last 40+ years with handguns and have only lost one hog hit with a Safari Arms 400 CorBon.
It was a good shot, but I just couldn't find it with no blood and no dog. The rancher found it a few days later. Here's a list of what I have used over the years.

Ruger Security Six Stainless 4"
Smith 629 6"
Contender 223
Super Blackhawk 44 Mag

AMT Hardballer Longslide 7" 45 ACP

Colt Pre-70's 5" 45 ACP - Had to shoot the damn hog 5 times to kill it.

44 Auto Mag 6 1/2"
41 Jurras Auto Mag 6 1/2" and 8 1/2"
45 Win Mag Wildey
45 Win Mag LAR Grizzly
Safari Arms 40 Super and 400 Corbon 5" and 6"
Kimber 38 Super

I'm sure there were others I can't remember. I shot multiples with most of those guns, but primarily used the 6.5" 41 JMP for about 20 years.  I started with the 4" Security Six at age 13.

Sadly, my eyes are so bad now, my handgun hunting days are about over.  The last deer was with the 38 Super and I'm embarrassed to say I missed several shots before I connected.  I think my days of handgun hunting are over.

Tony

P.S.  I would sure like to have one of those 10mm Kodiak's....but man, they are expensive.