Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Brush Shot Fail!

Ok, so took my third shot this season. I had a buck come at me from the other side of the draw on the absolute edge of my field of view 100 yards away. He was moving at a brisk pace and I get my rifle ready, but figured he'd turn and go away from me. Sucker comes up my side of the hill straight at me and has no clue I am there. Moderate 4 ft high brush surrounding my ground blind with great lanes looking across and down the draw up to 150 yards, but nah he is going to sneak up me by flanking me. I'm sitting right on his trail apparently.

I awkwardly move my rifle around to shoot toward the right while maintaining concealment behind a grove of trees. He gets within in 25 yards before he sees me and freezes. I can see his head above the brush and fire one where the boiler room should be. Takes off, no blood, no hair, I follow his path out down the draw 300 yards, but nothing. He gone.

I go back to try to figure it out and there's a dead stump about 4 ft tall just behind the brush where I aimed and just short enough I couldn't see over the brush. Start googling this and searching on YouTube, apparently, a brush shot ain't really no shot at all. Another lesson learned the hard way.

I shot an actual stump on semi-purpose once.

It was just past dawn and a group of does come run infront of me about 50yds away when flint lock hunting.
I shouldered the rifle and aimed at the one in middle. Fired the shot and when the smoke cleared, my doe was still standing strong.

Turns out they stopped right next to an old stump and the one thing I aimed at just happened to be that stump. I felt pretty dang dumb.

Tunnel vision happens for sure. I don't why but the adrenaline dumps seem to be bigger now than when I first started. A little success and I think I'm Fred Bear. I needed that humility and hope that buck realizes how lucky he is. Would have been my first buck.

I got taught not to shoot anything unless I could clearly see what I was shooting at.If you can’t see POI then you don’t have a shot and he wins.

If you shoot into brush, anything could happen. If you hit what youre aiming at, you were lucky, thats it, lucky

Yall are exactly right. A humbling lesson.

Sometimes you take the shot they give you

Sounds like a good story and lesson learned. Those are plentiful in the woods and part of what makes hunting so challenging (and addictive!). That’s also why it’s called hunting and not killing. When you finally get that buck it’ll be that much more rewarding. Keep after them, Tex!

Hard to believe but true story.

I shot at a buck at 10-12 ft and the second shot barely made a flesh wound. He was standing looking at me as I was sitting on a log smoking a cig. I put it out, raised my Ruger No1 with a fixed 12 power scope. All I saw was blurry hair. He stood there looking dead at me so I reloaded and fired again. He ran this time with a few chunks of meat in snow. 4 bullet fragmented holes in the snow. I was pretty tore up so I went a got a friend that happens to be a biologist. I needed help since there was very little blood and he ran up and over the ridge and never missed a beat.

Pretty sure he didn’t believe my story until he saw the scene. In between me and the buck was a twig about the size of a pencil. Two little nicks where the partition bullets hit it and blew up best we could tell. Kinda crazy but I got rid of that 12X scope the next week. Figured the 257 Wthby was pushing those partitions so fast at that close proximity caused the bullets to just blow up basically.

I killed a doe with an arrow once. Was headed towards the boiler room and took a quick detour and hit her behind the ear. She didn’t even twitch, just buckled.

Never liked shooting the brush but it happens

If you don’t have a clear shot, don’t take it. Pretty simple.

What N2TRKYS said.

Wear your orange. I’m sure more people shot at movement. (Not really a clear shot) Be careful out there.

That is one thing on my worst day I'd never do. On the bright side, I has head to waist in Orange as it was a new area and I think about that. Buck didn't notice anything until I raised my rifle 20 yards away and he was still trying to figure it out when I shot.

I used to serve court papers and got to where I'd where a bullet proof vest with "Process Server" on the front and back. I can't stop ya from shooting me, but I sure can make sure my corpse leaves little doubt you didn't know. I apply the same logic with my hunter orange.

A true brush shot is I heard a deer over in that brush and I shot over there. He at least saw a deer just tried to thread a needle.

Nope. If not a "good" shot just chalk it up to hunting and hope for better luck next time. You always have control of your trigger and the choice to fire or not.

This every time, was how I was taught. Be positive or let'em walk.

This needs to be moved to the “How bad are WMA gun hunt days” thread. 😁

Premature round ejection———its happened to the best of us……

Well, his handle is “shootemuptex” 😂