Feeling sick about a deer :(

[blackbird]

Last Tuesday, I hopped up in the stand and started the long wait. About 30 minutes in, I saw movement about 40 yards away. Looking through the scope, it was about a 100 pound doe quartering towards me. I put the crosshairs on the front right shoulder and let the 123 gr. SST go. I didn't see where she went after the shot, but gave her about 20 minutes before I got down to start looking. I looked at the spot where she was standing, but didn't see any hair or blood. I started out in a sweeping motion in the direction I was thinking she may have gone. I looked for a good 2 hours and never found a drop of blood. I chalked it up to missing, as my prop wasn't the best on the stand. So I come home tonight, to my dad saying, "Did you see that piece of a deer that the neighbor's dog left in the front yard?" I hunt in the woods behind our house and the neighbor's dog is known to run around back there. Walked out front to see a bottom jaw attached to about 3 feet of hide and what looks like part of a leg bone a few feet away. I feel sick to my stomach.

[Joel45acp]

Last Tuesday, I hopped up in the stand and started the long wait. About 30 minutes in, I saw movement about 40 yards away. Looking through the scope, it was about a 100 pound doe quartering towards me. I put the crosshairs on the front right shoulder and let the 123 gr. SST go. I didn't see where she went after the shot, but gave her about 20 minutes before I got down to start looking. I looked at the spot where she was standing, but didn't see any hair or blood. I started out in a sweeping motion in the direction I was thinking she may have gone. I looked for a good 2 hours and never found a drop of blood. I chalked it up to missing, as my prop wasn't the best on the stand. So I come home tonight, to my dad saying, "Did you see that piece of a deer that the neighbor's dog left in the front yard?" I hunt in the woods behind our house and the neighbor's dog is known to run around back there. Walked out front to see a bottom jaw attached to about 3 feet of hide and what looks like part of a leg bone a few feet away. I feel sick to my stomach.

That's why you should hunt with a 6.8. Just sayin'.

[blackbird]

Last Tuesday, I hopped up in the stand and started the long wait. About 30 minutes in, I saw movement about 40 yards away. Looking through the scope, it was about a 100 pound doe quartering towards me. I put the crosshairs on the front right shoulder and let the 123 gr. SST go. I didn't see where she went after the shot, but gave her about 20 minutes before I got down to start looking. I looked at the spot where she was standing, but didn't see any hair or blood. I started out in a sweeping motion in the direction I was thinking she may have gone. I looked for a good 2 hours and never found a drop of blood. I chalked it up to missing, as my prop wasn't the best on the stand. So I come home tonight, to my dad saying, "Did you see that piece of a deer that the neighbor's dog left in the front yard?" I hunt in the woods behind our house and the neighbor's dog is known to run around back there. Walked out front to see a bottom jaw attached to about 3 feet of hide and what looks like part of a leg bone a few feet away. I feel sick to my stomach.

That's why you should hunt with a 6.8. Just sayin'.

I know right!?! It's in the works. I was trying to consolidate calibers, but in the end, Black Rifle Disease probably isn't going to let that happen. In the words of Def Leppard, "I've got the fever. I know for sure, there ain't no cure."

[Joel45acp]

That's the reason I only take head shots with my 300. If the head shot doesn't present itself then I pass on the shot. The 300 is just a weak round.

[blackbird]

That's the reason I only take head shots with my 300. If the head shot doesn't present itself then I pass on the shot. The 300 is just a weak round.

This was with the Grendel. Although, since you've already said you're a 6.8 fan, that probably doesn't help much

[Joel45acp]

That's the reason I only take head shots with my 300. If the head shot doesn't present itself then I pass on the shot. The 300 is just a weak round.

This was with the Grendel. Although, since you've already said you're a 6.8 fan, that probably doesn't help much

Oh, well the 6.5 Grendel is an excellent paper punching round, but that's it. You definitely need a 6.8 if you are "hunting" with the Grendel. Just sayin'

[tikkablk]

I shot a stag a few days ago on last 10 minutes of light, 80m downhill 45 degree freestanding shot and hit him a bit to far back towards the gut with a 168gr Lehigh CF. There is nothing worse than that gut feeling that your lost an animal, lucky I had the dog and a headlamp with me as there was no blood trail, 3 hours latter in the dark and 1.5 km away from where I shot him from we found him still alive just to finish him off. I’ve lost more animals with larger calibers, it’s shot placement that kills not the cal.
The next day I did the same type of shot at 90m across a small gully on a yearly hind front on in the neck but not hitting the bone, she had a massive 5x3 inch slash across her neck hitting the main artery from the Lehigh 168gr CF and only running 70m before she expired. It was easy tracking with so much blood on the ground. The only reason I did that shot was the hind and the yearly had spotted us first and about to bolt off so a quick snap shot with minimal movement was needed.

Bad shots do happen even to the best of us.

[hardcase]

Last Tuesday, I hopped up in the stand and started the long wait. About 30 minutes in, I saw movement about 40 yards away. Looking through the scope, it was about a 100 pound doe quartering towards me. I put the crosshairs on the front right shoulder and let the 123 gr. SST go. I didn't see where she went after the shot, but gave her about 20 minutes before I got down to start looking. I looked at the spot where she was standing, but didn't see any hair or blood. I started out in a sweeping motion in the direction I was thinking she may have gone. I looked for a good 2 hours and never found a drop of blood. I chalked it up to missing, as my prop wasn't the best on the stand. So I come home tonight, to my dad saying, "Did you see that piece of a deer that the neighbor's dog left in the front yard?" I hunt in the woods behind our house and the neighbor's dog is known to run around back there. Walked out front to see a bottom jaw attached to about 3 feet of hide and what looks like part of a leg bone a few feet away. I feel sick to my stomach.

That's why you should hunt with a 6.8. Just sayin'.

Is not the phrase "Just sayin" the same as "Just preachin" in a negative tone?

[rebel]

Guys, this is a very obvious troll. He's mentioned 6.8 like every sentence and talks like a 14 year old.
Ignore - just sayin'

[blackbird]

I shot a stag a few days ago on last 10 minutes of light, 80m downhill 45 degree freestanding shot and hit him a bit to far back towards the gut with a 168gr Lehigh CF. There is nothing worse than that gut feeling that your lost an animal, lucky I had the dog and a headlamp with me as there was no blood trail, 3 hours latter in the dark and 1.5 km away from where I shot him from we found him still alive just to finish him off. I’ve lost more animals with larger calibers, it’s shot placement that kills not the cal.
The next day I did the same type of shot at 90m across a small gully on a yearly hind front on in the neck but not hitting the bone, she had a massive 5x3 inch slash across her neck hitting the main artery from the Lehigh 168gr CF and only running 70m before she expired. It was easy tracking with so much blood on the ground. The only reason I did that shot was the hind and the yearly had spotted us first and about to bolt off so a quick snap shot with minimal movement was needed.

Bad shots do happen even to the best of us.

You're exactly right, shot placement really is everything. I'll be using my blackout I think almost exclusively now. Not that the lost deer was the 6.5's fault, but with the thick terrain I hunt in (the 40 yard shot is about the longest I can expect) and the handiness of the 8.5" barrel, it seems like the perfect tree stand gun. Plus, I'm hoping to try out some 150 gr. Winchester Deer Season XP's, as my ballistics calculator gives me a minimum expansion velocity reached at 100 yards. I think what I hate, is that I try to be a responsible hunter (I.e. Sight in before the season, choose the proper ammo, practice often with varying conditions) and I still lose the deer. Then you've got people like my girlfriend's brother who don't even check where their bullets are hitting and if their scope is off before they jump in the stand. He shot a doe at 180 yards in the hip. After about 3 hours looking, we found her and she was very much alive. He put her down. So we go out to the range the next weekend and he shoots at 100 yards. He was off the target by 12 inches at 100. The next thing he says to me is, "That's probably why I hit that deer where I did." It must not have bothered him too much though, as he hasn't sighted his rifle in, to my knowledge, in the years since.