A swing..... And a miss!

[BlueSpruceOutfitters]

So, just thought I'd give everyone a good laugh. This am I got out to a new property the team got this year, and it's a gold mine. Every sit I've seen at least 10-12 deer. Popped one a couple days ago. Anyways. Get out there and realize that I left my binos and rangefinder at home. Dohhhh! Oh well, I pre ranged most of my close shooting ranges so I have a pretty good idea. I climb up the tree and get set at about 545. Had deer under me from about 0700-0830. I look to my right and on the ridge I see some turkeys and a turkey with some antlers.... Wait a sec! So this buck is probably around 40 yds away and not coming any closer. I can't tell exactly how big but at least 130's. And no range. So I guesstimate and thwack. Solid dirt under him. He looks at me and just walks away up the ridge. Hahaha. Maybe I need to get better at ranging without a finder. Haha. Anyways. Thought I'd give everyone a good chuckle.

 

[Strother23]

That sucks to hear.. I'm not very good a guessing ranges either. It's something that that a lots of practice. Me, I guess everything is father than it really is. So I triple check that I have my range finder before I leave the house and before a go to the stand and also carry a extra 9volt.

 

[Big_Holla]

LOL yep, that's another way of humbling yourself!! I used to be good at guesstimating ranges but over the years I've relied more and more on the range finder. One thing I try to do though is to guess what the range is to an object and then range it. Sometimes I'm close and sometimes I'm not.

 

[Spencie]

You don't have to be off by very much to totally miss. My range finder is kept around my neck or in my backpack...backpack goes on every hunt. At least he wasn't 180 inches.

 

[BlueSpruceOutfitters]

You don't have to be off by very much to totally miss. My range finder is kept around my neck or in my backpack...backpack goes on every hunt. At least he wasn't 180 inches.

Yeah. My chest pack has my binos and range in it. I felt totally naked without it. If he was 180's I would have just jumped out of the tree and tried to stab him with my knife! Lmao.

 

[teej89]

Ah man sorry to hear that! I love guessing distances. When I see a deer I say well I know what 10/20yds looks like, how many pieces do I need to get to the deer(granted I'll use bigger increments for farther shots). Wish my ranging was as good as my shooting or I'd be unstoppable in 3d lol

The only way I got good was cuz my old man was extremely good at it. He was on a 2 man sniping team for the army in Vietnam and he'd always test my ranging skills. Before I even started hunting he'd have me guessing distances while we were fishing or when I tagged along hunting w/ him or glassing deer in the fields.

 

[finelyshedded]

Dang sorry to hear! Even knowing the yardage and not aiming on the right spot can lead to a less than perfect hit or miss. Hope you get another chance at him!

 

[bowhunter1023]

Bummer man. I'm pretty much rangefinder reliant after 20-25 yards, so I feel your pain.

 

[Archertl]

Hope you get another chance at him.