Missed !

[bob in the woods]

 After all these years, you would think that lessons learned before would prevent this, but   ..     I was bear hunting with my friend yesterday afternoon. Opening day for black bear here.  It's his property and set up, and he put in a tree stand , 15 feet up.  A really nice bear, probably about 250 pounds came in and at a measured 20 yards,  I fired the 10 bore and shot just over him !    I was thinking to myself, " hold low"  but then then the excitement and muscle memory took over .
I almost always hunt from the ground, and the smoothbore has no rear sight, which isn't a problem usually. Who would think you could miss a bear at 20 yards, but I did !!   

[rich pierce]

I bet he skeedaddled!

[Eric Krewson]

Deciding function over form was important to me, I put a rear sight on my fowler turkey gun so I would know it was pointed at the turkey's head in the heat of the battle because I tend to get a bit excited during those times.

[smylee grouch]

IMHO Bears have a little smaller " kill "  zone and when you hunt from above you diminish that even more making for a harder shot. I have hunted out of ladder stands about twice as much as from the ground and prefer 10-12 feet up as it gives me a better angle for that kill zone. A double hole going through horizontal or vertical is what I would hope for. For me to tell Bob this is like preaching to the choir knowing his experience with hunting bears. 

[madmtmike]

You have to bear down on that front sight!

[hanshi]

What Eric said.  I know when I shot deer I always aimed for the opposite side where the exit (if there is one) hole would be.  Aim at the side you see and you have no control where that ball goes or through what.  But if you aim for where you want the ball to end up it will go through the machinery necessary to keep the beastie upright.

[bob in the woods]

Just for the record.....I know what to do. I just didn't do it 

[alacran]

It is called hunting, not shopping.

[Marcruger]

"It is called hunting, not shopping."

Good point.  My friend drove all the way up to Canada one summer for a bear hunt.  He came home emptyhanded.  I asked, "You didn't even see one?"   He replied, "I saw eight.  None were the right one.   I had a great time."  A good lesson in hunting.   

God Bless,   Marc

[Daniel Coats]

My favorite sight picture has killed several black bears. Slight quartering away and line up on the far shoulder. This typically confines them to an area the size of your living room.

They just spin snarl snap and die.

[old george]

I had a short rotund buddy who wanted to leap from a tree with his bowie unto the bear. He often said this while in his cups.  I haven't seen him in years.

george

[Daniel Coats]

I had a short rotund buddy who wanted to leap from a tree with his bowie unto the bear. He often said this while in his cups.  I haven't seen him in years.

george

LOL

I remember a friend who had killed a black bear with a bow and wanted to try it again with a spear. Haven't heard from him since either!

[rich pierce]

There is a fella here on ALR who got a black bear with a spear.

[Nessmuck]

Missed a 6 point buck like that….I had that deer gutted and hanging  before I pulled the trigger.  I picked my head up to soon….and blew that shot over his back. Keep yah head down !

[Steeltrap]

Missed a 6 point buck like that….I had that deer gutted and hanging  before I pulled the trigger.  I picked my head up to soon….and blew that shot over his back. Keep yah head down !

Did the same.....6 PT as well...nice heavy high rack!!  But in archery when I could hunt from trees. My climber stand was on a hillside, buck was down hill. Buck came by at mebby 20yds....stopped broadside....I shot and sailed right over his back. Buck never knew.

Wasn't ten minuets later buck came back on the same trail....stopped in the same place.....I knew to aim low....heck, I knew that the first time. Shot #2....sailed right over his back! Buck never knew. I did not get that buck that year. I still remember rolling my eyes after that clown show!!

[Marcruger]

Steeltrap, it does make a great story though.     Better than if you'd have hit him.   

[Dphariss]

I shot over the Buck when I finally got a shot, I should have held down the the grass. These are hard to hunt since they have incredible vision and speed and can be a mile away looking back at you in a minute or so. I have intentionally spooked them at a mile just for a test, they were watching my vehicle when I stopped on the county road. The American Cheetah was their main predator in the last Ice Age I suppose. Their closest relatives are the Giraffe and the Okapi. They are the only large game species ito survive from the last Ice Age in NA.

[Daniel Coats]

Buddy of mine used to hunt pronghorn from a pit blind on a water hole in Wyoming. He would crawl into that thing when it was pitch dark checking for rattlesnakes with one full bottle of water and one empty bottle for obvious reasons.  He said it got interesting about mid-morning when you had two half full bottles and both of them were warm.

[Daniel Coats]

Buddy of mine used to hunt pronghorn from a pit blind on a water hole in Wyoming. He would crawl into that thing when it was pitch dark checking for rattlesnakes with one full bottle of water and one empty bottle for obvious reasons.  He said it got interesting about mid-morning when you had two half full bottles and both of them were warm.

Just remembered the other funny thing my buddy said was don't dig your pit blind too early in the season. Nothing worse than discovering at first light you're hunting over a dry water hole! 

[Jeff Murray]

If you are going to miss, I guess it is better to be up in a tree.  A hunter in Colorado missed a bull moose and ended up in the emergency room with several holes in him.  Moose 1 - hunter zero.