Brush miss

[catman71]

I missed a deer with my rifle during the early season doe hunt on Saturday. It's a 7mm Rem Mag Sendero with a leopold VXIII shooting 150 grain federal premiums. it is sighted in well and confirmed after my miss. A doe came thru the woods behind me about 6:45 pm, i turned around (a nice shot for a right hander) had a nice rest and pulled the trigger. it was only 40 yards, i found the trail, the tracks, no hair, no blood, no deer. there was some brush in front of her, i wouldn't call it thick, as i could see her well, did i get a deflection? Any comments would be great.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I would say, that if you rule out a miss on your part that yes, it is possible that yougot a deflection. Your bullet only weighs 150 grains, any brush at all can send the bullet in a strange direction. It is also possible that you did hit the deer, even if there was no hair/blood.

What did she do when the shot was taken?.. did she just run off, did she buck up? How long did you spend looking for limbs that you may have hit and the deer?

[catman71]

I heard her walk off. the shot moved me pretty good and when i got the gun down she was gone. no running, no thrashing, usually a hit with a 7mm gets you a pretty good reaction. since it was so close to the end of shooting time, i put the gun back at the truck and came back with a lantern and looked for an hour. I was so confident i hit her, i came back the next morning and looked and still nothing. i couldn't find any brush that looked like it had been shot.

[Deitz Dittrich]

very interesting... I commend you for your effort after the shot! nice work.. my guess is you hit a twig or soemthing.

[Stratosman]

Deflection also has to do with how far the brush was from the deer. The closer to the deer, the less impact on the shot, the farther away it gets the more it will defelect. And it must have been thick if you only "heard" the deer walk away?

[kc0myy]

Well think of the bullet look at the nose of the bullet. What shape is it??? it's a cone ok a cone can be defelect very easy. Now look at a 30-30 round the nose of round is round. Not a cone like a 7mm. A 30-30 is a great round for brush. My friend uses a 30-30 almost all the time for deer hunting. When he sets his deer stand up he almost never clears a shooting path because the 30-30 is such a good round for brush. Just my thoughts. Also goodjob looking for the deer. I think too many people do a half *&% job for looking for a deer they hit poorly hit or thought they hit. Good job

later guys

[irvingdog]

I always tell my customers: "Bullets in the air are like vehicles on the ice. Garbage trucks slide just like Toyotas". A 30-30 IS a great round for brush shooting for no other reason than they are short, allowing for quick lift and faster target aquisition, and they transfer decent energy at close range, largely due to bullet design.

[CodyDawg]

Sorry to dispel the myth, but there is NO such thing as a good brush gun. In fact, a study was done awhile ago and printed in I believe Field and Stream about a year ago that stated the slower bullets may deflect more than the quicker ones (sorry you 30/30 owners). But the results were just murky enough that it was hard to draw that conclusion. But it for sure was not true that they were better. The problem with this misconception is that if people believe they have a "good" brush gun, they may feel inclined to take a marginal shot. So in terms of deflection, there is not a gun out there that is capable of shooting through brush.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Glad you said that CD.. I was going to post the same thing... there is no good brush gun...Know your shots! Your intent should be on a quick humane kill. The only good brush weapon would be a cannon!

[lawdog]

Cody and Dietz beat me to the same thought. There is no such thing a good "brush gun" if you mean one that will accurately and reliably shoot through brush and hit its target. It just isn't possible and you should NEVER try to shoot through brush to hit an animal. If you are talking, good to carry in the brush, then yes a 30-30 may be that but it can't shoot through tree branches either.

Try this on paper targets to test your supposed good brush guns. Deflection and bullet fragmenting happen on even small branches and yes the farther the branch is in front of that target the farther it will deflect it.

Round, coneshaped, big or small, hard or soft, fast or slow, anything your bullet touches on the way to its impact will affect its flight somehow.

[woodview]

Took a shot at a doe a few years back that I'd been following in the scope for a little bit as she worked behind some brush. In the scope it looked clear, but after the shot she was still standing in the exact same spot looking around. Had a hill behind her so I think she had problems telling where the shot came from. When I put the scope back on her there was a murky/unfocussed white blob on her sweet spot. Pulled my eye off the scope and about 20 yards from me a thin little branch was swaying and I could see the fresh break on it. Only obstruction between us and even when I KNEW it was there I really couldn't see anything but that fresh break. I've improved my optics since, but sometimes it can be deceptive. I think if she'd have moved at all I probably wouldn't have known why I missed. Shot felt good and if she would have bolted I wouldn't have shot again and would have been searching for blood. Lesson learned that day, unfortunately for her she took about 3 hops and stopped to look around again

Also shoot a 7mm and agree that even with that gun I wouldn't force a shot, just didn't pick it up in the scope.

[luckey]

Murphy's law says that 9 out of 10 times if you are following a deer as it moves through a wooded area, you WILL hit a tree or branch when you shoot. To avoid this, look ahead of the deer and pick an open spot, hold you aim there and fire when the deer enters your sights.