Black Bird
01-08-2010, 11:44 AM
This is a little late coming, and references I question I had about my rifle falling over and what I should do since I was heading off right away on a hunting trip and wouldn't be able to sight the rifle in at a range. In short, the advice I had was to take a shot or two once I got to Valdes just to make sure that the rifle's scope hadn't got out of alignment. Many people seemed to feel that it would be unlikely that the scope would move from just falling over, but most felt that it was far better to be safe than sorry (I agree!).
Oh, and I am not sure if I should post this here or over at the Vancouver Island / Gulf island spot as I am a Vancouver hunter visiting Valdes.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Taking people's advice (and that lingering doubt in my mind) I put out a target at about 40m once we got onto the island and hit a perfect bullseye from a sitting position. It was raining hard, and we figured that it wouldn't likely spook the deer near the cabin too badly (at least we hoped so!). Seeing as the maximum shot I figured I would take would be 100m I thought this was good enough. Oh, and the reason why the maximum shot would be 100m is that the bush is pretty dense there and we would be walking everywhere - there are no roads where we were.
In short, I shot a doe my first day from about 30m out. I was just sitting quietly in the rain under a gary oak and had just got comfortable, when she popped her head out of the sword ferns in front of me. She wasn't very big (maybe 120lbs), but I was here to experience the hunt and bring back food for my family. With no more than a moment's hesitation, I shot her. My family friend (many years of hunting experience on and off) came to help me and talked me through the gutting part. We brought her back to the cabin and hung her under the deck where we both partook in the skinning.
The next day I came upon 2 bucks across a muskeg swam part way up a rise about 150m away. I wasn't comfortable with that distance, so I closed in to about 100m. I couldn't get any closer as I would have had to get out into the open. The bucks hadn't heard or smelt me as it was raining pretty hard. I was very excited and as I lined up one of the bucks he started to move. I tried leading him and pulled the trigger. I missed. Just as I was cursing myself for having rushed the shot I saw 2 more bucks come out from behind some trees. For some reason, the sound of the shot didn't spook them. I slowed down and took a deep breath and pulled the trigger again. This time I didn't miss.
My friend came and met up with me and first we looked for any sign that I had hit the first one. There was nothing. Still, I wandered up the hill to continue looking around but could find no sign. Then, I went back to the buck and began gutting him. He was quite a bit bigger (for a columbia blacktail) and it was much more effort to drag him back to the cabin. We skinned him and then went out again. This time, it was just a walk for me but I wanted to be of some help in case my friend met with success. I spent a good amount of time back at the site of where I had missed the deer looking for any sign. Again, I could find nothing. My friend, while he did spot some deer, did not find one to his liking. We went home the next day.
A few days later, I went over to his house with my family and we butchered the deer. It has been feeding my family ever since (we haven't bought red meat since early November). I have also had a chance to share the venison with my friends and family and everyone seems to really enjoy it. Grass-fed, no anti-biotics or chemicals - can't get more healthy than that!
Thanks to everyone for their advice!
Cheers,
BB
PS. I would post a picture, but I am a school teacher and while I don't mind having a discussion about my hunting with my students, I am not keen on having a picture of me with a rifle and a dead deer online.:wink:
Oh, and I am not sure if I should post this here or over at the Vancouver Island / Gulf island spot as I am a Vancouver hunter visiting Valdes.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Taking people's advice (and that lingering doubt in my mind) I put out a target at about 40m once we got onto the island and hit a perfect bullseye from a sitting position. It was raining hard, and we figured that it wouldn't likely spook the deer near the cabin too badly (at least we hoped so!). Seeing as the maximum shot I figured I would take would be 100m I thought this was good enough. Oh, and the reason why the maximum shot would be 100m is that the bush is pretty dense there and we would be walking everywhere - there are no roads where we were.
In short, I shot a doe my first day from about 30m out. I was just sitting quietly in the rain under a gary oak and had just got comfortable, when she popped her head out of the sword ferns in front of me. She wasn't very big (maybe 120lbs), but I was here to experience the hunt and bring back food for my family. With no more than a moment's hesitation, I shot her. My family friend (many years of hunting experience on and off) came to help me and talked me through the gutting part. We brought her back to the cabin and hung her under the deck where we both partook in the skinning.
The next day I came upon 2 bucks across a muskeg swam part way up a rise about 150m away. I wasn't comfortable with that distance, so I closed in to about 100m. I couldn't get any closer as I would have had to get out into the open. The bucks hadn't heard or smelt me as it was raining pretty hard. I was very excited and as I lined up one of the bucks he started to move. I tried leading him and pulled the trigger. I missed. Just as I was cursing myself for having rushed the shot I saw 2 more bucks come out from behind some trees. For some reason, the sound of the shot didn't spook them. I slowed down and took a deep breath and pulled the trigger again. This time I didn't miss.
My friend came and met up with me and first we looked for any sign that I had hit the first one. There was nothing. Still, I wandered up the hill to continue looking around but could find no sign. Then, I went back to the buck and began gutting him. He was quite a bit bigger (for a columbia blacktail) and it was much more effort to drag him back to the cabin. We skinned him and then went out again. This time, it was just a walk for me but I wanted to be of some help in case my friend met with success. I spent a good amount of time back at the site of where I had missed the deer looking for any sign. Again, I could find nothing. My friend, while he did spot some deer, did not find one to his liking. We went home the next day.
A few days later, I went over to his house with my family and we butchered the deer. It has been feeding my family ever since (we haven't bought red meat since early November). I have also had a chance to share the venison with my friends and family and everyone seems to really enjoy it. Grass-fed, no anti-biotics or chemicals - can't get more healthy than that!
Thanks to everyone for their advice!
Cheers,
BB
PS. I would post a picture, but I am a school teacher and while I don't mind having a discussion about my hunting with my students, I am not keen on having a picture of me with a rifle and a dead deer online.:wink: