Missed three bears.

[yakideath12]

OMG...

Me and my wife went to driving around some areas that I really want to scout before.

Saw three nice blackies and of course I brought my rifle..

first bear was around 50~70 yards and aimed&shot...

MISSED

ok... may be my bad..

saw second bear and it was around same yards as first one .. aimed & shot...

MISSED again

ok....ok..maaaaay beeeeee my bad agaaaaaain....

another 20mins walking saw third one of the day.

Aimed&shot

MISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDD DDDD

$%^$%#$%@#$

I sighted my scope last week and..... this happend today..

Just no comment.

But... my wife was smiling

[muledeercrazy]

how do you know you missed?
just a thought, maybe you didnt.. for what its worth, after you miss a shot its a good idea to check your zero. if anything, just so you can be confident that if you do your job on the next shot everything will work out.

try to be calm and take good steady shots, you will get your bear. Good luck on your next trip.

[Tenacious Billy]

A classic case of "black-bear fever".........:-D. Or perhaps you should double check your scope.......

[yakideath12]

It happend at open field and tried to follow where it ran away. No blood marks around. nothing

yah learned the lesson. Make sure i get my zero before

[muledeercrazy]

good on you for checking, how was your rifle shooting when you sighted it in?

[yakideath12]

I clean my rifle everytime when i get back home

I usually shoot after my barrel get cooled down

Does vibration while you driving off road affects on scope?

[Rob]

I clean my rifle everytime when i get back home

I usually shoot after my barrel get cooled down

Does vibration while you driving off road affects on scope?


Only if its a tasco. Seriously though no it shoudnt unless there is a defect.

[hunter1947]

If this was me I would take your rifle to a range and check it something is wacky with the scope and if it is not the scope rifle then it has to be your shooting and if it is your shooting you have to do more practice shooting at the range before you hunt any kind of game animals...

[noahs ark]

What he said^
Sounds like you know where they are anyways

[bowhunterbruce]

A classic case of "black-bear fever"

maybe this should be the title of a ted nugent song.
on the serious side get out and see how you make those same shots at the range,remember to let out 1/2 a breath and hold before you gently squeezeeeeeeeeeeeeeee the trigger .focusing on your breathing will help to remove some of that black bear fever
bhb

[realneil]

not trying to be negative, missing three shots! ufortunately there is a possibility that all three are dead. of the 5 bears that i have taken and the bunch i have been presenton on when they were taken, none of them have left much if any of a blood trail, and many have run up to 100 hundred yards depending on shot placement. bears are tough. two years ago i made what i thought was a great shot, i thought i saw the bear flip over going over a bank away from me. when i got there no sign. i spent a good hour searching until dark and just after (scary) and then went back in the morning (after a bad sleep) and did a formal grid search of the area for hours and came up with nothing. vanished. hopefully in your case they were clean misses and you learn from the experience. definitely the bears are out and on the move. i live on the wrong side of the valley in kamloops. there are 4 bears causing havoc in pineview valley in kamloops. in cars, dumpsters etc.

[boxhitch]

Know your target
Know your gun
Know that you have to have confidence in what you are doing
Know that you have to follow up the shots because you know you hit what you are shooting at.
Know that you killed a bear. or two.

Knowledge is essential

Better luck next time

[pnbrock]

maybe check your scope mounts,everything tight.

[elkdom]

Only if its a tasco. Seriously though no it shoudnt unless there is a defect.

OH? there definitely is a DEFECT !,,,,,,,, Highly unlikely it is a Scope defect issue !,,,,

shot at and missed 3 missed bears???? in one day???

where the F*&^%*K did YOU buy your "RUBBER BOOLITS" ???? :?

[Darksith]

I always bang my scope after adjusting it. While at the range sighting in, if you make changes, once you do your clicks, give your scope a light bump with the palm of your hand. I have heard that the crosshairs can get stuck, so you make adjustments, it moves your crosshairs, but you over adjusted and your crosshairs simply didn't move all the way. Then the little vibrations and jiggles of driving down a dirt road allow your crosshairs to move to the actual adjustment that you did at the range.

This could all be BS, but thats what I was taught, thats what I do. If the scope can't handle a small controlled bump at the range to make sure everything is where you actually put it then its time for a new scope. On the same note I guess if you adjust a few clicks and your crosshairs don't move maybe its again time for a new scope.

[Alpine Addict]

Thats ok. I missed yesterday too. 16 yards. I know.

[6 K]

Does vibration while you driving off road affects on scope?

No BUT.......... a smiling wife with a small screwdriver or coin could be suspect;-):grin::rolleyes:

Seriously, I would not think the vibrations from driving to cause issues with any quality optics ,but if the scope were to bump, bounce, rattle ect. against something more solid like a shifter or thermous that could do it.

What bullet were you useing?
Have you shot bear with them before?
Did these bears act differently than those you hit before?
All good questions. Sounds to me like you did some good follow up.
I'd check the rifle at the range if it checks out then chaulk it up to a off day for the nut behind the butt pad :wink: Happens to the best of us.

Better luck next time.

[coquitlam]

Not trying to take a shot at you but ,I would of after the second miss I would of stopped shooting at game and started the evaluation of why, in respect to the animals I was shooting at. Take a few minutes and drive out of the area you are hunting and find an open slash and take a couple of shots at a target. Bears do tend to plug up the holes with fat (depending on the bullet ) and give very little sign. It is also a great idea to not just go to the range before season to only check if the scope is zeroed but to go to the range a few times to knock off a couple of boxes and get the confidence level in your gun and yourself. We do owe it to the animals

[greenhorn]

If it was your scope, it must have been waaaaaay out.

Consider this: if you sight in at 100 or 200 yards then it would take a scope misadjustment of 5 clicks or even more to have a clean miss at 50 yards. If your scope isn't junk, riding around in a truck shouldn't cause this. My guess is that it's something else. What kind of mounts are you using? I've had te leupold windage adjustments come loose on me a bunch of times.

[goatdancer]

Only if its a tasco. Seriously though no it shoudnt unless there is a defect.

Have had Tasco for a long time. Never had a failure.

[boxhitch]

I always bang my scope after adjusting it. While at the range sighting in, if you make changes, once you do your clicks, give your scope a light bump with the palm of your hand. I have heard that the crosshairs can get stuck, so you make adjustments, it moves your crosshairs, but you over adjusted and your crosshairs simply didn't move all the way. Then the little vibrations and jiggles of driving down a dirt road allow your crosshairs to move to the actual adjustment that you did at the range.

This could all be BS,.Yes it could be
Consider the effect of the recoil on the scope from the shots taken after the scope is adjusted, checking for new point of impact. Much more shocking than a ride in a truck.
You do take shots after adjusting, don't you ?

[boxhitch]

Thats ok. I missed yesterday too. 16 yards. I know.Good that the guide doesn't to be a good shot. :)

[bigben]

Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch that must of hurt three times I am lucky to get a shot in one season time to revamp and try again good luck

[hillclimber]

get the crown of your barrel checked. my dads gun was shooting all over the map an we took it to reliable gun and tackle and they said there was a crown problem. gun now shoots straight

[srupp]

hmmm go back to each of the 3 and ENSURE it was REALLY a miss...some bears do not react...at all..

go to the range check out the rifle..ammo combo

I find it really a stretch to miss 3 bears....something is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY off...


fix it before the next trip...

when searching dont always expect to find blood, fat and heavy spring fur sometimes make it diffiscult to find the ninute drops of blood..

steven

[Slime green cat]

I clean my rifle everytime when i get back home



You shouldnt clean you barrel so often .. You only need to clean when accuracy starts to suffer . Point of impact can change between a clean barrel and one thats had a dozen shots through it . I doubt it could change the point of impact enough that you would flat out miss at 50 to 70 yards .... but excessive cleaning done improperly.. and especially if your not using a bore guide can cause crown and/or bore wear .. This might be your problem

[Pioneerman]

Cleaning the barrel, checking the crown, will not matter if it was bang on at 100 before and missing a bear at 50 yards , same as an adjustment of 5 clicks at 100 yards is only 1.25" so we are talking .6 of an inch off at 50 yards, maybe 50 clicks of the scope might make you miss at 50 yards. You either are have problems, personally or with the scope , so as everyone has told you shoot a target , or you hit them all and didn't know it. You should not go again until you find the problem

[Westerner]

I think the #1 reason for missed shots that are taken off hand and without the use of a rest are having your scope magnification dialed up too high, at close range like 50 - 70 yards your scope should be at 3x or 4x if shooting off hand, making it much easier to hold steady on target. Just my 2 cents.

[kennyj]

I think the #1 reason for missed shots that are taken off hand and without the use of a rest are having your scope magnification dialed up too high, at close range like 50 - 70 yards your scope should be at 3x or 4x if shooting off hand, making it much easier to hold steady on target. Just my 2 cents.
Thats an Excellent Point, and something I always try to remind others. When you leave the range remember to dial your scope back to 3 or 4 power.
kenny

[srupp]

hmmm even @ 10x mag ..at around 50-75 yards.....something has to be realllllllly wrong to completely miss a bear..and x 3????? I can see being 3 " off or a bit hig or low but miss???

Exellent point on dialing the scope down.....but that wont cause a complete miss..just show all black fur @ 50 yrds..see fur=fire=dead bear..

hmmmmm


steven

[elkdom]

maybe he was shooting a paint ball gun using invisible pellets?

maybe this whole thing is a figment of his imagination ?

who cares?

[Surrey Boy]

I shot a bear Wednesday which was smaller, and it ran off and left no blood trail whatsoever. I got him in through both lungs at ~100 yards, and he ran surprisingly far despite my 180gr. 30-06 load. He didn't jump or slump like usual, just ran down the clearcut and into the forest, and though I knew I hit him, it looked like a clean miss in every way. Took me a bit to find him too; small bears are lean and tender but are better at hiding.

I think you might have done as others suggested, failing to recover three kills. That's a pretty funny story if that's what happened.

[yzchamp]

What caliber you shooting? did they run like hell after your shot? bear at 50 yards its a big target to miss... did you shoot the gun since? there maybe 3 of them dead laying somewhere...

[coach]

I shot a bear Wednesday which was smaller, and it ran off and left no blood trail whatsoever. I got him in through both lungs at ~100 yards, and he ran surprisingly far despite my 180gr. 30-06 load. He didn't jump or slump like usual, just ran down the clearcut and into the forest, and though I knew I hit him, it looked like a clean miss in every way. Took me a bit to find him too; small bears are lean and tender but are better at hiding.

I think you might have done as others suggested, failing to recover three kills. That's a pretty funny story if that's what happened.

I'm not so sure you meant to use the word "funny" to describe failure to recover three dead bears. Congrats on getting your bear Surrey Boy.

I find it kind of bizarre that we so often read first time posts from guys that seem so utterly non-believable. If, in fact, the OP's story is true, then there's been lots of good advice handed out here. The most important things being to make use of a rest whenever possible and to make every effort to thoroughly grid and search the area after pulling the trigger.

[Surrey Boy]

I'm sorry if that's insensitive on this forum. I try to keep in mind that bears aren't endangered, that they didn't die any differently than if he had recovered them and cut the tags (I realize that three is over the limit), and there's alot of uncertainty about this story which makes it a little less serious to discuss. I also try not to chew out new members on the forum; I'm sure he feels stupid enough as it is.

[kamloopshunter]

I also try not to chew out new members on the forum; I'm sure he feels stupid enough as it is.

Exactly at least this guy is humble enough to share the story and look for advice.


This is probably not the situation with your rifle but my fore end screw loosened up and my groups were opening up to 6 inches.
Once I got that tightened up it was back to normal.

[finngun]

my puddy missed mule deer 15 meters ....sideways standing...oops..scope was totally off..some baaad talk...

[yakideath12]

I was using 3030 170 grain I didn't say exactly those were 50 yards may be it was farther

It's my bad that didn't write more details but didn't want to write a novel with all details


First one wasn't sure so I follow and searched for about 40mins and stop

second and third one for sure missed cuz my wife saw bullet hit way up than bear

Went to friend house today and he checked my scope and

there was no any dmg on scope but the bolt was loosen and scope was moving

So he put lockin compound and tied with wheeler torqu wrench

going to check tmr

[realneil]

sounds like you have checked everything over. when you see a thread " 3 bears 3 misses " it makes you wonder. i would have added the line about your partner seeing the bullet hit over top of the bears. i get pretty worked up when i get to shoot and sometimes, like others have said, it is tough to tell by the reaction of the bear if it was a good hit. hunting is one of those activities where you learn for your whole "career". there was lots of good advice and i am sure the topic will come up again before the season is over.

[yakideath12]

I learned many things from yesterday and thank you for the advice gyz!

[peashooter]

bullets can go through bears and make a dust ball behind them too!!

[ElectricDyck]

Not saying you hit them, just giving my experience. Two of the bears I've shot, ran instantly at the shot accross clear ground, and into the bush. There was no blood whatsoever until where they lay and both were pass through lung shots. They also have a tendency to curl up in the darkest hole. We almost walked by this one, but I noticed the blood in the water.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/ElectricDyck/Sunshine%20Coast%202009%20Spring%20Bear/IMG_0857.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/ElectricDyck/Sunshine%20Coast%202009%20Spring%20Bear/IMG_0858.jpg

I've been present on 2 more where they reacted the same way and were never found. They are tough, I reload and try to put another one in them if I can.

[hunter1947]

Bears are very tough animals and when hit can go a long ways even with a good bullet placement ,I am no bear hunter only shot 3 in my life time of hunting but the 2 out of the 3 black bears I shot ran up to a hundred yards with a good solid hit with no sine of blood on its trail.

It is very important to cover the area where you shot this bear even if you think you missed the bear the bear could be dead somewhere in thick bush and very hard to find use marking tape or a GPS to mark your paths you have covered and look for this bear for hours till you are sure he was not shot..

[wicket]

you said you learned something and i hope one thing you learned is that instead of continueing to shoot at game after you suspect a problem. maybe the best thing to do is end the hunt and disect what that problem might be. maybe thats just experience talking. the last BC bear I shot at I missed at around 150 yrds. older bedded savage 7mag that I sighted in after i got off the plane and was consistantly 1 inch 5 shot groups. I hit a tree above and infront of the bear. Knowing there was absolutely no way im going to miss that shot with a great rest on a broadside stationary animal we went back home and found the scope mounts had come loose over the course of the week. loctite and retorque and the rifle was spot on again. hopefully non of the 3 bears are dead but imo the odds are at least 1 of the 50 somthing yarders is. sounds like you absorbed quite a bit of info from the guys on here as well you should they know what they are talking about. More experience and more confidence and the title of the thread would have been got my bear.