heartbreak

[perryandrew16]

Well I took my first shot at a Bear last night. Took my wife and kid out to glass some clearcuts for deer that were about a thousand yards away across a very deep and rocky canyon. Just trying to decide if they were worth hiking to. I sat in the truck with the spotting scope and my wife walked up a hill about 50 yards to a rock that was overhanging some cliffs. After about 20 minutes of glassing I joined her. We were talking pretty loud as we were so far from the area we were watching. While I was sitting up the scope I glanced down the hill to my left and saw movement. I grabbed the binos from my wife and spotted a very large bear moving in the brush. I went for my rifle but realized I left it in the truck. I had my wife watch the bear while I sprinted the 100 feet back to my truck, grabbed my rifle and sprinted back. I was sure the bear would be gone after all the noise and movement, but there it was face in the dirt with no clue we were there. I took my time sitting up, decided he was 300 yards out, aimed accordingly and squeezed the trigger. In all my excitement I forgot to account for the very steep slope and I hit the rock that I was aiming at about 6 inches over his back. I sure did learn a couple good lessons from my rookie mistakes.

 

[belly-deep]

I've missed a few shots because of steep angles too. Its a tough one to remember

 

[highmountian]

With all angles you have to take away mintues! But when they are 300 yards or less always keep cross hairs on meat and pull the trigger!

 

[Breaks Runner]

Like the old man used to say when I was young,"Aim at the game". Meaning keep some hair in the scope. Especially when you dont know exactly how far it is. It's happened to all of us and I know it will again!!

 

[Goldtip]

Yep, I got the same advice as a kid,always "hold on hair" if you don't know the range. Made the same mistake myself before, you'll get another chance at a bear.

 

[Khunter]

That is too bad, but at least you made a clean miss.

What are you sighted in for at 100 yds etc.

Hard to imagine a valid holdover being above the body at 300 yds for most any configuration, even on level ground if you have some standard 'x high at 100' setup. My 300 mag with 180 grain bullets hits 3" high at 100, 2" high at 200, and tomorrow I will see exactly where it hits at 300 but expect it to be close to dead on or at most a small number of inches low at that range.

My wife's 270 win short mag hits 3" high at 100 and 4" high at 200, and I bet close to dead on at 300 yds. Will find out tomorrow when we get back to the range for more practice.

 

[Gunner46]

Old Marine Corps Adige.....(And a quote in "Dodge Ball" too) AIM LOW !!!!!

 

[cornfed]

I did the same thing on a rag horn on my only elk hunt about seven years ago.It still makes me sick to think of the blown opportunity.I sure hope someday I get a second chance.

 

[perryandrew16]

That is too bad, but at least you made a clean miss.

What are you sighted in for at 100 yds etc.

Hard to imagine a valid holdover being above the body at 300 yds for most any configuration, even on level ground if you have some standard 'x high at 100' setup. My 300 mag with 180 grain bullets hits 3" high at 100, 2" high at 200, and tomorrow I will see exactly where it hits at 300 but expect it to be close to dead on or at most a small number of inches low at that range.

My wife's 270 win short mag hits 3" high at 100 and 4" high at 200, and I bet close to dead on at 300 yds. Will find out tomorrow when we get back to the range for more practice.

Well I am Shooting a 30-06 180gr. 220yd zero 258yd point blank range on a 6 inch target. last year I shot a Buck at 385yd and had about 15 inch holdover. I have since practiced 300+ shots a lot and I have a 2 inch holdover at 300 and 14 inches at 385. That is another mistake I made yesterday. I reverted back to what I did on the last long shot I took. I still have much to learn. If I had aimed at the kill zone I would have made a fatal shot.

As for keeping some hair in the scope, I had the whole darn bear in my scope. Like I said, the line of sight distance was 400+ yards. It was just a difficult shot that I probably should have passed on. All the excitement of having my crosshairs on my first bear. Well enough said, you all know the feeling.