.243 Hunting Miss -- Why?

[markT]

been hunting deer with .243. All shots are less than 173 yds. I missed two deer last week. Doe at 100 and buck at 140. Tried a brain shot at 100 and missed. With confidence down I tried the sweet spot on a nice buck broadside, missed. I went to folks land and shot off hood of truck today. 1st shot was 4.5” high and 3/4” right. Adjusted Nikon Buckmaster scope and second shot went dead center of tape. (Duct tape).
I had removed the scope to put on thermal and put scope back on EGW brand Picatinny rail. I have no idea why it was off. What is puzzling is why I didn’t hit the buck. Even at 5” high I would have hit him. Anyway, I guess I’m ready to get back at it. I have 8 rounds left until I’m out of Nosler 85 gr partitions.

 

[Fuj]

What is puzzling is why I didn’t hit the buck. Even at 5” high I would have hit him. Anyway,

Little bit of buck fever maybe ?? It's also possible that you did hit it
and it died in another county.

 

[markT]

I’m reasonably sure I did not hit the deer. I shoot with a suppressor and I can hear the hits. I also wear Walker game ear muffs to aid in hearing. When this happened, I immediately came out of stand and went to the location. There was pleanty of day light left and I saw no blood and I gave it a long look and no deer. Could be buck fever I suppose. Kinda rattles one nerves and confidence.

 

[targetsmoker]

Everybody misses sooner or later I don't care who you are. if you have never missed then you haven't hunted long enough.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

You can never depend on a scopes zero, when you remove it and then put it back on. My guess would that when you replaced the scope, the rear mount did not seat fully and was a bit higher.

 

[Lone Hunter]

You can never depend on a scopes zero, when you remove it and then put it back on. My guess would that when you replaced the scope, the rear mount did not seat fully and was a bit higher.

THIS^^^^^. I have never taken a scope off and had it return to same exact zero. Close, but never exact same zero. If I take a scope off, or a muzzle device, I have to shoot it to confirm zero.

 

[markT]

You can never depend on a scopes zero, when you remove it and then put it back on. My guess would that when you replaced the scope, the rear mount did not seat fully and was a bit higher.

I’d say that make sense.

 

[6ShotsOr5?]

It’s because you didn’t use the death ray - 6.5 Creedmoor.

 

[Bill K]

No matter the cartridge, when you remove a scope, for any reason, and then put it back on, the first thing you MUST do is re=check settings and re-sight/adjust as necessary.

 

[snert]

Add two inches of wobble or head lift or bounce and you have 7 inches of miss.

 

[Matt_3479]

That’s too bad! Like mentioned early at some point everyone flat out misses. That said a mix of the scope not fully seated and buck fever would for sure play a part. It’s gotten the better of us before! Keep at it, and hopefully you put him down next time

 

[Dub]

I check my zero every year before the season and every year it has been spot on....until this year. 15" right and 5" high. What the heck???? Very important to know where you are hitting in relation to POA in you rifle.
Sorry about your misses but you will fix it and recover.

 

[370bc]

I changed out all of my older leupolds for one new NF. The newer Leupys are night and day better than the old Vari III's.
Then I traded all of my typical hunting rifles for a PRS type system. It has been an unbelievable transformation for me in regards to field results. I didn't know what I didn't know. There truly is a goldilocks zone for weight, stock design, and on and on.

 

[WyleWD]

THIS^^^^^. I have never taken a scope off and had it return to same exact zero. Close, but never exact same zero. If I take a scope off, or a muzzle device, I have to shoot it to confirm zero.

^^^^ Lone hunter and Nick nailed it. Also you HAVE to know where you're cold bore shot is going when in a hunting situation. JME WD

 

[wbm]

Also you HAVE to know where you're cold bore shot is going when in a hunting situation.

+1!!!!

 

[Huntslow]

I did a lot of guiding out west in my younger days. It is great advice about always checking after any change, especially removing and replacing a scope. Another big issue I found was that a rifle that is sighted in over sandbags or padded rest, wiil often shoot higher (sometimes much higher) in the field when rested on a limb, log, stand railing or other hard rest. And yes, I once missed a buck at 30 YARDS - (90 feet) due to buck fever!

 

[markT]

Now I’m totally confused. I hunted this evening and killed a doe at 80 yds. I aimed 5” lower than the impact ( spine) shot. She dropped in tracks but this is a head scratcher since I zeroed the rifle 24 hours before. Tomorrow I’m going to shoot again. It’s got to be scope or scope mounts.

 

[46and2]

I'm probably OCD about this stuff but I epoxy bed my scope base ( always one piece base) and lap my scope rings. Always.

I also periodically loosen the cross bolts on the rings and remove the scope to check the torque on my ( blue locktite) base screws.

Re attach the scope and check my zero at 200 yards. My zero has never moved more than one moa (two inches max) usually its a quarter moa.

I think bedding a quality one piece base and lapping the rings is a good practice and very solid piece of mind. Especially on a hunting rig. Ethically displacing game is MUCH more important than punching holes in paper.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Now I’m totally confused. I hunted this evening and killed a doe at 80 yds. I aimed 5” lower than the impact ( spine) shot. She dropped in tracks but this is a head scratcher since I zeroed the rifle 24 hours before. Tomorrow I’m going to shoot again. It’s got to be scope or scope mounts.

Scope.....bad.?

 

[markT]

I got the scope off a Les Baer 223 used. I have no history on the scope. It has been ok on a Remington 700 in 243 in the past. Really puzzling. New rifle and I cleaned it and shot and cleaned it. Only 14 rds thru it after initial sight in and clean.