I missed

[UpNorthMI]

If I ever did miss it was because it was a nothing shot, too easy, no focus, no effort, just going through the motion of pulling the trigger. As others commented above, a good hunter will focus, aim small and squeeze that shot off with care and the attention that the animal deserves. I learnt quickly the few times it happened in my younger days, I'm pleased to say that a miss at a still animal is rare for me today.

I'm having a fair number of misses at driven wild boar, getting an accurate running shot off at a fast moving target that only gives a second or two window of time is challenging!

I'm guessing that the OP will not miss many in the future, it is a learning moment to focus and do better. Well done for writing about it.

 

[Sideshow]

If I ever did miss it was because it was a nothing shot, too easy, no focus, no effort, just going through the motion of pulling the trigger. As others commented above, a good hunter will focus, aim small and squeeze that shot off with care and the attention that the animal deserves. I learnt quickly the few times it happened in my younger days, I'm pleased to say that a miss at a still animal is rare for me today.

I'm having a fair number of misses at driven wild boar, getting an accurate running shot off at a fast moving target that only gives a second or two window of time is challenging!

I'm guessing that the OP will not miss many in the future, it is a learning moment to focus and do better. Well done for writing about it.

I’ve a good tip on running boar if you’re interested. Was taught at a driven boar range to start at the pizel and swing through to the snout squeezing off as you get in line with the eye. Works really well and much better than shotguning them. ie starting at the ass and running through to the head. With the pizel swing through shot the rifle moves less so you have less up down movement with the swing through. The barrel is also rising through the vital zone as you swing through. Anyway hope that helps.

 

[fourfive8]

I’ve had that mystery happen once or twice in the 65+ years I’ve hunted big game. May never know real reason. One possibility… a small bit of bore obstruction like a lucky twig or piece of cleaning patch in bore. But thinking about your report, another possibility occurred to me. Quite a few years ago I got a box of Speer bullets, IIRC 130 gr .277 on sale from Midway or Grafs. Loaded up 5 with tried and true 4064 load, headed to range. Absolutely weird bullet behavior on target. Random wild fliers. Loaded a few more. Same result with some of the fliers over a foot wild at 100 yards. Pitched the remaining bullets and never tried Speers again for hunting. The only conclusion I came up with was incomplete swaging and/or undersized lead cores used during manufacture causing severe out of balance instability during flight.

 

[Miletic]

I’ve had that mystery happen once or twice in the 65+ years I’ve hunted big game. May never know real reason. One possibility… a small bit of bore obstruction like a lucky twig or piece of cleaning patch in bore. But thinking about your report, another possibility occurred to me. Quite a few years ago I got a box of Speer bullets, IIRC 130 gr .277 on sale from Midway or Grafs. Loaded up 5 with tried and true 4064 load, headed to range. Absolutely weird bullet behavior on target. Random wild fliers. Loaded a few more. Same result with some of the fliers over a foot wild at 100 yards. Pitched the remaining bullets and never tried Speers again for hunting. The only conclusion I came up with was incomplete swaging and/or undersized lead cores used during manufacture causing severe out of balance instability during flight.

Yes,that is posible,but,he says he try bullets after hunt,and every is be ok

 

[UpNorthMI]

I’ve a good tip on running boar if you’re interested. Was taught at a driven boar range to start at the pizel and swing through to the snout squeezing off as you get in line with the eye. Works really well and much better than shotguning them. ie starting at the ass and running through to the head. With the pizel swing through shot the rifle moves less so you have less up down movement with the swing through. The barrel is also rising through the vital zone as you swing through. Anyway hope that helps.

I've been able to shoot on a number of running boar ranges in the UK and this is what was taught to me also, it works well. I just got back from a Croatia trip several weeks ago where a lot of my opportunities were on narrow tracks in thick cover, when you consider the other hunters, you have a very tight window in both time and area in which to take a shot, those boar can travel at quite a speed! It really is a lot of fun. When I get a little more space to shoot my hit ratio is not bad at all. Thanks for your input.

 

[Miletic]

I practice hitting pigs in motion by choosing 5-6 points in front of me that are at different distances and that are not in the same plane. I draw the rifle to the selected point and fire when the target is on it. That's how I adjust the speed of the barrel and the stroke of the trigger. This helped me a lot in hitting moving targets. Optical sight is also very important. A short rifle is also more suitable. I also noticed that the width of the trigger itself means to me. I shoot much better when the trigger is wider and my whole finger rests on it. I shoot the pig by dragging it from the back of the body towards the front. when I get to the neck I start pressing the trigger. The firing happens somewhere in front of the head, which results in a hit in the front part of the body or at least to the middle, which depends on the speed of the animal's movement. If I don't have the opportunity to hog see from the back to the front (I don't have time) I don't shoot at all. In the moment when i using this method, I've had excellent results in hits. I use a red dot as a sight.

 

[fourfive8]

Yes,that is posible,but,he says he try bullets after hunt,and every is be ok

Understood. But it only takes one or two bullets slipping by QC in a box, if unlucky, to cause a wild flyer at the wrong time. Not many realistic choices for an explanation in the OP’s example. Either rifle/sights/ammo or shooter.

 

[rdog]

On a recent deer hunt with my eldest son i shot over a deer i found that the Leopold 3x9 with a CDS turret with no lock had wound up to max by pulling the rifle over the 4x4 seat in a hurry. No more wind up scopes for me.