smitty
Very Active Member
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- 1,434
Well, I need to vent and get this outta my system, so I can get some good karma and move on.
Anyhow, went after dogs the other day, 1st stand, nothing. 2nd stand, was a new set for me, I was calling a big chunk of foothill, but the problem was I was on the opposite side of a small ravine, maybe 200-300 yards across. But, I had the sun at my back, wind was cross ways, etc......so, almost through my sequence and a double shows up right where I wanted them to. I make a small adjustment with my gun and the male sees me. Turns to trot off and stops. The female turns and is looking at me straight on. I actually prefer the straight on shot. Less pelt damage. Now, I need to preface this by explaining, I'm shooting a new gun and scope setup, new home made shooting sticks, blah, blah, blah.....I'm still basically looking for excuses. Needless to say, I missed the damn shot. No chance for any follow ups.
Long walk back to the truck, short drive to the next set. No luck on stand 3. Walking into stand 4, I see a coyote in the grass mouseing. I sneak to a shooting position, get rock solid, misjudge the yardage and put one right over its back. Sumbitch doesn't know where I am and runs right at me. Silly me, I left the shotgun in the truck. Get a running shot at 30-40 yards with my scope set on 10x. Yep, another miss. Now I'm just pissed off. Some days its hard enough just to get a shot at a dog, misses are not an option.
I decide to hit my favorite stand that I usually hit first thing, but by now its 11 am, bright sunny sky. I'm thinking they'll be sleeping in the sage or sunning in the tall grass. Well, sneaking in I see a dog 600-700 yards out working an old canal bank, damn thing sees me and heads out. Gawd. I keep sneaking into a little bump that I like to sit, but before I can get setup I spot yet another dog 400-500 yards out, probably the mate of the one I just spooked. I tuck in tight to some brush and stay in the shadows, pull out the mouth calls and try to coax the ##### in. After a few minutes of staring at me, she decides to mozy off. Dejected I just sit there. Gawd. I notice some movement out about 700-800 yards, good holy crap, here he comes. Same damn dog I spooked earlier, thinks his mate has caught something. I get back on the mouth call and squeal to keep him coming. He runs 50 yards or so and stops to listen. He hits the 300 yard mark and makes a sharp turn to get downwind, which gives me a chance to get my gun up. I get pointed where he's going to arrive, and yep I see him. Sumbitch sees me move my gun to my shoulder and reverses back out the way he came in. I go to a pup squeal and stop him. Boom. Yep, miss number 3. He puts on the after burners and is gone. F$%*@#G BullSh!T. Gawd!
I haven't ever been that pissed off after such a debacle. Decided to just go and shoot. Gun hits right where I'm looking. I don't know what happened that day. All I know is, I missed 3 very doable shots. On a day that they were wanting to play too.
I'll go back to those stands in about 3-4 weeks and see if I can't redeem myself.
Here's to getting even.
Anyhow, went after dogs the other day, 1st stand, nothing. 2nd stand, was a new set for me, I was calling a big chunk of foothill, but the problem was I was on the opposite side of a small ravine, maybe 200-300 yards across. But, I had the sun at my back, wind was cross ways, etc......so, almost through my sequence and a double shows up right where I wanted them to. I make a small adjustment with my gun and the male sees me. Turns to trot off and stops. The female turns and is looking at me straight on. I actually prefer the straight on shot. Less pelt damage. Now, I need to preface this by explaining, I'm shooting a new gun and scope setup, new home made shooting sticks, blah, blah, blah.....I'm still basically looking for excuses. Needless to say, I missed the damn shot. No chance for any follow ups.
Long walk back to the truck, short drive to the next set. No luck on stand 3. Walking into stand 4, I see a coyote in the grass mouseing. I sneak to a shooting position, get rock solid, misjudge the yardage and put one right over its back. Sumbitch doesn't know where I am and runs right at me. Silly me, I left the shotgun in the truck. Get a running shot at 30-40 yards with my scope set on 10x. Yep, another miss. Now I'm just pissed off. Some days its hard enough just to get a shot at a dog, misses are not an option.
I decide to hit my favorite stand that I usually hit first thing, but by now its 11 am, bright sunny sky. I'm thinking they'll be sleeping in the sage or sunning in the tall grass. Well, sneaking in I see a dog 600-700 yards out working an old canal bank, damn thing sees me and heads out. Gawd. I keep sneaking into a little bump that I like to sit, but before I can get setup I spot yet another dog 400-500 yards out, probably the mate of the one I just spooked. I tuck in tight to some brush and stay in the shadows, pull out the mouth calls and try to coax the ##### in. After a few minutes of staring at me, she decides to mozy off. Dejected I just sit there. Gawd. I notice some movement out about 700-800 yards, good holy crap, here he comes. Same damn dog I spooked earlier, thinks his mate has caught something. I get back on the mouth call and squeal to keep him coming. He runs 50 yards or so and stops to listen. He hits the 300 yard mark and makes a sharp turn to get downwind, which gives me a chance to get my gun up. I get pointed where he's going to arrive, and yep I see him. Sumbitch sees me move my gun to my shoulder and reverses back out the way he came in. I go to a pup squeal and stop him. Boom. Yep, miss number 3. He puts on the after burners and is gone. F$%*@#G BullSh!T. Gawd!
I haven't ever been that pissed off after such a debacle. Decided to just go and shoot. Gun hits right where I'm looking. I don't know what happened that day. All I know is, I missed 3 very doable shots. On a day that they were wanting to play too.
I'll go back to those stands in about 3-4 weeks and see if I can't redeem myself.
Here's to getting even.
