What's the best way to "miss"?

[MidwestMatthew]

I'm not talking about missing completely, but am trying to account for margin of error.

Some relevant info: I use sabot slugs in a 1960's-era rifled 12ga. Its aperture sight limits my shots to about 60 yards (further than that and the front bead pretty much covers the vital area). Consistency is pretty good, with 3-shot groups often touching at 50 yards.

The problem is that I have a difficult time judging distance and therefore judging elevation. I may be off vertically by 3 or 4 inches (rarely, but sometimes, as much as 5).

So all things considered, is it better to aim a trifle high, and risk "missing" high if the slug doesn't drop as much as I expect? Or is it better to aim dead-on and risk "missing" low if the drop is more considerable?

If you had to choose to miss your aiming point by, say, up to 4 inches up or down, where would you rather hit?

I know experience will help with this, but I'm a newish hunter (last year was my first time) and would appreciate any tips in the meantime!

 

[j-bird]

If I'm going to miss - I want to miss low. I want a hole as low in the deer as possible to be honest. This is where the blood/fluid is going to come from that I may need to track the deer. A high hit is going to require the lungs or chest cavity to fill and then run down the side of the deer before I have a trail to follow. The higher the lowest hole is the longer that process takes. A deer can cover a lot of ground before that happens. A miss high could result in a spine shot and drop it on the spot, but that is a matter of luck. I figure if you can hit a typical paper plate at whatever distance you are comfortable shooting - it's good enough with slug. I used to be limited to about 50 yards because I had to use the pumpkin ball foster slugs - cost me a nice deer - I went out and got a fully rifled barrel with a scope mount. 50 yards is a chip shot now!

This is going to sound strange, but when I first started hunting I use to mark trees or the ground with markers so I knew how far the deer was because I was terrible at judging distances. I typically just used spray paint or wire flags or even just sticks in the ground. I had a buddy with a range finder and he would go up in the stand and I would wander around and make marks at my predetermined range. Sometimes I even just use a metal tape measure.

Obviously this is all just my opinion and some of the dumb things I have done in the past.

 

[dogdoc]

Now this is just my opinion but you need to have confidence in both your weapon and yourself. If you dont in either one then you Dont need to take the shot. I feel like we owe it to the animal to make a confident lethal shot. Sure misses and bad shots are going to happen but lack of confidence in your weapon should not be one of the reason.

A good rangefindeer with elevation readings will help with that confidence.

A miss is a miss-high or low. A high miss that misses the vital but hits the deer with a slug will still more than likely drop the buck, at least temporarily, from spinal shock. A follow up shot then can be done to finish the animal. A low brisket will end up just wounding the deer with a non-fatal wound.

 

[boot]

A low miss is better than high for sure, and a little back is better than a little forward and hitting the shoulder muscle and bone. However if you're shooting 12ga slugs there is less to worry about than an arrow, slugs carry a big force with them

 

[Blizzard Ridge]

My suggestion to you if you do not have a scoped shotgun I would not shoot over your secure 50 yard mark. If you step off an area before getting in your stand it will give you a good feel of where that 50 yard mark would be. If you around 6' tall each step would be 3' or 1 yard. These would be just a regular step, not an exaggerated long step or a short foot to foot step either. Just a nice walking pace step. Once you understand where your range is then study that I tend to step off distance with my eyes 10 yd, 20 yd and so on and can come within a couple yards either direction which would be fine with a shotgun. Out to 50 yards you should be able to center punch a deer all day long with a rifled barrel slug gun using sabot slugs. You just need to find your comfortable range, practice until you are 100% confident in your weapon and your abilities and you will be fine. I can honestly say I have only shot 2 bucks in my life over 60 yards with a shotgun. The other 100 or so deer I have shot with a shotgun was in bow range. Good Luck and practice as much as possible, I know those sabots are expensive to practice with.

 

[Otghuntingclub]

I second DogTec's statement. I think we all have to have self-imposed limits on the shot we are willing to take, given the weapon and conditions. I tend to be over cautious, and as a result have not taken shots at deer that I had a fairly high probability of harvesting. Having one get away just doesn't settle well with me. Mistakes do happen to all of us, but we owe it to the animal and our sport to do everything in our power to minimize those instances.

Story of the day...one of my employees shot a nice 10-point Saturday evening, close range (approx 20 yds.). Self admittedly was extremely nervous and took a quick and equally bad shot. Result, gut shot, and lost deer. One of his neighbors called this morning and found it...beautiful buck, but wasted as far as from an edible standpoint. He's going to take it to the taxidermist and try to salvage some sort of mount over it.

To the OP's question...I always feel like a low miss would be the better choice. That seems to be the general consensus here.

 

[MidwestMatthew]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate these comments. Looks like erring low is the consensus - although as others have said, a miss is still a miss.

Regarding limitations, well, every man ought to know his, as they say. I shot a yearling buck last year at 60 yards and was within 3, maybe 4 inches of the aiming point (I was aiming for high shoulder and hit his spine instead). Practicing with paper plates puts 60 yards about at the limit for this particular sight so I won't be taking any shots longer than that. I hate the thought of wounding a deer and not recovering it.

I wish the sabots weren't so expensive. I'd love to practice more, but at around $10 per group, it adds up fast.

 

[Chainsaw]

I second DogTec's statement. I think we all have to have self-imposed limits on the shot we are willing to take, given the weapon and conditions. I tend to be over cautious, and as a result have not taken shots at deer that I had a fairly high probability of harvesting. Having one get away just doesn't settle well with me. Mistakes do happen to all of us, but we owe it to the animal and our sport to do everything in our power to minimize those instances.

Story of the day...one of my employees shot a nice 10-point Saturday evening, close range (approx 20 yds.). Self admittedly was extremely nervous and took a quick and equally bad shot. Result, gut shot, and lost deer. One of his neighbors called this morning and found it...beautiful buck, but wasted as far as from an edible standpoint. He's going to take it to the taxidermist and try to salvage some sort of mount over it.

To the OP's question...I always feel like a low miss would be the better choice. That seems to be the general consensus here.

Close shots are hard unless practiced for. About four years ago I was coaching a new hunter who became deadly off hand at 35 yards shooting at a bow life size deer target with a 243. So as a final test before actually hunting I put the full size paper bow deer target at 6 yards away in a woods setting. The result from a sitting against the log six yards away was a gut hit twice. Two or three more times and it was a top of the shoulder hit which we were going for.

When we went hunting for real, 6 yards to 35 was a slam dunk; when the deer appeared at 20 yards, a very slow and well aimed shot dropped her first deer in it's tracks as planned and practiced for. Twenty yards should be a gimme but if it isn't practiced it often is not.

I practice a lot with a BB gun;it gives me many of the benefits as practicing with the rifle/muzzle loader and helps my muscles forget about flinching.