Your Best/Worst Shot?

B

Bruce from West Oz

New member
OK, time for a little honesty. What's the best and/or the worst shot you've ever made (or seen made)?

1. Best shot
As a kid, I remember Dad shooting a rabbit with his old single shot .22 Lithgow, at night, using the VW headlights for light. The rabbit was 50 yards away and running directly away from us. At the shot, it cartwheeled and lay still. When Dad collected it, there was no sign of a bullet wound at all, no blood, nothing. When we got home and Mum cleaned it, we found the bullet had entered directly up the anus, travelled up the spinal column, and was lodged in the brain.

2. Worst shot
It was me! Just recently, while spotlighting for foxes, we had one run directly at the vehicle. At 10 yards it suddenly stopped and crouched, motionless. Using the vehicle cab for a rest, I aimed, squeezed -- and missed by nearly a foot! Even though he was laughing up a storm, the driver managed to hang a 12-gauge out the window and finish the job.

Bruce
 
BEST: RVN, 1969, Sniper Ambush, 2300 hrs. Lighting, campfire, VC encampment. One NVA officer, one VC officer. 650yds, two shots two departed.

WORST: Sitting on log in No. MN tamrack swamp. A deer came withing about 10yds. I had a Win 94 30-30. I raised the rifle and thought I had fired all rounds. The deer still stood there, then just walked off.

I told my dad about the incident and explained "I just had to have hit it DAD" We went back to the log together, to look for blood spots and trail. When we arrived, my dad stood by the log, looked down and found five live rounds lying on the ground.

What I had done was ejected, not pulling the trigger, all the rounds on the ground. I could have sworn, I felt recoil, heard the shots and couldn't have missed.

Case of "Buck Fever?" You bet, age 15, never happened again

HJN
 
Best shot Moving vehicle tire while off balance from jumping out of the way and sliding on the gravel. vehicle moveing about 25 at about 3 to 4 yards. Flat tire BG captured.

Cat at five yards Stray crippled and maingy. Cat was sitting, looking at me. Distance 5 yards rested shot with a ruger .22 pistol. 3 shots, cat walks off. Next night same range same cat 2 misses checked sights and they were right on. Phantom cat.
 
Best shot: One day with my friend, the best shooter in the county, he retrieved my Single Six from the glove box of my pickup. There was an overturned stock watering tub about 30 yards away with a nut from a plow bolt resting on it. He emptied the revolver at the nut and never disturbed it. I took the gun, reloaded it, fired one shot and the nut disappeared. Place gun in holster, said nothing, got in pickup and drove off. Worst shot: Haven't made it yet. - Doc
 
Best shot: SW Alaska, trophy caribou running left to right at long range. Held 2 feet ahead of his nose and he piled up like a car wreck with a shot that broke both shoulders. 355 yards.
Worst shot: A small buck deer on Kodiak island lying in the brush hoping we'd walk past. I spotted him, and at about 15 yards managed to miss him clean and watch him run away.
Glad there were witnesses for the first one and still taking crap from the witnesses on the second one.


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Keith
The Bears and Bear Maulings Page: members.xoom.com/keithrogan
 
BEST: 100 yard shot using a modified BLACK KNIGHT with lazer and red dot sights. Dude was running from my right to left, while I was diving for cover taking heavy fire myself. Fired a single round and then my gun jammed big time... there would be no second shot. I could see my shot trace all the wasy in to smack the guy right in the ear. This was a Paint Ball tourney down in Vegas and the dude was stopped 3 feet from the goal line that would have lost us the game. Happily we won.
WORST: In Virgina during a training op my platoon was up against a platoon of 82nd AirBorne trooper. I was manning a hog in a sweet ambush position. I had the WHOLE enemy platoon in my kill zone and opened up and quickly burned through the entire 200 round belt. The 82nd guys assualted through the ambush... I had to pick up and RUN... cause not one of them "DIED" via the MILES Gear. As I grabbed the 60 I saw the friggin leaf that was blocking the lazer emitter!!!!! Bullets may go through a leaf - but that little beam was stopped cold. My unit got WAXED... this was the day after I fragged 1/2 of them with an accidental discharge from my AT-4 simulator. Believe it or not I was awarded Soldier of the Month!

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Resistance is Futile
 
Best: 16 years old, shooting with my dad in the back yard (we lived in the country). Bluejay comes sweeping down from our right side about twenty yards out, followed and gave a short lead with my .22 Stoger Luger pistol. One shot, bluejay fell like a rock. Walked over to examine and found the back of his head completely gone.
Worst: Everytime I don't hit the target.
 
Best Shot : 2 actually. 1st was at 200 yards with a big calibre rifle (1st that I'd ever shot) - open sights, squeeze.... bang, CLANG ... hit the plate :)

:2nd was a rabbit running directly at the vehicle at night, one shot with my scoped Win. .22 and he went down. Now the only thing was that we were travellin' at 30mph & the scope was set at 100 yards - Rabbit was shot at about 10 yards and buckled up like a Coke can bein' stepped on.

When we inspected the rabbit, it had a furrow running perfectly between it's eyes over it's scalp. Stunned but not dead.Talk about splitting hares!! :D

Worst shot : Will probably be the one that I shoot after tellin' someone these stories ! ;) or the next Bowling Pin rapid fire match.

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"The Gun from Down Under !"
 
Best shot: Overcast skies. Last five legal minutes of hunting for the day. No deer in the food plot my stand was sited over. I stood up and looked behind me at the food plot 275 yds away. Was that shadow there a couple of minutes ago. Place my scope on it.
Two deer! Barely can see their silhouettes.
Vines and leaves in the way. Screwing up my focus. Can't find a clear shot. I finally stand on tiptoe on top of the five gallon bucket I was sitting on. Resting my rifle against the tree I squeeze off one shot. The deer dropped in her tracks.

When I was twenty, braggging to my Dad about what a hotshot I was with a rifle. He challenged me to prove it. He placed a target at 150 yds with a red thumbtack in the center of the bullseye. I was firing a Marlin .35 Rem. lever action with a 4X Weaver scope. From the prone position- I fired one shot and smoked that tack dead on. I had 20/10 vision back then though. I've been told that the rifle I was shooting was not capable of the accuracy I describe. So it was luck-it still had my Dad picking his jaw up :)

Worst shot. Another near dark deer shot a few months ago. I had just killed a doe and was sitting in the stand just in case until the legal time ran out. A HUGE deer walked out. I couldn't see antlers through the scope but it was an either sex period. Besides no doe ever born has reached the size of this thing. I place the crosshairs on the left shoulder, secure my rest, check my sight picture, and squeeze the trigger. Get down from the stand and go check. No deer. I get a gas lantern and check. See where he was standing and jumped when I shot. No blood. I see where he lands and jumps again. No blood, no hair, nada. I'm looking in the plowed food plot which is soft ground for fifty feet in every direction. I can't find where he came down from the second jump. I can't find blood, hair, or prints in soft plowed dirt. I came back the next morning and looked some more on my hands and knees.
Same story. I see where he was standing when I shot and he jumped. I see where he lands and jumps again. No blood, no hair. I never found where he lands from the second jump. The durn thing flew out of there and apparently I missed completely.
 
Keith... wouldn't the worst shot be the one you didn't get off prior to your intimate encounter with Sir Griz? :D



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Schmit, GySgt, USMC(Ret)
NRA Life, Lodge 1201-UOSSS
"Si vis Pacem Para Bellum"
 
Best shot - Having been directed by the Home's CinC (wife) to dispatch of our chickens (one of them caused $800 damage to a new Dodge Truck by deciding to fly into the front) I decided to get some practice with my precision rifle. I put out scratch at my backstop and of course they all went there to feed. I then proceeded to my 100 yard firing line and loaded up a mag of FedMatch. Sighting in on one of the chickens head I had to time my shot when its head raised btwn feeding. I took this shot (either he started to go back down or I pulled the shot) and severed his neck. But that wasn't that shot. What happened after was. At the shot and the target doing the funky chicken :D all the others decided that was not a good place to be and left post haste in all directions.

One of them exited directly towards me. Keep in mind that I'm using a bolt gun with a 10x scope thats parrellex is focused for 100 yrds. I QUICKLY chambered another round and found the moving chicken in the scope. He was dodgeing and weaving as I took up the slack. I don't know what caused me to release the sear but there was a puff of feathers and other stuff. Getting up I went to look at the still form. My bullet had entered his brest, traversed streight through, and exited his arse, taking most of the internals with it. Range was about 40 yards.

Worst shot(s) - When going through Gunsite 250's Donga under the watchful eye of a Retired Naval Master Chief Frog (whom I wanted to shoot good for) I rushed my shots. You shot at Pepper Poppers that were hidden in gullys until you moved to reveil them. While my shots were all "on target" I usually shot when the head was just clear of the berms (probably about .5 - .75 of the head). My first two shots usually hit the berm and went over the target.. I would then regrouped.. take another step to clear more of the target and fired one round putting it down. I did this more then once (probably 3 or 4 but it seemed like each target). Though it did teach me to take my time faster.



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Schmit, GySgt, USMC(Ret)
NRA Life, Lodge 1201-UOSSS
"Si vis Pacem Para Bellum"

[This message has been edited by David Schmidbauer (edited March 21, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by David Schmidbauer (edited March 21, 1999).]
 
I have told this story a million times through the years and it is just as incredible today as it was 25 years ago. I really enjoy recounting what happened for two reasons. First, the story is absolutely true and needs no embellishment. Second, no one believes it happened.

While hunting elk with a friend of mine (for the first and last time) we came across a herd of about 40 elk bedded down in a huge meadow. The meadow was probably 300 yards wide. The animals had no idea we were there. As we checked the herd out, my buddy told me he didn’t see an elk big enough to satisfy him so he replaced his lens caps (it was snowing) and told me to go ahead and shoot. I assumed a rock steady prone position over a downed tree. I placed the cross hairs behind the front shoulder of a dandy elk that was about 150 yards out. I calmly squeezed the trigger, sending a 180 grain Sierra bullet into a stump about 5 feet in front of the muzzle blowing bark and wood splinters all over the place. I froze in disbelief as I watched the whole herd of elk run into the timber on the far side of the meadow. My buddy fired one shot.

My friend promptly announced that he got a nice bull as it ran into the timber on the far side of the meadow. I then explained to him that he had the lens caps on his scope, the shot was at least 300 yards and the elk were running full tilt. I further explained that I was in no mood for practical jokes in light of my little stunt. He swore he wasn’t kidding. He explained the bull came from no where so he just pointed, prayed, and jerked the trigger. We trudged across the meadow as I mumbled to myself wondering how I got tied up with a guy who had no hunter ethics. I couldn't believe anyone would flock shoot a running herd of elk. When we reached the other side of the meadow, sure enough, there lay a nice 5x5 bull elk with a bullet smack dab in the back of the head.
 
Best Shot:
Lawyer friend of mine gets a new Beretta 92 and we meet at the range to try out his new gun. He takes a full clip of pot shots at a few steel plates and misses each time. He puts the gun down complaining about the sights, the gun, ammo, everything. I pick up the gun, load a fresh clip and hit the first two steel plates. I stopped at that point knowing that something is going on because the junk surplus ammo couldn't hold a 9 inch group at 25 yards. I unloaded the gun and handed it back to him with a "there's nothing wrong with this gun" look on my face. Of course I was lucky, but he didn't knew that and I never let on.

2 Worst Shots:
First, during a county sheriff's training, my buddy drops to one knee behind the engine/wheels at the front end of a car. Assured that he's taken the correct defensive location, he lines up the sights over the hood of the car using the fender as a rest. He pulls the triger and the body ridge of the hood that was just below his line of sight ricochets the bullet up into oblivion.

Second was hunting bunnies with my brother and a few friends. My brother could only afford a house scattergun at the time and figured that slightly larger pellets would help with his pattern. In a junkyard area, we scare a bunny out of some debris, and my brother empties 6 rounds from the hip at the running bunny, missing each time. Well, not exactly missing. The only damage was a broken leg on the bunny. My brother's bruised ego however...

[This message has been edited by Ron L (edited March 22, 1999).]
 
Best shot: High school with a Crossman 760 BB gun. Snap shot a pigeon (using a BB at over 50 yards away) who took off as soon as flung my window open (they were trained to fly whenever the window opened). Didn't have time to aim and just raised the gun to my shoulder and shot. Big puff of feathers and he went limping downwards into a neighbor's lightwell. Couldn't recover it to claim a kill.

Worst shot: 20 yards away at a 4 point buck with a bow. Easy broadside shot and I missed by a couple of inches as the arrow sailed harmlessless over his front shoulder. Not buckfever, but lack of practice before hunting season.

[This message has been edited by 4V50 Gary (edited March 22, 1999).]
 
Best Shot:
I was 9 years old and on my first deer hunt with a Savage Arms 20ga. It was a single shot, break open, with a plain white bead for sighting. I was walking through a field with both my parents about 20 yards out of timber when a small button buck got up in front of us and ran across our line, high speed, about 40 yds. out. Dad emptied his 12 ga. (3 shots) mom emptied her 20 (3 shots) and I brought the gun up and took my one shot. You guessed it--that little deer tumbled perfectly. Any of you rifle shooters ever shoot slugs without a rear sight, just a shotgun pin? Then you know what kind of shot that was for a 9-year-old!

Worst Shot:
Walking in timber with my grandfather several years later, carrying a much cooler 20 ga. semi-auto with a nice slug barrel (real sights!). We heard movement just in time to move next to trees. A HUGE buck--largest I'd seen and had to be at least 12 points, but probably more--ambled out into the open about 25 yards away. I brought the gun up, zeroed exactly behind his shoulder, then decided I'd better aim high (don't ask me why because I DON'T KNOW) and fired, in effect, a warning shot to let him know I was there, right over his back. He was startled, flagged his tail, but didn't move. I took another shot, this time lower, right behind the shoulder, perfect sight picture--and missed again, completely. He started walking, but not running or jumping. I took one more shot and again missed completely. He didn't run, having figured out that I was noisy but no threat<g> just calmly walked away. My grandfather never did have a clear shot from where he was.
 
Best(lucky?) shot:

Shooting at a moving target (paper) at 1000 yards. First run(left to right), shot BG thru belly. Second run(right to left) shot BG thru chest. Somehow maintained composure (no yelling, crying or shrieking) so surrounding witnesses thought I do this all the time. Picked up a few students in the process.
They didn't ask how often I do that, I didn't tell....

Worst shot: Deer standing at feeder at 225 yards. No wind, no rain, scoped sub MOA rifle, BTDT, everything perfect.
I shoot, deer looks at me. Nada. I shoot again, deer looks at me again, and slowly walks away. Blew big holes in the rocks behind deer. No blood.
Later that day mounted target at same location and fired. Got a 1 inch 3 shot group. Seriously. Has haunted me ever since....
 
My son and I were pistol shooting at an old gravel pit and I guess I felt like showing off. There was a piece of sheet metal about two feet square about twenty five yards away and I shot it. My son said that wasnt much of a shot so I told him I would put the next one in the same hole.I almost did.It looked like one hole but the second round overlapped about 1/16th of an inch.
You all know that 95% (at least) was luck. :)
At any rate I carried that sheet in my car trunk for about a year so I couls brag on it.

And then theres the time I shot the head off a snake at 100 yds.

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Better days to be,

Ed
 
Best <luckiest> shot... A friend and I had gone out to sight in his Mod 94 30/30. When we arrived at the quarry we realized the plastic ramp that held up the rear sight was gone. I picked up a stick, whittled it down and stuck it under the rear blade. He pointed to a golf ball sitting in a puddle of mud 75 yards away. Offhand, first shot - ball disappeared. Knowing I couldn't do it again. I handed the rifle back to him and said " I reckon that'll work?".
 
Worst shot:
I was about nine years old and my dad was teaching me to shoot his Remington 11-48 12 gauge. He set an oil can on top of a fence post in front of an old empty barn. The shotgun was so much bigger than me that dad had to help hold it up. I took careful aim and fired. I was pushed back about four steps, if dad hadn't been holding on to the shotgun, I'd have ended up flat on my butt. When I looked up the oil can was still there. We checked the fence post, nope missed it too. Checking further, yep, you guessed it. I missed the whole durn barn!
BTW: I still have that shotgun, wouldn't part with it.

Best shot:
A friend of mine bought a Korean War vintage M1 Garand. We took it to the range and when my turn came, I fired three shots into one tiny hole, dead center of the X-ring at 100 yards. Pure luck but, I never told my friend that. ;)
 
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