You missed! You had that coyote or fox dead in your crosshairs, pulled the trigger, and now it’s pure chaos out there. What should you do, next?
Keep magnification at a minimum.
The simple fact is, there is no way to predict the animal’s next move. If you have your scope’s power setting too high, you won’t be able to track or reacquire it.
Yes, the odds are the animal will immediately flee. Most predators (and deer) will automatically turn and run in the same direction they came from. Some will freeze or retreat a small distance and stare in your direction. Many juveniles hunting on their own often seem to disregard a single gunshot and will quickly return and offer you a second shot.
The rest? Confused and unaware of where the sound came from, they may run directly toward your barrel. I captured this video using my favorite nught vision scope. You can read my post about it here.
While any of these actions may give you another opportunity, you have to keep your magnification to a minimum to take advantage of it.
Practice running your bolt.
Here’s an embarrassing video of me missing my first shot, jamming my rifle by messing up the bolt operation, and still managing to get in a lucky second shot.
When the adrenaline is pumping, remembering to keep the gun planted in your shoulder, your eyes peeled to that scope, and correctly running your bolt can be tricky.
Get some practice in at the range before you hit your stand. Try shooting twice in the offhand position at a target 100 yards away. Your goal here is muscle memory, so keep at it until you take every second shot with a firmly-shouldered rifle, smoothly operated bolt, and your stock welded to your cheek. Once you’ve mastered offhand bolt operation, make sure you keep up those good habits while shooting from other positions.
Need a short primer for how to shoot offhand? Check out this brilliant article.
Get that caller going.
How many times have you heard a predator hunter ask, “How many days does it take a coyote to come back to an area after it’s been shot at?”
The truth is a missed shot spooks a hunter longer than does a predator. If you don’t break the habit of lowering your rifle, muttering under your breath, and convincing yourself the whole night is ruined, you’ll never get a follow up shot on a stand.
The fix here is simple, start running your caller immedietly after every shot—successful or not. This is unbelievably effective when coyote hunting. Having your caller preset to play a coyote distress sound can bring in another dog, or even get the original target to stop in their tracks and take a fatal glance over their shoulder.
Can’t get out of the post shot rut all by yourself? The Foxpro Inferno has a setting called the FOXBANG. It automatically begins playing any sound you want, as soon as it hears your gunshot.
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Now, go put more fur in the back of the truck.
