Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors What was I thinking?!!! Grrrrr!!!!!

So I spent yesterday reloading for and shooting off the back porch a Mauser 30/06 that I hadn't had time to play with. Real nice rifle. I got a 130 grain Barnes load worked up that shoots 3/4" at 3100 fps, 1 1/2" high at 100. Life is peaches, maybe even with cream.

Fast forward to just after day light today as I'm carrying said rifle (rather than one of my trusted 99's, there's my first mistake!) when I come across Mr. Big Bear. 100 yards. Complete miss.

No bear. No hair. No blood. Hours later, scoured entire mountaintop, no bear. Up, down and sideways, no bear. I bumped another bear, actually a small sow and cub while searching the other side of the mountain, but no Big Bear. Cursing under my breath that I wasn't carrying the 99F 358, I move down the ridge.

A mile later I watch one trot sideways at 125 yards across a burned and partially regrown hillside after he spots me. He's a shooter size-wise, a little smaller than the first one, but I'm still smarting from my earlier miss, so I watch him go all the way to the timber without firing. If I woulda had a 99...

After doing some glassing downhill, I decide to go on up and see if I can kick him out of his bed. 2 hours later as I approach the top of the ridge, he stands up at 40 yards to see who interrupted his sleep. Aimed for the base of the neck/top of chest to break his spine. Have taken 2 or 3 with this shot. Mauser barks, bear drops down and trots off, untouched. 40 yards. No bear. No hair. No blood. Scoured the mountaintop, down the other side, down this side, no bear.

You can all say whatever you want about my shooting now, I've earned it. I'm guessing I hit hair each time, rather than meat, but I never found a thing.

The lesson for me is to keep using the Savage 99's I'm so familiar with until I can get some bolt action time. Even then, why bother. The 99F 284 reaches way out there, why do I even mess with bolt guns?

It was a bad good day hunting.

I fired this rifle 48 times yesterday working up a load for it. Everything was tight and worked like it should. I haven't fired it since I've been back today, but I don't expect anything to be wrong with it.

Roy,With that many bear around you need a mortar !!!! i'm sure you will grab one of your 99's and make amends !!!!!

How much would'ja take for that Mauser, right now?!

Sounds like the scope got whacked somehow. Have you re-fired on paper since then? It would be a b*tch if subsequent test firing shows it to still be perfectly zero'ed in...

You're shooting bear with a 130 grain 30 caliber bullet??!!??

Prolly a copper bullet which are lighter than lead when length is equal.

Roy:

Sometimes you just flat out miss.

My grandfather told me once when I were just a youngin'.

"Anybody that tells you they never missed a deer: hasn't shot at very many"

There's a lot of space around a bear.

I missed three standing shots at 90 yards at a big spring bear in Canada about 30 years ago (long before I discovered the 99). But by now I'm sure I've outlived that bear, so I count it as a victory.

Rod

let us know how she shoots on paper again. buck fever sometimes rears its ugly head with a gun you aren't confident in.
I got a model 8 Remington in .35 one year after trading my long time go to m70. prior to this I had never used more then one round per deer in my life starting at 12 yrs old with a 410 slug.
the year using the Remington I fired 11 rounds without even hair.
paper it was 1.75inch at 100. in the brush even at 20 yrds I missed. my bil sat me down and told me I was trying to hard. thought about that for a while and remembered each shot. I was trying to throw the bullet at the deer because I had no confidence in that gun/round. after that I used that gun for 6 whitetail. 6 rounds

I guess it happens. I think you guys are on to something about confidence in the gun. I've never been any good with any bolt gun but the Fireball.

I missed another big bear about 12 years ago with a 300 mag, and shortly after that I moved from the area. Before I left I told a kid working at Les Schwab Tires where to go look for him. Darned if he didn't get him with a Marlin 45-70. That bear was 27 years old! Still the biggest bear I've ever seen. So Rod, you're probably right, that bear you shot at is dead, but maybe not by much!

I think for the rest of the season I'll be packing a Savage. Deer season opens next Saturday too.

Funny guy!

I don't expect the scope's been whacked or came loose. I finished shooting about 4pm Friday and had it all dialed in for Saturdays hunt. I baby my guns, especially the purty ones! But I'll shoot it when I get a chance and report back.

I think I tanked to be honest. Not excited, but not confident. I think I may have brought the gun down a little rather than follow thru after the shot.

I've killed two with 100 grain bullets, 250 Savage and 257 Weatherby. The 130 Barnes is a good design, no worries here.

I would have killed with a 250 Savage today huh? Stinking 30/06's...

Roy Im sure you know shooting from the bench and out in the field are two different things! and shooting a strange rifle to boot! Iv never been much of a bolt gun guy either, rt handed and left eye dom. but shoot guns left handed. but and shoot right too , just not as well. you need to play with the 06 in the off season, now go kill a bear with one of your 99s! good Hunting!

Yeah, too bad you weren't carrying a 99...I'll give you $300 just to get that thing outta your sight.

Add a zero!

FIRE SALE !!!!!!
I'da wrapped it around the first tree I came across


plab

$0300?

What's a gun that can't hit a bear worth?

Thanks for letting me vent. Don't feel better about it today.