From Russ Chastain,
Your Guide to Hunting / Shooting.
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I was very close to hyperventilation. Adrenaline does me no good at times like this, though afterwards I savor the memory of it. It was time to shoot that deer, and so I did. The bolt-action Savage 270 barked a short, sharp thunderclap.

The deer stumbled but remained on its feet. I knew that I had not made the fast-killing shot I should have made. Later, I found that I had hit the deer too far back; my (semi) conscious mind had done me a disservice.

Saved From Myself

Even as I watched the deer's reaction to the shot, my autopilot kicked in. I thank God for it. Though I have used an autoloading rifle for most of my deer hunting, my faithful autopilot worked the bolt-action Savage quickly and surely, chambering a new round immediately.

It registered that the deer was still up, and as the doe began to lunge towards the thick brush adjacent to the field, the autopilot swung the rifle in synch with the moving target, found that deer's head in the scope, and fired another shot. Down she went, hit through the neck at the base of the head. It was all over.

Why did I make such a poor shot on a standing target, and then a near-perfect shot as it lunged? I don't know. Can't fully explain it. And I'm not sure I want to. I do know that I had too much time before the first shot; by the time I identified the deer as legal I was a mess.

I usually make that first shot count. But when I mess up, as everyone does sooner or later, it's nice to know that there's something inside of me, built from years of frustrations and triumphs, that can allow me to make it right. On the day that I go entirely on autopilot, though, I'll hang up my camo and find something else to do with my time. It's good to fall back on, but I don't want it handling all of my hunting for me.

Have you ever had a less-than-wonderful, discouraging hunting experience? Don't be discouraged. Stick with it. Every morsel of experience you can get will combine to make you a better hunter with time. You will improve, and as time goes by your autopilot will begin to take up some of your slack at times when adrenaline has had too much time to addle your thinking.

- Russ Chastain