why did i miss the deer???

ive got a S&W 629-1 44 mag, i have shot this gun a lot, i have put a couple three hundred rounds down range with this gun and use open sights, i can hit were i aim with no problem out to about 65 yards then i get a little wide so i know my limitations with this gun,
i was hunting from a tree facing climbing stand this afternoon, a nice size doe walks out to the right front of me, at about 25 yards , well in the range i can shoot at with this pistol, i am about 20+ ft. up the tree, i had plenty of time and took aim no jitters, does are plentiful here , ( way tooo many ) so no buck fever, i had a good stedy rest beside the tree im one, plenty of time , good sight picture, i squeze the trigger, eveything im supposed to do. i miss. so i pull the hammer back again thinking ok, i must have flinched or yanked the trigger or something, take good steady aim again, watch my breathing everthing perfect, just like textbook shooting by the numbers and all that, squeeze the trigger thinking to my self " easy, hold your breath , squeeze the triger, good sight picture " "bang" miss again. deer still standing there, just looked around and went back to eating, i put the pistol back in my holster and whate till she moseys on about her bussness, and i climb down, still plenty of daylight, i go back home and put out a target thinking my sight must have gotten nocked off of loose or something , i inspect the pistol everthing checked out so i put a couple rounds down range, look at the target , dead on , right were i aimed,

so why did i miss, do i have to aim diffrent being higher in a tree, or what, im lost, please help.
and to you ruger fans, it ant because its a smith. lol

Shooting at a live animal and shooting at paper are two very different things..

Although you might have been "cool as a cucumber," the brain can plays tricks on you. You could very well have been more excited than you realize and "jerked" the trigger.

Have you tried shooting a paper target from a greatly elevated position? Try it! Your point of impact could be a lot different.

Who knows ?? . Shootin 20 feet in the air at a deer is alot diff then on the ground shooting at a target.

A pistol round trajectory is different when shooting 'down' and different when shooting 'up'.
I can only say to practice from your stand on a paper target, at different ranges. You will have to compensate with your eye (Kentucky windage and elevation) if you don't want to change your sights for every shooting position.
Since you can hit a target on the ground, all you need is practice from your stand. (Or get a ground blind?)
Good luck!

I have no idea other than this........Is your barrel resting on something when you shoot from the stand? Bench? If you answer Yes to one and not the other then that could be your problem........If Yes to both then is it a different material? I'm just taking shots in the dark here.

Were you using the side of the tree as a rest? How did your rest differ when shooting at the doe from how it is when you practice?

When you use a rest with a handgun, its better not to have anything touching your hands or the gun. You'll get more consistent follow through with recoil that way. Well, except for grabbing the barrel or forestock and pushing while pulling with the other but most people don't like to do that with revolvers or pistols.

urbaneruralite said:

Were you using the side of the tree as a rest? How did your rest differ when shooting at the doe from how it is when you practice?

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this would be my guess. if one side of the pistol was against the tree it will possibly cause the bullet to swing to the opposite side

if she stood there, why didnt you shoot again?

go back and look over the line the bullet took. i shot at a deer 3 times with my t/c .41 mag. deer never moved. after i spooked her off i studied what i did over and over. last thing i did was get back in my stand, looked through the scope toward where she was standing. a small dogwood branch, about half-way from my barrel to where she was standing was skinned w/ 3 nice little marks. i never saw the branch move while i was shooting at the deer though.

What distance are you sighted in for? When shooting at an angle (up or down does not matter) you go by the horizontal distance. For an exagerated example: You are in a tree stand that is 200 yards high and a deer is 10 yards from the tree, you would aim as if you were on the ground 10 yds from the deer. The effect of gravity on the bullets trajectory is the sam regardless of angle and up or down which is why the old timers tell you to aim low on uphill or downhill shots. I doubt 25 yds would make a difference unless you were sighted in for 150 yds or so. I would guess (and I have shot a lot of different pistols from different rests and am in no way an expert) that you changed the way you were resting the gun from sighting it in.

i did have my hand resting agenst the tree,
and i did shoot at her again, when i missed the second time i stoped and holstered the gun, i didnt like felling i was just taking pop shots after i missed again.

i looked were i hit and it was in the dirt were she was standing, went under her.

Low hits are a sign of trigger jerk. Not saying you were, but it's a good posibility. At close range, the downhill angle won't change point of impact much. Sometimes, there is not a good explaination other than "I missed". Dan

Are you sure you missed? Some deer show no reaction to a hit, walk off, and fall over dead.

I would go back to the stand site, put paper target on the ground, climb into stand, repeat the shot exactly as you did it that day, and check the results. This will likely answer your questions. If you hit the target squarely, the problem was likely excitement.

Dave1

Could be you did everything right with the pistol but forgot to pick a spot! Many folks miss deer because they are aiming at the deer and not a spot on the deer. Just my thoughts but I've seen if happen many many times.

You and God are the only ones that know, You can't remember and God ain't telling. Don't let it bother you and go out and whack the next one.