The best thing you should have done well in advance of the season is make absolutely sure that you have your rifle sighted in for range you can shoot and know that you are proficient at using this rifle after practicing enough with it. At that point, a good kill shot in the vitals is still all on you to accomplish.
All will get nervous to some degree, what do they call it, "Buck Fever" ? It's how you deal with that and stay calm to exercise good shooting etiquette to place that shot accurately in the vital organ area. If you rush or "knee jerk" a shot, results like you fear can and will happen. Make sure there are no obstructions in the path of the bullet if you hunt brush or thicket areas.
It is good that you have considered this, it can and will happen to the most experienced hunter. I've experienced it a few times unfortunately and I pride myself on one shot kills. A sidearm is nice to have if you have to get close, but I have taken close and or 2nd shots with the rifle to get the job done. I've also had to get up close and finish the job by hand at least once from memory and that was not pleasant. I've raised these animals and know them well enough to respect the strength and instinctual motivation they have to survive, never put yourself at risk.
I would also advise that you are either well practiced in the positions that you shoot or that you have a very solid rest to shoot from, better to make things easier to accomplish the goal, a kill shot in the vitals with the 1st shot.
In '17, I had not fired my rifle since the last season, but knew it was sighted in and hitting where I aimed. I saw a buck just before 8AM and had been placing crosshairs on other deer prior to this so I could practice my breathing and stay calm enough to place an accurate shot. This buck was at the very end of my shooting range, which is a measured 300 yards. I took the shot and it dropped in it's tracks, literally. 15 minutes later, say around 50 yards closer a doe came out and I took that one too. Dropped in it's tracks. A friend witnessed the results of these shots, and there is no bragging to be done as although both were very good kill shots, something could have gone wrong just the same. My scope was an inexpensive refurbished Simmons from the Sportsman's Guide in the mid 90's, 44 Mag with the 44mm objective, not anything high end like what replaced it last year. I had to estimate on the vertical cross hair as to how high to place my shot to account for about a 14" bullet drop. That leaves a range from top to bottom on the animal in the vitals. There was no wind and I knew I was good in that direction, but there was no real precision, just me and knowing my rifle as it was set up at this time. I'll likely never see anything like that again on opening day. Filled both tags and was done for the season. Last season I upgraded to a very nice scope and the increments are M RAD, not MOA and I'm not used to it as of yet, but I did sight it in at the 2 known distances I will shoot at with relative ease using a bore sight laser. The results were filling 2 tags on the same day, one morning, one evening, both good shots in the vitals. I will check my accuracy again today or one afternoon this week to be sure the rifle is sighted properly
Your best bet is to be proficient with your rifle at the ranges you will shoot, and or taking in some mentorship from an experienced hunter proficient with firearms.
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