I've never flat out missed a shot on an elk before. I've had deflections, but never misses. I was so mortified I considered not even telling my hunting buddy about the encounter and hoped he wouldn't notice the arrow missing from my quiver.
When I got back to camp, I had to tell him. It was really the only excitement we had so far. It was a mistake to tell him. I was really down and the onslaught of ridicule I received over the next few days almost made me leave camp to find a hole to crawl in. And I have pretty thick skin. I replayed the moment over and over in my head. The bull got bigger every time I replayed the film, I had a hard time thinking about the future hunts because all I could think about was the missed opportunity. All the typical vain, petty, thoughts ran through my head: I would have had a huge set of antlers on the wall and in the back of my truck on the ride home. Guys in town would have been super jealous and ask where I shot it and I would come up with some clever b.s. answer. I would have a huge bull to pose with for my meat pole picture. The freezer would be packed tight with fresh elk meat. Well, the meat thing isn't vain or petty. But...it was not meant to be. No matter how much I dwelled on what could have been, it didn't matter, because it didn't happen. The past is written, I missed, it happens and it's time to move on.
So with all that said: what have I learned?
-Range finders-They're not just cool little gadgets to use only when convenient. They were invented because someone noticed a consistent problem and thought of a solution. I estimated the bull at 45 yards, which truthfully is a little farther than I would like to shoot. He was downhill on the other side of a ravine and probably 35 yards.
-The most important thing I learned which is now the cumulative lesson of 27 years of bowhunting is this: Every encounter will end well or poorly. The more encounters you have, the greater the odds that you will have a bad one. When you have a bad experience it may have been your fault or the fault of external factors like a deflection or the animal takes a step, but it happened. You will replay the moment after the fact and know exactly what you should have done, but that is the luxury of hindsight. What happens, happens and the size of the animal or rarity of the event makes no difference. Don't dwell on failures. Move on. Bowhunting is a sport where a lot can go wrong and even the best have moments they look back on with a head shake of disappointment.
-Finally, bowhunting success is the result of a very long chain of seemingly minor events that all have to fall into place. Failure in just one link and success won't happen. That failure may occur as something as trivial as going up the left draw instead of the right, or leaving camp two minutes late, or it can be something very obvious like missing the shot or getting busted for being upwind. Next time you have a good view of a wide expanse of elk country, particularly dense timber, take a moment to look out realize the incredible challenge of not just locating, but placing yourself within shooting distance of an elk in such a vast expanse of terrain.
Congratulations to all those who tagged out! Good luck to all those who are still out or headed out. And for all those eating tags or dwelling over misses...you'll have your time in the sun.
So what have you learned...so far?
I learned that 3.5 miles is the absolute farthest that I want to pack an elk in one day by myself.
IdyllwildArcher- That was the thing I was most grateful for. I'll take a clean miss over a bad hit any day.
I learn the same lesson every time I go and I don't seem to remember it. SLOW DOWN!!!! Opening weekend I bumped 2 bulls that were just out of sight of me while doing a cow calling session. If I had sat another 10 minutes would they have come the final 20 yards? Not sure, they might have stayed put waiting for a cow to show herself, I will never know. It is frustrating because I have put way too many miles on my boots this year and haven't had a real shot at a bull. I guess that goes with the territory of OtC public land your first year in a new state. Just frustrating...
On day one, I found a good spot with several well used trails. After 40 minutes or so, I let out some innocent cow calls. In less than 2 minutes I see movement through the trees. I think it is just a deer. Nope, it is the lead cow. She cranes her head and looks directly at me an bolts. I suspect the herd was easily less than 50 yards (unknowingly) when I called. Never did see the bull.
If I would have kept my mouth shut they would have passed by on there way to the bedding area and would have been none the wiser. I drew unneeded attention to my position.
Fast forward 9 days, same ambush area. Cow followed by bull come through on exact same path as others did on day one. (I set up in slightly different position to have better view of area.) Little over 100 yards after the shot, dead bull. Not a peep made by me or the elk.
Never give up! Had so many encounters, missed and later that day connected on a small 6x6. Never give up!!
