Some of you may have followed my moose semi love hunt in Alberta last week. If so you read about my two shots of arrows deflecting off a branch and overall not getting my moose. I’m still in mourning here.. maybe a little misery with company.. what’s your misses that still haunt you?
8x6 elk, I hit high in the shoulder, watched him bed in oak brush on private property I couldn't get to. He was up and feeding by evening. Non fatal wound I'm sure but I let get away the biggest elk I've ever seen while hunting!
Early 2000s I was shooting my longbow every day . I was working at a archery shop and had a techno hunt . When it was slow I would shoot 100s of arrows at almost live targets . I was shooting good. Come November a big to me 150 6/5 buck is broadside at 18 yards . I shot a foot over his back the first time and 6 inches the next. Never picked a spot. Lesson learned. Can still see that buck standing there today ! Hunt
6 yards, I was 15 feet up in a tree...Long Bow...145 inch 6x6, bounced it off his rump. I cried and ditched trad equipment for about 10 years! Prettiest buck I’ve ever had an opportunity at with archery equipment, even to this day. That was 25 years ago almost to the day.
Two stand out. What would have been my first buck would also have been my biggest buck. An absolute monster by CA standards.
Not to be outdone by missing a huge Dall Ram 2 months ago due to ranging the hill instead of the ram. I didn't stop beating myself up about it till I got to my elk hunt and as soon as my bull was packed out, it was right back in my head. I haven't had a day since that I haven't thought about it.
Sadly, way too many to count. But hopefully I learned something from most of them. Some have been funny enough to take the sting away. If the animals only knew on a few of them how close they were to being dinner......
I missed a giant whitetail that I had a 4 year history with. He was, by far, the biggest buck I have ever seen on the hoof. Easily over 200”. He was trailing a hot doe that was going to drag him right past me, within 30 yds, but she veered off course and stopped at 35yds (ranged). She then angled away a bit. He cut across to cut her off and stopped broadside right in a shooting lane. Instead of ranging him, I guessed him about 5 yds further out than the doe had been and shot him for 40yds. I shot a fraction of an inch below the bottom of his chest. He trotted off following the doe. When I ranged where he was standing, it read 47 yds. What hurt almost as much was they both came back past me about 3 hrs later just out of range. I think about that shot probably, at least once a week.
Can’t find the 2015 pics of him, which was the year that I missed him. This was him in 2014. The pic isn’t the best and does him no justice at all.
Stalked a buck to within 25 yards from across an open field. We are talking 6" tall grass for cover, hours of time and effort to get the perfect quartering away shot lined up....peeked at the shot and shot over his back
RogBow.... he was even bigger in 2015. Mainframe 10 pointer with a bunch of trash and stickers. He was a huge bodied buck as well. I saw him 2 other times in 2015, both times he was within 100 yds of me for several minutes. I got to study his rack fairly well in the binocs. He had tons of mass as well as everything else.
I hunted all day 14 days straight on a managed hunt in Missouri and the last 10 minutes of light I rattled in a nice 150" buck and missed him at 15 yards. I still dont know how.
A LONG time ago, I think my senior year in high school, so fall 91 I suspect... a buddy and I tried a stalk on a big ten. Some how, I managed to get to about 25yds ( I think) from him. I was so amazed I'd managed to draw back, I think I just didnt focus in enough. I watched the coolest arrow ever (XCaliber fluted :) tipped with a Razorback 4bld) some how make it between his rear legs, about 8" up from the hooves. I mean, wholly smokes, THAT is a miss! At least I didnt wound him. Heck of a deer. I must have pulled the shot, looking to see where the arrow went.
Get's better. He runs off and for some reason I leave my bow on the ground and walk back to get my bag about 100yds away. I get it, turn around, and a tall 8 is trotting along looking for the hot doe that bigger buck was with. Wide open, 20-30yds circling around me... and my bow was on the other side of him, on the ground... That was a hard lesson to learn :)!
Second biggest whitetail I've ever seen on the hoof. He was locked on a hot doe and a little fork horn was buzzing around. As I stalked up, he caught some movement or scent and bugged out.
As soon as he got 50 yards from the doe, the little buck jumped on her and started breeding her.
The huge buck came charging back and ran the little buck off.
He then stood completely broadside to me, locked onto his doe.
I had him ranged and knew that he was keyed up and could drop ten inches, jumping the string. I set my pin almost on the bottom of his chest and sent my arrow on its way.
That buck stood there stiff legged, like a statue. He didn't budge or twitch. My arrow trimmed a tuft of hair off his chest and skidded into some brush and grass on the other side of him. He bolted away from the sound of the arrow in the brush and was gone.
I was certain that he was going to drop at the shot. CERTAIN.
I felt like I wanted to do a soccer flop and have a seizure. Instead, I walked back over by my buddy who'd watched it all from maybe 125-150 yards away... so that he could opine that, "I'd overthought the shot."
Every once in a while, as we're heading out, he'll score points with me by telling me not to overthink the shot.
Still kinda makes me want to sputter about, "He just stood there!" ... and have a seizure.
1998 I was bowhunting the Kaibab North.....sneaked in on a giant non-typical mule deer I had seen during a scouting trip (had him on video too). Missed him clean.......he was later killed on the rifle hunt and measured 34.5" wide and went 263" B&C (non-typical). I STILL think of that buck. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
Argh.... wolf at 61 yards ... laying on an elk kill in Alberta. I had a 65 yard pin. Instead of backing up 4 yards.... I compensated and shaved hair. I was across a river and could have easily backed up. It never occurred to me. Many a late night I lost sleep over that one.
Missed a big bull this Sept. Woulda been my 1st elk. It was foggy, couldn't get my rangefinder to work and his cows were getting nervous. He turned to follow them and I missed as he took a couple steps. Will never forget that moment. Also had a chance at a dandy droptine bull and was drawn back but couldn't get a shot. But I now have experience and will learn from my many mistakes.
Shaved a little hide and white hair off the belly of a 190” class whitetail. How do I know the score? Neighbor shot him the next season and it wound up in the pages of North American Whitetail. That one still haunts me8^0
I think I have a few on every Biggame animal I have ever bowhunted. Whitetail, Hogs, Elk, Mule Deer, Antelope, Caribou, Black Bear in that mix + a few Exotic Deer. I look at it this way, IF you decide to be a bowhunter, expect to miss sometime along the way no matter how "great" a shot you are. I coined a phrase long ago "I had the thrill, without the kill".. Think about that..
November 1st, 2012....only B&C class buck opportunity in 40+ years of whitetail hunting. Buck was following a doe and looked right up at me. The doe had already passed the stand and the buck knew something wasn't right. He gave me a good look and decided to catch back up with the doe. We were both on edge! I didn't want to attempt to stop him, so I just led him a bit. Led him too much and grazed the brisket. Haunts me to this day.
Two months prior, September 2nd, on the last day of my first Alaska caribou hunt, I still had two tags in my pocket. Got in front of a couple small herds and made a good shot on a cow. Twenty minutes later, I finally got an opportunity at a nice bull. It was pouring rain and I did not have time to range him. Arrow flew true right behind the front leg....but a foot below the heart...a complete miss.
Yeah, been bowhunting more than four decades and both my "most devastating" misses happened only 60 days apart!
Many years ago. Finally got a shot at a 150 class, clean 8 pt I'd seen a few times right near the end of my 2 weeks vacation. I was at the peak of my first time suffering with target panic. I locked up underneath him at 25 yards and punched the trigger when I tried to raise the pin up. Devastated!
Stalked a GIANT typical muley buck in southern Alberta. Made it to 30 yards and had the wind perfect. Sat on him for 3 hours and he finally stood up broadside with his head down. I was pretty calm given the situation. I ranged him multiple times and prepared for the shot. I was on a bluff about 30’ above him. At the shot, a heard a loud crack and the buck took off out in the open. When he stopped I could see my bright orange crested arrow sticking in the top of his main beam right behind his g2!
Best I can figure is when I cut the shot the buck swung his head to the side ( he was feeding) and caught the arrow with his main beam.
My guide, a longtime Alberta resident with lots of big deer, kept going on and on about that being the biggest buck he’s ever seen. That didn’t help. My hunting partner killed a 203” on that hunt and our guide only wanted to talk about the deer I shot at :(
We figured he was a 200” class typical. I think about it daily:( I’ve also screwed up on some pretty big white tails, but that muley still haunts me.
Probably around 1990....not sure of date, but remember the shot in detail.
Right at "crunch time", the biggest Wisconsin buck I have ever had an opportunity at walked down a trail from my left....going right. As he came to an opening, I drew. I was shooting an American Am Mag (about 180 feet per sec). When I drew, he stopped. I can still see the hair on his neck stand up. This is at 10 yards, My lighted Cobra red sight settled right to the spot. When the deer bristled, I thought everything was good. I was shooting fingers. I let the arrow go! The sound that buck made when he crashed away, I still hear.
I waited til dark. I walked back to truck. I got my lantern. I trailed that Buck for what I knew was too far. I backed out. I didn't sleep. I called in sick the next day. I picked up the trail from the night before. Eventually, I lost blood. I was devastated. I can see the moment in my mind yet today. I have killed lots of deer.That one haunts me yet as I read about the other devastating misses on this thread. I should have taken one more second when that Buck bristled when I drew. I didn't.
The end of the story came after rifle season. I was at the archery shop. The owner and I were talking about the deer season. The owner said he had heard somebody shot a monster up near my property during rifle season. I asked what did it look like. He had a picture. Double drop tine monster Buck..... I said that looks like the deer I lost. Yeah he said....It had a Rocky Mountain broadhead buried in his right shoulder.
Woulda...Shoulda...Coulda....Crazy how we always remember the one that got away!
They are only devastating in the moment and then perspective comes into play and we should realize it's all pretty innocuous in the grand scheme of things.
I missed a nice 10 point with a recurve in 1995. Maybe 135"...... that was the top of the list on MISSED shot's I'd like back. I have been fortunate that other misses were not at particularly unique animals. Maybe because I am not that picky. More instances of I wish I would have gotten a shot at something than I missed a monster. I have been lucky in that regard.
There are more shots where I did not miss, but hit and did not recover. Again, nothing gigantic, but I would rather have any of those back before I got a miss back. Those are worse.
In the end though nobody's life, if they have a life, has been changed by hitting or missing an animal while sport hunting.
31 years ago when I was 12 years old I bought my first bow, a bear Mini mag, I practiced every day. I scouted and put up a stand and opening morning got myself up and got in that tree. shortly after a doe and 2 fawns came down the trail like they were supposed to. I was amazed, I had never been that close to a deer. it was 12 yards, I had measured it when I put the stand up. They looked so big I talked myself into believing they were much closer. I shot 6" over her back. I remember it vividly yet and I felt pretty successful in getting the shot but to this day I regret not trusting what knew to be the proper distance. (I have done the same thing a few times since LOL)
2003-Huge 10 pt at 19 yds (thought it was closer to 24-25), 2000- a huge non-Typical (Camp Ripley) at 42 yds (thought it was about 37), 2012 a possible state record in WI, full draw ready to release and my brother-in-law shot it. Ran right under me and since I thought the shot was good didn't put another arrow into it. After two days of tracking didn't find the beast. The buck was on multiple trail cams a few weeks before the day we saw him. A few weeks afterwards he did show up again so survived, for a while. No one ever saw him after the end of that season. Interesting thing I had missed a smaller buck earlier in the day, my arrow struck a branch I didn't see and exploded into 5-6 pieces. Later that day he came back looked like he was limping, tail tucked and wounded. The big guy came over the ridge hot on his trail to beat him up some more. The rest of the story I already explained above.
About 5 years ago I had none, I'm not liking which way I'm trending. Now I have a 320 bull elk that I will never know what happened, but the arrow flew great, looked good and I believe deflected last second. Blood was extremely sparse, and about a 165" whitetail that dodged my arrow, and this year I absolutely clobbered a 2" pine en route to a moose. Moose at 27 yards is like a mac truck you can't miss feel like maybe I should have just closed my eyes and let 'er rip lol. Good thing is the moose one is on video so I can remember it forever!
4 years ago, would have been my first KS bow buck after 5 years of trying. Called in a HUGE mature 170"+ 10pt and he came in on a secondary trail where I had not cleared as well as the primary for a shot. Clipped a small branch I did not see. Still see that buck and the missed shot in my minds eye today,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Have not had a shot at a buck anywhere close to that size since,...
Most devastating? Probably the HC velvet Mule deer I misjudged yardage on. Thought he was 40-45 yards. Turned out he was closer to 35-37 yards. Shot right over his back. Would've been my first Mule deer and a dandy 5x5 at that, around the upper 150s.
Whitetail... mid 140s 10 pt, coming through a pinch point about 10 am. When I went to draw on him at less than 10 yards, I torqued the string on my recurve and the arrow fell off of the rest. I caught it with my bow hand and tried to recover. I was a mess at that point and shot right under him at 8 yards. Sigh...
This coues buck in 2017. Hiked up a mountain and got to 34 yards. Stood in one spot getting baked by the sun for two hours. Muffed the shot. Steven Ward was nice enough to get this picture through the spotter as he went up over the top of the mountain. Image is burned into my memory.
I've been hunting big-game for a while now. Since 1992 or 1993. I've only had one opportunity at what I would call an exceptional animal. And I #$%ed it up.
2015 was a devastating year for my family. But one of the bright spots was that I drew a pretty decent WY elk tag with a friend. I wanted very badly to be successful. I wanted very badly to feel that rush of happiness that goes along with a good kill. I wanted it too much. I tried too hard.
I spent a week in WY with my friend and my brother. I had a good time, but I never drew my bow. On the last day, I saw a giant bull. But no chance to make a move.
We went home, but I only stayed home a week, and I got back in my truck and headed back to WY, solo, to try to kill.
I went into an area we'd hunted the earlier week, and stumbled into a giant the first evening. Never got a shot, but got to watch this huge 380+ 6x6 with his harem for about 30 minutes. So now it was him or bust for the week. I passed up chances to go after bulls I would never have dreamed of passing up. 300+ bulls, I didn't even try to get close. I'd just walk away.
Calling didn't work for this bull, he had 17 cows, he wasn't leaving them for MY calling. Finally, I got my chance. He was bugling, and I snuck in on him. Came over a little rise, and there he was. And I completely blew it. He was at the limit of my range, but in my range. I panicked. I thought I HAD to SHOOT NOW!! All capacity for rational thought left my head.
I clipped on, drew, and did it all wrong. I rushed. I flinched. I sent my arrow crashing through his rack.
I chased him around the rest of the week, but though I could hear him, I never saw him again.
I don't think about it a lot. I've gotten over the miss. But I do wish I could do it over. I'd calm down. Take a couple deep breaths. And THINK. and take a better, more measured shot, hopefully with a little calmness
Very large blonde phase black bear at about 8 yards. Arrow deflected just out of my bow and went under him. It was like God smacked it out of the air. I was slightly out of position when he came in. So I drew, anchored and slowly rotated to get my sight over his vitals. Only focused on the bear and my sight picture, I missed a small branch that was in the path of the arrow...
With the exception of defense, no missed shot is "devastating" but they sure can haunt a person.
Typically the moment I know I missed I am keyed up even more than prior to the missed shot to get another arrow nocked and focus even more for a killing shot.
Have killed some of my best animals on the follow up shot to a miss.
The ones that really sting are the ones that I have wounded and never recovered. Thankfully that doesn’t happen very often. Have actually killed several animals as much as 3 years after wounding them the first time. Now that is rewarding!
Never "devastated" by missing. Hunting is all on the positive side as long as no one gets hurt. Missing and screwing up is all part of the deal and hunting wouldn't nearly as fun if there wasn't a zillion things waiting to go wrong. Trying to overcome all that is a big part what makes it fun.
Yes, I have walked back to camp kicking myself more than few times but its all good. A nice 6x6 that came in on a string and stopped at 19 yards still has camp set up in my head. Hit a small lodgepole dead center.
Back in the days of shooting instinctive I shot just over the back of a pronghorn coming to a salt block. It wasn't a very far shot. A few hours later, a buck came in that I thought would be near world record size (upper 80's in those days), and I repeated the exact same miss again. Even though I tried to make myself hold lower the second time, my subconscious must have "corrected" my aim at the last second and I shot just over that buck too...
I shot over this guy's back in 2016 on election night at 14 yards with my long bow.....It still haunts me but seeing TRUMP win that night made it a bit better.
All misses hurt! Devastating? No. If I let all of my misses devastate me, I would be in the nut house or take up basket weaving. They just provide fuel for me to analyze what I did wrong and refocus my efforts. I got the shot. I had the animal beat and I blew it. I am thankful my screw up didn't wound the animal!
Screwing up potential shot opportunities hurt much more. Moving at the wrong time, out of position, letting your guard down and not being ready when an opportunity presents itself, etc.
No misses that devastated me. But did have one really strange shot a couple of years ago. Shot at a nice 5x5 elk standing broadside at 60 yards and hit him. He whirled around and walked slowly over to a pond about 100 yds out and laid down on the dam. Had to wait forever for him to die. When he finally expired and we recovered him could not find any impact or exit point. Finally after close examination noted my nocturnal lighted nock was barely visible in his anus. All I can figure is he jumped the string and whirled just as the arrow got to him. What a way to die! My hunting buddies still rib me about that shot.
I feel sorry for all you guys who have missed shots....can't imagine what that must feel like. LOL! If I had to relate, I would say that one arrow that zipped passed a cagey Eastern grey squirrel at 20 yards still haunts me. That was the only Rage I ever had to retire. ;-)
If I ever miss one I will let you guys know. In the meantime I've got this bridge I'm trying to sell in Cali as well as some prime real estate by the sea in Arizona!
first bull elk I had a chance at with a bow, a 330-340 6x6, rushed and clipped his back hairs at 20 yards :(
I had an honest 190" whitetail at 12 steps - I'd gotten down and went to the truck for lunch, as I got back into my stand, there he was coming through the woods .... didn't have time to get my bow pulled up and arrow clipped even. 2 minutes .... had I been there 2 minutes earlier :(
last year I had a chance at a 152" Arkansas 10 point, big buck for our area, biggest I've ever seen there and I grew up there ..... I hit the stand with my bow as I drew on him :( My Dad got him next week .... so there is that :)
The first day of the first year hunting mule deer, shot right over the back of a P & Y buck at 15 yards with my Bob Lee Classic recurve. Missed a few others in the years to follow, but that one hurts the most.
First elk bowhunt...about 37 years ago in Oregon...rainy day and there were bugles all around me..I tried a bugle through a metal little curly thing that was the pre-cursor to todays bugles and a big 6 point bull walked out at 30 yards and stopped broadside and said, "shoot me."...….I pulled the arrow off the rest twice before getting to full draw...then shot 2 feet over his back !!….One blessing is that I have been in the elk woods every September since !!
They're all suck but most devastating for me was on a sheep. On day 20 I finally got an opportunity at the ram I was after. Ranged him at 50 for a steep downhill shot. In my mind it was all but over. And it would have been except for one major screw up. The day before I had been messing with LOS vs. TBR readings in the cliffs to practice judging the difference between the two for steep shots. Forgot to change the rangefinder setting back to TBR when I was finished. Long story short I watched incredulously as my arrow sailed harmlessly just over his back. Didn't figure out my LOS mistake until the following day and was never able to get back on him. That one still stings!!
I had a Misfire on a giant 210+ whitetail. That set off a bad case of target panic I'm still dealing with for some reason. He was later hit by a car and with two tine broke he still scored 203.
Labor Day Monday evening, this fall, cleaning up after dinner with my daughter I hear a bugle close behind my house. Jump in my hunting clothes, kiss my daughter on the forehead and scamper out. Sneaking down along my fence line he bugled again and I see him. 150 yds below me a toad of proportions you don’t see very often in Colorado OTC units. I slip into the aspen and sneak to the edge of the lower pasture, 80 yds away and park it. He chases a cow up into the oak brush then pushes about 20 cows out of the brush in a straight line in front of me at 45 yds. In my head, I’m already taking pics and calling my buddies. He follows the last cow with his nose in her rump, she stops, he stops, broadside, I start the shot process and as I feather the trigger she stepped forward and so did he. In an instant panic I jerk the bow forward as the shot goes off and from everything I can tell shave his brisket. He runs out at 100 yds, looks back and ran out of my life forever or so I thought. A week later I kill a 5 pt on the other side of the county...come home and pull my camera cards. Guess who is back and spent the rest of September keeping me up at night. Multiple times I would get home from work and he was standing in my driveway. Laughing at me I’m sure. Next year
on that 190" buck .... at daylight I missed a 150" 10 with my recurve at 12 steps, exactly where that big buck was standing at noon .... and at dark, I missed a P&Y 130-135" buck .... 2 missed P&Y bucks and a B&C I didn't even draw on - best day of hunting EVER
1988, 9 years old, first year huntn. Armpitted a great NJ buck out of a stand I picked and built myself ( not OSHA approved), probably 140ish. He’d still be my best WT. I literally cried. After that I really haven’t missed anything huge though I’ve definitely missed :)
Was on crutches from a major knee surgery and knew this one buck, droptine, was going to come through this given spot during rut. Hopple out to the spot and caught him at shooting time about 7 yards, decided to take him in the neck to drop him and keep from a track job through the coulee, when release the buck dropped its head down and the Snuffer clip him on top of the neck and the story is done. Will never take that shot again even in a wheelchair, that was in 1991 and still haunts my mind.
Nov of 2000 I missed a 214 3/8" whitetail. I seen him the night before but he wouldn't stop and give me a shot. he was trailing a doe and came by at 10 yards. The next evening he is slowly coming my way just hanging with another doe and he finally gives me a shot with about 15 min of light left. 12 yard shot and I intentionally held a little low because of the angle and went right underneath him. He goes about 40 yards and stops, looks back at the doe who was still standing at 15 yards and wathes her for the next 20 min. He did finally come closer but it was well after dark and I couldn't shoot. The guy who hunted the neighboring property killed him 3 days later.
Bedded Dall sheep stalked to 35 yards in sleeting snow. 3 rams all legal. First one stands, I wait, 2nd one stands, I wait. 3rd one (biggest) starts to tense his muscles to stand and I draw. He turns broadside and I'm 100% calm, center my 30 & 40 he's dead to rights. Squeeze trigger...nothing. Reflexively I reset the trigger without thinking just like I do in practice, then think to myself "what the heck?" I gently sqeeze the trigger again...nothing. Sort of in shock I begin to let down to figure out what's going on and as I do the trigger breaks loose and lauches my arrow into space.
Shocking that was enough to spook the rams but they blast down the mountain leaving a churned up trail of black shale in the white snow as far as the eye can see. My release had apparently frozen during my stalk.
I had only changed from fingers to release perhaps 5-years prior. Frozen release wasn't remotely on my radar screen. That won't ever happen again. Hopefully my telling you the story will ensure it never happens to you.
Last year, hunting solo, called a nice 5x5 in to 35 yards, broadside, in a wide open meadow. Missed him clean. He ran about 10 steps, stopped and watched me pull another arrow Out of the quiver and come to full draw again, at which point I missed him again. I still have no idea how I screwed that up - think about it daily.
I saw the thread title and I thought it was kind of silly… I clean miss is a clean mess, and you get to keep on hunting. Big antlers are nice, but COME ON… It’s just a deer. Or an elk. Or whatever…
But then I realized that there was that One Shot. It’s kind of a long story, but to keep it short…
I was drawing on a big doe mulie and released just as she picked up the near side hind foot. Then I watched in horror as my arrow tracked fast hot and clean.... Straight for that hoof. Missed it by a whisker!
Big deal, right?
But the thing was… It was a chip shot. Under 20 yards, and I had been practicing out to 40 on a daily basis for about 3 1/2 or four months leading up to that. Grouping the width of a tennis ball, for Chrissakes!
So to be off not just a little, but what looked like a good 18” or so??? How could I POSSIBLY have screwed up that badly???
And that’s the kind of thing that really messes with your head, especially if you shoot a string bow.
So sometime within about a week of that snafu, I had done a pretty nifty job of working the thermals to get around, above and on top of a herd of Elk that had been uphill from me when I first saw one of them. Or one of its legs, anyway. So I was easing down through the Doug Fir and there she was. BIG cow, perfectly broadside at probably 12-15 yards, TOPS, looking the other way and just as calm and slack as could be. My first Elk was going to be with my recurve! Yeah, baby!
Except that that miss from the week before was still nagging at me. Was I REALLY good enough to take this shot? Because another mistake like the last one would be a world of suffering for the cow and me both!
So I very quietly retreated back up the hill so as not to blow them all right out of there. Maybe I should claim that I really counted coup on that one…
And the only part of that experience that I regret is the fact that I lost confidence in myself in the first place. I have no misgivings whatsoever about having passed up a shot when I just wasn’t Feeling It. But I lost my nerve for no reason whatsoever.
It wasn’t until some years later that I realized that that “miss” on the muley had actually been a hell of a good shot. She had picked up that hoof AS I RELEASED and in just about as much time as it takes for the arrow to clear the string, I had changed my focus from a rib to a moving target several feet away and would have drilled it dead center had she not frozen at the sound of the string.
So my advice, if anybody’s interested… Whenever something goes wrong, don’t just agonize over the fact THAT it happened; figure out WHY it happened.
I miss a lot... can't think of one that was devastating. My most recent ones are the ones that are still healing. A 5x5 elk in Colorado... the only bull I called in to bow range... still can't figure it out. Last year, the biggest Coues Whitetail deer I've ever had an opportunity at. Surprisingly I wasn't devastated because I got to keep hunting and I'm confident I'll shoot a big one. I really believe that the misses are what makes bowhunting so challenging and exciting. I always wonder about the guys who are stone cold deadly... what drives them? Ed F
In 1994 had a 280 to 300 6 pt bull stop broadside. Guessed him at 55 plus. So I put my 50 yd pin about 2 inches above his back. And watched the arrow go about 2 inches above his back. Would have been my first archery elk. Had nightmares about it till I finally killed a 5 pt in 2006. But I still think about it, and wished I could of shot back then like I do now. But I still miss , just not as much. Greg
One time in WY, on a really great ranch by Buffalo, I was in a double bull one night and this group of muley bucks come in and there was a really big 3x3 in the group. I was shooting a longbow and in order to shoot, I had to keep the bow in about the center of the blind. Well, a small buck walked right up to the blind and this big guy was coming too, quartering to me, but walking towards me. Every step he took, the angle got a little bit better. I was drawn and locked in on target and I let him come as about as far as I figured that I could I let it go. The top limb hit the top of the blind and God only knows where that arrow ended up, that buck was at almost 12 steps. There was a 160"whitetail in WI, ten yards, broadside that a didn't pick a spot on and shot him in the shoulder too. Easiest shot you'd ever want at a big buck.
One of my golfing heroes, Jack Nicklaus, said he did not remember missing any putts. I don't recall ever missing any animals with a bow !
My most memorable was a 25 yd. broadside shot on a blue wildebeest and I shot under him. I dropped my bow at release and peeped. Arrow went low left.
My second most memorable was a 45 yd. shot on a nice WT buck last year with my 30.06. Still don't know how I missed. Before I pulled the trigger, I had his antlers on the wall and his body in the cooler ! Never touched him. An hour later dropped a doe in its tracks from almost the same location.
2016 - the year I switched from 3 pin site to slider HHA - and my one and only fear of it came to fruition. Hunting edge of massive NJ field in an area just absolutely loaded with deer due to over 1000 acres of "no hunting" sanctuary nearby. This area also has potential to see (during rut) multiple P&Y caliber bucks. Just recently a buck I estimated at 155" had shown on trail cam just a few days before thanksgiving, checking out the many does frequenting the area. I got in tree late afternoon and no sooner did I get in I could see him through binos - 500 yards away chasing does. This was very tail end of rut - when only these types of bucks make mistakes. Just before dark I had 12 does walk across field to feed 20 yards away from me, I had a bunch of eyes on me. That buck saw from great distance - his next harem and made a beeline right toward them. I knew I was going to get a shot but how to pull it off with so many eyes? I am already thinking " do I adjust slider somehow now - planning for at least a 30 yard shot?" But I decided to leave it set at 20 yards. he came right in and a doe immediately broke off and headed away from me - as if she wanted him to follow her and he did lock in on her and stood there what I believed to be 35 yards broadside. "Now or never" - I knew he was well beyond the 20 yard pin setting so I went straight up from the heart and held about a foot over the heart, and let it fly.... Damn - shot right under him. Had I been able to adjust slider on the fly I would have set for 40 yards and held dead on, but I wasn't able to adjust with split second and many eyes on me. After this epic miss - arrow was stuck in ground at 42 yards and he was standing at 37 yards. I am back to multi-pin sites now - Trophy Ridge React with 5 pins on new TRIAX...
The most painful for me are not the missed shots but the chances that just never offered a shot. Elk are the worse. Many close calls but either I did not make the right move or the elk made the right move to live another day. Pronghorn stalks that took hours of crawling only to be picked off right before the shot. Whitetails - lots of them- that I just could not get a shot at for more reasons than can be explained.
145" whitetail. I watched him walk from 100 yards to 20 , drew back and released to hit a 1/2" diameter sapling 2 feet in front of the deer. The sapling deflected the arrow low. I got tunnel vision and never saw the sapling. However I was very thankfully it was a clean miss as I watched the buck for the next half hour deer on acorns. I replay that shot every fall in my head.
About 5years ago I missed a Big 9 pt with an extra main beam along his right side. I shot for 35 yds and he was 40. I can still see my arrow go right under his chest like it was yesterday.
Just a week ago, I shot way under a big, heavy beamed mountain caribou. Five minutes later, I shot under him again. First time, I’m sure I used my top (of three) pin. Second time, I dropped my bow to see if I was going to get him this time. 64 and 66 yards.
Wouldn’t be so bad, but that’s on the seventh trip into the same miserable, forsaken piece of soul sucking real estate. Thankfully that wasn’t the final ending.
I missed several nice rabbits and a ground hog with my recurve when i a teenager. Taught me to never, EVER, set foot in the deer woods with a recurve. ;)
Missed a doe just yesterday. Told myself my 30 yd pin was actually 25 and i didnt need to split my 20-30 at 24 yds. Now im waiting in the soup line at the shelter. I really wanted those back straps.
“I missed several nice rabbits and a ground hog with my recurve when i a teenager. Taught me to never, EVER, set foot in the deer woods with a recurve. ”
I gather that you’re joking, but maybe now that you know how to shoot a bow, you would find that you’re a lot more accurate than you ever imagined possible ;)
It’s a lot like fly-fishing… It’s only harder than it has to be if you choose to make it so.
Chasin Bugles and Smarmba...those make me the sickest casue their sheep and the Bighorn pic is a beauty... now I know Smarmba has ice water in his veins...crazy how life can be all of that lifelong effort and likely what amounts to a 1/2 a drop of frozen water
1988, 18 years old, saved all my trapping and farming money and booked a hunt at White oak Plantation in alabama. Bo pitman put me on a stand he said a big 10 was coming to. Anyway, long story short I let my guard down watching squirrels and turkeys away from where he said the deer trail was. I looked to my right and not 10 yards from my tree is this huge 10 pointer, by the time I got turned and was able to draw my bow (pse mach 4) I was a wreck. I'll never forget the look on that deers face when I buried that 2117 in the tree over his back. Many deer kills since,some a lot bigger than him, but that alabama buck taught this Ontario farm kid a lesson on focus and paying attention when bowhunting!
A 360-70" class monster bull. Had a great bull below me in the 330" class with a group of about 30 cows. I hear a bugle to my right and see this giant coming over the hill. The bull below walks out to meet him and I'm thinking this is going to be an awesome fight! For whatever reason (I think the smaller bull just had a bigger, badder attitude) the monster bull side steps the smaller bull, wanting nothing to do with him and begins angling up the ridge I'm at the top of. Now I realize I will have a chance if I play my cards right and get in gear. I know where he's going to cross at (a grassy saddle) and beat feet to try and cut him off. I get there and start tucking into a tree to get ready. I glance up and he's already here, walking from my right to left at 43 yds. I cow call to try and stop him and he only glances and keeps walking. Now he turns quartering away. I draw and aim behind the shoulder. I forget that there is a stiff wind blowing from my right to left, and also that I should be aiming for the last rib. I release and watch the arrow hit to the left of my aim point where the neck and shoulder meet, getting about 2" of penetration. I trailed that bull for a half mile before running out of blood, knowing it was a superficial hit. Every time I'm in that spot I think about that bull. I've had plenty of misses and close calls, but I think if I could have any single one back that would be my #1.
Spent 24 days on a mostly solo DIY Colorado bighorn hunt last fall. Never even saw a legal ram until day 19. Finally got my chance that evening and my arrow deflected off some brush on a chip shot 35 yard shot on a nice ram. I’m sure nothing will ever compare for my bowhunting career.
I’ve missed a bunch. I’ve missed some real chip shots too. But, I shot a mid 150’s 8 point typical at 9 yards from the ground. Tracked him for 1.3 miles. Walked up on him at dark, 7 hours after shooting him, still alive, unable to get up at first. Watched him finally struggle to his feet and walk out of my life forever.
I don’t know what I could have done differently. It looked and bleed the part, of a perfect hit. A logger found him 3 weeks later. Wouldn’t give me the horns. But, I know it was the same deer because his browtines were basically even with his G2’s. Blades too. He was a massive, long beamed, dark horned brute. And would be my definition of the perfect deer.
I quit big buck hunting after that. Now I just hunt and enjoy any deer. It sure hurts to think about it still yet. I’ll never get a chance at a better buck. It takes a hoss 8 point to score that. It’s been my dream since a kid to kill a gigantic, clean 8 point. Man, chances to do so don’t come any easier.
