You ever make a bad shot?
General Topic
There are, without question some elite Bowhunters on this site.
Some lurk in the shadows and others post regularly.
The game of inches is not for the faint of hearted.
In the heat of the moment, a shot that is less than perfect makes one sick.
I for one, is not embarrassed to say that it happened on my sheep hunt this past January.
Things went a bit haywire at that moment of truth and well, several days afterwards, it sucked, big time.
My thoughts are everyone that takes up our passion has been there.
Just have to get back up on the horse and get passed it. I’m going back because I’m stubborn that way.
I’m certain even the elite have missed or lost an animal.
I remember why I came here. For advice, tips and to live vicariously through others.
Pretty much why I still come. I have hunts left to do.
Anyone who says they have not lost an animal, made a bad shot, or missed is either lying or not shot very many arrows at animals.
I put a bad arrow in a pig this week and I’m absolutely sick about it. It happens, I’m in a bit of a rough patch right now, but gotta keep going and work through it. Or quit…
—Jim
Been bow hunting 70 yrs. never missed a shot or lost an animal.
QDM. Impressive. Let’s see em.
I agree with Jim’s comments.
“Been bow hunting 70 yrs. never missed a shot or lost an animal”
That can also mean you never ever made a shot. Prove me wrong.
Definitely. It’s few and far between but it happens. It seems like when it happens it comes in bunches though. I couldn’t remember the last animal I made a bad hit on and then I do it two times last year.
When someone says.... "Ive never lost an animal bowhunting"
I say "Yet"
And I just bought one. Well done QDM.
"And I just bought one."
Lol! That's funny right there.
I’ve certainly made a number of bad shots, and they can shake your confidence to the core
One thing is for sure ……..there is no shot that can’t be missed or screwed up. That doesn’t mean every shot will be. It just means that any shot can be if even one simple single thing goes wrong or is taken for granted.
I remember when an outfitter told me when I gut shot an antelope back in 1995 and it took four hours finish it off
I was berating myself for a bad shot, and I think that shot was at 12 yards with a recurve, and the outfitter said there’s no reason to be disappointed quit complaining
I said that was a terrible shot no excuse for what happened and he said what you’re trying to do by taking an animal with an arrow is really hard
He said think about it compared to how other people hunt ……….what you’re trying to do is really hard and anytime you’re able to be successful. It’s a great outcome.
I really appreciated that and think that often we don’t give ourselves enough credit for taking on the challenge to do what we do and we don’t give the sport enough credit for being as difficult as it truly is
When you think about it, it’s probably more surprising that we’re as successful as we are than it is surprising that we occasionally screw up
Bad shot to me is not in the heart/lungs.
3 bulls and 1 cow - not recovered.
3 bulls - recovered.
Minimising messing up is a goal we strive for every day. Occasionally messing up and immediately getting back in the game is why we love it. If it worked 100% we’d get bored.
Earltex: qdm has killed hundreds of animals in his 70 years of bow hunting. He was being facetious about never messing up.
Bowsite is a public forum.... I have concern regarding the wisdom of this thread . Easy for anti hunters to use it against hunting. Simple copy and paste.. or just a link. JMO.
Most my shots are bad shots, I’m more surprised when the arrow is where it’s supposed to be. Luckily I’m an excellent tracker and have made good calls when it comes to do I track in 30 min or 30 hrs. And there have been many fallow up shots.
Yep, about 7 years ago I had an arrow deflect off an aspen branch and hit a bull high and forward. Scapula hit, very little penetration and not much blood. I grid searched for that bull the entire next day even knowing it wasn’t a fatal shot just hoping to find blood or relocate the bull. I was sick about it for sure and tried to not take the attitude that it wasn’t my fault. It’s made me more aware of my surroundings and shooting lane for sure. Fast forward to 2023 and I had a clean miss on a bull AT 23 YARDS! I was a bit uphill of the bull and he came in silent and fast. Had no time to range him and I guessed him for 30. Clean miss high. Was so pissed at myself. Should’ve been a chip shot. Never did get my “Iron Will” head out of that tree!
Re Bluedog's comment - "Bowsite is a public forum.... I have concern regarding the wisdom of this thread . Easy for anti hunters to use it against hunting. Simple copy and paste.. or just a link. JMO. "
I copied this out of a letter-to-the-editor that I wrote over 20 years ago. -
"the antis I’ve met made up their minds long ago, so painting everything rosy isn’ t going to make a bit of difference with them.
... I’ve long believed that we who hunt and fish are 10% of the population, the antis are another 10%, and the other 80% are on the fence. How would you prefer that these people see us - as self-righteous types who never make mistakes, never have doubts, never run into ethical “gray” areas? Would you rather we were seen as fools who don’t even consider the ethics of what we’re doing? Who don’t question our behavior, don’t hash things out, who don’t care what others think?
That’s what the anti-hunters want - for the public to see us as unthinking, uncaring brutes who kill and maim animals with nary a second thought. Hiding the truth behind closed doors doesn’t help our cause at all.
I’ m damned sure not perfect. I’ve made my share of bad calls, gotten greedy, shot when I shouldn’t have. As a man, I need, and have, ideals. That does not make me an ideal man. Ideals are what we strive for, work towards, but not what we always achieve. In the heat of the moment we screw up. The important thing is to recognize that we did screw up and move on, resolved to do better in the future.
Are there ethical debates in the outdoor sports? Sure, lots of ‘em. Baiting. Hunting with hounds. “ Canned” hunts. Snagging. Wounding loss. The proliferation of high technology. The desirability of mandatory shooting skills tests. Illegal introduction of non-native species. Leasing/posting of land. And on and on.
My point is, these things need to be talked about. Openly. Yeah, maybe the antis will latch onto something, take it out of context, and use it against us. They’re good at that. But I believe the danger would be minor at best. I much prefer that the non-hunting, non-fishing public sees us for what we are - fallible humans engaged in a deeply meaningful way of life, thoughtful about what we’re doing and concerned about doing it well. People who are concerned with the ethical implications of our conduct, who are willing to discuss our failures and our doubts and try to find a better way."
PS, if you google 'Wounding loss in bowhunting' you'll find hundreds of articles on it from antis, hunters, and state wildlife offices. No point in pretending that it's a 'dirty little secret'.
exactly. There is enough stuff that would make hunters look horrible in the eyes of people who wanted to see us as horrible that if there was never another item added to the library of such "evidence" there would be enough already in the can to last until the end of time.......or the end of hunting...........whichever comes first.
............................that horse dun left da barn.
JTreeman - "Anyone who says they have not lost an animal, made a bad shot, or missed is either lying or not shot very many arrows at animals."
Ditto Brother!
I agree with Jim's post above regarding a bad shot or a miss.
I am lucky to have only lost one animal to a poor shot but I also know I haven't shot at as many animals as some of you all have over the years.
i can honestly say that every arrow i have ever released... on game or on targets... went
exactly where it was aimed.
Jim x 4. And Mark x 2. I think for me it’s occurrence and its extent is a reflection of preparation. Not always. But, it’s a break down in your shot sequence and execution if it’s on you. Sometimes it’s just the way it goes.
It happens if you shoot at stuff. And, it comes in waves sometimes. For me it’s a fine line. I suffer from tp if I shoot too much. I suffer from it if I don’t shoot enough too.
You just gotta work through it. But, I’ve found it takes working on the fundamentals of my shot sequence and being comfortable and confident in my tree or ground setup so I don’t rush anything during my shot to get back on track.
Yes, I have made bad shots. Practice as I may, I fully expect to make some more. Nothing worse in life than having unrealistic expectations to feed depression.
I have made my share of bad shots. Being a guide its really hard sometimes looking for the 10th or 20th animal that year your not going to find. Its so crazy some years everything dies. Some years it feels like you know whats going to happen before it happens. Like you cant catch a break.
“Yeah, maybe the antis will latch onto something, take it out of context, and use it against us.”
Ya think?!?! Lol! That concept works on all topics fro A to Z. The days of finding someone that simply disagrees with you, without judgment or ridicule, are long gone!
I for one don’t go around talking about my hunting adventures in just any crowd. In fact, I seldom discuss them at all. Especially if it was not a successful or picture perfect scenario. When living in New Mexico I learned that lesson the hard way.
I haven’t killed nearly as many deer as some of y’all have, but I can sincerely say I have never missed a buck. They seemed to all just stand there while the arrow found its mark. Same for antelope. Well, there was that one that I spined. That’s where the perfect record ends though. I’ve flat out missed does,(several), shot one in the top of her hip, one I don’t know where, one in the paunch, and one so low in her brisket that all I got was a double handful of long white hair. Thems the facts !
I know some of y’all will cringe, but I’ve had several pigs stuck and lost. I don’t hunt for them long, because I don’t eat them. They are a varmint here, and they mostly will just ruin a $25 arrow. In fact, I started carrying two pig arrows in my quiver, bought used on AT with Walmart broadheads. That lessened the pain a little.
If anyone hunts long enough they are going to have bad shots . Year before last I shot and hit a good buck in what I thought was a good spot. Ended up having to get a tracking dog. Found buck 1200 yds away dead the next morning.
Shot looked good my my angle was too high. I was 20ft up and it was only 20ft away
Arrow came out low on opposite side striking opposite leg
It missed heart but shredded the right lung. He went 1200 yds (by Onyx) . Initially jumped him out of first bed after about 500 yds after dark. Waited a couple hours but couldn’t find anymore blood . Buddy with tracking dog came next morning. Even though we found a little more blood it was over a 100 yds from the bed. We found another bed after about 300 yds with blood but didn’t find anymore blood until we found him. I would probably have not found it , at least in time to save meat without the dog
JTreeman sums it up nicely.
I hunt with a recurve or longbow and when i was younger I pushed my limits sometimes getting lucky and sometimes not. Thankfully most of my bad shots either hit the shoulder bone and didn't penetrate or through the backstrap. Any deer I hit to far back I recovered the next day. Now days I let a lot of deer walk waiting for a good shot angle under 20 yards and it has worked out really well for me.
You mean like this??
You mean like this??
I’ve made a number of ‘em, but only one struck flesh. It was actually a “perfect” shot, going exactly where I was looking on a trotting deer…. I was just looking at the backline, telling myself to not shoot over. I was sure I’d seen it sail over, but one blade had a scrap of bloodless meat on it. EXACTLY where I was (foolishly!) looking.
I feel there is a difference between a bad shot and a miss. Most of my missed shots can be attributed to blown yardage or a rushed shot. I've also had a couple of vegetation deflections however when I miss, I am really mad at myself but I am relieved that the critter was not wounded. A bad shot OTOH, just hits me in the gut like nothing else. I made a bad shot on a bull on my first elk hunt in 1994. We trailed this thing for 7 hours and actually ran into a guy who made a good shot on the elk I was tracking. While I was relieved the elk was killed, I felt terrible the whole time blood trailing and vowed never again. I have killed 12 elk now and while I've missed some, I haven't wounded another elk.
Ha ha!!! That's like asking if someone has ever lied in their life. If you were a rifle hunter it is conceivably possible to say no.
This might be a controversial take, but I pity the person who's never been worked up enough to make a bad shot or be so worked up to make a bad decision on a shot to take. With experience comes wisdom but getting there is part of the game.
There is no hunter on planet earth with a perfect kill rate. Humans are simply a part of the puzzle.
Plenty of bad shots or misses. Only a few that stick in my mind forever. Last elk hunt was a grind with very little action. Had a nice 6point come to me while calling for my buddy. Was prepared with ranging and shot an inch under his Chest perfectly broadside at 40yards. Only opportunity
Yes I have, but probably 98% kill ratio so, pretty good in the hunting world. But, my belief is most deer not found will probably survive. Unless, hit in the guts or the organ cavity.
I've definitely been there. I've been on a good streak since 2018. 2017 was a really bad year. I did lose a doe in 2022. The weird thing about it, though, is I hit her right where I intended to. I just chose the wrong aiming spot. She was close and I was high. I think I only got one lung. She laid down for half an hour, then got up after dark and I could find no blood. She ended up dying along a pond (which I walked past twice the next morning). The landowner noticed birds there and saw her remains. Not much was left of her as the wolves found her.She was probably 150 yards from where she laid down. I put on 6 miles on that 40 acres looking for her.
Jtreeman already gave the best and most correct answer.
I disagree with Dana’s statement that talking about bad shots will make us look humble and therefore more positive amongst the on-the-fence crowd compared to the antis. Not talking about wounding game doesn’t make you inherently egotistical or like you’re trying to act like it never happens. Just because something happens doesn’t mean it should be shouted from the mountaintops. Antis would love to know that “of course everybody has wounded a deer” and if I was an on-the-fence guy knowing that nearly every archery hunter in the world has wounded/lost animals would likely not make me support bowhunting all of a sudden… In fact I don’t see any rational person that would be swayed in favor of hunting by hunters talking about wounding game on the internet….
“There’s plenty of ammo for anti’s out there already so what’s another thread of ammo for them” is a wild take in my opinion… I agree that there’s plenty of ammo out there (pick your favorite market hunter) but to use other bad examples to justify the airing out of everybody’s bad example does NOT seem like a good tactic to win over on-the-fence people. Sort of an “if your friends jumped off a bridge would you jump off a bridge too?” situation. Just because market hunters and rednecks are giving the antis plenty of fuel doesn’t mean we have to also.
If you first meet someone and start talking to them about hunting, do you immediately start talking about wounding animals? I’d sure hope not! I don’t even talk about killing animals unless they bring it up first, let alone wounding animals… If you wouldn’t discuss it with someone within your first conversation with them about hunting, it’s probably not a good tactic of winning them over…
I don’t think a thread FULL of people admitting they’ve wounded game and don’t know any hunter who hasn’t wounded game has any form of net positive for literally anyone involved other than possibly giving some people an ego trip because they think they’re holier-than-thou people for admitting they’ve made horrendous mistakes that have resulted in animals getting maimed or slowly dying…
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Just because something happens doesn’t mean it should be exclaimed from the rooftops. Just because you get the good feelies about “being humble” doesn’t mean an on-the-fence bystander feels the same way…
Big difference between shouting from the rooftops or it being the first thing you discuss with a non-hunter to being one of a thousand threads amongst die-hard bowhunters. BIG DIFFERENCE
And considering we are among bowhunters, it might actually encourage the new bowhunter to realize that all these experienced hard-core guys have had their share of mistakes. This isn't Facebook or instagram. This is bowsite.
I have made some perfect shots on trees, rocks and dirt in front of and behind the desired target. Does that count??
I have a few mounted arrows and busted, broken, dulled broadheads to prove it.
Yeah it sucks sometimes but that's part of the bowhunting experience self-inflicting ourselves by adding a level of error, minimizing that error by the development of skill.. Something the current crowd seems to want to avoid by using high tech crossbows, airbows, laser aiming and distancing sights, etc. etc.
Archery is about shooting as far as you can to still hit the target, bowhunting is about getting so close you can't miss.
I have found a lot of dead lost deer after groups of xbowers where in an area.
Live2 Hunt-I can't tell you how many times I have found dead deer right after gun season that were unrecovered. On one occasion in WI it was a bowshot distance from a natural blind I was using. A nice big doe, the chickadees we digging through the fresh snow to feed on her when I was using the blind. A few years prior someone put a portable tree stand in the tree I had been using for a backrest inside the blind for 12-15 years. I KNOW that deer was recoverable, it was of the wrong sex and antlerless.
