Tell about a time when you missed a deer

[Bortzhunter2012]

Tell about your greatest misses. Im 18 now and when I was 14 I came face to face with a small 6. I had my bow with me and I panicked. I shot clean other him and he didnt even notice he ran about 2 feet and sauntered off. Luckily my family and friends were very supportive. Thats my story whats yours?

[shaman]

Greatest miss of all time for me?

Back in '96, it was getting on towards Thanksgiving. I was hunting a private campground out in Clermont County. I was on the ground, sitting on a bucket next to a tree. Out steps the biggest buck I'd ever seen. I was less than 15 yards from him. I pulled back and loosed a perfect shot. THUNK!

Deer walks off.

I found my arrow stuck in a beech sapling. I still have a 6 inch section of that sapling with the broadhead still in it up on the shelf.


Second greatest miss?

My last bow hunt was 2006. I was out at my farm, hunting the stand at Garbage Pit. A big 8 pointer came out at dusk, appearing at my stand moving from 12 O'Clock to 10 O'Clock. at about 20 yards. I shot and the first round hit a stump between his feet. He backed off a bit and challenged the stump,-- started pawing and showing the stump his antlers. That gave me time to nock an arrow and let fly again.

. . . bottom line is I used 4 arrows with nothing to show for it. The buck stayed put.for all of it, and finally saw me and took off after I had spent my last arrow. I finally realized my eyes were no longer good enough to see the pins properly. Middle age sucks. The next year, I tried to pull my bow and my shoulder started hurting and didn't stop hurting until after Thanksgiving.

[oletimer]

Wow ...this subject is not a short story over many years of hunting. However of the many one comes to mind. When I first go into bow hunting I was behind the house and a doe gave me a beautiful broadside shot opportunity. I shot right over her but she did not spook. She stayed around long enough for me to sail several more right over her. Afterward I realized I had left both eyes open in the excitement. So the next evening a small buck came by and I closed my left eye this time. He went 40 yards and piled up.
Everyone misses or lies about it. Hopefully all our misses are clean misses.

[Sailfish]

Years ago when I first got into hunting.
I had used a iron sight 30 30 but never had a deer close enough for my comfort to take a shot at.
My uncle who introduced me to hunting finally let me use his 30 -06 with scope and a clip. AND his # stand.
Middle of the day a herd of doe came out maybe 150 yards away on a slight downhill from my stand.
I couldn't pick one.
Finally I decided on the biggest, I was soooooooo nervous. I fired and missed. And in my anxiousness I unloaded the clip on that doe. All I saw was puff's of sand blowing up on all sides of her from my bullet (I never really was close), she ran left then right then left.......and the herd just bounded away.

I made up for it the next afternoon.

[w4sar]

This is one I posted last year:

"Just had my most frustrating missed opportunity ever. Was on my favorite stand with my crossbow. Not less then 15 minutes after getting settled, two does and a ten-point buck come out of a brushy area 50 yards to my right. One doe crosses right under my stand. The buck cautiously starts to follow her, I had all the time in the world to get set, my excitement mounts as the biggest buck I have ever taken actually crosses broadside 15 yards in front of me. I give a soft bleat to stop him, the dot is right behind his shoulder. I squeeze the trigger and nothing happens! I check the safety, it is off , squeeze again , nothing. I slide my thumb up and pull back on the bolt to be sure it is nocked, doesn't budge, again nothing. Now he is not alarmed, but is a bit suspicious so he turns and backs away 50 yards.

When his head is behind a tree, I lean forward and sure enough the bolt is 1/4" forward from the rest, enough to activate the anti-dry fire mechanism. I manage to get my hand forward and slide it snug. For the next 10 minutes the buck continues to move back and forth maddeningly out of range, and then picks up and trots down the hill out of sight. The doe, still behind me, quarters around 20 yards to my left and uphill, and when she gets downwind she goes on alert and snorts, trotting off down the hill.

I am positively angry with myself, I usually visually check that the bolt is fully seated. This time I did it carelessly by feel alone, and that overlooked detail bit me big time."

No, never did see that buck again last year, hoping I'll run into him this year. You can bet I will always double check the seating of my crossbow bolts.

[scottflesher]

About 4-5 years ago I was bowhunting in one of my favorite stands.
I'd been in the stand since about 30 minutes before sunrise and hadn't seen much. About 9:30am I heard a deer behind me and saw a doe coming off the bank about 80 yards behind me and she was coming my way. She worked her way to about 40 yards behind me and I looked up on the bank where she just came from and a huge, I mean huge buck was following her. I've been an avid bowhunter for about 20 years and knew if she didn't detect me, I'd likely get a shot at the brusier. Needless to say, she worked her way right past my stand at 23 yards. I was leaning up against the tree (to minimize my shiloutte) and she didn't detect me. After she passed me, I turned my attention to the large buck. I took one attempt to count his points and I noticed 10 large points and several smaller ones. I guessed him to be in the 170-180 range. I then quit looking at his antlers and began trying to judge body language. Eventually he went down the same trail the doe used and I took the 23 yard shot. I was probably 25 feet up the tree, so it was a steep angle, but I just plum undershot him. In hindsite, I think I dropped my bow arm trying to see the flight of the arrow, instead of just trusting it. It really stung for about a month but now I chalk it up to a tough lesson.

[kellory]

A miss is the reason, I no longer use a scope on a crossbow. I was up in a very well located tree stand, tucked into a corner where two large properties came together, and both of them shared a fence with a game preserve. No hunting allowed on the other side, so no hunting pressure either. Lots of heavy trails, all passing through this corner junction, before heading into the other adjacent property. Simply a beautiful location.
Climbing into the stand, I had tripped and bent one of my three crossbow bolts, so to prevent confusion, I left it at the base of the tree so I wouldn't grab the wrong one.
I had does all morning. I had does all afternoon. I had does bedding down beneath me. The light is starting to fade, and a large doe heads for the fence, and I figured she was the best shot I would get that day, so I lined up the cross hairs, and just as she gathered to jump the fence, I fired.
LOTS OF NOISE! No damage! and a confused does looking in all directions but going no where!
I looked at what had caused all the noise, and saw a thumb sized branch between me and that doe, with a crossbow bolt sticking through it, and waving to beat the band!..... PARALLAX! The difference between the bolt's path and the scope's path, hid that branch from my scope. The focus was simply too tight.
I had a rare opportunity with a crossbow(a second shot), so I ever so carefully recocked the bow string, but it would not latch! I took my eyes off the deer and looked close at the crossbow, and a small metal bar was in the way of the string. I pried it up gently, and it snapped off and went clanging down the tree! The does starts to move back toward that fence, just as I got the second (and last bolt ) seated, and lined up for a quick last moment shot, ..............and watched in stupefaction as my bolt slid off the end of the bow! That little strip of spring steel was the bolt retainer, that I had caught with the bow string as I tried to quietly recock in a tree. 10 seconds after that bolt hit the tree, and the ground, there wasn't a doe in sight. And all I could do was cuss myself out, and go home.
Repair parts from Barnett took about 2 weeks to arrive, and the scope was retired before I got home. I will not use anything tighter than a reddot now with a crossbow.

[msbadger]

This is not a miss story...though I've had a few over the years...but an unintentional "hit " with out an arrow....just to lighten the mood...misses are never fun......

It was a beautiful morning and I just got back...did a bad bad thing this a.m....about 9:30 sitting in shooting house...due to wind...Had to go!...Too much water...so took care of business and I crawl out on to the deck ...so as not to get caught...reach over blind material and empty container...There's a rush of noise running away then stops...I... still on hands and knees brace for what I thought would be skunk...no...I peek over blind and there 12yrds away are a buck and doe fawn...he has 4 in spikes and is sniffing like crazy...

she on the other hand is violently shaking her head ...with my urine spraying of her ears....OOOPPPPssss...Lord what are the chances...she starts the one foot stomp and turning where she stands...trying to figure out what just happened.... ears rotating every which way...I back up into the shooting house and try to get cam but she decides to trot away up through the woods buck in tow...I think I popped a vein trying not to laugh out loud...They surely creeped in on me...The wind had the leafs very noisy this morning...lol