What Caused Your Last Miss?

[mag30079]

Last year early season, I setup and used my range finder to range all the trees at my shooting lanes. I do this every year and it works for me. At 10am a medium buck walked in out of no where, slowly walking. When he stopped in a clearing I set my 15yrd pin dead center on his lungs, with a smile on my face I released my arrow thinking this was a slam dunk. I watched my arrow fly just under him in to a pine tree. At 30 yards he stopped again and gave me yet another broadside shot. Only now my confidens was gone and I watched him walk out of site. I reranged the tree and found the distance to be 22 yards. I learned a lesson that day and left my cockyness at home on my next hunt.


The weird part was if I would of arrowed this buck I wouldn't have hunted as hard later on in the season. Later in the season I shot a big 219lb dressed 3.5 year old 9 point with 4 broken tines. My bigest buck ever.

[retiredsailor]

Bow hunting out of a semi-permanent ladder stand, about 16 feet up. Nice fat doe ambled past and stopped about 18 yards away, offering a beautiful broadside shot; however, I missed completely. She jumped and scampered away a few yards, but then returned to her original spot, giving me a second opportunity. Again, missed by a mile. She finally had enough and moved on down the ridge. After getting home and checking out my bow, I discovered that the peep-sight had came loose and was sliding up and down the string by as much as 3 quarters of an inch. Take home lesson.......when arriving for the hunt, always check over every part of your equipment prior to settling in for the hunt.

[Deebz]

My last miss was last year's opening day of gun season. I had a huge buck, most likely 170's at least, come in to my stand. I waited until he was nice and broadside, which ended up being about 12 yards away. This would be the first shot i'd taken at a deer with a scope on my shotgun, and only the second season I'd hunted with the gun. I guess i chalk it up to pure ignorance, because i figured with a 50 yard zero, i'd be shooting high at 12 yards. I tried for a perfect heart shot, and I must have just clipped his front right leg. I trailed him forever, jumped him out of a bed with very minimal blood in it one time, then never saw him again. Although i did hear from other hunters that he was seen a few days later. I'm hoping i get a shot at a 3 legged monster this season... and I'm also never going to aim too perfectly again. I've never lost a deer i hit in the lungs, so I plan on aiming for the area that is going to allow me the largest margin for error.

oh yeah, and i've shot my gun a LOT more since. I just bought the Nikon Slughunter for it as well ( i'm reserving the right to blame the cheaper scope i had on the gun for part of the miss)

[ChasePhase]

2yrs ago. Headed in to the edge of the big swamp we hunt; with my climber. Weather was turning and looked like rain. It did start to rain and I stood up to put on my jacket; was slowly zipping it up when a nice 8 walked in. I grabbed my bow and turned to face the tree to get a shot. String caught the sleeve of my bulky jacket that I had just put on 1minute earlier. Arrow stuck in the ground about a foot in front of him.

That was my first lighted nock too. As it grew darker, the nock became brighter....like a neon sign reminding me of my miss-fortune.

[RNC]

Last fall I had just climbed up the tree and setteled into my stand whan doe showed up. It happened so fast I didn't really get excited until the th arrow had already done it's job. So I sat down to relax and enjoy the moment when an 8pt showed up scent trailing the doe I just shot. I got the bow off the hanger but had to take a shot while sitting down. I absolutely dislike shooting this way and don't pratice it often. As a result the shot went low giving the buck a close shave but doing no real damage.

[Ohio farms]

Two years ago a shot over the back of a nice doe with my Horton crossbow. Hortons have a dial on the side to compensate for different distances rather than use different crosshairs on the scope. (hate that dial) Well, I don't use the dial, rather I just use different crosshairs in the scope for different distances. I must have moved the dial while cocking the bow. The dial now has a dab of epoxy holding in in place...and I always check it...now. I can still picture that arrow passing over his back.

[jonny5buck]

Not my ''last miss''..but a goody....I was pumped a few yrs back and had a small section of pines to myself,while park hunting...

I just grabbed my bow...knife /permit/ and gutting gloves....a pull-up rope/ and my portable stand on my back...

At the base of the tree i hooked the plastic clip to my bow string...and as soon as i grabbed the first branch...deer came barreling in on both sides of the tree...first it was a few fawns [so i thought they were playing....than a big doe charged by...now i was grabbing an arrow and knocking it while shaking ....3 more ...2 more ..than i heard clop clop on the road...and here came a nice buck...9pt all jacked on chasing does around...he bolted by and stood absolutely perfect at about 23-27yds away quartering away looking for those does...


Yep- --never shoot yer bow with the plastic clip and 25ft of cord tied to it..made an aweful sound ...i actually ducked...thinking the string exploded....the buck ran..and a curious button buck came back and sniffed the arrow ...sticking straight up out the ground...he was so close i couldnt resist...'' buddy'' i said..tell your fuzzy faced friends to come back..its ok now....he seemed amazed and un -afraid....he loved sniffing that arrow and rubbed a little scent from his eye duct on it and walked a few yrds away...i waited for a few more minutes ....thanked the button buck as i grabbed my arrow..and he stood up from his bed and watched ..than he walked away slowly...i did the same....my head was hanging a little lower than his ...

[ranwin33]

A small oak tree I left standing because when I was trimming shooting lanes I knew keeping it would provide a lot of nuts in 10-15 years. Did not occur to me that it might cause me to miss a nice 10 point buck when my arrow clipped one of its branches.

[Joel Spring]

I'm not a big fan of trimming shooting lanes in tight cover, and keep a minimalist approach to brush removal. One of the last nights of archery season in 2010, I had a doe come in at 10 yards. Thought I 'picked a hole' through the brush, but the arrow deflected shortly after leaving my bow, hitting a tree about two feet in front of the deer. She turned and bolted -- and right at dark she came right back up the same trail. I picked another spot and this time it was clear and I got her. 75 yard trailing job through the thick brush in the dark and she was stone cold dead.

I still don't like trimming too much brush away......

[ranwin33]

I'm not a big fan of trimming shooting lanes in tight cover, and keep a minimalist approach to brush removal. One of the last nights of archery season in 2010, I had a doe come in at 10 yards. Thought I 'picked a hole' through the brush, but the arrow deflected shortly after leaving my bow, hitting a tree about two feet in front of the deer. She turned and bolted -- and right at dark she came right back up the same trail. I picked another spot and this time it was clear and I got her. 75 yard trailing job through the thick brush in the dark and she was stone cold dead.

I still don't like trimming too much brush away......

Depends on the tree. Oaks we try and keep, sometimes to a fault. Hickories and locust not so much. Plus putting them on the ground opens up the canopy for more sunlight and that means more oaks. As for brush, prickly ash and iron wood are goners, dogwoods we try and keep.

But on our Hilltop plot we have to trim the brush down to around a height of 5-6 feet or there is no shot opportunity from our tree stand. It's only 10 foot high and just 5 yards from the plots edge. The height of the brush keeps the deer feeling safe while giving us a clear shot at deer in the plot.