What Caused Your Last Miss?

[msbadger]

Thanks deer30
...I always get the flutter and catch your breath thing ...but ... Hell no!! they can keep the fever...twice was 2x's too many...I actually do know what caused it and it was sheer surprise both times...The first...I'd drawn on a doe and was waiting for her to take those last two steps when I heard a snap... we both looked...standing right next to my tree was yes one of those "stupid big bucks"...He had a narrow TALL rack and the first thing I noticed were 12 in. brow tines...It hit so fast that I lost all muscle control and nearly passed out...watched in horror as the arrow left my bow and sailed under the does chin...This caused them both to leap out maybe 15yrds broad side infront of me and all I could do was press myself against the tree and look sky ward
My eyes had stars shooting out of them...it felt like the top of my head popped off and my legs were rubber as I chanted don't drop the bow...I saw that buck a couple of weeks later ...IN a Photo...yes a young guy a couple miles away in the valley shot him....the rack was so tall that the guy was standing holding it and it was at his waist...11pts and the brow tines were 11 15/16ins. long

This last time...the buck came in with his doe and I readied my self...then he laid down with a maple blocking just his shoulders and head....I thought ..OK...I can handle him being 100yrds away...can't see his head...The doe milled around coming my way ...with no wind...and then she glanced at the buck and bolted away from me...when he stood up and in a second I knew I had only one chance...that's when it hit ....So My mind needs to be able to see them coming and have time to go to work on getting the "Job" done...what angle they may come in on.... how far a shot I will take..... will they stop or will I need to lead them to find an opening and hope thats where they step..ect..ect

It does make you feel soooo alive though...then again.... I'd prefer the evening news not have a story of woman hunter dies of heart attack...sitting in a tree stand ..lol

[msbadger]

Thanks deer30
...I always get the flutter and catch your breath thing ...but ... Hell no!! they can keep the fever...twice was 2x's too many...I actually do know what caused it and it was sheer surprise both times...The first...I'd drawn on a doe and was waiting for her to take those last two steps when I heard a snap... we both looked...standing right next to my tree was yes one of those "stupid big bucks"...He had a narrow TALL rack and the first thing I noticed were 12 in. brow tines...It hit so fast that I lost all muscle control and nearly passed out...watched in horror as the arrow left my bow and sailed under the does chin...This caused them both to leap out maybe 15yrds broad side infront of me and all I could do was press myself against the tree and look sky ward
My eyes had stars shooting out of them...it felt like the top of my head popped off and my legs were rubber as I chanted don't drop the bow...I saw that buck a couple of weeks later ...IN a Photo...yes a young guy a couple miles away in the valley shot him....the rack was so tall that the guy was standing holding it and it was at his waist...11pts and the brow tines were 11 15/16ins. long

This last time...the buck came in with his doe and I readied my self...then he laid down with a maple blocking just his shoulders and head....I thought ..OK...I can handle him being 100yrds away...can't see his head...The doe milled around coming my way ...with no wind...and then she glanced at the buck and bolted away from me...when he stood up and in a second I knew I had only one chance...that's when it hit ....So My mind needs to be able to see them coming and have time to go to work on getting the "Job" done...what angle they may come in on.... how far a shot I will take..... will they stop or will I need to lead them to find an opening and hope thats where they step..ect..ect

It does make you feel soooo alive though...then again.... I'd prefer the evening news not have a story of woman hunter dies of heart attack...sitting in a tree stand ..lol

[DEER30]

msbadger,
The same kind of thing happened to me one time, although the buck was nothing like what you described. I had hunted all day in the November rut and passed on several young bucks hoping for a biggun'. Well, I watched a doe for nearly 30 min at less than 20 yards, and when a buck didn't join her, I decided to fill the tag and get a fresh start in the morning. Of course, when I came to full draw, I heard a deer walking behind me and it was an old buck with a strange little non-typical rack. The surprise had me so excited that I tried to shift my feet into position without letting down my bow. I ended up getting the string hooked on a winder step used to hold my gear and my grunt call twirled around the string. I bet I was hilarious to watch in that tree trying to untangle this mess without alerting the deer. The buck ended up pushing the doe out and chasing after her. I never took the shot and went home empty handed. But I had to sit down to cool my jets for 10 min after they left before I could climb down. I have been hunting for nearly 20 years and have harvested much bigger deer, but they always get me pumped up like that!

[Deebz]

DEER30... that reminds of my first miss ever... first shot at a deer, actually.

I was 14, and hunting out of a permanent blind my dad, older brother, and I had built in a big oak tree right on the edge of a field with a small ravine behind me. I'd been watching tons of squirrels, so when I heard leaves crunching behind me I figured it was more squirrels. I stood up and looked and saw 2 really nice bucks sparring down in the bottom of the ravine in a clearing. My heart instantly went into overdrive. I got to watch them spar for about 10 minutes, then the really big 12 went off the one direction and the really big 8 came up the trail by my tree. I drew when the deer was behind a bush expecting him to step out at 10 yards broadside. As big deer do, he turned off on a trail I didn't even realize was there and went the other direction. In my inexperience, I stayed at full draw while trying to maneuver around the giant oak to get a shot to the other side of the tree. I'm sure the deer heard/saw me move because he locked up behind a bush with only his neck, head, and GIANT (to my 14 year old eyes, but he was probably a 140 class deer) rack showing. That's when I realized that my big aluminum shaft arrow had shifted up onto the block part of my wire rest. I tried to wiggle my wrist enough to shake the arrow down onto the rest. Amazingly, it actually worked, but the little noise it made caused the deer to take off. I swung the bow with the buck and pulled the trigger. If the buck had taken another jump like they often do I'd have killed him, but he ducked after the initial bound and my arrow skimmed right over his back. He then pulled up outside the tree line and paced back and forth trying to figure out what had happened. I was shaking so badly I couldn't even keep my pin stable, even though I had 2 or 3 opportunities within 20 yards. Never got another shot at that deer.

[RyanCGrover47]

Well I was sitting in a ladder stand, not more than 10 feet off the ground. I was watching the intersection of some old logging roads(not so much a road as a path) with the side of the hill as background with an old powerhouse on top. I had just shot at a doe and clipped a twig, sending the arrow right below her stomach and right into a log that I never could get my muzzy out of. After unscrewing my arrow and settling back into my stand, fifteen minutes later I see movement on the hill. I slowly stood up, got my bow in my hand and got my feet position. 50 yards.. it's a buck... 40 yards... 30 yards... 4 point.... 25 yards... I drew back... 20 yards... now all I had to do was bend slightly at the knees to get underneath a limb. As I bent down I clipped my release and sent the arrow sailing over his back. After that miss I just gathered my stuff and called it a night.

[spearfisher]

Last week I missed a doe with my bow. She busted me in a ground blind. I didnt zip the backdoor b/c I was worried about noise..... She saw thru the blind and it freaked her. I had a shot but it was quartering at me. I didnt take into account the angle and it sailed right past her. Rookie mistake but it was my first hunt in over ten years so likewise first shot in over ten. Oh well. Live, learn....maybe tomorrow I can laugh about it.

[Livebait]

I was cross bow hunting for the first time. I have a bad habit of wrapping my thumb around the barrel of a gun when I shoot at game. Without thinking I carried this habbit over to Xbow hunting. Needless to say the string destroyed my thumb. haha

Happy Hunting.

[MoDeer]

A limb about a month ago . I decided to shoot a doe and was sure that I had a big enough hole in the limbs to squeeze an arrow through . I usualy don't forget that my arrow is leaving the bow 4 inches below the sights but luckily no animals were harmed in the making of this story .

[martyremillard]

The miss that wasn't. I pride myself on my marksmanship being a former Marine and from a hunting family mostly former Veterans like myself, We understand the importants of shooting and dicipline is very important part of hunting for me. Arriving at my hunting camp on a later Friday afternoon I rushed out to my stand about 90 minutes before sunset in blue jeans and sneakers an hour later I took a small buck. The next morning I was back in the same stand but fully equiped for hunting that day so I thought. An hour into the morinng I heard a niose over my right shoulder and there was a nice 8 pointer rubbing his antlers thru the tree branched. I turned and as always took a well aimed neck shot. over 97% of the deer I shoot are taken by neck shots, they always drop on the spot. The deer I assumed dropped out of sight as I chambered another round I noticed three doe's about 10 yards to the right (all deer were 75 yards out from the stand) I took a neck shot at the largest one. All three deer stood there looking at me I could not believe I missed, I guess my heart was still pounding from the nice buck I just shot at, chamber round three, shoot, and miss again. All three deer still standing there. Chamber another round, shoot miss. This time all three hop about ten yards away and are looking right at me. I wipe my eyes and try chambering another round but my magazine is empty. I cant believe I forgtot to replace the night before round. I start searching thru all my pockets and my back pack. I than realized never put in any axtra rounds. I furious and upset and now to top things off, I look up and there is the 8 pointer I thought I killed standing there looking at me, 35 yards out. Absolutely dumb founded I watched for over the next ten minutes all four deer slowly walk away. Afterwards I climbed down my stand and went back to the cabin. Thought long and hard at what had just transpired for the next 2 days I hunted another stand of mine. But that day haunted me, I never miss, I could not believe it. So I thought I would revisit the stand and try to understand what happened. Upon arrival at the stand I seen the buzzards, I walk over 75 yards out and sure enough there lied the 8 pointer dead and half eaten. It appears the 8 pointer had a twin and I didn't miss the first shot. I failled to walk the woods after my shot to verifiy my actions. A hard lesson to learn that still pains me today.

[kellory]

I just got back from an all day sit. from can see to can't see (almost). In the last half hour of daylight, I got visited by a healthy 6 pointer, heavy muscled, and moving easy. He approached my decoy, and stopped in plain view. I had a perfect side view shot from my tree stand. He was bracketed by a few trees, but nothing vital covered. This one is headed for the freezer!. I lined up the crosshairs, held my breath, settled, and squeezed off a shot. The gun spoke, the deer jumped and ran a few yards, and......just stood there. No blood., No panic, No marks on any of the trees around the deer where I fired....I lined up for a second shot, and then a third! The buck is not injured! trots off a bit to go around the area, and I am digging for my last two rounds. Loaded, I follow his progress through the brush, but there is no clear shot. I marked the shot locations in my mind, and packed up. Went to each point where I shot, and found no sign of any hurt, or even blazes on trees! The scope must have been knock about between last season, and now. I hard cased my Mossberg 500 with the scope dead on last season, and with only a few rounds, choose not to waste them with checking the zero before hunting. Big mistake. The scope will be coming off the shotgun before it takes to the woods again. This is the second time for this kind of miss. I will go back to iron sights.

Side note, I marked where the buck crossed the road, and trailed it for long enough to know it was not injured. i think I could hear it laughing.....