Best bad shots and misses

[sawmill]

Reading Bridgers ram story reminded me of of the time I was driving into my hunting spot out by Pouce Coupe and by God if there wasn`t a Huge Whietail buck standing about 20 yards off the little acsess road I was on.He was a 170+ Peace country buck with a rack on him that made his body look small and those boys run around 250 lbs. or more live wieght.
I bailed out of the truck,fumbled one shell into my .270,drew a bead on him and completely missed him broadside.He never gave me another chance,just spun and run and I wasn`t about to take a Texas heart shot on a 40 mile per hour deer.
Later when I quit crying I realised I was so used to shooting 200 yards to get bucks out in the fields that I had given this big guy the same hold .And I had gotten a case of big buck fever.
That miss haunts me to this day.

[hunter1947]

Sawmill I also think of the big 7x8 that I missed this year when he was putting on the leather running side ways from me down hill at about 270 yards.

He had to be in the 360 class ,I hope he is in the same area next year and that nobody had shot him this year :rolleyes:.

[TIKA 300]

Had a doe draw in Rock Creek 6 yrs back,1st doe @ 150 yds up hill,missed by a mile.2nd doe,broadside @ 30 yards,clean miss,WHAT THE .......:eek:.

Next weekend sight in Browning 30-06 @ home,shooting about 20" low???

Next weekend up @ RC again,out 45 minutes,spot buck,1 shot,1 dead deer.:razz:

To this day i havent a clue on what happened to my scope,but worked out in the end.

[sawmill]

Ah ,but 270 yards running is justifiable,mine was plain ass dumb!

[kennyj]

Finally on the 11th day of my Dall sheep hunt I spotted Rams.One was a shooter,so I ramboed as close as I could get and missed him 3 times.I couldn't believe it.On the long walk back to camp,after led across several rock piles by the rams,I remembered I had banged my scope on the way in.Sure enough my gun was way off.I fixed it and was very lucky to find the same Rams a couple miles further down the valley the next day.The second time I didn't miss.
kenny

[model88]

This fall, we were in Saskatchewan. Saw a group of does with a small buck. Figured there had to be a bigger buck around so my buddy and I snuck in on them.

Sure enough over a rise came another doe with a 150" class buck hot on her tail. Buddy finds a rest, buck stops broad side at about 100yrds. Boom, he misses, buck turns moves about 10yrds, I take an off-hand shot, boom, I miss. Buck moves maybe another 20yrds, broadside again, boom, buddy misses again. Finally the deer had enough of all the noise and away they went:cry:

Shoot the guns later, no excuses 'cept maybe, just maybe a small case of buck fever for both of us:shock:

88

[chilcotin hillbilly]

Worst miss I witnessed was with a.cat hunter I was guiding. We got to the tree and let the fellow calm down for a few minutes. I showed him where to shoot the cat. Easy right,15 yards with a scoped rifle. The fellow shoots, alook at this guy and say reload you missed. I could not believe it. Second shot, right in the elbow and the cat jumps the tree. With a broken front leg the cat can no longer tree, so after a short race the dogs were fighting it on the ground fur was flying and dog were getting hurt. I managed to kill it from about 6 feet and not hit any dogs. Tough on the dogs when us people don't perform well.

[lilhoss]

For all the money we spend on gas,ferries,tags,licences,etc,etc we should all spend at least one shell when we get to our hunting areas!Missed a big mulie buck at close range in the timber once.He was "bouncing" down on me after a grunt tube call,shot at 20 yds for lower front shoulder and kicked up the moss below him,off he ran.Of course,scope was on 9 power in the timber-never again,drop it down to 4 x.Later took a shot at a piece of cardboard at 100 yds.12 inches low,10 inches to the left.Somehow scope was out,so re-aligned and next day smacked a big 3 point in the neck at 176 yds. That is why they call it hunting and not killing...

[Brambles]

Reading Bridgers ram story reminded me of of the time I was driving into my hunting spot out by Pouce Coupe and by God if there wasn`t a Huge Whietail buck standing about 20 yards off the little acsess road I was on.He was a 170+ Peace country buck with a rack on him that made his body look small and those boys run around 250 lbs. or more live wieght.
I bailed out of the truck,fumbled one shell into my .270,drew a bead on him and completely missed him broadside.He never gave me another chance,just spun and run and I wasn`t about to take a Texas heart shot on a 40 mile per hour deer.
Later when I quit crying I realised I was so used to shooting 200 yards to get bucks out in the fields that I had given this big guy the same hold .And I had gotten a case of big buck fever.
That miss haunts me to this day.


Just an experiance I had, I shot at a whitetail buck at 20 yards with a 270 as well, buck showed no signs of being hit and no blood in the snow, took off like a scalded cat. I couldn't believed I missed him, followed his tracks trying to get another shot. 60 yards later I found him dead, couldn't believe it and was glad I followed him, definitly a lesson learned.

[kootenay redneck]

hunting whitetail late last year up pass creek.I was creeping along a game trail in that followed the creek, i stoppped turned around and theres this huge buck rubbing a tree, he was mabey 20 feet away I was amazed he did not know i was there any how the buck steps out onto the trail i shoot and missed i could not believe my eyes as he jumped snorted, and took off into the thick brush , sure enough i looked for blood trail nothing all i could do was laugh my the next trip to the rangethe gun out was big time all well that's hunting, there's always next year!!

[eastkoot]

This year I was on one side of the railway tracks and there was a 5x5 and a good 6 point on the other side of the tracks. The five had me pegged so I got as high as I could and thought I would shoot the six in the top of the back. I couldn't streaaaach any higher for a good shot. As I tried to get over the tracks all I could see in the scope was the top of his back and the opposite railway track. I'm sure I lifted to prevent hitting the railway and after the shot they both ran unscathed...Now I'm buying beef!!!!

[sawmill]

Just an experiance I had, I shot at a whitetail buck at 20 yards with a 270 as well, buck showed no signs of being hit and no blood in the snow, took off like a scalded cat. I couldn't believed I missed him, followed his tracks trying to get another shot. 60 yards later I found him dead, couldn't believe it and was glad I followed him, definitly a lesson learned.
This was in a canola field at least 680 acres,which is a square mile,I watched him run the whole length and dissapear into the bush at the far end.Of course I walked to the bush,had 2 inches of snow to track in,not a spot of blood.
I basically fu$%`ed up the shot.
And I always tune my rifles in,and if I go on a long road trip I do it again.
One good thing is that I learned to take a deep breath and think for a half a second.This happened 20 years ago,and it has not happened since.(although it could,nobodies perfect:biggrin:)

[Gateholio]

I am sure a few of the members here were around when I made my famous miss...

After hunting California Bighorns for 19 days near Lilooet, and after a couple of stalks that didn't work out...

On the last hour of the last day of the season I took a longish (400 yard) shot at a ram that was straight down below me and shot over him. Twice.

There was really no excuse for that miss, except I didn't do a couple of quick mental calculations before the shot. It's the only 'negative' experience in my hunitng career that still makes me mad at myself.

Luckily, I will never forget it, as a few of my friends on this site (including the only witness) never seem to forget it, and remind me at least a few times per year. :)

[redthorn]

Blacktails are my beast of choice, and it was 3 days after the season opened, and I had my bow and was after a herd that I'd seen in the area. I crawled in towards where they were usually bedded, and all of a sudden, right where I didn't expect him, a monster stood up. He was 4x5 with almost 2 inch browtines. I couldn't use a rangefinder because of the fog, and so I just drew. From the size of his rack, I figured he had a large body, and figured he must be about 40yds. I put the pin on the shoulder, and clean whiffed the arrow over his back. He bolted, and I found my arrow and stepped it off at 15 yds. Things look larger and farther away in the fog.... oh well, I did arrow a nice 2x2 a few hours later.

[Gateholio]

I think my most memorable shot was a number of years ago.

I had hunted a bit when I was a kid, on my own, but had stopped for a decade or so.

On opening morning, I was out with my 20 guage shotgun and new licence. I pounded the forest all day, never saw anything.

Slightly discouraged, I headed back to the truck, and the light was fading. A couple hundred more yards to the truck, and a grouse flushed.

I swung fast and hit him, he dropped down and did a little death flutter then was still. I remember thanking that bird, for helping me reintroduce myself to hunting, and thinking to myself "I am now a hunter."

:-D

[BlacktailStalker]

This is a good thread.

This year I missed my massive revert at about 120 yards, straight down, 4 times lol, I had been hiking non stop and was surprised to see him when I came around a corner, never took the angle into account and probably was wobbly.
I caught up to him 5 minutes later, still straight down and plugged him at 240 yards no rest after scaling some bluffs. Go figure.
Still havent lost an animal yet due to marksmanship error :biggrin:... With a rifle :shock:

2 years ago while helping farside with her island elk bow draw, I saw a HUGE 3 pt blacktail with no brows, mahogany brown antlers that wrapped around and almost touched like a whitetail, easliy 100-105"
He was chasing a dink 2 pt in circles around a doe.
I snuck to within 35 yards, the doe saw me and started heading to the timber, he realized she was leaving, he stopped broadside and looked at me, I came to full draw and touched my release... Nothing !
I held, looked at it, worked the trigger, gave it a little "twitch" with my hand and it let go, clean miss by over 10 feet :sad:
Still makes me feel sick.

[BiG Boar]

Buck Fever! or something like that.
Heres what happened
I am out looking for a buck, any buck. Up till this year I had never seen a buck in the wild. Looking in the bush across an open field, about 20 yards in the bush under some tall trees I see a huge buck. Well huge to me. I would say 4x4. Mulie. I have sighted in my sako 300 win mag to incredible acuracy. I mean the this is tight at 200 yards. I lay down and look over the lay of the land, there are three small hills and dips in between me and this buck. I figure 300 yards, so I put the bead on the top of his back. You should have seen the pile of hair. and not one drop of blood in fresh snow after tracking for 1 km. Pacing it off on the way back I counted 196 paces.

[proguide66]

The following still plagues me 12 yrs later........

On the island , bow hunting a buck I had bin after for 2 seasons...afternoon..drizzling , mossey rocks/oaks/cedar....come up a big mossey face..on top 15 yrds is the 5X5 ( solid 120"+ )....on the back of a doe broad sideto me ...does lookin at me...4 other does standing there lookin at me...he doesnt skip a beat , keeps drillin her...I shoot my 4 arrows clean over his back 4 times........never seen him again......

[bigwhiteys]

My first deer hunt I was 13 or 14 and missed a decent 4 pnt buck 7 times as he was broadside on a hillside about 200 yards away. The gun wasn't the problem.

Then a few years later I had an opportunity at a really heavy 4x4 whitey(170'ish buck) and missed him 3 times at about 100 yards when he was on a flat out run. I learned a lesson about whitetails that day.... WAIT until he gets with the does and he'll stop running if not spooked. He wasn't spooked until I opened up! Again the gun wasn't the problem.

Carl

[hunter1947]

My most memorable shot was on a bull elk out at 500 yards ,I have only shot out at this distance two times in my hunting years one an elk the other was a bull moose.

It was near loosing shooting light when a big bull walked out from the timber into the slash.

I was level with him ,no wind ,I had a cut off stump where I put my 7mm to rest it ,I turned the Leupold scope to 9 power then got comfortable with the rest an as the elk was facing me I squeezed the trigger he was still standing ,I slammed another shell into the chamber and shot again down he went with his hind end up and his head on the ground .

He was pushing himself down the mountain side with his hind end up and his head on the ground ,I got him in the bottom of the neck dead center ,it is on my wall now it was an even 7x7 RME.

[sawmill]

You gotta watch that u-tube vid about the guy who takes a .50 cal.richochet in the head.That`s a bad shot.I`d link it but I`m too dumd,just punch in .50 cal.head shot,and you will find it.

[mark]

As a rookie hunter/teenager, I had buck fever bigtime! I can say that Ive missed some of the biggest bucks that Ive ever seen! :shock: Eventually I grew out of it and I havnt missed a deer for some years now. This year while hiking in some very open country with my GF, I spot a nice big 5x5 whitey, 150 yards broadside, way out in the open! :confused: 2 shots, clean miss both times, watched him run away for 300 yards. :icon_frow Gun was just fine! Guess I still get big whitey fever!

[Bighorn hunter]

My best bad shot was on my rocky three years ago.He came out on a bluff directly below us @ about 200 yrds. shot was extreme down hill. My first shot was a hang fire, quickly ejected the bullet, my second(the sheep was head on giving me a chest shot)shot dropped him in his tracks. The bad thing was I didn't allow for the angle and nailed him right below the left eye and through his brain.Great killing shot, but not the best for the cape.

[Buckmeister]

Don't get me started.

I don't know why I'm confessing this but I had 3 (bad shots and misses) this year.

1st = 170 yards, slow moving buck broadside took a leap when I fired, missed.
2nd = 50 yards, Buck knew something was nearby, I had a narrow shooting lane with only a head shot available, complete miss.
3rd = 80 yards, cow elk broadside, just plain stupidity and buckfever, missed.

There was even a 4th incident, but I'm not sure what happened exactly and I don't want to talk about it because a VERY BIG BUCK was involved. :evil:

[goatdancer]

My best bad shot was bow hunting a few years ago in Alberta. We were there for the bow elk season, muleys were open as well. Couldn't find any elk but there were some muleys hanging around the field. One day the other guys tried to herd this one buck toward my hiding spot but the beastie seemed to disappear. However, there was a grouse sitting on the ground at about 10 yds. I drew back and made the typical rifle adjustment for the range and let fly. The arrow went right between his feet just above ground level and disappeared. Never could find it. About $15 later I realized that there is no 'adjustment for range'. Just use the right pin, duh!!!

[Sitkaspruce]

In the early nineties, I was part of a grup of us that would head to Princeton for the last 4 days, when it eneded on the 9th of Nov. I was hunting up on an old skid trail on Hindu Mountain, saw this doe about 30 yards a head of me in the timber, just standing there. I sat down against this old fir and waited to see what was with her. About 5 minutes later she moves two steps and out walk behind her a huge NT. All I could see is his head. I count at least 19 points, over and over again as they just stand there for ~10 minutes, neither moving. I have gone form a freak show of shakes to calm, back to shakes to calm again. I whistle, grunt, even whisper to the deer, neither twitches. I am starting to question my sanity.....is there really two deer there or is it a figment of my imagination:-o. I have the gun on him and have myself a great three point rest, now I am thinking, shoot him in the head or wait...I wait. Finally she moves a step and so does he. Now I have a clean shot of his vitals, I settle in, tell myself not to look at the rack and squeeze one of. I do all this and..........shot right over his back:-o:redface::mad:. he took off like a rocket, never did catch up with him or his girls...

I did not learn anything from that shot, just that I blew it.....and a bottle of Gibsons can give you a great head ache:razz::razz:. But thats hunting.

Of all the crazy things I have seen while guiding, it is the misses that make me laugh the most. As a client, spending big $$ of a moose hunt, the thing you would pratice the most is shooting your gun....but for quite a few of them...it is not. I had one client miss a bear three times @100y on the road, then miss the same bear the next day 200y twice, them miss a good bull moose @ 60 yards 3 times while standing broad side on the road, he never got a bull and finally made a good shot on a bear. Another guy missed a bull @70y 5 times with an old rolling block 45/70, them an hour later make an off hand 200y shot w/ a 7mm on a bull that killed it...go figure. Another guy who missed three different bears in two days, then missed a bull @40 y, them killed the same bull with his second shot. I wish I had a video camera for those shots.

Cheers

SS

[Fixit]

my first shot ever on a nice sized 2x2 buck on the island was a dissapointment.

i had a great spot to sit and watch a large cut block, waking up from my mid morning nap i hear a snaap. 157 feet away, He doesnt see me yet, i have the strong wind in my face, and a terrific rest to shoot off of. I put the crosshairs on his shoulder, breath in, hold and bang.

deer jumps a 180 and hightails it to my right, next round is cycled in and i line up again, this time he's on the run. It was a perfect shot (suprizingly) but a small pine tree happened to cross the bullets path right infront of the deer, splinters everywhere... third shot was desperation, and an offhand rushed shot at 100 yards plus...

I found one drop of blood where he was when i made the third shot, another drop 300 yards later, and he was still running hard and fast...

three of us gave up after many hours of searching...

turned out the scope mount was sloppy and allowed for a bit of up and down movement.

ditched that gun and used the backup, got a spike two days later.

[gamehunter6o]

I guess you could call me lucky but I have never missed or lost a big head.
When it's countered I've been able to shoot straight.
But one spiker I jaw shot at 20m haunts me. I just couldn't get in a secound shot and run out of light. Poor beggar.

[Bow Walker]

Shooting and missing?

I was hunting with my Dad, Ted Piper, Joe Piper (Ted's son) and myself up at Horne Lake one year - about 45 years ago - (where does the time go?)....

All four of us were in one vehicle heading up to a spot that Ted knew, when he spotted a deer standing in the roadway at about 75 yards away.

All of us baled out of the truck, scrambling to put clips in and to stuff shells in the various rifles. Us 'kids' started the ball 'cause the parents wanted us to get our first deer. Joe and I must've fired 3 shots each - missing by the proverbial mile - when the parents decided that enough was enough. They unlimbered their own shots at this poor deer, who by now was wandering from side to side of the road.

Well, all in all there were 11 or so shots fired at that critter. All of them misses. I'll never forget that. Never.

[todbartell]

October 04, I missed a 160 class 4x4 or 5x5 whitetail. He caught me by surprise when I was waiting out a rain storm, I had to grab my rifle which was leaning on a tree 10 feet away, chamber a round....which I jammed up...cleared the jam, only shot was 150 yards, walking away with his head up. Aimed for back of neck, resting my 7saum on a small poplar tree for a rest..which was pretty unsteady......I missed :(

[PGK]

October 04, I missed a 160 class 4x4 or 5x5 whitetail. He caught me by surprise when I was waiting out a rain storm, I had to grab my rifle which was leaning on a tree 10 feet away, chamber a round....which I jammed up...cleared the jam, only shot was 150 yards, walking away with his head up. Aimed for back of neck, resting my 7saum on a small poplar tree for a rest..which was pretty unsteady......I missed :(

You forgot to mention the lynx

And the elk

:biggrin:

[todbartell]

those dont hurt as much as that WT, Ive yet to see one bigger :)

[ultramagbob]

I heard of a guy in Chetwynd missing a elk a 40 feet this year.What a putz

[todbartell]

I know of a guy who missed a 200" mulie about 4 times at 100 yards. That's gotta burn the ol memory!

[bad arrow]

It's when I missed 4 times, at a beauty 4 point, 100yds, wife by my side, I forgot about that miss, cause i've missed so many times at close range, but I'm reminded of it. I must of hit a twig, 4 times. I still get buck fever after all these years, especially with whitetails at close range, cant wait till next year.

[The Hermit]

My very best bad shot happened about ten maybe twelve years ago. I was s l o w l y walking up a UP skidder road that was overgrown with ten foot alders when I heard, then instantly saw a doe kind of skitter up the road and around the corner. I thought I'd spooked her but since the wind was in my favor stayed really quiet and about ten minutes later peeked around the corner to see about ten deer up the road about twenty yards away. One of them blew a warning and they all started to scatter ACROSS the open part of the road. I quickly picked one with horns and fired a shot from my 30.06 A-Bolt. I recall putting the cross hairs on his nose and squeezing the trigger! BANG FLOP and cheers!

So I give him the old poke with the barrel and put the gun down. After positioning this nice little buck down hill and opening my knife to start field dressing him he started to , well "buck". At first I thought it was just reflexes but quickly came to realize this guy was NOT DEAD at all! In a mad panic I ran across the road and while he was struggling to stand up I put one thru his old noggin!

In a few minutes, I calmed down I laughed out loud at what had happened... I found half an antler about seven feet above the ground in an alder... my shot had blown an antler off and knocked him out! :D

[Ddog]

I had a best bad shot this year while hunting whitetails, a nice doe walked passed us and i figured she was a perfect quartering away shot, so i drew back took aim and launched my arrow, i badly mis-judged the distance and my arrow hit her square in the back of the head and she dropped dead, one or two kicks and that was it. i have to keep the skull because my broadhead is stuck in there.

[Gateholio]

October 04, I missed a 160 class 4x4 or 5x5 whitetail. He caught me by surprise when I was waiting out a rain storm, I had to grab my rifle which was leaning on a tree 10 feet away, chamber a round....which I jammed up...cleared the jam, only shot was 150 yards, walking away with his head up. Aimed for back of neck, resting my 7saum on a small poplar tree for a rest..which was pretty unsteady......I missed :(

If you had been using a CRF instead of a PF, your cartridge would not have jammed/

Idiot

[boxhitch]

Have been trying to remember when/if I missed any shots.......
Nope, for some reason I can't recall any bad shots


Lots of tester shots though
"Bang.......no, that didn't work....."

[knighthunter]

Tester shots, Thats a good one.

[gamehunter6o]

Tester shots are what you do before going bush, once there any shots that don't score meat are air shots or warning shots.:redface: Yep, over 45yrs hunting I'll admit to the odd warning shot.

[Gunner]

I still can't talk about it,200+ mulies don't grow on trees!I still toss and turn at night,and it happened November 07.One day I'll be able to get it off my chest.............Gunner.

[sawmill]

I had a best bad shot this year while hunting whitetails, a nice doe walked passed us and i figured she was a perfect quartering away shot, so i drew back took aim and launched my arrow, i badly mis-judged the distance and my arrow hit her square in the back of the head and she dropped dead, one or two kicks and that was it. i have to keep the skull because my broadhead is stuck in there.
Now that`s the hunting gods looking after you!Must have some good Karma!!

[brianscott]

Missed a decent 5x5 whitey a couple of years ago. It was late November, no snow and it was pretty cold. I was sitting in a blind in one of my usual spots and sure enough nature called.

Standing up i slowly move out of the blind, resting my rifle up against a tree. As i begin to take a leak I hear the tell-tale thud-thud-thud of deer hooves on the ground and close too.

I look to where the noise came from and i see a whitetail doe bounding through the trees at about 60 yards, as i am about to finish my business a nice buck comes crashing in behind her and they are both coming in fast!!

Cutting it off mid stream, I turn and grab my 270, with my pants undone and hanging of of my butt I flip off the safety and shoulder my rifle.

Following them through the thick trees, I set the crosshairs behind the shoulder of the trotting buck. they are at 50 yards and still moving closer,
at 40 yards they are still not stopping so i decide to chance a moving offhand shot.
I lead a bit and then stop in a small shooting lane as the buck enters it,I dont even feel the round fire, I expect the buck to pile up, like usual,but it keeps on going, it didnt even turn and look at me it just kept on going.
After I do up my pants I check the ground and area for hair or blood but there was non to be found. it was a clean miss broadside at forty yards.

Later i figured i hit the tree on the close side of the shooting lane, oh well, better than a wounded buck out there to die.

Next weekend i went back to the same spot and shot a nice 4x4 whitey on closing day.


Funny how it works out sometimes.

[sawmill]

Here comes Brian with his pecker in his hand ............Off to the Rodeo!!!!
Somebody had to say it!

[ElectricDyck]

First 2 bucks I shot I was so excited I must have pulled up and left. Both broad side shots, off hand at about 80 yards, I aimed vitals and hit head, bang flop. Doesn't leave much for a european mount.:smile:

[d6dan]

Electricdyck must have horseshoes up his A##. I don't know of anyone with that much luck..

[ElectricDyck]

Electricdyck must have horseshoes up his A##. I don't know of anyone with that much luck..

At first I was pretty embarrassed and disappointed in myself, I've shot 5 animals since (I hit where I aimed) and can now just laugh about it. The meat was good and I didn't have to track them.:biggrin:

[Blktail]

I don't want to get any stain over this!

I was hunting the rough country behind Sooke and sat for a breather looking down a timbered ridge. A big fork stepped into view at 200 yds or so and I got set for a shot. I jerked the trigger in my excitement and the buck took off. I walked through a bunch of crap to check for sign of a hit. After a few minutes of crashing around through the brush looking for sign the buck and I came face to face at about 10 yds. I don't know who was more excited, but I can tell you the deer was luckier! Instead of shooting him (which I coud have done from the hip, he was so close) I ejected my unspent cartridge onto the ground. Rather than ramming the next one home, I tried to pick that one up and get it into the chamber. The buck, meanwhile was staring with saucer sized eyes and front feet about 3' apart at the fool fumbling around in front of him. As soon as I got the gun loaded he was off over the ridge, and the last I saw of him through the sights was his butt heading into the timber 20 yds below me. Talk about buck fever! My first sight of him is imprinted into my memory, right down to the hooks on the tips of his main beams.
Thankfully this has never happened to me again (except for the big 4 point on Saltspring Island:cry:).

Now when I hunt, I am constantly going over in my mind what I have to do when I see a buck.

Now I only get caught trying to squeeze one off with the safety still on.:icon_frow

Learn from me. Please.

[Dirty]

I missed a 180"+ Buck at 200 yards first thing in the morning. I was so depressed that when I saw a rat 4x4 30 minutes later and 30 yards away I shot right over him. Talk about going from one extreme to the other in the miss department.

[quadrakid]

missed a very nice blacktail with my bow,he was about ten yards away. its tough to miss at that range but i managed it quite well.

[gamehunter6o]

I knew a guy that go so excited when he saw his first stag he accidentaly fired his first shot into the ground. He ran off after the stag and couldn't quite get a shot and when he could he threw himself on the ground and click. The idiot in his excitement had ejected the 4 shells out of his magazine.
I think it's called premature ejectulation.:mrgreen:

[DeerWhisperer]

Missed a grouse with the 10/22, it was doing the head bob:tongue:

[Salty]

I've never completely missed a big animal. But I had a horrible experience with a poor shot when I was about 19.

Classic willow swamp east of Prince George, sign all over - I could hear animals moving around in there. Visibility was about 20 feet. I walked slowly along the edge of the swamp on a skid trail hoping to get a glimpse of a moose. I hear a noise behind me, look and there's a cow standing broadside on the trail at about 70 yards.

I realed around, and shot right away. The moose went straight up on her hind legs - when the front legs came back down she bolted into the swamp. I tryed to track her through the willow tangle but the ground looked about like a corral for tracks everywhere with mud ozzing up everywhere. There was lots of blood on the trail where I hit her but no sign of blood anywhere in the muddy maze of tracks in the swamp.

Long story short, with help from the old man and hours of me trying alone I lost her. The old man figured I hit (very) low in the lung.

I had night mares about this for about 10 years straight it seemed. Over and over in my head what a f##&ing idiot I was for rushhing the shot and "missing". Still haunts me.

After about a 15 year hiatas I came back to hunting in my 30s. Since then I have zero misses. Maybe its luck. But I'll tell you I am one carefull SOB. I've passed on several longish or otherwise iffy or rushed shots. But no misses or bad hits since the moose experience knock on wood. Everything I've hit since has been a kill shot, although I have followed up with a second shot a couple of times - uneeded as it turned out.

[bochunk2000]

My worst miss and my most memorable shot were on the same animal. I had a nice 3x3 Black tail out in a cut. I got up to 40 yrds which at the time was as far as I was comfortable shooting. Waited until he turned broadside and not wanting to risk getting closer I let the arrow go. Well when you are so excited to watch the arrow hit I dropped my hand. Missed low. Damn! Well the buck bolted but then he slowed and stopped, then he went back to eating. The sound of the bow or the arrow hitting the dirt didn't scare him very much. He moved into a patch behind some bushes. I was able to use this cover and get up to 20 yrds. I could see him through the chest height bush and waited for him to turn broadside. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake I focused on the exact hair I wanted to hit. I came to full draw and then stood up, settled into anchor and loosed the arrow. I watched it hit through the site window to avoid dropping the hand. He ran hard this time. I walked up to where the hit was and was dismayed to find evidence of a gut hit. How cold I miss that badly from 20 yrds. I left and waited in the truck for a few hrs to let him die. I had a buddy come help me with the blood trail. None to be seen. We went to where I had seen him disappear in to the trees. There he was. I focused on the spot so intently that I failed to notice him turn 1/4 to. I did hit where I had aimed and took out the vitals before exiting through the guts.
Now he's on my wall.
Steve.