Missing a giant

[WV Bowhunter]

Bowhunting is a game of inches.

That's what kills me the most about my first miss on the buck, I dead centered a 1 1/2" sapling with my arrow on the first shot. 1-2" right or left and I had him double lunged.

I wish I would have been smart enough to learn something from that encounter but I didn't back then. I just didn't think about what I was doing or why I was doing it really. I like to think that I've gotten better at learning from my mistakes and I know I have some, but I really feel like in 2 months or so on this site the light bulb in my mind has lit up to a different degree than it was.

[mainebowhunter]

Bowhunting is a game of inches.

That's what kills me the most about my first miss on the buck, I dead centered a 1 1/2" sapling with my arrow on the first shot. 1-2" right or left and I had him double lunged.

I wish I would have been smart enough to learn something from that encounter but I didn't back then. I just didn't think about what I was doing or why I was doing it really. I like to think that I've gotten better at learning from my mistakes and I know I have some, but I really feel like in 2 months or so on this site the light bulb in my mind has lit up to a different degree than it was.

Learning something from it key. If your a 95% guy...mistakes happen. If your a 50% guy, there is more learning that needs to happen. Mistakes don't happen 50% of the time.

[Hawthorne]

Yes 3 I can remember. Two I missed and one I wounded. All 3 were mature bucks. One I watched come 300 yds across a field right under my stand and I shot right over his back. The other two I called in. One with a can the other with a grunt tube. I'm better at it now hasn't happened to me in awhile knock on wood. There have been other small bucks and does I've missed but those 3 wish I could have back.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

You never quite forget those misses....

2011 170s giant chasing a doe. Missed him at 15 yards. Would have been and still be my biggest ever!

[mibowhunter]

Only 1 that really haunts me... I hit 2 in the shoulder in my early years, but I saw both alive and well a few weeks later chasing does. While I wans't happy with wounding them, they both survived and neither seemed to be bothered. the one that really haunts me was a clean miss. 2006. Buck came out of nowhere and I had him dead to rights at 6 yards. Such a gimme that I didn't take my time and zipped it right over his back. Let me repeat. 6 yards! Split G2s, a split G3 and kickers off his brows. A real toad... man that one still stings.

[whitetailassasin]

One that I hit in the shoulder 2 seasons ago. 15 yards. But the ones that haunt me the most are 3 distinct opportunities I never pulled my bow on. First one was early years before a rangefinder, had a solid 130s 10 walk by me around 38-45 yards, I wasn't sure so I passed the shot. He even stood there broadside as if to say shoot dummy. The second was also pre rangefinder days, still probably the biggest bodied mature bucks I've ever seen. He had to have had 20+ scoreable points with baseball bat mass. I can't even guess a score because of how freakish he looked. The third one was a 18 yard shot on a 130 class 8. I had him and his running buddy, 140s 10, patterned and passed the 8 thinking the 10 was with him. Nope instead a 50" 8 was with him. Literally hung my head in shame for passing the biggest buck I had in under 20 yards to this point. All early on in my hunting career, but they should all be on the wall in my opinion. I've never forgotten them, I used them to learn from and feel those encounters were big on helping me close the gap on mature bucks.

[Bowhunter4life]

I wounded a deer years ago that without a doubt changed me as a hunter. Was a very large deer with a big rack and I had never seen anything in the woods near that size prior and only a couple since. Put a bad hit on him in the guts. Waited hours before taking up the blood trail but jumped him and that was it for blood. I was completely inexperienced at the time. Went back weeks later with my dad and we walked from sun up to sun down in search but never found him.

That deer haunted me the entire year. I was sick as could be over it and in the offseason I decided I was gonna work harder than I ever had to not let that happen again. I wanted to learn as much about big deer as I possibly could. I scouted hard and practiced with my bow a ton.

Record has been pretty good since but I realized how important a good shot is. Bad shots happens and will continue to but I do everything I can to avoid them. If you hunt long enough it is bound to happen but the key is learning g from it!

[Bucky]

Oct 3rd 2009... 151" 9pt with 20+" spread public land (an acquaintance found dead spring)
Sept 26th 2015... 168" 9pt (found dead spring)
Sept 17th 2016... 152" 8pt with junk (still roaming the earth, score from sheds)

All 3 do to panic in intense situations... the 168" I just totally lost my cool

[Bucky]

I live and die by... "u miss all the shots u don't take"

I have that quote on my son's wall in his bedroom. You can't be afraid to fail or you will never succeed

[G3s]

I missed a monster in November of 1990...I never have forgotten about that one....and it still stings a bit and is one of the major factors that drives me to practice non stop...now for a missed chance that was 2 years ago, I was in Illinois, I had the biggest buck I have ever seen at 41 yards and didnt shoot because of being a little to thick. Got a trail cam pic of that deer and figure he was in the 210"-220"neighborhood. Is a bummer but not the same feeling as straight up missing one.

[Jdw]

I have three that stand out.
The first was in the 140s and I watched him slowly walk to me from 200 yards across a field, in the morning at first light. By the time he made it to 30 yards I was breathing so hard I had fogged my glasses and sailed the arrow over his back.

I missed a buck in the 150s by getting the yardage wrong and shooting under him.

But the one that still makes me sick to think about was a 160s 14 point with a drop tine.
It was an evening hunt, he was s-l-o-w-l-y working his way out of a thicket and he was clearing the last bit of brush, at 19 yards. I was starting to draw when he turned to the right. In stead of breathing and settling the pin I paniced, punched the trigger and dropped my bow arm causing me to miss him clean.
I should have been able to hit him in the eye at that range, but instead I let buck fever get the best of me.
My wife used to ask why I spent so much time hunting and shooting if I was just going to "Choke" when the moment of truth arrived.

I have changed the way I approach my shooting since then and have had some incourageing results but I know what I am capable of if I don't stay in control of the situation.

[JoeRE]

I never missed a buck I would consider a giant, say above 150 inches, but I did wound and loose a huge buck when I was 17 that will always haunt me because I screwed up so massively on him. Did about 10 things wrong in a row in the shot and the attempted recovery.

That experience was so excruciating I still use the memory of that the pain over 20 years later to help make the shot and the recovery of every animal that I can. That combined with missing and wounding a lot of smaller bucks as a kid too. Trial by fire. It has made me a much better hunter.

I have still missed and lost a few since then but its been a pretty small number particularly in the last 10 years or so. If I can keep it down there around 1 in 10, I think that is good and despite what many might think, achievable for any experienced bowhunter with good practice and good shot selection.

I missed one with my recurve up north in WI last fall but just have to laugh about it now, got what I deserved. Come to think of it that's probably the biggest buck I have ever missed clean. Ouch haha. If I had missed him with my compound I would have been really tore up, no excuses with that in my hands and a good open close shot as it was. But I wouldn't have missed with the wheels and strings

The main thing is, no matter what your record is for missing or wounding there's always room for improvement. If you don't think you can improve or maybe just don't care - yea THEN you got a problem and our sport would be better off if you hung up the ol bow.

[tim]

I've had my share of blunders. Biggest to date was 2012 when I shot a buck in the nose on a quartering away shot. Amish neighbor killed him opening morning of gun season 190". I had him patterned and just blew the shot

[thwack16]

I've missed some really good ones.

Shot over a 150+ 10 in 2012 at 35 yards after snort wheezing him into bow range, he put on an absolute show coming to me and I'm still surprised that I could even draw my bow.

Missed a 9 point that would've scared the heck out of the 140s in 2008. Temps was in the 20's, strong north wind and it was midday. Not even sure I'd seen a deer all morning. Then he showed up in the pine thicket and I got to watch for 45 minutes as he rubbed and scraped his way back to his bed. Flat out botched the shot at 20 yards.

Hit a 125" 10 in the shoulder in 2006 and didn't recover him for two months. First week of bow season and he still had velvet hanging.

[sethg]

I had a crazy 16 or so hours this past fall... evening of November 7th I carried stand in and climbed a tree that I killed a buck out of in 2015... I got settled at 3:30pm. At 4:05 I heard a slight rustle in the leaves off my back right hip (i'm a right handed shooter)... Nice big 10, I estimate at 150 " came from behind me, and I didn't hear him until he was at 25 yards due to the leaves... I'm a sucker for long g2s and g3s, and boy he had them. Looked a like a picket fence. I got stood up and got my bow off the hanger undetected... He was moving pretty fast towards a ditch crossing to head into a big doe bedding area. I had to turn towards him to draw, and at this time he was nose down at about 15 yards. Well, he saw me when I was halfway turned... He took two hops straight away from me. I "meeehhhed" with my mouth while simultaneously drawing. He stopped and turned broadside to look back at me. I settled the pin and took a great 32 yard shot... arrow was flying true and I was watching it drop down into the boiler room, and all of a sudden it shot off to the left and went about 2" in front of his brisket... There was one limb about the size of your finger in the hole I was shooting through. I couldn't see it through my peep. He didn't know what was going on, and just turned and walked straight away from me... You guys know what a 150" rack with long tines looks like walking straight away, heck he looked like a 180" then haha... I just sat down and banged my head back against the tree. I've killed a 140" with a rifle in NC, but this was biggest buck I had ever had in bow range. I learned that I should've moved a little slower, but at some point you have to gamble... He was moving at a good bit, and if I had not tried to get stood up, turned and drawn, then he would've been past me, and gone before I even gave myself a chance. I don't regret my actions, I just regret that dang limb in the hole I tried to shoot through. I trust myself to close the deal most of the time. I've dreamed about it several times since November, and man i'll never forget the look of the sun shining off those long tines... Little did I know, an hour later a 160" + bigger ten would push a doe all around the woods around me. This deer had me shook up because I had to watch him for 35 mins before he got close enough to think about shooting... He was grunting and just slowly pushing the doe... She actually came by me at 25 yards heading to ditch crossing, but like big bucks seemingly do, he stayed at about 35 yards and just inside some briars/low hanging limbs and I never could get a clear shot. Once he got to ditch crossing and I knew it was my last chance, I snort wheezed at him. He then immediately made a scrape and thrashed a sapling, and then looked back at me. Just a giant. Then he followed the doe into the thicket, and walked out of my life forever... My legs were like jello, and I had to sit down so I wouldn't fall out of the tree. I get the shakes after I shoot a buck, and this was just like that. I prob looked like I was having a seizure...

Next morning out of the same tree I had a buck come out of the bedding area. I saw his horns when he was still about 40 yards out, and about to cross the ditch. He was a 9 pt, and prob 135". I got stood up and drawn really early. He came textbook on the trail I wanted him to. He was nose down and trotting. I "mehhhed" at first shooting lane at 15 yards and he didn't hear me. Next shooting lane was 21 yards and I got him stopped perfectly in the middle of it. Front leg forward and all. I shot, arrow hit ANOTHER DANG LIMB, and I watched it go about 1" over his back... I couldn't believe this one. When I first saw him coming I thought "redemption" for last night. Then once I missed, I was pissed. You just work so hard all year long to be able to hunt, make long walks, countless hours spent scouting, long drives, going in blind and playing it just right, only to screw yourself by hitting limbs on 2 good bucks, and not being able to get a clear shot at another stud. I was really upset after the second miss. Sat there the rest of the AM just staring at my arrow stuck in the dirt. Thinking that I had missed my two opportunities and wouldn't get another one. After a couple days, I got over it. I saw more deer, and one more GIANT but had no chance to shoot him. I finally realized that all I could ask for was the opportunity. I couldn't be mad about being in the right spot. I trust myself to close the deal, and plan on sticking a stud out of that tree this fall.

I'm currently reading one of Bobby Worthington's books and he has a line in there about buck fever. It goes something like this: Buck fever is when you are scared to screw up an opportunity, or scared to miss a big buck... I realized after my two misses this year that I am no longer scared to miss a big one. Will it make me mad if I do? Probably. I will probably also laugh, because I put myself in the right spot to get close to a mature whitetail. But I am no longer scared to miss a big one. I know there will be more big ones in my future.