How do you handle the miss?

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jporcello
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How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby jporcello » Tue Oct 01, 2019 8:35 pm

I had a conversation last night while getting some exercise about all the animals that iv missed over the years. What I noticed last year it didnt seem to bother me as much as it use to in the past years. I look at it now as to what did I do wrong and what can I do to improve. Last year was the year of misses for me for some reason. I miss read the distance on a buck and shot over the back of him, I had poor communication with my hunting buddy while turkey hunting which should have been an easy double and missed with a shotgun at less than 25 yds. I use to almost get depressed and angry but now iv almost excepted its part of hunting. I feel there is always a lesson to be learned.

So, How do you handle the miss?


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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Tue Oct 01, 2019 8:48 pm

I'm not hunting world class game so a miss is no biggy for me. As the saying goes stuff happens. I just shake my head and tell myself it's better than a bad hit.

I know what u mean though, a miss in my early days really got under my skin. I wrapped more than one bow around a tree in anger. In my case I think a lot of it was caused from trying so hard and then coming up short. I was a pretty awful Hunter back then and looking back those once a year opportunities where created just by being out there everyday. I knew when I missed that was it, chances are I wasn't gonna get another crack. Now I'm just thankful for the opportunity and either get back after him or go get on another one. Think the more confident u r the less they hurt.
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vermonthunter16
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby vermonthunter16 » Tue Oct 01, 2019 9:32 pm

Fortunatelty, there is more shots to make, so practice and practice some more and make it happen. Surely a miss IS better than a bad hit. But if you are consistently missing, something is going wrong, whether it be a mental block or something else. The situations you mentioned sound like one was equipment/ mental miss and the other an exception. Just gotta practice and fix it.

All that to say, stuff happens, but it shouldnt be often.
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby Groundpounder » Tue Oct 01, 2019 10:32 pm

Boogieman1 said it...better than a bad hit. Miss is a chance to fix a problem or learn from circumstance. Bad hit is a up. I'd rather have a clean miss than wound one. It's still frustrating, but fixable. A wounded & lost animal is not fixable.
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby 802bowhunter » Tue Oct 01, 2019 10:37 pm

vermonthunter16 wrote:Fortunatelty, there is more shots to make, so practice and practice some more and make it happen. Surely a miss IS better than a bad hit. But if you are consistently missing, something is going wrong, whether it be a mental block or something else. The situations you mentioned sound like one was equipment/ mental miss and the other an exception. Just gotta practice and fix it.

All that to say, sh*t happens, but it shouldnt be often.


Sounds like mental block or target panick to miss judge 25 yards or lack of prep range finding distances and memorizing them before animal moves in.
If this occurs often....
I've missed at 5 yards over the top lol get excited didnt settle the pin.
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby muddy » Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:34 pm

A miss is just a miss to me. Bad hits cause soul crushing blackout memories..
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby matt1336 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:21 am

Last time I missed I laughed it off and was glad I wasn’t going to have track wounded deer through the marsh. There was a time when I’d get real mad. Not anymore tho
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby tundra@1 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:49 am

To me its part of the game, its going to happen if you hunt a lot..... last year I passed deer all fall, and finally in January I had my shot, at a really nice buck.... with all the traveling, the buck was across the road from me, on a perfect winter day, just before below zero weather was coming, the next day. Deer were on the move

I launched that arrow and it buried in the tree, next to him. I unscrewed the shaft from the head, left the head in there as a reminder...... the sunset was beautiful that night, and to me, it was a good day.................

I missed a sheep once at 35 yards,, right over the back, after a hard climb...... that was a tough one, but I stayed right in the mental game, and made the shot 2 days later, and that boy is on the wall

I hunted elk with a friend, and this is no bs, he missed 4 bull elk in one day............ This would happen once in a lifetime, and we were on private property in Colorado..... He fell apart, I mean, he went back to camp, and stayed in camp for a whole day, just thinking about it................ he finally got his head right, but that guy was bummed out............. He now lives in the area, ha ha
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby milkweed-militia » Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:54 am

I do fine with a miss. It does stink some when it's the biggest buck you've ever threw an arrow at, but still not bad.

A bad hit is terrible; doe or buck.
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby Redman232 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:03 am

Failure has always made me angry. I set up for shots well within my effective range with a bow or a gun and the misses went away. Each miss is still vividly burned into my memory.
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby austin1990 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:13 am

I use to get mad, now I just kind of go, well that sucked and carry on :lol:
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby The_Real_Jmill » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:31 am

Missing is not that big a deal, its when I make a wounding shot that still gives me fits.

But regardless it is part of the whole deal and no matter what you just have to stay in the game mentally.

I try to shoot 1-2 arrows a day, sometimes more. I've also learned if I'm not shooting well while practicing to call it quits for the night and start again the next day.

I use to just practice for hours until I was utterly frustrated and learned that starting fresh the next day seemed to help.
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby 802bowhunter » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:47 am

austin1990 wrote:I use to get mad, now I just kind of go, well that sucked and carry on :lol:


Lol yea when I first started I missed 3 deer in 1 year I chucked my bow out of my tree stand... Now I just laugh at my self but internally want to cry.
"The hunting is great, the killing is terrible."
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby stash59 » Wed Oct 02, 2019 2:16 am

Agree, the worst kind of "miss", are the ones where you still hit the animal in a bad spot, and totally miss where you aimed. For me even the liver shot animals I recovered. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

How fast you get over a complete miss. Depends on how bad we want to make kills. When we are younger/new at hunting. I think we want it more. We want/need to taste success, to feel like we are accomplishing our goal. We want to be like our mentors/hero's. We think anything but a kill is a failure. If we miss, we've not only let ourself down. But our mentors too. And we want to impress all other hunters too! We feel they'll think bad of us.

Yes, as we've gained experience, our end goal is, still to make a kill. But after we've made quite a few. We start to realize it's not the end of the world. If we don't. If we miss. No one who really cares about us. Will think less of us. We learn to appreciate the journey. And, use our "failures". As learning tools, regarding them less as failures and more as part of the learning process.

Confidence in our scouting abilities helps too. Knowing if we keep at it after a miss. Will lead to more encounters/chances. Unlike thinking that we just blew our only opportunity for the year. We know we can get multiple chances if we need to.
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Re: How do you handle the miss?

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Wed Oct 02, 2019 2:33 am

IMO - too many hunters push the envelope, essentially HOPING for the outcome they set forth.

Hunting to me is killing Gods creatures, not wounding them.
When I first hunted w/bow in 1995 I never had a mentor teach me the theories of bow hunting.
I had a lot of sleepless nights due to poor shot selection...
I learned in a few quick seasons to clear shooting lanes, aim for the bottom third when deer are too close & broadside/qtr away shots rule.
Anything beyond that and I pass...
Not knowing your distance is another key variable, not an excuse.

All that said... Yes "IT" happens.
Patience and control are a must...

I shutter when I watch or hear some of the big guns on the beast claim that you have to sometimes push the envelope to get the big ones...

Not IMO, you have to be true to yourself and God's creatures...
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...


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