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[fracguy]

Got this guy tonight and I honestly think it ruined hunting for me. Shot numerous animals and never made a bad shot until this one and is making me second guess my choices as a hunter. Was pouring rain and scope had water on it and knew I could barely see. Made a bad shot and hit him too far back, he didn't run or go far but when I got to him he was still alive. Worst feeling ever and honestly made me want to cry. I knew better than to pull the trigger but I did and made a horrible shot and feel like total shit for it and something I never want to experience again. Not fair to the animal. Just second guessing if I ever want to hunt again because I made a horrible choice to shoot knowing it wasn't 100 percent

 

[MolokoMan]

Everyone makes mistakes. It's how you learn from it and grow that makes you a better person than you were yesterday.

 

[realunlucky]

Sounds like you learned from this experience and will do better moving forward.

Reading the above applies to a lot more than just hunting.

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[180ls1]

You can always shoot em with a camera going forward.

 

[fracguy]

You can always shoot em with a camera going forward.

It's actually much harder to get good pictures with a cellphone camera than it is to kill them. Really enjoy getting good pictures of critters.

 

[fracguy]

Sounds like you learned from this experience and will do better moving forward.

Reading the above applies to a lot more than just hunting.

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Very much learned from it. I always push to not take a shot unless it's 100% and I failed myself and the animal on that. I dunno, got mixed feelings about myself now.

 

[fracguy]

Everyone makes mistakes. It's how you learn from it and grow that makes you a better person than you were yesterday.

Yeah I've always heard of you hunt long enough, you will make a bad shot, just never thought it would be myself that makes it I guess.

 

[180ls1]

It's actually much harder to get good pictures with a cellphone camera than it is to kill them. Really enjoy getting good pictures of critters.

Spending time in nature in all it's beauty is what it's all about.

I've really been enjoying lower quality "non-trophy" hunts recently just as much as the glory tags. They take you to the same places and on the same adventures. I don't see why that cant be the same with a camera if you want to step away from the killing aspect for a little bit.

 

[fracguy]

Spending time in nature in all it's beauty is what it's all about.

I've really been enjoying lower quality "non-trophy" hunts recently just as much as the glory tags. They take you to the same places and on the same adventures. I don't see why that cant be the same with a camera if you want to step away from the killing aspect for a little bit.

This is by far I think the best picture I've taken. He was about 30 yards and the wind swirled and was like ohhh you're busted lol

 

[Greenbelt]

Hunting is messy, life is messy, and no one ever promised it wouldn't be. I've slaughtered a lot of meat for myself (not in a hunting capacity) to fill the freezer and there has been moments when things did not go accordingly. But we as humans fix those problems as quick as possible and try our best to not make anything suffer. I think as we get older we start to get a little softer (not in a bad way). I know I have that's for sure. But I also think its our job to not get the lines blurred. If your learning from mistakes your doing the best you can. But you gotta do what feels right to you.

 

[fracguy]

Hunting is messy, life is messy, and no one ever promised it wouldn't be. I've slaughtered a lot of meat for myself (not in a hunting capacity) to fill the freezer and there has been moments when things did not go accordingly. But we as humans fix those problems as quick as possible and try our best to not make anything suffer. I think as we get older we start to get a little softer (not in a bad way). I know I have that's for sure. But I also think its our job to not get the lines blurred. If your learning from mistakes your doing the best you can. But you gotta do what feels right to you.

Oh no I fully agree with getting softer. Long time ago I don't think this would have bothered me nearly as much. Taking a life even if just an animal is still taking a life. I have noticed myself having 2nd guesses on going hunting anymore, even before this. Don't know why I started seeing my damn dog when I think about killing something. But I also eat meat and I know what slaughter houses are all about.

 

[Greenbelt]

Oh no I fully agree with getting softer. Long time ago I don't think this would have bothered me nearly as much. Taking a life even if just an animal is still taking a life. I have noticed myself having 2nd guesses on going hunting anymore, even before this. Don't know why I started seeing my damn dog when I think about killing something. But I also eat meat and I know what slaughter houses are all about.

Honestly its not surprising at all and there's no shame in it at all what so ever. If you grew up with hunters I'm sure you learned a long time ago (as we all did) that hunters tend to have an expiration date for killing stuff. Most the guys my dads age that I know, have all kind of walked away. I think they just get tired of killing stuff and start to look at it differently. There's a few left but not a lot. I hope to be one of the few left at the end of my days but I couldn't make a promise on that. Maybe just take the rest of the season off and see how you feel next year. I think this is a pretty common thing though.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

Everyone who hunts long enough eventually pulls the trigger and what follows is a bad experience. It is like everything else humans do, sometimes mistakes get made.

That said, we need guys like you, who do care, and work hard to do it right. We got too many of the other kind. If you give up, that's one less good guy in the woods, and leaves more game out there for the bad guys to chase.

I vote don't give up, just take some time to let the intensity of the emotions subside, get some perspective, learn from it, and then get back out there.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

If you hunt long enough, it’s gonna happen eventually. The best thing you can do is learn from it and try your best not to repeat that mistake. That said, even with the best planning and intentions things don’t always go as planned.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

He’s dead now and his meat is presumably in your freezer. I understand feeling bad about it, but as long as I recover the animal I can accept that sometimes animals have more will to live or a shot isn’t perfect. I’ve recovered deer that ran 800 yards with a “good shot.”

My dad always told me to wait 15 minutes after the shot before going to look. Partly so as not to make him run further and partly so I would not have to see and hear him die.

When I was seven, my dad let me go squirrel hunting alone for the first time. I shot my first squirrel with a Savage 16-gauge single barrel shotgun. He was about 10 yards away. He was dead after the first shot, but he didn’t know it and I didn’t know it. He kept crawling, so I shot him again. And again. And again. He wouldn’t stop moving, so I walked up to him and shot him in the head with the shotgun from about 6”. He kept moving. So I did it again. I used all seven shells I brought with me.

It’s rough, but I urge you to continue and accept that the animal doesn’t have any memories of the event now. The only one with the memories is you. And you can use those to guide your judgement in the future.

 

[7RemMag]

Not fair to the animal. Just second guessing if I ever want to hunt again because I made a horrible choice to shoot knowing it wasn't 100 percentView attachment 946228

First of all nice goat. No doubt overshadowed by the circumstances, but everyone makes mistakes. What is more important is what you do after the fact.

What I really want to focus on though, is the fact that there is no such thing as a “100 percent” shot. There are far too many variables, both controllable and uncontrollable, for that to be a thing.

If you hunt long enough, inevitably you’re going to have something like this. That buck could’ve gotten caught in a fence, or hit by a car and suffered a far worse fate than what you gave him.

The fact that you’re so remorseful demonstrates that this will be a learning experience for you, and you’re likely going to make some changes to ensure that it doesn’t happen again right away. Keep hunting and keep this situation in your memory bank as a constant reminder to always do your absolute best. We all make mistakes.

 

[dusky]

I had an experience like that. Made me sick to my stomach for a long, long time. I went to the opposite end of the spectrum after that; I hesitated and missed opportunities on animals because I couldn't get into "perfect" shooting position. On my pronghorn hunt this year, I passed on an opportunity because I didn't want to rush it and then later had an opportunity in which I had to act quick and I didn't hesitate. Dropped the pronghorn right there at 275 yards. I ranged it 3 times to be sure, even, since that's what got me on my bad experience. Point being, you can use this to discipline yourself and do better next time, if you want to. Thanks for sharing. Not easy.

 

[CMF]

Spend an hour watching wolves, bears, crocodiles and other carnivores take down their prey. Sht don't always go as planned. It's nature. We do the best we can, but it can't always go perfect.

 

[RockAndSage]

The failure isn't in making a bad shot - the failure would be in letting it kill part of who you are, and not become better for it. Let it burn, but let it burn like rocket fuel to drive you to be a better shooter, and a better hunter.

 

[CJ_BG]

Well I guess you either

1: Give up hunting
2: accept it for what it was and only shoot when you have full confidence
3: accept it for what it was and not learn anything