How to get over missing the big one?

[ChasinDoes]

Just missed my biggest whitetail ever last night, thought I was going to puke when I saw and heard that arrow miss.

Crazy how a hobby I love so much can also make me feel so shitty at times

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[mtnwrunner]

You never get over it. That's why we hunt.......memories and experiences that last your life.

Randy

 

[Tourguide]

Realize you’re not hunting to survive and this is just a hobby…..

Exactly right, this isn't a competition. We aren't pioneers that won't last the winter unless we have 2 elk and 5 dead deer... Relax, remember this is a hobby and it's supposed to be fun. The excitement and experience will keep the fire burning

 

[Rich M]

No idea how long you been bow hunting. Get ready for a lot of disappointments.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Just a point of contention. For you folks in the east - its a hobby. For many of us in the west - hobby my butt. Hunting is our lives. Everything else is just support. You will see that lost big one right up to the point of burial. Learn from it and don't make that mistake again.

 

[Weldor]

Start over, rinse and repeat.

 

[hunterjmj]

Missed many over the years and stil think about them.
Next best thing to do is find out if someone else killed it then steal it.
If that doesn't work out then start drinking heavily.

 

[manitou1]

I have missed two whitetail with a bow that were over 200".
One was at 18 yds in the 1990s and one at 13 yds. in 2002.
They haunt me still.

Arrow hit a tiny limb on the 18 yd shot.
Bow site was somehow knock way off on the 13 yd.

It just wasn't in the cards for me.

 

[Bigbuckhdhunter]

I have missed lots of archery shots on good mule deer bucks. Just this year sailed arrows over a 180 class buck on 2 different occasions.

Time is the only thing that helps...

 

[Cactus kid]

Been there more than once. The only thing that got ride of that sick feeling was arrowing another big deer. It might take a few years, but remember he isnt the only big deer that walks the face of the earth. Stay motivated, now you have a mission.

i also drink heavily and often.

 

[william schmaltz]

The good hunter necessarily fails.

 

[doc holiday13]

easy.... find a bigger deer and botch a shot on that one

 

[william schmaltz]

Missed possibly my biggest whitetail, and what would’ve been my only droptine, on a chip shot by hitting a branch. Such is life

Missed a 60” bull on my “once in a lifetime” moose hunt. Glad I missed him. I fear if I would’ve shot him that may have been my only moose hunt.

Missed opportunity on a couple deep and massive sheep one year with my BIL. Sat on them in the dark and couldn’t make them legal. Around the time we made the legal and they started feeding to us, a wolf blew em out. We would see my BIL all the time even a couple years later just at random functions zooming in on his phone looking at digiscoping photos. Every time we would catch him, we would play this song as a joke.

 

[Mikido]

Just a point of contention. For you folks in the east - it’s a hobby. For many of us in the west - hobby my butt. Hunting is our lives. Everything else is just support. You will see that lost big one right up to the point of burial. Learn from it and don't make that mistake again.

Diversify your interests Pony, there’s more out there I swear

 

[Rich M]

Just a point of contention. For you folks in the east - its a hobby. For many of us in the west - hobby my butt. Hunting is our lives. Everything else is just support. You will see that lost big one right up to the point of burial. Learn from it and don't make that mistake again.

It is the same east and west. Some folks only hunt for so long, others do til they die. I just had my 45th season. Carry a couple of those misses and a couple lost bucks around for when i want to think about them.

 

[IdahoElk]

From hero to zero, hurts but that's hunting.

 

[TheHammer]

If you are hunting, unfortunately some things will not go your way. The worst is wounding one, regardless of how big. Or questioning your ethics, abilities, equipment, exc...

 

[Silveroddo]

Hit it harder and find another one. Or the same one. If you got in kill range of one figure out what you did right learn from what you did wrong and get after it. There’s another opportunity out there somewhere.

 

[49ereric]

Just missed my biggest whitetail ever last night, thought I was going to puke when I saw and heard that arrow miss.

Crazy how a hobby I love so much can also make me feel so shitty at times

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

you are human and less than perfect..
just like everyone else…

 

[ArrowForester]

The passage of time certainly helps to soften the pain as you gain experience and more good memories…that is, until someone starts a thread like this and it all resurfaces again…thank you very much….I may not sleep for weeks now…..