Lessons from our Misses?

[5MilesBack]

He came in 25 yards above me broadside but stopped between 2 trees. I had a 4'' gap to his vitals between the trees which at 25yds is a dead bull every day on the range, but I centered one of the trees.

I was working a bull in 2014 one evening. He was up on a plateau with a bunch of dog hair aspens and I was working my way up the slope on a trail. He popped up out of nowhere on me and I was stuck in the open. I froze, and he kept coming down the winding trail. There was one big tree between him and I, and I tried to draw as soon as his head passed behind the tree. He caught the movement of the last inch of my draw and stopped at 35 yards. The tree was covering most of his vital area, but I quickly studied his body and if I hugged close to the tree I had a good shot close to the <. I released and watched my arrow skip off the side of that tree, and right between his gorgeous 6x6 antlers. An inch left and he would have been down quickly.

 

[andr3wxmma]

Most my bad shots on critters have been from an elevated position.

Make sure your 3rd axis is good, and make sure you pull into the backwall, the bow feels like it can hold itself on the steep shots but you'll miss if you don't pull into it.

 

[hibernation]

Stay calm and don't force it when the animals are relaxed, the wind is good, and you've got plenty of daylight. This was on my first archery bull and while I did recover it, it was an ordeal.

I had snuck up on a small herd, crawled up to a rise, and watched the bull coming into position. I'd love to blame anything other than myself, but I was just so excited after so many blown opportunities, I flat out rushed the shot and hit him way back. The whole thing was a blur. Surrounded by elk and punched it real hard.

He crashed in sight, but just out of range and blocked by some trees anyway. The only saving grace is none of the elk knew what happened, so the rest just kept on feeding away and he laid there for awhile hurt but not going down. I was able to crawl around closer and get a followup shot that put him down, but it took a couple hours of belly crawling and sliding my bow forward an inch at a time. Took that second shot right at last light.

The lesson for me was how much archery is a mental game. Having a consistent shot process, learning to stay focused in the moment, and honestly just getting more comfortable with being that close to so many eyes. Having the patience to get in tight on a herd and wait for the right moment. My practice was so focused on the technical proficiency that I didn't appreciate how bad it can fall apart if you let it.

 

[midwestcowboy]

Know your equipment like the back of your hand.

I’d gotten a new scope and practiced with it “plenty” over the summer before going out to hunt.

Had a good bull in my sights, only needed to dial 8 clicks. I was so excited that I dialed 8 moa instead. Obviously shot way over him - had no idea what was going on in the moment. Thought maybe I’d dropped my rifle and lost zero. My buddy ended up taking that elk. Took me 20mins to realize my mistake and haven’t stopped thinking about it since, probably never will. Tough day on the mountain.

 

[IDbrushswimmer]

My second archery bull, not a miss but a situation I got very lucky. Called him into roughly twenty yards, and drew when his head went behind a tree. Of course he stopped with his vitals covered, and I was at full draw for well over a minute. As soon as he stepped out I punched the shit out of the trigger as I was exhausted, and drilled him square in the shoulder. I bugled at him immediately, and he only ran about 70 yds. He began raking a tree, and I moved down in on him. I was able to call him back in and shoot him again. I feel like I won’t get too many of those second chances again.

Moral of the story, if you can’t make an honest good shot, you owe it to the animal not to take it at all.

 

[Gapmaster]

Not necessarily an actual “miss” but a huge missed opportunity. 2001 was hunting the Gila with my father and his buddies. It was mid September and the bulls were absolutely going nuts. We had been parking in a basin before daylight and chasing elk all day and meeting back at the truck after dark. Same routine for 5-6 days. Hunting solo during the day. One evening in particular I had been all in the elk for several hrs with no shot opportunities and even watched 2 big bulls fight it out in a sage flat 400 yards from the truck. Dusk had come and I was begrudgingly walking back to the truck tired and mentally beat from several miles of chasing elk on my feet and hands and knees. All of a sudden I heard a bugle from our parking area. I stopped and listened and after a few moments heard a second bugle. Same spot, I thought “damn, my old man sure sounds good”. This was actually a surprise to me because he never sounded that good. I was convinced it was him due to the proximity of the bugle in relation to the truck. I proceeded to continue my casual approach and even had my bow over my shoulder when I came around the few trees blocking my view of the truck. To my surprise, astonishment and utter horror, standing 40 yards away (50 yards from the truck) was a stud of a bull. Easily a 330” bull. He was of course locked in on my approach sounds and gave me the “see ya later” bark and trotted off with his head held high in the way they do when they make fun of us.

I was heart broken, angry with myself and felt like a complete moron. To add insult to injury, my father strolled in 15 minutes later and had watched the whole circus go down through binoculars. He said it was the saddest and most amusing thing he’d seen in a long time.

Lesson learned? Always, always, always expect an elk in an unexpected area. Never just assume a bugle is a hunter solely because of where it came from. Be diligent and ready. Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. I can honestly say I’ve never repeated that mistake over the past 24 years. Of course I also haven’t had a 300+ bull 50 yards from my truck since then either.

 

[wtrbrdm]

Check your equipment...daily. Hell...throughout the day.

- I had a crossbow that was zero'd after a few adjustments. Shot at a deer the next day and hit way off. Luckily the shot was still successful. At the range the next day it was off again. Dialed it in but it was always off the next shot. Walking back to the bench I noticed the limbs seemed a bit wonky. Inspected it closely and saw the bowstring starting to fray at one of the cams.

- I was practicing with the compound bow and hunted the next day. I did not take a shot at an animal, thank god, and noticed that I'd left the slider set at 60 from the practice session as I was packing up. That could have been a disaster.

Honorable mention... Don't forget your peep sight. I had never gotten "buck fever". I treat each shot as business and figure I can get excited after. My first chance at a buck with my bow was at 15yds. I felt like I was having a seizure during the draw....so overly excited, shaking, sweating, grinning, pulse pounding, jelly arms.....blamo....I shot 5 feet above his back.. He jumped, moved 10 feet and stopped. I un-fvcked myself...back to basics and fundamentals....second shot was perfect. I thought about the miss while hanging in the saddle and could only laugh as I realized I didn't even look through the peep the first shot. I haven't made fun of anyone's buck fever since.

 

[wtrbrdm]

Lesson learned? Always, always, always expect an elk in an unexpected area. Never just assume a bugle is a hunter solely because of where it came from. Be diligent and ready. Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. I can honestly say I’ve never repeated that mistake over the past 24 years. Of course I also haven’t had a 300+ bull 50 yards from my truck since then either.

We had a large Muley I'd been watching and a herd bull with cows at camp while we were hunting about a mile away. One of our buddies stayed at camp that day and had no tags, aside from bear. No cell service to text us...only pics for us to cry about when we came back a few hours later....so...fully agreed. They can be anywhere at any time...

 

[TradLife406]

I missed a 330-340" bull at 40 with the curve a few years ago. Sent two under his heart
The start of the story is I could have killed him at 24 yards but the chucklehead I was with choked. The bull stood there broadside for an eternity and there were no arrows flying. And the way we're in the hide I couldn't shoot.

Then he had the audacity to get drunk in camp and bust my balls for missing. We don't talk anymore.

My arrows were too heavy. I was fighting target panic at the time where I couldn't raise my bow.

Went to a faster bow and started using Joel Turner.

40 isn't out of my wheel house whatsoever. Shot my first bull at 40 with a longbow.