missed a bull in 2012. still killing me

[Bonedalien]

hey guys, been dealing with missing the shot of a lifetime on a decent 5 point bull last year.
spotted him feeding on a trail below me,feeding towards me. i ranged a tree he would cross with my bushnell arc.40 yards,my huge mistake was not looking at the angle comp,it was a very steep downhill shot.i was thinking about when to draw,and that worked perfect.then i frickin shot right over his back. held 40 right on him. i know my mistake,just would like to hear from other guys who have also missed..i cant be alone!

 

[Jon Boy]

I missed a solid 5 point bull twice last year, grossly over estimated the range and took the hair right off his back. Still got some of it some where haha The snow and ridges screw me up every time.

 

[Ross]

Bone, I feel your pain. You hunt long enough we all miss or make a mistake and it stays in out mind for 300+ days until the next season. That is part of what drives us to become as efficient of a hunter as we can, but we are human and no one is perfect. We can just try to learn from our mistakes. Good luck this coming season!

 

[Broken Compass]

I missed a great buck twice because I was trying to guess how far he was. I swear I am the worst judge of distance! Luckily he stopped for a third time long enough for me to pull the rangefinder out and I smoked him. If he wouldn't have stopped and gave me that third shot I would still be seriously depressed.

 

[Juan_ID]

I missed not 1 but 2 good bucks in the same day late fall of 07 that still haunt me! Not to mention the good buck I missed last season! I'm still workin to get my first archery buck... Those 2 misses absolutely ruined me though! I put my bow down for 3 years and finally took archery back up in 2010 and am still workin on gettin my first archery muley! I vowed last year was the year, but 2013 IS MY YEAR! Can't wait to get a little redemption in the Idaho desert this fall!

 

[Hardstalk]

Missed a solid buck in 2011. My dad watched the whole stalk and shot thru the spotter. I Ranged him took a deep breath squeezed the release and he sunk a solid 8-10" the buck looked at me like he has been shot at more than once. Rounded up his buddies and trotted just out of range for another shot. I still remember staring into his eyes and feeling about 2" tall!

 

[Hawker]

Ha!!! I've had target panic so bad that I had to buy new broad heads so I could resharpen them after everytime I threw a dirt diver. It's been a long road and I've got it licked. The funny thing was I only had tp on animals. I feel your pain.

 

[smitho]

I missed a nice five a few years back and it still haunts me. He had the biggest whale tails and I can still see them in my minds eye. I ambushed him headed into the timber.Everything finally worked out perfectly! NIce bull, within range, clear shooting lane, I was ready picked my spot and he was as good as dead. Then just as I was bout to let the arrow fly, he saw me or actually we made I contact and I panicked. Jerked the shot and watched my arrow sail over his back and "my bull" trot down the hilland out of my life. YEach that one still hurts a little bit

 

[keep]

I was moose hunting last year and the last morning I was there we had a bull come in on a string. He closed a 300yd gap in no time. He shows up, steps into the clearing facing directly at me, no shot no problem he doesn't know we are there. Then the cow steps out and she walks to with in 5yds of me and about 2yds of my buddy and she doesn't care we are there. He has now closed the distance from 20yds to 13-14 and hangs out for 10 mins. The opportunities I had to draw he was either not offering a shot or the cow was looking. Finally they moved off. The cow started eating in some brush out of view 15 yds to the left but the bull got uncomfortable and moved away.
He reappeared in another opening and we moved for a shot. I had him completely broadside at 49.3 yds, or so the rangefinder said, but he was looking at us. I draw, settle the pin then let down. Something didn't feel right because of the way he was looking at us. While it's not a miss, it haunts me daily because it might as well have been. I can make that shot and spend countless time practicing at greater distances than that so then I can pull off a 50.
Three weeks ago when I was up there bear hunting my buddy asked if I wanted to see my moose. I asked him what he meant and he said another hunter shot it the 1st week of rifle season. He would have hit the books, he was a good moose. It's been 9 months and I think of it almost daily and regret not taking the shot.

 

[bigeasygator]

I started hunting when I was 12, but didn't get to the killing until much later on! My first rifle kill wasn't until I was 29 (back in 2008) on a drop camp elk hunt that I had dreamed of all my life. After that hunt, I knew I wouldn't spend a fall not chasing elk.

Fast forward to three years later and it was the first year I really got into the application game. I happened to luck out and draw a OIL elk tag to archery hunt the Valle Vidal in New Mexico. I booked an outfitter for the hunt and fall couldn't get here fast enough. It finally came and the hunt was the most amazing hunt I've ever been on. We were in on multiple bulls over the six days, but it's archery hunting in there's no guarantees. On the last evening of the hunt (after hunting our asses off for those six days), we were chasing bugles on a ridgetop and started working a small herd with a 320 class bull. We couldn't quite close the distance or had obstacles in the way of decent shots.

Finally two cows broke off into a clearing to my left and the bull started chasing them up a ridge. I quickly got in position and ranged him at exactly 60 yards right before my guide stopped him. I got to full draw and settled the 60 yard pin on the perfectly broadside bull. At the end of the day I think I just rushed the shot as it all happened so quick. My arrow hit about a foot right of where I wanted -- a miss would have been preferable to the gut shot that I made. We searched to no avail before a late evening storm forced us down the mountain. That was the first time I ever loosed an arrow at an animal and the result left me contemplating whether I wanted to again.

There's a lot of things I contemplate on that hunt. Given how hard we hunted, for things to come together like that and for me to blow it absolutely kills the competitor in me (I've always liked coming through in the clutch). I do all of my practicing now at 60 yards and beyond to better prepare for a shot like that. Of course the thing that sticks with me the most is the pain I put that animal through. I take some solace in the fact that nothing in nature goes to waste, but you never want to see it end like that. Since then, I've successfully taken two whitetails, a mule deer, and a bear with my bow and haven't missed another shot -- although I'm still scoreless on archery elk! They say if you hunt long enough it's only a matter of time before it happens. That maybe true, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't.