Most memorable miss?

[Chris Shelton]

Alright, time to lay out the dirty laundry, or however that old saying goes, lol.  I wanna hear it, gimme you most memorable miss.  If you have been bowhunting for any length of time you will have one.  


Mine was two years ago when I was 16 years old.  It was my second season as a traditional bowhunter.  The previous year I had taken my first whitetail in the mountians of western Maryland on a big plot of state forest(55,245 acres).  I was shooting a 40# galaxy mars recurve, with camoflage explore shafts by easton with a 100 grain thunderhead.  The same set up as the previous year.  It was opening day of gun season and I had a dandy 125 class buck in my sights, and I felt good.  I was hiking up to my spot which is pretty steep, and I realized my lisence is back at camp, about a half mile away.  So I climb down leaving my gear there, and go get my lisence.  On the way back I was hoofin it, cause the sun was staring to come up.  I striped down to nothing but my long johns and kept goin.  I got to a point on the ridge and heard deer blowing about 500 yards below, they came crashing up and stopped 20 yards away.  I was in nothing but my long johns(and pants).  Finally they went over the ridge and disappeared both does.  I got dressed and settled in.

After about 3 hours of freezing, I decided to get up.  My feet were numb, and my hands were like ice.  I started moving up the ridgeline.  One side of the mountain is hardwoods the other is dense pines.  I reached a hardwood bowl on the pines side and went down on the edge.  I spotted a deer about 170 yards down the ravine, and looked harder, it was him.  I squatted down, and took off my pack.  Got out my glove, and it was frozen, and cold.  I had it in my pocket, but it didnt help, my hand hurt when I tried to wear it.  The buck was down below moving up but not toward me, so I grunted, he looked up and started heading my way.

I saw that this was it, and I was going to have to shoot with bare fingers.  It was gona hurt but only for a second, I can handle it.  My bow was up and ready, my hand was in my pocket, and he was coming.  He came up the ridge I stood up while he was behind a tree, and he stepped out from behind it and stopped right behind a small sapling.  The sappling was covering his front shoulder, which was okay, but he spotted me.  And stomped.  

I relized that even though it was a smidge further than I would have liked (27 yards), it was now or never.  I drew back, felt a sharp pain in my fingertips, tried to pick a spot and released.  Felt like forever, but the arrow soared through the air, and was perfectly on target, except about 3" to the right and completely nailed that sapling  

[bornagainbowhunter]

My most memorable miss was 2 years ago also.  I was hunting out of state.  I take an annual trip to Missouri to try to help them with some of their herd (kinda' nice of me, huh?).  Well, I had scouted this place out the previous year, but it had not been right to hunt, until this year.  I had seen 34 deer from the tree that day, it was looking good.  

About 45 minutes before dark I hear a noise.  It was a doe about 100 yards off headed right to me.  As I watched her, he appeared.  It was a big buck.  When he got closer I could see he was about a mid 150's 8pt.  For an Arkansas boy, that a good'en.  He made his way to me stopped broadside at about 18 yards, then looked the other way.  Perfect.  I then proceeded to shoot an arrow just under him. I probably cut his chest hair.  He never know what happened.  He trotted about 20 feet and stopped, but I could not get another shot.  He stood there for about 5 minutes then chased the doe off.  My heart sunk...

That is the way it goes sometime, ya just gotta hang in there.

[BrianfromTulsa]

My most memorable miss occurred in 1978 or 1979 (I think), my very first solo bowhunt, my dad sat in another tree about 50 yards away.  I was standing on a big oak limb with a borrowed Pearson bow (left handed but I shot it right)when 3 does walked right to me.  I don't remember any more of the shot other than it was a slam dunk and I missed.  I've been hooked ever since.  I wish I could go back in time and re-examine that set up.  I'm sure I had mismatched arrows with equal numbers of odd broadheads, no camo and no clue.  Sounds much like my last bowhunt.

[bofish-IL]

Mine happened many years ago. I had just switched back to traditional equipment. I was on a piece of new property I had just started to hunt. I was setup in a tree stand on a creek crossing that showed lots of sign.

About an hour after daylight I heard something coming from across the creek. The smart weeds or horse weeds were over a person’s head and all I could see were the weeds moving around. Then just as the sun was shining on the small opening across the creek out steps a monster of a buck.

This buck walked down the bank and bent down to drink. Raised his head up several times to look and listen. Which gave me plenty of time to count his twelve points? Turned and went back up the bank the way he came. What a disappointment. But wait he stopped and has his ears cupped the direction he came from.

Maybe it wasn't over yet. Yes he turns to come back my direction. Dam now he stopped and turns another direction walking off. Finally I sigh and relax somewhat. Knees still kind of quivering. Then within a second my heart is beating so loud it sounds like it is going to explode because here he comes again.

He walks down into the creek I draw my bow back -pick a spot and let fly. The arrows fly’s true and  glances off his rack right where I was looking.
I swear I was shaking so bad leaves were falling from the tree and the deer jumps back about 5 feet standing broadside with his head looking the other way.

I was lucky to get another arrow out and pull back shooting right between the antlers, since that is where I was looking again. The deer finally runs off.

A compound shooter shot him 2 weeks later and a buddy scored him just over 160 inches.

I was watching a large group of pheasants feeding in a corn field, mostly cocks.  They went into small weed patch where the farmer changed his planting direction, about a 15 by 25 foot triangle.  I put on the best low crawl I could and got to within 15 yards and stood up ready to shoot.  The whole flock busted at once.  I picked out one that seemed easy to shoot swung drew and fired.  Dead center, the cock spun and hit the ground with a thud.  Problem was, it was not the one I was shooting at.

[John3]

1996 I just moved back to Missouri and was hunting a bit of public ground north of Columbia.  I set up near a creek crossing and all went exactly as planned other than my actually shooting a deer.  A doe and her yearling's crossed the creek and came up the bank stopping not 8 big steps from me.  A slam dunk at calm deer not then yards away.

I remember drawing the recurve but nothing else until after hearing my arrow bounce off of a tree 10' in front of the doe...  All I could do was laugh a little...

I don't usually miss slam dunks. Stay calm use good form and all works out.  If not it is always a "deflection".. LOL

If this was easy none of us would be having so much fun...!

[Wapiti Chaser]

A few years ago I missed a great 8 pionter at 15 yards. Sat up in the tree beating myself up for an hour when here he comes again. Stands in exact same spot and I shoot in the exact same spot ! Two arrows in the dirt an inch apart. That hurt !

[highPlains]

Got right in on a herd bull, I'm talking close! He was bugling every minute which allowed me to sneak in quietly. He was hot! So when I was within 50 yards but out of sight I let go the meanest bugle I could. His response was IMMEDIATE and I cut his bugle off with another nasty scream. He came in MAD, grunting with every step.

At ten yards a giant 6x6 bull elk might as well have been the broadside of a barn. I thought it was a slam dunk and didn't even aim. To my everlasting shame the arrow sailed right over his back. I think of that big bull all of the time.

[gregg dudley]

Colorado--2 years ago--Mule Deer of Gargantuan Proportions.

I can close my eyes and replay the shot time and time again.  The shot felt so good, the arrow looked so perfect...then it ran out of momentum and passed just under the chest of the buck.  You could have slipped a dollar bill between the broadhead and his chest, but not two of them.  

It was my first hunt in the west and the combination of nerves, huge deer and wide open space had me seriously underestimating shot distance.

[gobbler10ga]

tooooooooooo many to count

[Jerry Wald]

Ok lets call this one THREE ARROWS.

I was on a horse hunting trip:

 

We were hunting Dall Sheep in the only bow zone (and it's just for the sheep there..so you can gun hunt other things...nuts eh!) in the yukon.

I was up the mountain that is inthe second pic down and it is the pointed mountain in the background.

It was our third or fourth day.....early september. We had had some cool nights, but nice sunny days....early fog rising.

Now I had a quiver that only held three arrows. I go up the mountain and I am coming around the side and I spot three rams laying together at about 200 yards. There is a scout up about them and he is ON ME.

So what to do. It starts to snow (sleet snow). So I decide to make a stalk and see how it works out. I am all decked out in off white. I start just meandering in their general direction trying hard not to make eye contact.

At about 100 yards I stop and have a sandwich....the snow is coming down but not as hard but the hillside is white now....and it's about 45 minutes later.

So I glass them to get an idea of sizes. Here you need full curl to take a sheep. I glass and their is one laying straight away...one straight towards me and the big fella facing downhill and broadside. Problem is his body is blocked by an outcropping.

So I start crawling side ways like a crab across the hill..trying to keep my profile low. The scout is on me, but the others seemed pretty relaxed.

I get about 60 yards and the scout stands up, but the three just lay there.

I figure if I can get another 20 yards that would be my max. There is a small ravine between us. So it takes me about an hour to get the last 20 yards....so I am resting...trying hard not to look and stair at them.

Trying to get my heart beat back to normal and my breathing. Now what?....hmmm.

I can't shoot the way I am...I am looking downhill and the sheep are on my right and I am a right hand shot. I pivot on the hill so my left shoulder is facing them.

I take a quick peek through the binos to make sure. I really want the BIG GUY, but he aint budging.

I had a WHOLE body of the closest one and he was legal for sure and facing away from me and even if I made a bad shot I had a whole body for error.

I made up my mind and decided to go for the biggest ram. So I knocked an arrow and I picked up a good sized rock and threw it as hard as I could past the three. It hit and they stood up looked the other way to see what the noise was

Perfect...I pulled anchored and shot....the arrow just seemed to take forever getting there....slush just kind of scattering in the sun as the arrow rotated in the air and it went over his vitals and back harmelessly and I lost sight of it.

As it hit they turned toward the sound again. I quickly nocked another arrow....the big fella had turned and was facing up hill.

I anchored and let fly....BANG.... I thought I broke my string or the bow....WOW it was loud.

I looked at my bow...nothing..string looked good.

Looked back at the rams and they were just staring at me. So I knocked my last arrow. I drew anchored and shot.....the arrow flew and flew..perfectly then the arc took it under him.

Unbelievable. I was sure that three arrows would be plenty for a days hunt...crap if you get a shot your lucky normally...I had three and no sheep.

I sat down not knowing what to do. The sheep were still standing there looking at me. So I decided that I had to go that wasy anyway back to camp so i might as well get started.

I walked through the dip towards them and they moved behind the outcrop and up the hill. I thought that's the last I will see of them.

I get up to where they were laying and look and there is no less than 7 YES 7 legal rams standing broadside nose to butts in a row at less than 20 yards....20 yards and I am out of arrows.

I looked at my knife and wondered if I threw it would it hit just perfectly..hmm

So I frantically start looking for the arrows. I looked everywhere and the whole time they are just staring at this crazy man.

I couldn't find them....So I am so mad that I just say screw it and started head towards the basin and the edge of the mountain towards camp.

Well wouldn't you know it.....they followed me....seriuosly...they followed me...like pied piper.

Then next day I ended up in the same spot on my way home and I was at the spot where I had taken the shots....I found my second arrow right there...I had dry fired it somehow.

I walked to where I had missed them and there staring at me out of the moss was the two arrows within a foot of each other....I pulled them out of the moss. One had the bh bent at a 90 degree angle and the other was perfect..little mud but perfect.

So that was my most memorable miss.

this pic says it all...disbelief

 

Jer Bear

[brmorris]

This thread makes newbies like myself feel a whole lot better....like we really aren't missing some vital step.  Still waiting for my first attempt at big game.  However I have shot at a few "matrix" squirels.

[ottertails]

Huh..?    Missed....never!   Wait a minute... what was the question?

My memory aint what it used to be....8^)))))

[Autumnarcher]

Hmmm, where to start. Missed a nice bull elk a few years ago, at about 15 yds. Maybe 14. Clean over his back.

We called this bull in, and in he came lookin for a fight. Stomping and snorting, raking brush, bugling, growling, snot flying, peein all over himself, trashing oak brush- all inside of 25 yds. He came to me, stopped facing me, looking for the upstart "bull" that was tryin to steal his cows. Real nice 5x5, chocolate beams with ivory white tips. He was everything you like to see in an elk, except he was facing me.
He had no clue I was crouched in a cluster of oak brush, my longbow at the ready, fingers tense on the string.

I knew he would either come stright out and turn, or turn around and retreat to his cows.
I knew I would have to time my shot to catch him in the ribs before the opportunity closed.

I saw his ears pivot to his right, and as he started to turn, I felt my fingers come back.....and touch my ear. I released at the instant he was broadside, and watched that arrow carrying my Bear razorhead fly right over his back.

I was so pumped up, I think when I drew I got about 3" of draw length I've never been able to repeat. That arrow shot off that bow like it came out of a cannon. Skipped through the oak brush, as my bull exited.

Ah, but to see all that action so close, I'm a lucky man. Not everyone gets to experience that, the highs, and unfortunately, the lows.

[JARHEAD1371]

My epic miss took place at the family farm in Southern Illinois. I decided to got to a section that rarely gets attention. I set up my climber in a narrow finger heading from a block of woods into a field with a picked soybean field on one side and picked corn on the other. I chose an oak tree that was 20 yds from each edge and had several trails running up and across it. Since I had never been there before, and the rut was starting, I was set up by noon ready to hunt. About 20 minutes later I saw a big 10 point walking down the edge of the soybean field and he decided to walk down one of the trails cutting the across finger and about 18 yds from me. He stopped in a perfect shooting lane and he was looking into the corn field on the other side. Everything was perfect, until the shot. The arrow hit dead center of a 3" Hickory sapling that was about 6' in front of the buck. At the loud "THUD" the buck took a few steps and was blocked by some other trees. I pulled another arrow from my quiver and readied for another shot. The buck walked out into the corn field and turned broadsided and stopped again in a perfect lane. He was about 24 yds and the shot zipped just under his chest. At the shot he bolted about 5 yds behind him and stood looking at my arrow. He then walked over and sniffed the arrow, looked around, and walked back into the woods calmly. Needles to say I gathered my gear and went home to recover from missing a 150"+ buck, twice.

[Earthdog]

This is not your classic North American animal,,,but we got heaps so here goes.
I'm huning Wallabys for the first time,seeing plenty but getting no shot opertunitys.
Then this big buck comes hoping over the hill an stops in front of me at about 15 yards.
He's standing with a one inch thick tree trunk between him and me but slightly to the right of center.
I think "great" I always seem to shoot to the left a tiny bit,so I aim dead center of that little tree trunk an shoot one of my best shots of the year.
I think I heard some laugther in the distance as I sat on the ground digging my arrow out of that darn tree trunk.

Here is mine:

I live in Texas and most all of us down here hunt on leases. This was a year that I had no lease and it was in the middle of deer season and it was killing me. A buddy of mine had a small lease near town and offered to take me hunting with him. The first hunt was a morning hunt so it was dark when he took me to the stand. He showed me to a nice little set-up with a homemade treestand about 12' up in a clump of trees and about a 10yd shot. Right before he left he said "this is a great little stand. If you get a shot out of this stand it will be a slam dunk".

Well I sat there until it got light and the deer started moving. It was not very long when a nice 8 point came in. This was the biggest buck I had ever seen with a bow in my hand. I felt pretty calm, considering, and was confident I was going to make the shot. WRONG! I missed at least a foot high over him. I was really cussing my buddy for saying what he had said but knew it was not his fault.

Moral of the story: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SLAM DUNK IN BOWHUNTING!!!!!

Bisch

[LongStick64]

Here goes. It probably is the shot that keeps me going. I'll never forget it. I was perched up on a tree hunting in a clump of trees overlooking a farmfield. Not too long I hear a deer walking through the woods, coming towards me. A nice buck. He crested the hill to my right, walked towards my stand and then continued off to my left, completely unaware that there was a shakey, nervous as hell young man looking for his first shot ever. When he gave me the quartering away shot I was told to wait for, I drew back on my longbow and let the arrow fly. I watched in wonder as my arrow seemed to be on the mark, to only watch it pass harmlessly right over his back. The buck trotted off and we both lived another day. After that day, it was and still is the motivation to practice hard. Never know when I'll be faced with that shot again.

[joevan125]

Im new to trad so this past fall would be my most memorable miss.

It was the first afternoon of opening day and i had a 115in 8 pointer walk in behind me and stop over my left shoulder (perfect)

10 yd shot and i nicked the top of his back and it made me sick.

The next weekend i killed my first trad animal and it was a good 8 pointer so that sure made me feel better.

[Lund Tyee 1]

On a one week Ontario Bear Hunt about 15 years ago on the very first afternoon hunt I set up a stand about 18' up in a large straight pine tree over looking a clearing.  this was my first Canada bear hunt and after hearing horror stories of black flies and mosquitoes from all my buddies, I thought it would be a great idea to bring a "bug out" suit.  the suit worked great! not a single drop of my blood was donated to the thousands of mosquitoes.  Only 45 min. into the hunt! I heard a twig snap to my right I turned  and saw a black bear bigger than i could ever have dreamed of! This thing was 450lbs + and had a huge head.  he slowly walked up a small hill into the clearing...stopped...turned broad side at 20 yards and looked away from me.  Even after the coaching of how hard black bears size are to judge, I knew this one was a shooter.  I drew back, picked a small patch of wrinkled hair right behind his shoulder and let go. My string hit the "bug out" face mask material and I watched the arrow slither side to side and hit this bear in the center of the shoulder blade. I heard a very clear "dink" and watched the arrow drop straight down in front of the bear.  He spun around and ran back down the hill.  45 min later I got down with a buddy and we followed (on hands and knees) pin prick size drops of blood for 300 yards through the Canadian bush before giving up.

Not a clean "miss" but still very memorable to me.  I ended up taking a small 225 lb bear that trip but was still somewhat disappointed.

The only savior was what all hunting trips bring to me.  the life long memories of good times spent with friends and an adventure into beautiful country.