Fortunately, my mistake didn't end up with a wounded or lost animal. The only thing wounded was my ego, which in reality wasn't a particularly bad thing. Seems I was getting a little cocky and arrogant with my shooting at game. A little slice of humble pie went down hard but was certainly good for me. The best I can remember, my last 11 arrows shot at game resulted in something being dead (4 turkeys, 4 deer, 1 coyote, 1 rabbit, 1 alligator). Well that streak ended this morning. It was a perfectly beautiful morning with temps in the low 30's and a light wind in my favor. I was trying to catch a quick hunt before work and had set my departure time at 8 AM. Well at 7:56 AM I started getting ready to leave. Took my arrow off and put it in the quiver, hung my bow up, put on my backpack and got ready to climb down. As I was reaching for my bow I looked over at the apple tree and there standing under it was a nice fat 6 pt with short times but good width. I initially decided I wasn't going to shoot but got ready anyway. Well, he posied around the tree for a minute and then started to walk off and into the field to the right. This would take him into an opening at about 12 yards. I saw that he had a good sized body and thought those backstraps would be awfully good wrapped in bacon and grilled over an open flame. So I made a quick decision to go ahead and shoot him. Well the quick decision didn't allow me to focus like I know I should and I made the rookie mistake of just yanking back the string and letting the arrow fly. It was after all a slam dunk shot. There was no way I could miss. RRRIIIIGGGGHHHHHTTTT! I didn't so much as pick a general area to shoot at let alone a single hair. So when you "aim big, you miss big". I didn't aim low, I didn't pick a spot, I rushed my shot, I probably didn't anchor well, and the result was pretty predicatable. I trimmed a few hairs right off his back. As Homer Simpson, my compadre in mental apptitude would say, "doh"! My TimberHawk Falcon T/D was whisper quiet and the silly buck just hopped about 3 yards and stopped. I had a wonderful shot, but that little buck earned the right to live and taught me a good lesson in humility and focus. Never take any shot for granted and always respect what you are shooting at and give it your full focused effort.
I wish I could say I won't make the mistake again, but I sure as heck will remember my slice of humble pie this morning. The old axiom of "aim small, miss small" holds some pretty heavy weight this morning. Well, I better go. I have some pie stuck in my throat and need to get some water to wash it down.
Tonight should be good....
Topic: I'm an Idiot! Made a Rookie Mistake! (Read 445 times)
