clean miss or bad hit that is the question

[Traditional-Archer]

OK, I know that a bad hit on a deer is a bad day for any responsible hunter, so we have to take that out of the intended point.
I use to tell my friends or should I say I would criticize them for making statements like, I had a clean miss or I just got hair or I tattooed the deer on my missed shot.
OK here is my beliefs, just remember how much I am disappointed In myself if I wound an animal. It has happened but not very many time and I understand we all understand it happens. I say and believe if you have a clean miss rather than a wounded deer in either case it is the same. A clean miss is a shot that was just that bad or a deer that was that cranked up from the start and jumped the string. I just bring this point up because for some who think its better to have a clean miss and it is, but it should bring up all kinds of red flags and questions like. What went wrong what was I doing and how can I fix this.
I'm just saying, we should not dismiss a  lean miss at game, we should study and ask questions and think hard about what went wrong.

 Bruce

[Bobby Urban]

I doubt there is many that are happy or at least un-effected by a miss.  I would guess it rides anyone to being better at their craft.

[Lin Rhea]

Predators are always learning from their mistakes but they never get to where they are always successful. Whether we make a hard shot or miss and easy shot, there is always a reason for it. Too many variables to consider to know for sure. We do what we can.

[mcgroundstalker]

"The Moment Of Truth" will let us know we are only human all the time... The only way to be ready for a hunting shot, is to hunt... All the time in the world shooting 3D and targets is not hunting.

Practice all you can and try to stay calm when you shoot at something alive... After all, it's like going back in time a thousand years! It's gonna make you shake a bit... Gotta Love It!

... mike ...

[longbow fanatic 1]

Bruce,

Interesting point. For may trad archers who shoot more instinctively, the miss may be caused by many different factors but that is another issue for discussion later. A miss from this type of shooter is, in many ways, similar to an arrant throw by an MLB third baseman. How can that happen? This professional athlete has made that throw tens of thousands of times in his life and hundreds, if not more, of times each season. That said, misses happen, especially when eye hand coordinations issues come into play.

For archers who shoot the gap method, misses can occur by misjudging yardage and simply shooting the wrong gap estimation.

A very good trad archer friend of mine, who has attended Rick Welch's archery lessons, said to me that the left to right arrows we shoot are the arrows we need to be most concerned with. Those are form breakdowns. The high and low arrows are simply a misjudging of distance, which if you shoot archery long enough and happens to us all.

Dennis

[SteveB]

Good thread. I've always felt there is no difference. A wound is a miss - missed kill. Neither should ever be taken lightly, but I've seen those who laugh at misses - even repeated ones or several in a row. When it happens, it is only blind luck it is not a wound.

[Alexander Traditional]

I would rather have a clean miss,and have had a bunch of those. I wouldn't really feel very good about a bad shot even if I did recover the animal.

[joe ashton]

interesting reflections...

[m midd]

I missed a bull elk in washinton this september. It was a 25 yd shot. I shot over his back by a half inch. I am not happy about the miss but i would have been sick if i would have wounded him. My problem was my distance judgement. I am used to hunting deer in river bottoms and shooting at the elk on an open hill side threw me for a curve. For me a clean miss and a bad shot are not even close to the same thing. I shoot 3D all year and i agree with the above statements, All the time in the world 3D shooting is not hunting

[longbow fanatic 1]

Originally posted by Alexander Traditional:
I would rather have a clean miss,and have had a bunch of those. I wouldn't really feel very good about a bad shot even if I did recover the animal.

Alexander brings up an interesting point. A clean miss equals a wounded animal equals an arrant shot which strikes an animal in a location you were not intending. How do ethical traditional archers evaluate their shots, even on game harvested with poor shots? Are those shots, because the animal is eventually recovered, viewed in a more favorable light than those, let's say, on a clean miss?

[Caleb Monroe]

Very interesting. Good stuff guys. I agree with all of the above statements. I guess that my disappointment is very similar in both situations. But I am more thankful when I miss so that the animal will not suffer because of my error. But agree that both should be evaluated and corrected.

[bowhuntingrn]

I think Caleb hit the nail on the head.

[30coupe]

Clean miss = Oh, crap I didn't pick a spot. It is irritating and will bug me for days. Sometimes it is just because the deer had better reflexes than I imagined and was able to drop below the arrow. I actually have to admire a critter that can do that.

A wounded animal leaves a sick feeling that never goes away completely. Bad hits are my fault, and I know it. Either my form needs work or I didn't pay close enough attention to the area around me and a limb hit something causing the arrow to stray from my intended path.

Anyway, try as I might to think they are the same, I can't.

[Bowwild]

I also agree with Caleb. I feel very bad when I've hit and don't recover an animal. Therefore I'm a very conservative shot.

While I haven't had this happen in more than 40 years, I did hit a couple of deer in the early 70's very high. I had no concept (I was 17-19)of deer dropping to gather themselves and exit in those days. Maybe, that was why I made those bad shots?  I blamed the possibility that I had failed to "pick a spot".

In the past 30 years or so I can honestly say that a dropping deer hasn't been the reason for any misses or poor hits. Maybe because I very rarely am shooting at an alert deer and I hunt only lightly pressured private land.  Of course maybe I've just been lucky...if I believed in luck which I don't.

I'd rather not have taken the shot than wound or miss. I realize too that the miss could have been a wound.

[Friend]

A loosed arrow, whether good or bad is gone forever. How I address the outcome is personal and is no way being expounded on with an ulterior motive to sway others.

Preparation and scouting, by far, receives the biggest bone. Much pleasure, camaraderie and peace is enjoyed. And sometimes, a successful harvest.

When a shot opportunity is starting to unfold, a different gear is called upon and the intensity and focus sharply escalates. My focus on shot execution stands forefront. I make no differentiation from a shot in the field to a practice shot at home or a shot on a 3D course. Intense focus on the shot execution has paid big dividends in reducing error and holding shot degrading excitement at bay.

Misses and bad hits are not simply deemed acceptable. The fact that errors occur are acknowledged, however each occurrence warrants thorough personal investigation, reflection and corrective action. Note: the same holds true for a proper execution and favorable harvest. Being too hard on myself in the past has, at times, proven counter-productive. Working through the issue and/ or possibly improving mental preparation has been most productive. Challenges have remained forever forthcoming.  

Is this radical or possibly a self-prescribed method that has led to success? Preparation and hunting takes up 99.99% of the time. Hopefully, I can be properly focused 0.1% of the time and celebrate later.

The animals we pursue must command our unwavering preeminent respect.

[Traditional-Archer]

We are hunting when we make mistakes and that is a gift. I will never feel good about a missed shot or a wounded animal that stands to reason. I hope it will come to some that a clean miss is just lucky that being my point, whether that miss is because of form a rushed shot planning or lack of, the list could go on for a long time. We are the best of the best as far as I am concerned and it’s because of this, learning and sharing.
A new traditional hunter is looking for all the information they can read listen to and then finally put the information to work in the field. We have a responsibility to share with new Traditional Hunters to learn from every mistake and success that they can. Remember the question was not, is it better to have a clean miss or a wounded animal.

[KSdan]

Lots of thoughts here. . .  I typically don't feel so good when a guy says, "I was just an inch over his back," or "I was just an inch in front of his brisket."  In fairness- those shots are a foot off!  Been there done that!  I just do not think a 1" miss is REALLY off by one inch!  Sobering for sure. . .

[Cookie125]

I can't speak for anyone else, but with being an athlete my entire live a wrestler for 16 years and a competitive swimmer for 13 I have become a very technique driven person. I'm not perfect but always working to be that way or at least as close as I can. As an athlete and as a coach I watched and analyzed everything. One thing I've noticed is that you do not always realize what you're doing wrong until it happens in the heat of the moment when it counts the most. Now again these are things I will analyze for days and work to resolve what went wrong.

My first night in the stand I had a coyote come by and took a shot. Everything felt good, the release and everything felt great but I missed. When I got done and wslked to my arrow I measured a distance farther than I thought it was.
for the sake of the coyote I'm glad I missed but until I discovered my judgment of distance was wrong it ate me up as to what I did wrong.

[Mr. fingers]

Originally posted by KSdan:
Lots of thoughts here. . .  I typically don't feel so good when a guy says, "I was just an inch over his back," or "I was just an inch in front of his brisket."  In fairness- those shots are a foot off!  Been there done that!  I just do not think a 1" miss is REALLY off by one inch!  Sobering for sure. . .

Very profound

[Cyclic-Rivers]

A hunter that doesnt evaluate his hunt cannot get better.