Really awesome adventure that you were able to share with your whole family. I can't wait until my son is is old enough to join me on my hunts.
As for the whole praying to get a better shot, perhaps I should try that since I haven't been able to even get a shot off this year let alone have a near miss. The problem I always have is which of the 5000+ gods out there are a)powerful enough to influence a deer to lineup perfectly for a shot, b) not too busy with far more important issues to acknowledge my prayer, or c) what the current prayer exchange rate is on killing one of his/her or another god's creatures. Once I figure that out, I should have more success. God forbid I rely on skill alone.