Thinking about a mmmmiss

[rudyc]

I\'ve missed plenty of critters in my years of bow hunting. Usually get over it pretty quickly.
No so much with the elk I missed a couple of years ago.
A nice 5 point came in to our calling on the second to the last day of the hunt and I had what I thought was a \"gimmie\" at 18yards.
Turns out not so much a \"gimmie\". I hit a small branch that I never saw and ended up center punching an Aspen.

Can\'t let it go!! Seems like hardly a day goes by without replaying the whole deal??

What\'s up with that??

 

[elky McElkerson]

I kinda rate success if I come to full draw. Letting a arrow fly is stuff of dreams!!!


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

 

[iccyman001]

This picture brings back memories of my dreaded Kansas turkey hunt....


I completely understand Rudy.
My arrow ended up in tree just like that. Only issue is I hit the turkey..... he just pulled an epic disappearing act. :dk:

 

[Olympushunt]

I think it just makes you a good hunter Rudy. If you didn\'t care then that says a lot. My failures haunt me and are my most vivid memories. I have had good success but my mistakes are where I learned the most.

 

[Zpd307]

rudy, I still cry about mine. the worst part is that I actually hit him.....

 

[Guest]

Many years ago I shot the biggest bull I had ever seen and I never found him !! I searched the mountain for a week straight until I found him and a grizzly had also found him !! I retreated and never went back !!

I punched my tag and was so disgusted in myself I never hunted for the rest of the season !! My shot was perfect and hit right in the crease 1/3 of the way up his body but the dang thing never bled but a few drops !! We were in the thickest jungle you could hunt in and he only went about 60-80 yards but uphill and crawled into a blow down area ! I\'m sure I walked right past him on several occasions while I looked for him !! I guess it just wasn\'t meant to be !!

It\'s who we are and things do happen while we are out there !! You have to take the good and the bad !!

Trav

 

[timberland]

I kinda rate success if I come to full draw. Letting a arrow fly is stuff of dreams!!!


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

Don\'t need a tag for that.....That could save me a fortune!

 

[elkmtngear]

Replaying that encounter in your head makes you a better hunter.

Be happy you had a great encounter in the elk woods, and a story to tell

 

[Jaquomo]

The first truly big bull I ever shot at decades ago..... I put my first shot through his antlers at 25 yards. The next one was over his back. The next one was under him. The fourth one went somewhere..... He stood in the meadow bugling at me while I searched around for my arrows....

The next big bull..... I was beneath a big spruce in a rain and shot sitting when he walked by at 7-8 yards. Shot right under him. He stopped at 25 and I killed him with that one.

I\'ve missed two 200\" class muleys. Fortunately I have one bigger than that so it doesn\'t sting quite so much. But the potential WR typical muley I screwed up on by being impatient will haunt me to my grave.

 

[cnelk]

It\'s no secret that I have had my share of misses.
I do remember one in particular tho.
It was my first year archery elk. I was using an old wheelie compound.
First call of the morning here comes this HUGE 6x7 and a young cow.
28 yds and my shot went right over his back.
He whirled and took off.
I then sent one at the cow. Shot over.
The next arrow hit a tree ( very similar to Rudys shot)
One arrow left.
It found its mark.
All of this happened in about 60 seconds.

It caused a bad case of target panic that took quite awhile to overcome

 

[elkmtngear]

A lot of my \"near misses\" have been close encounters where I didn\'t get the shot off (archery elk hunting).

The biggest of these was a very respectable 6x6 that came in screaming directly at me through the timber. I was in a kneeling position in front of a spruce tree, and my buddy was about 60 yards behind me, just pissing that bull off with challenge bugles. :twisted:

The bull just kept coming...and coming...and broke out of the trees about 20 yards ahead of me. I couldn\'t move. He walked by me at about 5 feet (nothing between me and him)...and I knew I had a limited time to shoot because if I waited too long he would be directly between me and my buddy, and he would also be getting my scent in the wind. So, when he was steeply quartering away behind me, I attempted to twist around and draw in one motion.

Busted!

I still replay that movie in my head all the time :crazy: