Your most memorable misses….

[tuxdad]

#3882

Hey Folks,

With hunting season nearing it’s end for the year.. I recall reading an old article about missing..

Would love to hear about your most memorable misses for this year or in the past seasons if you like.. Share the story behind them as well, if you could??

Tux

[paleoman]

#31528

Buck of my life. Magazine cover rack. TALL and wide. I shot under it at maybe 12′ on 10/9/09 from a tree stand. I delude myself I’m over it. This was on heavily hunted State Land near home. It was a gift and I blew it. I was inconsolable to my wife when I got home.

[David Coulter]

#36647

When I first started bowhunting several years ago I was on my way to a tree stand near my home. It’s right off a woods road that we walk on frequently. I had about 8 steps to go to get to the stand and I look to my left and a doe is just standing there looking at me, maybe 10 yards away. I faded back a little behind a white pine, nocked an arrow and leaned back out. She was stood there waiting. I drew, released and watched that arrow fly harmlessly by 18 inches to the left. She slid into the brush and walked off. Never did find that arrow.

Great thread. best, dwc

[Ptaylor]

#43060

This will be fun and informative to follow. This past season I only let one arrow fly and it did its job. However, I almost released another arrow but didn’t and I kind of consider that a “missed opportunity”: Sneaking through a bedding area a legal fork buck stood up from his bed, 10 yards above me, broadside, but with a bush blocking his vitals. I had an arrow nocked, waiting. After 30 seconds (more like an eternity:lol:)he walked off without presenting a clean shot. That was the closest I got to a legal buck with my bow this year.

I’ll be going hog hunting in a couple weeks, so I hope to not miss another one of those!

[Charles Ek]

#48486

From 2012 – “ALWAYS bring two” https://www.tradbow.com/members/cfmbb/messages.cfm?messageid=6B02BA63-1422-1DE9-EDF91F106A638097#6B02BA63-1422-1DE9-EDF91F106A638097

[John Dilts]

#52003

Last summer after N.A.L.S. in the Calgary a nice fellow I met at the shoot took me on a gopher shoot it was my first time in that part of Canada. Had a great day testing my less then great skills. Just before the end of the day we seen a pair of badges outside there hole. I was going to leave it alone because I never thought i would guess close enough in such a big open field but gave it a try. The other guys stayed down wind talked loud it kept there eyes on them. I got to about 50 yards when it turned and looked right at me I drew long and slow released it looked so good the badger reacted one of the guys yelled HE GOT IT the badger looked like it was having a hard time going back down his hole. well he would with an arrow in him. Then he was gone. The badger so about 2/3 out of his hole when i released i ran over to find my arrow stuck on the inside of the hole he had to push it out of the way to go back down the hole. I must have shaved his belly. This one still bugs me more then my big game misses.

[tuxdad]

#14576

Sorry it took me a bit to get around to posting my own memorable miss for this year.. I actually have a number of memorable misses, including the one which turned me to traditional.. For now I’ll just post my most recent..

Two days before the end of early archery season here in PA. I had an awesome ground blind ambush set up with a scrape about 12 yds from me with a rub at around 15 yds.. The paths were WELL worn .. The back of my blind was a really thick hedge row.. In front of me there was grass and millet about mid thigh level.. I set up a couple of scent packs around the scrape, and settled in for the wait.. With it being the last days before rifle season I decide to call aggressively with a bleat can and grunt calls after a couple of hours sitting.. After a bit I could see a doe coming my way and she was in a hurry .. She came through the trail on a wire and went left of me into hedge row on one of the worn trails made by them… I thought that was pretty cool :D.. After about 15 minutes she came busting out of the hedge row on the right of me.. She stopped and the scrape, and sniffed around then made a deposit of her own, and headed back the way she came earlier.. She never knew I was there, which I thought was great ! About 30 minutes went by with no action, and I was getting a little sleepy.. That’s about when I heard the grass rustling and that’s when I finally saw this little six point … He’d pretty much just “ghosted” and was feeding on the grass.. He was a little nervous it seemed and he stayed clear of the scrape.. At one point he looked right at me .. I kept my head tilted down so he didn’t catch my eyes.. He went back to feeding and started working his way past me.. I focused on that little pocket right behind his elbow as he worked his way past me.. The whole time my heart’s pounding like a hammer.. I slowly pulled back to draw and about 3/4’s of the way back I heard the string pluck:shock: .. The string slipped off my fingers and the arrow sailed over his back.. It spooked him a little and he out to about 15 yds from me.. I had a second shot but couldn’t get an arrow out of my quiver beside me because I had a cover over them for when I stalked my way in. So I sat and watched him just mosey away none the wiser..

That was the closest I’ve come to getting a deer with my bow..

Btw, I’m sure most of you will wonder why I didn’t go after the doe .. I didn’t buy a doe tag, so she was off limits … But next year :wink:…

[arthurw]

#54490

My first year bowhunting. First and last time using a compound. I was hunting a particular, very large bodied 8 pointer. Finally, everything came together. I was in a pop up blind, sitting on a stool, with the window zipped down so the front of the blind was open. The buck showed up, and I waited til he got in front of the open window perfect broadside shot at 15 yards. I had buck fever, and had forgotten that when the sight was on the deer, the arrow was still much lower. I drew and released and the arrow went maybe 10 feet and hit a seriously heavy patch of brush, the arrow shot straight up, and the buck stepped behind a blowdown, with only his head visible. He stood there looking at me I nocked another arrow, and cursed the popup blind because I couldn’t move to get in position for another shot. I put the popup blind away for good as well. Been hunting with recurves out of natural cover ever since.

[tuxdad]

#59626

arthurw wrote: My first year bowhunting. First and last time using a compound. I was hunting a particular, very large bodied 8 pointer. Finally, everything came together. I was in a pop up blind, sitting on a stool, with the window zipped down so the front of the blind was open. The buck showed up, and I waited til he got in front of the open window perfect broadside shot at 15 yards. I had buck fever, and had forgotten that when the sight was on the deer, the arrow was still much lower. I drew and released and the arrow went maybe 10 feet and hit a seriously heavy patch of brush, the arrow shot straight up, and the buck stepped behind a blowdown, with only his head visible. He stood there looking at me I nocked another arrow, and cursed the popup blind because I couldn’t move to get in position for another shot. I put the popup blind away for good as well. Been hunting with recurves out of natural cover ever since.

HAHAHA !! Your story reminds me of why I turned to traditional.. I’ll have to post thatthis evening after work.. Thanks:D

[Greg Ragan]

#63702

Last year’s buck…. Since committing myself to the Hill style of shooting fluidly I spend significant practice time shooting long distances and speed shooting to become more fluid and unconscious. Nearing the end of the rifle season I still had a yet to hang my buck tag on a deer. A decent sized 8 point for the area I hunt presented itself and I promptly plucked the string and stuck my arrow in the deer’s ham.

The deer bolted on a course around my tree and without thinking there was another arrow on my string from the back quiver and I was nearing full draw as the deer past my stand parallel and running full bore downhill.

I swung with the deer and released and watched my arrow just miss an inch or 2 high but aligned perfectly to the vitals….would have been a great running shot and I darn near scored on it! What the heck there was already an arrow in it right!

Turns out the deer finally stopped downhill from me at 87 steps and my Hail Mary 3rd shot somehow found it’s way through the canopy of branches and killed the deer. 3 shots in a few seconds time.

Lots of luck but I am convinced my practice helped make it all work out/possible. Been totally in on the idea of longbows and back quivers ever since.

[Don Thomas]

#10013

I’d love to add to the campfire discussion, but as everyone knows writers never miss. Don

[Ralph]

#18043

Don’t get your feet wet crossing streams either?:wink:

Just wonderin’:D

[Stephen Graf]

#19942

donthomas wrote: I’d love to add to the campfire discussion, but as everyone knows writers never miss. Don

Is that a lie, or is that literary license? 😆 🙄

[grumpy]

#20113

I’m thinking it has something to do with something Mark Twain said…

[David Coulter]

#20630

Something like, I’ll tell you about my miss but you have to paint the fence for me…

[Stephen Graf]

#26141

I believe Tom said that, not Mark. Though Mark may have had something to do with the conveyance of said remarks…

[David Coulter]

#44568

Mark might have the only adult Tom listened to. Dwc

[Ralph]

#49925

I saw what yer’all are doin………..

[Don Thomas]

#54680

Actually Steve, “literary license” is just an elegant way of saying “a lie.” Don

[Ralph]

#55431

donthomas wrote: Actually Steve, “literary license” is just an elegant way of saying “a lie.” Don

That didn’t work at all with my folks, the literary license… The soap tasted awful……..:roll: Wasn’t elegant soap I guess…….probably wouldn’t of mattered though, I don’t imagine any soap was designed to taste good. If so we might all be using literary license more often, not just writers. 😀

[Author]

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