This is going to sound crazy but I missed a buck that had split G-2's and then for xmas my parents got me a ceramic deer hear on a pedestal and it looked exactly like the buck I missed.
I have missed a bunch over the years. The one that still haunts me the most wasn't a miss though. I was on a cut corn field edge the first week of November about 5 years ago. I saw a big 10 step out and head my way. He was going to give me a ten yard shot broadside. When he got behind a huge tree I pulled back. He was still walking perfectly to me, when he got broadside I did a quiet grunt with my mouth to stop him. I will never forget this as long as I live. All in one motion without the deer stopping he turned and ran. I wanted to puke, **** and piss all at the same time. Still do it to stop deer and have not had any trouble sense then. I still will not shoot at a walking deer.
I missed a great 10 Point in 2011. The Thursday before the opening of gun season. He came in from straight behind me. He stopped at a scrape and worked a branch for about 5 minutes. I could not reach around the tree to shoot with my safety harness, it was to my right. I actually considered un-hooking my safety harness so it would not be in the way and I could get a good shot. Better judgement prevailed, I was 30 feet up, and I waited to see if he would go around to the right of me tree, clear shot or to the left behind me. He went left and quickly made a bee-line between me and the swamp into some brush then stopped at 20 yards. It was getting a little dark and I thought I had an opening. Took the shot and it hit a branch I didn't see. He ran 20 yards straight out and looked at me then ran off. I should have waited, I knew it was a tight shot. I got him in August 2012 on the trail camera. I took a nice 8 point from the stand that fall and my nephew ended up taking him during gun season. He really was a nice deer. I'm glad my nephew got him but I wish I could have tagged him in 2011.
Never missed a buck, but I missed a doe in the morning and missed anther doe the same evening on the opening day of gun season in Louisiana a few years ago.
If I would have killed some of the bucks I've missed the past few years I'd have a TV show by now, lol... Keep in mind I was living in Iowa at the time of these shots.. First year I lived there, missed a 165"-170" 9pt out of a ground blind one afternoon, junk rangefinder wouldn't give me the right range since it was so dark in there, I guessed a little low and shot right under his heart. Year later, shot a mid 150"s 10pt low and lost him, saw him a week later. Year or so after that, Setting behind some hay rolls glassing a field one afternoon and a huge mid 170"s 12pt chases a doe out in the field...I grunt and roar & here he comes...No time to range him, shoot right over his back. Last year middle of the day and I was getting ready to get down, look up to see horns heading my way in the crp, grab the bow, and hit full draw "don't have time to stand up" and literally miss him my maybe 2" low ..... Deer was a 10pt and was in the 180"-190" range gross..... I always say if a deer is under 150" I can kill him every time, if he's 150" or bigger I'll screw that up every single time. So yeah I've missed some big deer, the one last year haunts me all the time.
Yep. The 2nd and 3rd deer I ever shot at were dandys. Shot over the back of one, and right underneath the other. These are the 2 I missed. The 10 point was at 25 yards and I shot over him. I saw that deer almost every saturday for 2 months only ever got the one shot. The 9 point with forked G2 I only ever saw once. I actually smelled him before I saw him.
I've missed a few over the years. Only 2 really stand out and they were absolute giants...either one would have been my biggest ever by a long shot. Those two still sting and in all honesty I just choked, I completely blew the shots(buck fever much?). My oldest son was with me on the second one and the instant I shot I knew I blew it and my mind was already going NOOOOO!!! when my son looks up at me and says..."Dad did you just miss him? Wow, he was close." I didn't even respond...talk about a sack-tap.
I have missed more than my fair share. Having a rangefinder with me doesn't seem to matter if you don't use it until after the shot. It doesn't help when my 17 year old son is the luckiest deer hunter ever and rubs it in at every opportunity. I have a reputation for missing low which is preferable to wounding.
His and Her Diaries Wife's Diary: Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong; He said, 'Nothing.' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you,too.' When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster! Husband's Diary: Missed a big buck today, can't stop replaying it.
I missed a thick antlered 8 pointer about 5-6 years ago. He was 5 feet from the base of my tree and there were no obstructions. I shot low and it went right under him and ended up sticking into the fence post. Left to right was perfect, elevation not so much.
Let's put it this way, I'd rather completely miss a buck than to know I hit one and not retrieve it. I've done that twice and I felt twice as horrible than when I missed completely.
I hear ya. I've never lost a stuck one, but missed one before that was a beautiful brute of an eight pointer!
I missed a pig last year during muzzleloader season (still not sure what happened) and I didnt get much penetration on that velvet buck in North Dakota. The good part about the North Dakota buck is they got trail cam pics after and someone shot him late season. I missed a giant a few years ago during shotgun season and it bugs me to this day. Have had close calls with a number of really big deer without getting a shot also SUCKS!!!
Missed a few in my day. The two that bother me the most were in successive years. One was a complete meltdown, 3 arrows, on film, the works. The other , was Halloween a few years back. Windy wet afternoon. Went ont at one, at four out of the blue a really nice buck is cruising directly at me on a lip. Never saw him until 40 yards in. He went to my low side and it was all I could do to get drawn anchor'd and squeeze before the moment was past. I hit him high of the mark, got no penetration, and he was gone in a flash. Worst part is that all I know is he was big. I didn't have time to enjoy the encounter.
I missed a nice 8 pointer a couple seasons ago. I had ranged a couple reference points when I got to my stand knowing the bucks would travel thru this corridor. Well, this buck came out chasing a couple does, blew right past my decoy, and came into my shooting lane. It had to be a fairly quick shot. I put my 20yd pin right behind the shoulder and squeezed off the shot. Unfortunately, he was at the 30yd spot. My arrow went right underneath him, shaved a few white hairs off his belly. At least it was a clean miss. SCFox
Went to Illinois in 2010 third afternoon a nice buck comes slipping through about thirty yards I draw settle the pin take my time touch off the release arrow finds its mark " so I think " deer runs out to end of ridge and I think he is down right there. Find my arrow covered in blood and meat but not a drop anywhere on the ground. We looked for a day and a half come to find out the next week after we left the lady who's property we were hunting her son ends up killing the deer with a muzzleloader and I had hit him threw no mans land between the spine and vitals. You talking about going from high to a low in an instant when we couldn't find any blood. But I was happy to hear later when I found out about that guy getting him.
