This is my first year hunting...bought my bow back in March, been practicing weekly ever since and have been consistent in my groupings at 25-30 yeards. I started out by sitting in a blind we built on our property and have seen quite a few does. I am the only girl in the group of 8 guys that hunt and every time I got back I would get so much grief for not coming back to camp with news that I got a deer. Well, being so new and hunting by myself, I wanted to feel good about taking a shot, and I just never had a confident feeling. Then I started sitting in tree stands on public land. Obviously sitting in a tree 20+ feet off the ground is different than sitting in a stationary blind 20 feet off the ground. So, it is taking some time for me to get comfortable and used to all this. I have been hunting every weekend since opener and since I have been out on public land I really have not seen anything while I have been out there, plenty on camera though. I was the only one that got up Saturday morning to hunt...saw nothing. Saturday night...saw nothing. Decided I was going to try another stand on Sunday morning. I got out there a little late...around 8am...as I was walking to the stand I scared 3 does out from near my stand so I thought for sure my morning was over, but i climbed up there and got situated. It was REALLY windy and like I said, being new, I'm still trying to get used to things. I was all situated and not even 10 minutes later I hear crunching behind me. I didn't move and pretty soon the crunching was right under me...it was a huge buck. My heart started racing and a million things ran through my head of what I needed to do. He went and stood right behind the tree that had my camera so I did not have a clear shot of his vitals so I just sat it out. A tree in the woods made a pretty loud noise from the wind and spooked him and he took off, I was so disappointed. But, about 15 minutes later, here comes the crunching again. It was him...again my heart was racing. Once he passed my stand I stood up and he stopped broadside at 25 yards. It was a perfect shot and this was the first time I had ever felt confident in taking a shot. When he turned his head to look the other way I drew back and all of a sudden I could not hear anything around me, I could hear my heartbeat and that was it! I put my finger on the trigger and just as I pulled the trigger a gust of wind came and I let the arrow go...it seemed like everything was in slow motion and he jumped my arrow. I MISSED! He ran about 10 yards, stopped and turned around to look at where he was standing, and then turned and walked in to the woods. At this point I realized I wasn't breathing, I got a little dizzy and quickly sat down. I waited another 2 hours and he never came back. I got down from my stand and grabbed my arrow and noticed there was some hair on it, but no blood. I searched around and didn't see any blood anywhere. I grabbed my chip and went back to camp just waiting for the razzing to start...and it did! I got so much grief. A few of us did go back to look around just to confirm that there was no blood and that I didn't injur him in any way...and the only thing found was a clump of hair where my arrow went in to the ground. So, I grazed him. We got back to the camp and they were all asking how big...how big...and all I could say was...he was big. They had me looking at all the mounts in the cabin to compare and all I could say was he was big! Well, I had my chip and this all happened right in front of my camera. We took a look and it was a 10 pointer and they said it would have measured around 140. I was so disapointed in myself. I think the wind was just a small factor in me missing that buck...I did learn that next time I need to breathe and relax. It was such a crazy exciting feeling though. I can't wait until next weekend! Oh yea, and I had to pay $25 to camp funds because I "injured" a deer. There was no tissue...no blood...I simply gave him a haircut, but I followed rules and paid up!
Great Story! When I stop getting excited like that is the day I but down my bow and start crocheting or something!
I am glad you got the shot. IMHO, if you don't get the buck fever, it's time for you to find a new hobby. everytime i see a deer, no matter how big, the heart gets going. breathing is important, with out air you will start shaking (more than the buck fever). You got the miss out of the way, get back out there and put a deer on the ground!
Hey sounds like an awesome deer with an even better encounter. I hope you get another shot at him. Good luck.
I know it's going to be easy for me to say, but don't worry about it. This season marks a lot of first for me also. 1st bow season 1st season in a climber 1st season hunting alone Well 2 weeks ago I got really anxious to shoot something with my bow and I had a doe come into shooting range at 32 yards - a shot I felt comfortable enough with at the time. Well I hit her and drew good blood but the shot was low and we never found her. A week later a doe came through in the same spot and I got her, made a perfect shot this time. The adjustment I made, moved up a tree which made for a closer (22 yard shot) and easier shot (less branches). My advice, sounds like you've got a pretty good tree picked out since you've got a shooter buck day walking. Stick with it, you will figure it out. I've been reminded many times that being new to hunting and hunting alone makes for a pretty large learning curve. With each failure/success comes a learning experience - the best you can do is learn from it and not get down on yourself. The one other piece of advice I got for a girl friend of mine that hunts, you don't have to kill something to have had a good hunt. The fact that you were able to witness a shooter buck and even draw back on him makes for an exciting hunt. The best of us make bad shots. A guy I know on this forum that has a wall full of deer even hit a branch the other day on a shot he made on a big 9 pointer. Luck for him the arrow still connected and he found the buck - that said I'm sure he would admit that he could have made a better shot. Best of luck the rest of the season!
Excellent story (next time use paragraphs...lol), it felt like I was right there with you as I've been there and done that. Don't take the razzing to literally. It comes with bowhunting, misses happen to everyone. If it makes you feel better, I'm an accomplished bowhunter, accomplished competitive archer with trophy's, awards and $ to my name and after all that, I missed a buck at 16 yards, then immediately missed him again at 25 yards.... calming myself I called him back and took him at 41 yards.... misses happen and be thankful it's simply a miss... Great story, great encounter.. congratulations and don't ever lose that feeling. After 30 seasons, I still love that feeling.
Great story. Another first time hunter here too. Still on the lookout for my first deer. Know the feeling.
Bummer about the miss, but it's fully understandable. One piece of advice I can give you is to practice with your bow slightly different than you probably have been. Do a bunch of jumping jacks, push ups, running in place, etc. to get your heart rate up. Throw on your hunting clothes (since they're more bulky than what you would normally be wearing at any point in time) run outside, do a few knee high steps to get your heart rate back up, grab an arrow and sling it at the target. Just one shot. Then go back inside and wait a half hour or so and then do it all over again. Do this several times a day, whenever you have the opportunity. This will help train your mind to think through everything you need to do to calm down and take the shot. When you're hunting, you generally only get one shot. You don't get to throw several arrows at your target to see how you're shooting. Believe me, this will help tremendously.
If it makes you feel better I missed the biggest buck I have ever seen on my farm this weekend, he was a monster 8 could have been a 10 at only 15 yards, clean miss rite over his back. I was so shook up I used my 30 pin instead of my 10 20 LOL It happens to all of us, and I'm not new to the sport or a bad shot just had BUCK FEVER
Same advice I gave her could apply here as well. When I started practicing the way I advised her to practice, I found myself using the wrong pin a few times. I made several other mistakes on other single shots, such as not using the same anchor points, rushing a shot before getting calmed down, etc. It took numerous single shot practices with an increased heart rate and increased breathing before I was shooting well in those practices. Good luck next hunt to both of you.
That "feeling" is what it's all about for me. There's nothing like the rush/excitement you get from close encounters. Sounds like a great hunt! Like ^ said, paragraphs are good. :D Hopefully you'll get another chance at him this year.
Thank you all for the words of encouragement and great advice! I read here daily to try to learn as much as possible as I am really enjoying bowhunting. I am officially addicted! I will also make sure to use paragraphs in my posts from this point forward...lol. I must have been just excited writing about it as I was when I was going through the experience...my thoughts were all jumbled at that time as well as when I was writing about it. Thanks again everyone!
Well if it makes you feel any better, I always miss my Biggest Buck ever. I'd say I’ve missed probably 10 giant bucks in my 20 +/- year of hunting. Some with a shotgun and many with my bow. They’ve all been clean misses, because I just suck at shooting at big deer, but always good at finding the right spots to be in for an encounter. Back in 1995 I was hunting our farm in Pocahontas,IL and rattled in a giant buck (135”) to which I shot directly in the ACE. He then ran towards my little brother 14 years old and he shot him and killed him on the spot. I have to admit I argued with him about it being my deer 1st, until my dad showed up and settled the matter. 12 gauge bullet hole in the butt or 20 gauge hole behind the shoulder. I'm glad he killed the buck, or I would have been searching for week’s determined to find a buck with a bullet in the buttocks. I think he would have survived. The very next day I sat back in my (same) stand and killed an even bigger buck 145 to 150”. The point is don’t give up that stand, especially with the doe’s bedding there. Best of luck to you.
AWesome!! That is exactly why I hunt. The rush and anticipation is the best part for me. Congratulations!! You did everything right, except one little thing!! Congrats, and good luck with him later!! My guess is the next encounter will come out a bit different.
SilentSling - yes, I am hooked. I can not wait to get back out there this weekend. selfbros - I will go right back to the same stand on Saturday morning :D It is nice to know that skilled hunters make mistakes too. I know that I learned a couple things from Sunday that I will not forget if I get another chance. Thank you for the luck...I will gladly take it!
That's awesome!!!!!! I missed my first three times lol. It may sound odd but pick a spot on the deer to aim for concentrate on that spot. Get excited after the shot. Most people aim at the whole deer when nervous. Best of luck.
I could tell you were excited when you were writing about it! That's good tho, that means you have a lasting, wonderful memory of the experience. I was excited for you as I read! Keep your head up, you'll get yours. Eventually it will be YOU that is doing the razzing for someone missing their deer. Right after you razz em, tell em to help you drag yours the rest of the way back to camp
Your alright! I miss my first shot at a deer this year, luckily he came back and I smoked him but I'm the luckiest hunter... ever! A week later a small doe stepped out into a field at 20 yards and... I missed again! Hopefully I got my misses out of the way. I think I just need to be more patient and shoot better.
