If you shoot a deer and never find him, do you: A. fess up and say I made a bad shot and it was all me. B. blame the bow being nocked off somehow c. Blame the broadhead and say it wasn't enough KE or to push it through or penetrate d. blame the deer and say he was nervous and he jumped the string and i hit him high/low.. Me, I have lost 5 deer in 20 yrs of bowhunting and they were all MY fault. Is it really ever not our fault?? I mean I made bad, rushed shots on those deer and paid dearly for it. No blaming the set up or broadhead or anything..
I will admit to whatever was the cause. If I missed the deer because of something I did, sure will (missed a turkey last spring...purely just bad shooting). If something happens to my equipment (jammed shell, arrow hits a branch, etc), that's what I'll attribute it to. I'm not one for excuses. I have nothing to hide.
I put 100% fault on my own. Likely some minor areas of problem helped to aid in my mishap. But.. it always boils down to me. The key to it all.. is just to let go once you do make that mistake. Move on.. let go. Even go so far as to laugh at one's own stupidity. Which I have much of.
Same here, we are the only one behind the bow and unless someone yelled boo miniseconds before my release, it's all ME. And I've been a bonehead more than once!
I'll add something because of what Duke said. Even the equipment defects can often be linked to the user in the end. Or what about that branch you hit? You MISSED noticing the branch in the line of sight, so technically it's YOUR fault. I agree that we all just need to laugh it off sometimes, and not be so quick to judge others. Me? I missed my first ever gobbler last spring at 30yd (with a shotgun, lol :D). I shot and hit a doe three seasons ago on the opener of archery. Hit her high in the shoulder. Ended up being non-mortal wound. Both misses in my hunting career were definitely ALL me. I've learned, though.
A) Im with duke, if something goes wrong, then its always the shooters fault. B) I shoot my bow before every hunt, and if it hits something hard on the walk in, i'll shoot an arrow at a rotten stump to make sure shes still there. C) Why would anyone even walk into the woods if they didnt feel that their equipment was up to the task of killing deer? If you blame your equipment for your error then you need a kick in the pants. D) Dont shoot at nervous deer, that one is pretty simple.
As my wife taught me "it's alway's my fault" If you are shooting and something goes wrong you are to blame. Like Al & Mike already said be ready or don't shoot.
it was a bad year for me with this situation. after each shot i quickly came full circle from .. that damn broadhead or blah blah to your just a dumbarse that tried to force the shots (im glad i know that was my downfall ) because in coming years it wont be repeated ! so YES
I've never hit a deer with an arrow that I didn't recover, I've shot worse ... missed. It's always me.
A. fess up and say I made a bad shot and it was all me. I am to blame if the equipment fails, after all I am the caretaker of the bow. The broadhead should have been spintested and checked for sharpness, again me! If the deer jumps he was likely on alert when he walked in and I shot when I should have waited. This happened to me this year on the buck Peakrut has in his avatar, again me not waiting for the deer to settle and getting lucky that he ducked just enough to get hit through the spine.
It's difficult for me to believe that a bad shot/no recovery scenario hasn't happened to most of us who've been at this game for a while. I've experienced twice and it's a horrible feeling. But you have to fess up and accept the fault in order to learn from it. And like Duke said, you have to get over it -there's no other choice.
I've been fortunate so far to never hit a deer and not find it. I know it'll happen, but I'm doing everything I can to keep it from happening. But when it does, I'm sure it'll be my fault. The deer I've missed, have been my fault, in one way or another.
If you're democrat - it's someone else's fault. If you're republican - it's a democrat's fault. If you're a hunter - It's your own fault. I have lost one deer (which for being colorblind ain't too bad). I tracked for three days before the snow melted and still looked. Now with spring coming in, I still hope to find it while shed or mushroom hunting, but don't have high hopes for success.
