Is missing the shot at the biggest buck you ever had a chance to shoot as bad as the heartbreak of psoriasis ?

I don't miss.

I'm with Bill. I remember my first heartbreak. Lisa Day, second grade. I gave her my Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. She left me for Michael Domangue.

I don't mind whitnessing a miss if you're walking and miss a freehand shot. Or if you are hurried and miss one out of the back of a vehicle. It pisses me off when someone misses an animal sitting in a blind with a rest and plenty of time, even kids. However I have no patience. One of the 14 year old boys wounded 2 bucks this year hunting my stand.

Why do you always hold back? Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

I shoot blanks.

It doesn't bother me in the least passing up chance shots that might result in an unrecovered, wounded deer.

But I can understand, though not condone, a kid trying to see what he/she can hit.

Really? To "see" what he can hit? This implies that they aren't prepared when they go to the stand. Children should be taught how to shoot so when they pull the trigger you know they have the ability to make the shot and they should not be able to take shots that are beyond what they've trained for. I understand that buck fever can and most likely will enter the equation but training can help them overcome this. And then if they miss or wound a deer it will not be from a lack of preparation.

Agree; child or adult should be proficient at shooting before being able to hunt

No arguement there. But I'll never be one who follows the belief, as so many do, that a few practice shots right before the season opener just to "check their zero" is enough to make anyone a proficient shooter. It demands too much of a guy who shoots a large bore rifle that kicks the crap out of him, to spend such money on ammo, much less a kid or their parent. Besides, my expensive, German-made scope makes me an instant sharpshooter.

It's why a season opener never passes that you don't hear the distant shots of someone practicing mid-morning after having missed their "buck of a lifetime." And those distant two and three shot groups often bring a smile as you think to yourself that buck is likely still on the run.

But hey, nothing wrong if you miss, even when taking a chance shot. It happens to everyone.

I haven't ever missed a really big buck, but I failed to recover one I drilled in the shoulder with a broadhead.

I'm 100% certain he died, but he didn't do so within the range I could follow. Probably a 120 8pt, but that was a BIG deer for where I was hunting.

I also put a 700-yard stock on a buck last season that was enormous for my area. Successfully stayed below the grassline for 650 yards and could see him the entire time. Last 50 from me to the tree I needed to rest against (he was in the middle of a wide open field), he winded me. Only thing I saw was a white tail bounding away at the speed of soul-crushing heartache.

It's what I get for never showering.

I'm too scared of wounding one of the very few big bucks in my area to take shots I'm not certain of. We don't get many opportunities.

That's why I can shoot 700yds. You know, in case that 240" buck ever shows up and I only have one crack at it. (Whoever is trailering him down the hwy at the time is going to be ticked.)

I've lost two deer. One of them was the biggest I've shot at. The other was the very first I shot at.

I've MISSED one deer. It was a borrowed gun and a night hunt.

Itchy skin would suck 10x more than any of these.

I agree that any shooter, regardless of age should be practiced and prepared as much as possible, but field situations are never the same as being on a bench.

Over the years I've guided everything from very experienced hunters to first timers, and I've seen all classes get shaken with buck fever, it's not something that preparation can always compensate for. I've also tracked deer for some pretty talented shooters, including actual real snipers (twice).

Misses and poor placement can happen to anyone, I find it best to keep that in mind and remain humble when evaluating other's circumstances.

The frustration does ease after a few years.

marlin are tearing up the teasers on the water today.

Two seasons ago I had the worst hunting incident of my life. Long story short I had a 140" buck broadside at 32 yards. The biggest deer I have ever had a real shot at. I had my crossbow and pulled the trigger. He took a step,the 30mph panhandle wind pushed the broadhead,or I just missed and didn't prepare properly. The shot was bad, REAL bad. Hit him right in the hind quarter, I hoped for an artery but there was little to no blood. He was gone, the next day after a full day looking for him I gave it up. I didn't sleep at all that night and barely any the next and hardy ate for a few days. It was worse than any heart break I have ever had.

It was a hard lesson to learn but it reminds me of what makes a successful hunt so sweet. You can't really get high unless there is a chance of being low.

I don't miss either until late last year. My 10 year old sizes up on his first buck with my grandmas old 243 for at least 20 minutes, but turns to me and says "dad I'm not steady enough and I don't think I'm ready. I want you to shoot him"

So I line up, explain to him in detail what I'm thinking, where I'm aiming, and how to just touch the trigger (all of this he has learned many years ago)

Fire the shot and I knew right away it was a miss. Pace off 75 yards to do a test shot and realize the gun is shooting 1 1/2 foot high at that range.

Lesson learned for both of us that day to always shoot your rifle before season and as it turns out I don't believe the gun was ever shot after installing the new scope with a laser bore sight kit.

I've missed a few does and hogs over the years trying to head/neck shoot them. I can count them on one hand. two were the result of a scope that had been knocked off zero


only body shot I missed on a deer was on an axis doe at about 90 yards with an open sighted SKS that had been bouncing around in the back of a truck its whole life.

I missed a few deer with a bow now, several antelope and a turkey or two. only ones I didn't recover were two turkey and one javalina and one hog. All but the turkeys were cases of rushing the shots. Turkey are just hard to anchor with archery tackle....I've seen several get hit good by expert archers and they fly/run off into the wild blue yonder.

Only one I was real upset about was a giant sika deer I missed with my bow, I didn't clear the window of the pop up and the arrow went thru the blind, blades deployed and the arrow hit him sideways right behind the shoulder. still pizzes me off.


you hunt long enough, its gonna happen. you will wiff some gimme shots and drill them on some hail mary poke. anyone who say they never missed hasn't shot at a lot of deer.

Last one I missed was in my teens. A hell of a clean 8pt, would have been my biggest buck. I tried for a neck shot out of a window in the blind I had historically had problems shooting out of because it was a weird angle. Dad told me I looked shaky should go for a body shot, I said I was fine and watched him haul azz and turn around and look at us and keep going.

2 years later I shot a deer that appeared to be his twin with mule deer forks on the G2's. Ill never know if it was the same deer or not, but if it was I made that one count.

I missed an animal three times at 390 yards. the first two I swore I hit him the third I knew was a miss. looked and looked that evening and the next day, no trace of a hit. Looking back I think I shot over him.

two days later caught up to him again and gave him three that counted. So I don't know if that counts as a miss or not

[quote=RockinU
I agree that any shooter, regardless of age should be practiced and prepared as much as possible, but field situations are never the same as being on a bench.

Over the years I've guided everything from very experienced hunters to first timers, and I've seen all classes get shaken with buck fever, it's not something that preparation can always compensate for. I've also tracked deer for some pretty talented shooters, including actual real snipers (twice).

Misses and poor placement can happen to anyone, I find it best to keep that in mind and remain humble when evaluating other's circumstances.[/quote]

Great post.

I grew up doing a lot of West Texas hunting, involving horseback, spot and stalk, and shots from the shoulder or on the move, sometimes at long distances. As a young man, I missed a couple very big bucks, but I also killed some big ones (and just good ones) doing that.

I bring very experienced to relatively new hunters out to our place for fun, and no one is immune from a miss - ESPECIALLY if you aren't blind sitting. I enjoy blind sitting and put my inexperienced hunters in blinds, but dammit driving, walking hunting, and spot and stalk are more fun for me. In those contexts, a good shooting stick is invaluable.

I hadn't missed a deer in many years, and this year I stalked up a very large buck on foot, following him up the side of a mountain. I had to freehand shoot at him walking at about 150 yards (no shooting stick) and somehow didn't touch him. It was better than wounding him, but I was absolutely sick about it. That said, I'm pretty sure he's the big 10 point that I posted a picture of on this forum -- ground checked 2 weeks later. During those intervening 2 weeks, I kicked myself plenty.

Sounds like you may have an anger problem