I screwed up

I've hunted all my life, and I screwed up today on a deer. I shot a buck that was too small. I never thought I would be capable of screwing up this bad after all my years hunting but I guess it can happen to anyone. I had been hunting HARD for 9 days, not missing one hunt, hunting in the rain, cold, etc etc. Saw maybe 3 bucks during that time, passed on all 3 along with more does than I could count. My friend comes out one day, immediately shoots a trophy 11 pt in one sitting. While being Extremely happy for him, It does kind of wear on your hunting fortitude after you've been busting butt the past week. Well, yesterday one of the bucks I had passed on earlier that week came busting out of the brush chasing after a doe and it was one of those moments you just get caught up in, after 9 days of not pulling the trigger I got so excited I shot the buck thinking it was much bigger than it was. I immediately knew I had screwed up and have been chastising and beating myself up about it since. After all the protein, year round corn and herd management efforts, I feel like i made about the dumbest mistake you can make. But, it happens. I figured it would make me feel better to admit it to a bunch of people I don't know. So here it is. Feeling pretty low right now! So don't go too hard on me.

Too small or too young?

Chit happens.

I did almost the same thing 3 or 4 years ago. I was about to get in my blind and saw what appeared to be a real nice and wide 8 point 30 yards out staring at me through a small opening in the brush right at my blind, my heart started thumping hard. Snuck up into the blind looked out the window and he was about to go onto the neighbors property to the east, before he went under the fence he turned quarted back at me and bam.

Excited as heck until I came upon his small young bodied what I believe to be a 2 1/2 year old 8 point with an 18" inside spread, kicked myself for a month over that

I did the same thing after 15 years of bow hunting I shot an 11 point 4.5 yr old. Out of 8 bucks he is the youngest by 2 years. I've been pretty upset with myself too, but can't put him back in the pasture so we must deal with it.

The big buck you were hunting will be bigger next year.

"Ground shrinkage" happens to the best of us, especially as the season draws to a close. It was most likely the peer pressure that made you a victim so soon.

Like all lessons in life, you learn from it and move on.

I appreciate this thread! It certainly makes me feel a little better about my mistake. At 100 yards I had a positive identity on an 11 point that I had on camera. I had been seeing this buck all summer. My other feeder at 50 yards for pig went off. I thought he had headed for it. In a new blind and the sun gone i see him there. No real excuses here but my rookie status. It was not him but a buck I had passed on twice earlier in the hunt.
In a couple of years he would have been a real trophy. When I went to retrieve him now dark I saw the 11 pointer in the tree line with my flashlight his red eyes glowing.
Lessons learned
Patience, Re ID, Scope magnification,

It's just a deer. Don't worry about it. Younger ones are better eating.

It happens. Don't beat yourself up.

If you hunt in an AR county as long as the buck was 13" wide or unbranched on one side, don't worry about it.

YOU IDIOT.








Just kidding, it's just a deer. Who cares.

Don't worry about it. Enjoy the meat, and you've probably learned something for next time.

At 64 years old and hunting most of it, I've done that more than once. Just laugh it off and think about the quality time you had a chance to enjoy instead of working, chores or honey do's. Congrats!!

It happens

It's not like we have a shortage of deer in Texas. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

It happens. Shot a 1.5yo-fork horn a few years back. He was running a doe, could have sworn he was 2.5 and a good cull to take.

And, about 5 years ago in NM I got mixed up between the spot and the stalk in some fog and shot the wrong Muley buck. He's not bad at 150 or so, but the one I originally spotted and thought I was shooting was 180 plus.

As said, Chit happens! Learn from it and move on.

All these mamby pamsies...BEAT YOURSELF UP! You screwed up big time! Feel real bad! Real bad! Kick yourself in the but a few times...

Here's mine. We got on a great new property and the first hunt I did out there I didn't have a bind yet. I sat on the ground in a varmint hunting chair at the end of a corned sendero. It was early December...super cold and the rut was on. We heard rumors of huge deer on the place so we agreed to hold off till we could check the cams and see what our options were.

I sat in the chair and watched doe after doe come through. Some small bucks. The corn starts about 100 yards out and went for a few hundred yards. 30 yards away I see a huge bodied deer coming in through mesquite. Rifle is on a bipod so I pan to the right to get the gun in position....just in case it's a monster...
The rest happened soooooo fast.
The buck caught my movement. I'm on the ground in brushcountry camo. To a tee...no skin showing. I'm in the scope dialing down the magnification. All I see is fur. I look up and he's running right at me. At 9 yards I pick the gun up and stab as I shoot....I have idea why it was a reaction...alll while screaming like a girl. I hit him in the neck and he stops running and staggers a few times and starts running backwards. I shoot the last two rounds and drop him..
I never scored him but he might make 120...... brother killed a 172 and the other guys on the lease killed a 165..

Now Wacm, that there is a story. Wow. Reminds me of "He's coming straight for us!!"

Like someone else said. The big bucks will just get bigger

Ive shot a few I regret.

One was a crab claw 8 pt that had beams that hooked in real hard and almost touched. I stalked him from about 1/2 a mile to 35 yards and shot him. There was a lot of ground shrinkage on that one, but in the end now I will never forget that stalk.

One of the most recent ones was a buck my wife shot last year. I had about 2 weeks of pictures of him, thought he was a mature buck on camera, thought he was mature buck when we saw him. I told her to take the shot and she shot him. After I tracked and found him I was a little let down, I was thinking he would score around 140 and boy did I miss the mark. His beams and tines were a bit less than I was thinking and he taped out in the upper 120's. In the end after pulling his teeth he was a mature buck 5 at a minimum and probably 6, I'm glad she got him, he just didn't score as well as I would have thought.

We keep a ruler in camp. The wooden twelve inch kind you used in school. If we shoot a buck that can be measured with the ruler then you get the ruler award and a lotta ribbing around the fire... We have ALL had the award in 22 years of hunting together. And it does help us remember to look a little longer. I didn't think I was ever gonna get ride of that thing...

So kind of a dumb question, but I’ve only been deer hunting a couple of years, what is the appropriate thing to do if this happens to you? Will a deer processor report it to a game warden if it’s under the 13” spread? Are you supposed to report it yourself? Or just tag it and take it in for processing? I know step 1 is not shoot it, but obviously it happens... just curious what you’re supposed to do next.

You can only do so much. I think you did your best so just move on from this and appreciate all you have accomplished.

Just enjoy it...will taste so good.

In my experience they won't report you-I checked the local cooler one time, and called the warden as there were about 5 that wouldn't make it (I mean little forkhorns and such, not even close).

If this happens to you:
1. Take it to processor.
2. Leave deer, ask for antlers.
3. Hide antlers at place after you get home.
4. Enjoy your venison.

Enjoy the time in the field and the fresh deer meat. Things like this happen so just learn from the experience and try not to repeat it.

If, you learned from it great! Eat the meat, and go on down the road.