Hunting mistakes and misses

[GJMauro12]

In 2009 I drew my first archery elk tag for Bull in 5BN. I had already taken two good bulls with my rifle so I went into it set on taking a 350 class bull. I spent 19 days straight on the hunt going it alone which made it tough for calling so I just chased a lot of bugles. I was in elk everyday and passed up 20 bulls withing 60 yards. One evening I got into some elk and seen one that I would be interested in taking. I ran out of light that night but was there in the morning about an hour and a half before light located his bugle and got in as close as I could before light. My heart was pounding and I couldn't control my breathing being so close to the bugle and knowing it was the bull I wanted. When I had just enough light to finally see I could see there legs in a small clearing just on the other side of the cedars I was on. My wind was good and I was just sitting still trying to decide how to get through the trees for a clear shot. Then the herd kicked up and came right for me. All the cows came trotting right by at about 15 yards and then the bull. I was already standing and ready for the shot I barked at the bull and he stopped PERFECT for a broadside shot less than 20 yards and when I drew I was shaking so bad the arrow fell off my rest and the string and hit the ground. The bull let me knock another arrow take a shot and I hit the ground under his belly.

 

Pretty horrible and I am still haunted by that shot. Ended up eating tag soup drew the same tag the next year and ended up taking a rag horn just to take my first elk with my bow. I'll have to wait for the next tag to get a good bull with my bow.

[luvdemcoues]

Oh man, there are some good ones on here!

 

One that didn't happen to me but my brother-in-law was that we were on a guided elk hunt in Montana. His guide dropped him off at a water hole and he got set up in the blind. He sat there for about 2 and a half hours until he had about a 340 class bull come in at 35 yards. Chip shot... only no release!!! So he had to sit in the blind until dark and watch the other bulls come in and taunt him without being able to do a dang thing about it. That was the only day he saw bulls. (expensive mistake)

 

A couple years back, my brother a buddy and I were on a javelina hunt in 33. This is a similar story to the other unit 33 story. Anyways, opening morning we spot a large group of them and got to about 200 yards of them. They were moving up and over a hill, so we decided to get set up for the shot. My brother and I had practiced the whole 1-2-3-shoot thing a thousand times growing up with our BB guns, and we felt like we had it perfected. So we decide I would take one on the left, my brother would take one in the middle, and our buddy would take the huge one on the right. When we were set up for the shot, the plan was to count to three and then all shoot at the same time. So, the count started "one" BOOM! Our buddy shot on one, the schmuck (he will likely read this as he is a member on here). Anyways, all heck breaks loose and pigs are running everywhere. He missed! Then my brother shoots and misses, and I shot at the only one standing still enough and dropped it. We spent the next 2 hours chasing those suckers all over that hill. My brother ended up getting one, but our buddy couldn't close the deal. He missed about 10 shots all together that morning, including 2 hip shots as we were too close to otherwise take aim. Good times.

[Doggy]

I shot a Fox last year at 15 yards with my bow, after the shot the Fox fell to his back and had his legs straight up in the air quivering, i thought to myself he is done, so i DON'T knock another arrow, after a couple of minutes my buddy gives a WooHoo out and all of the sudden the Fox lifts his head up, and I still DON'T knock another arrow, he then lays his head back down slowly and I think he's done, so i'm just standing there waiting for about 3 more minutes and this dang Fox gets up (NOW I'm TRYING to knock an arrow) and runs off we look for him for 2 hours and never find him.

[Rody]

2 years ago during fall archery I had 3 big muley 4x4 bucks patterned down well. I headed out and sat for 3 days watching them move around me but couldnt get close enough for a shot, 4th day the wife could go with me and brought the video camera. We could only hunt the evening and moved just a little to hope to close the distance for the shot. The bucks played along and walked 35 yards from us single file feeding slowy. I let the arrow fly only to watch it go down about 20 yards then change directions and shoot 45 degrees in the air and stick about 30 feet up in the trees back behind the deer. The 3 bucks and my wife just looked at me in shock then the bucks just jogged off, Luckily the wife stayed lol. Never saw them again turns out there was some down timber I see and my arrow hit a branch about 1/4 inch thick. live and and learn it was still fun watching thoose bucks for the 4 days.

[rcdinaz]

Most of mine are duplicates of what others have posted.

 

 

- missed first bow javalina because I did not knock the arrow. I was on a rock and they actually walked under me, less than 10 feet away. The arrow banged off the rock, seemed like it hit the rock over and over about 100 times as I watched the entire heard disappear into the next county.

 

- Didnt shoot at a 5x5 bull on the last day of my hunt a few years ago. I was waiting for a perfect shot like you see on TV broad side, perfect rest, etc, I also had not prepared myself mentally for having to take quartering shots etc. My guide was VERY unhappy with me as we had hunted really hard for three days and I did not get the shot off.

 

- I also had a buddy shoot before we even started the count down, he got so excited he emptied his gun on a heard of javalina while they were still moving through the trees at around 300 yds. Same buddy also emptied his rifle and side arm on another hunt becasue the pigs were running all around him, never even made a scratch on a pig. He is MUCH better now but I immediatley go into the "take your time", "pick a spot" mantra when we see game now.

 

- last one not picking landmarks before you see game or not having a common language to understand how to spot game. I now know one friend is partially color blind and one guy can't see jack no matter how much time I spend. The color blind guy has made for some of the most frustrating outings you can imagine, now that I know we don't spend time talking about the really green, yellow, red, etc tree and things work well. In the past I have watched deer and pigs just walk away while we argued about which yellow tree they were standing next to only to find out he couldnt really tell is any of them were yellow.

[#1huntinfool]

on my first elk hunt i missed a cow at 75 yards [ with a rifle] and then missed the same cow at 100 yards then i tried to rack another shell only to find out that i had dropped my other shells

then the next day i missed another cow at 15 yards

figerd out later that i was slapping the trigger good thing i went on that hunt cause a few weeks later i

shot my first deer

[bstpeter]

Simple mistake I won't make again...I ate really spicy peppers the night before a hunt. Three pit stops later on the way to my blind this August had me set back about 1hr late. I got about 70 yards from my blind and I'm staring at a really nice buck standing 15ft from the blind...grrrr I was cursing those hot peppers. MISTAKE that won't happen again guess I'm a gringo for sure

[nogalesjim]

Last August while archery deer hunting in 34A, my buddy and I spotted a herd of mulies about fifty yards from my truck. I dropped him off and continued down the road about four hundred yards. I got out of the truck, grabbed my bow, and slowly sneaked through the mesquite. At first I heard the clambering of rocks and hooves. Then I saw nothing but scrambling legs under the trees. Then, they were on me! My buddy had pushed the whole herd of what seemed to be six bucks (in full velvet) replete with several does and fawns right on top of me. Now, we all practice with our bows to make those fifty to eighty yards shots, right? These deer were so close, and it was happening so fast, I couldn't get one in my peep sight. How do you shoot a deer from two feet away? I think it's time to blow the dust off my old Bear recurve.

[mulie hunter]

My most famous miss happened in 1992. The year I was gonna be trophy mule deer hunter! I had a few bucks under my belt already. A couple spikes and a nice 4x4. Having shot a spike the previous deer season I told my brother and cousin who were hunting with me I was shooting only a big buck! True to my word on opening morning I had a spike broadside at 25 yards. I was a trophy hunter so I let him walk. Later that day there he was a monster mule deer at 150 yards! I was so excited. Too excited! Buck fever gotta hold of me! I fired at the big old boy but didn't even come close I think my shot landed on the moon! He ran off unharmed and I quit being a trophy hunter!

[the_real_oneazbowhunter]

Last January I'd been chasing a big 4x4 in the 28" range.I could only locate this buck every 3 or 4 days.Every time I located him I would come up with stalking plan and he had a plan of his own.Getting within 50 yards on 3 different occasions he would never present a shot.On the last day of the hunt I was able to locate him once more.As I watched this buck take his does down to a big flat I notice another herd of deer working it's way into the flats.The 2 bucks separate themselves from their does and it appears the big buck is going to push the smaller buck out of his territory and take his does, when all h*ll breaks loose..These 2 bucks were fighting like I've NEVER seen before.The fight was taking place in the flat 500 yards down the hill.I grab my bow and start running down the hill til I get within 100 yards and at that point I decide I should slow down to regain my composure(and more importantly my breath!).I quickly sneak through a creekbed til I'm well inside 50 yards,reach into my pocket for my rangefinder and nothing! Well that shouldn't be too difficult to guess the yardage, heck I've done it before many many times.He's got to be 40yards so I draw, settle my pin and fling!!! RIGHT OVER HIS SHOULDER!!!! rangefinder.never leave home without!! I know I NEVER will again...

[JLW]

Simple mistake I won't make again...I ate really spicy peppers the night before a hunt. Three pit stops later on the way to my blind this August had me set back about 1hr late. I got about 70 yards from my blind and I'm staring at a really nice buck standing 15ft from the blind...grrrr I was cursing those hot peppers. MISTAKE that won't happen again guess I'm a gringo for sure

hahaha! that's funny only cause I can relate!

I definitely have to watch myself before a hunt!

I once glassed 3 nice coues bucks when takin care of business! blew the stalk after though! haha!

we dubbed that spot the shitty spot haha!

[azgutpile]

Simple mistake I won't make again...I ate really spicy peppers the night before a hunt. Three pit stops later on the way to my blind this August had me set back about 1hr late. I got about 70 yards from my blind and I'm staring at a really nice buck standing 15ft from the blind...grrrr I was cursing those hot peppers. MISTAKE that won't happen again guess I'm a gringo for sure

hahaha! that's funny only cause I can relate!

I definitely have to watch myself before a hunt!

I once glassed 3 nice coues bucks when takin care of business! blew the stalk after though! haha!

we dubbed that spot the shitty spot haha!

 

You glass while taking care of business? I'm not that good an multi tasking.

[Scooter]

This is an old one from another state, but here goes:

 

Back in NY I was 12 years old hunting spring turkey for the very first time on a green clover patch that butted up to a standing (dead) cornfield. Out pops a gobbler from some really thick stalks 20 yards away facing directly at me. I am shaking like a leaf from excitement, but still I put the bead on him... BOOM! The big gobbler starts flopping around... and the two jakes that were lined up perfectly behind him still 10 yards back into the cornstalks (which I had no idea were there) start flopping around. My Dad and Grampa (who were sitting with me) were kinda not happy that their hunt was also done for the year... I never went turkey hunting again after that.

[Coach]

That's halarious Scooter. I did the same thing one year in Oklahoma. I was shooting a 12 GA pump and thought for sure I could pick up some good turkey loads on the drive over - nada. So here I was hunting turkey with quail shot. I decided to borrow Grandpa's "goose gun" a bolt action 10 guage. Grandpa calls in a group of jakes walking right down a fence line. Once they get past us on their way to the decoys, I aim for the one in back (big mistake), fire and 3 birds hit the dirt flopping. My tag was good for only two, so grandpa had to tag one of mine.

[bstpeter]

November 15th 2008 I was chasing a nice buck off its scrape and found its escape route later the follow day I set up a blind right below where I jumped him over looking that escape route which was being used enough to make me happy with the blind location. November 17th we put a hunt together with some of the boys and my dad. We jump a buck down low on that ridge..this leads me to my first mistake. Dad goes where do you want to go in I say I'll take the deer you head up to my stand..about 40 min later Bang dead deer.. I love my dad but could have been me..lol

 

November 11th 2011 went to the same ridge jumped one big deer and three others chased em around a bit but couldn't close any ground on them. Felt good to chase some deer the first day out. Skipped the next day to give em a break and get comfortable again they had been bedding in that area a ton with lots of sign tracks. Dad asks me to put together a plan that night and being that I had a little extra to drink I told him to come up with the plan. Guess who got the blind and who got the walkn'stalk needless to say repeat 2008 except this time I actually got to hunt for an hour before I heard the Bang. Right in the same spot he shot the other buck in my blind... hard to chalk it up to a mistake but it was a miss on my part next time I Might just make it to my blind before there's a gut pile next to it.:-)