RE: Nightmare
Lady Arwen,
Almost anyone and everyone who has spent much time bowhunting can relate to your circumstances, and to the feelings you are experiencing right now. Speaking solely for myself, I've been there.
Pulling your stands, and quitting the hunt for the year is a place I've been too. I will tell you the same as the others, go back out hunting, when you are ready. You shouldn't just forget this incident, and by your post, I know you aren't going to, but you need to turn the negative into a positive. You can't change what happened, and all the self a$$ kicking you do wont help a bit either, although you will still do a lot of it, it comes with the territory of being a caring, ethical person and hunter. Contemplate the things that might have gone wrong this time, and work on correcting those things, whether it's more practice, more patience, shorter shots, whatever. You will be the best judge of that. And even when you swear you've done everything in your ability to make the best shot, sometimes things go wrong. I'm not suggesting anyone should just shrug their shoulders and say "oh well", better luck next time, but beating yourself up does no good either. A friend told me once in this situation, you need to find a way to put it behind you, but learn from it. Don't quit, dont give up. Take a few days off maybe, shoot a few targets again to restore your faith in yourself and your equipment, then go back to the woods. Good luck to you.