Sorry your equipment failed, we all feel your pain. There is nothing more dissapointing than that. Hopefully you can easily fix it. IMO you cleanly missed the deer. Hunting is a tough sport and we all make big mistakes w/ great equipment. Not to mention what happens when equipment fails. Ive lost a few deer due to making some big mistakes, hopefullly we all will learn the lesson due to your story: check your equipment when you get in the stand. Good luck next time and go out and practice to build your confidence up. Keep us posted.