Over a year ago, one of our most involved members and a personal friend made a statement about personal failure. The "just" of this idea was that if you don't kill a deer that you're after (regardless of the size of the deer) it's your own fault. I've thought about this for the entire year, especially since I was feeling the heat, and he's entirely correct. I'm not excluding myself from this by any stretch. So far this year, I haven't killed "the deer" I was after, nobody to blame but myself. I didn't put myself in the right situation, and the one time that I did, I didn't judge the deer as a "shooter" quickly enough... my fault. It's so easy to make excuses for everything that happened, but when it comes right down to it... it's still "your" fault.

There are the obvious excuses:

[ul][*]The deer jumped my string- "your" fault for either alerting the deer, not shooting low, or for flat out missing[/ul][ul][*]I got winded- "your" fault for sitting in a position for that to happen[/ul][ul][*]The deer saw me- "your" fault for being improperly disguised, or for moving at the wrong time.[/ul][ul][*]I was late- duh... "your" fault[/ul]
Then there are those that are less obvious:

[ul][*]I didn't see a shooter- Yes, that's "your" fault for not putting yourself in a position to make it happen[/ul][ul][*]The shooter wouldn't come into bow range- It's "your" fault for not putting YOURSELF in bow range[/ul][ul][*]My property doesn't have big deer- It's "your" fault for not doing something about it, finding other places, managing your herd...[/ul][ul][*]My buddy spooked the deer- "your" fault for not having a plan or coordinating/communicating with that person[/ul][ul][*]My peep didn't rotate- "your" fault for not checking prior to the deer showing up[/ul][ul][*]I hit a twig- "your" fault for not clearing your lane, or picking the gap[/ul]As you look at all the excuses listed above, they have one thing in common... A noun referencing ones self (I, my, me) whatever. Regardless of why it doesn't happen, bottom line is that it DIDN'T happen and you are the only person responsible for that. It seems any hunter that doesn't kill the deer they're after pulls out the excuse rolodex and picks one. Failing to kill the deer your after is personal failure, no other excuse.

Thoughts?