STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
10-21-2002, 06:33 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Arena WI USA
Posts: 104
STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
I feel as though I am at confessional and rightfully deserve all of the criticism's I am about to endure.
On Saturday my friend and I hunted all day. After seeing a few deer in the morning we decided to finish hanging some stands for the upcoming rut and then just watch the field in the evening. At about 3:15 PM we started to walk out when it happened.
In the field about 300 yards away we saw a doe was already there feeding. With the earn a buck program in WI we decided to try and put a stalk on. We flipped and my friend won and so was to be the shooter. We snuck up and got to within 80 yards when the doe crossed to our field and started working her way towards us. We got tucked into some brush and when she got to about 40 yards my friend got ready. When she started working parallel to us he drew and waited for her to put her head down when he shot. The shot was low and looked to miss the vitals. The deer ran off back towards the woods and at the woods edge stopped and looked back towards us. You could just see her inside the woods looking back and my friend said "Damn it, I don't think we're going to find that one."
My adrenaline was up and without thinking I drew and lined up for the shot. It was like I was in auto pilot and was thinking outside of myself that this is crazy, I can't possibly hope to hit this deer at this distance. Then my shot was away. It seemed that the arrow was in the air for about five seconds which seemed an eternity. At the release I knew it was going to be damn close. And then my arrow hit the deer in the head. Right behind the ear (it must have turned at the last instant) and the deer stumbled and made a god awful noise before turning and trying to run into the woods. At first I was exalted that I made the shot, but then when we got up to it. I started to feel REALLY bad. It turns out that my buddy had missed almost completely and had just taken a bit of hair off the belly.
When we walked off the yardage it was 110 plus paces.
The deer went about 50 yards before we found it and it wasn't dead so we had to finish it off. This is not an enjoyable task as any one who hunts should know.
I don't feel I need to point out what all went wrong with this scenario as it seems to be painfully clear. I will say to those of you who say it was an impossible shot and that people who claim to shoot animals at extraordinary distances are full of it. They are not, and it is unfortunately a makeable shot as I proved to myself.
The bow is hanging up right now and I don't know if it will ever be taken up by me again. This to me was not enjoyable and unexcusable. I had no right to try it and hope that if any of you ever feel like trying to see how effective your equipment is that you avoid the temptation and stick to the high average shots and think of my situation if you ever get tempted to try something daring. I'll probably just shoot targets from now on. I feel so sorry for this instance and hope this doesn't leave too much of a black eye on this sport or dissuade any beginners from actively pursuing it. I'm quite shaken right now and hope that someone out there can learn from this mistake.
Truly Sorry,
Aaron
On Saturday my friend and I hunted all day. After seeing a few deer in the morning we decided to finish hanging some stands for the upcoming rut and then just watch the field in the evening. At about 3:15 PM we started to walk out when it happened.
In the field about 300 yards away we saw a doe was already there feeding. With the earn a buck program in WI we decided to try and put a stalk on. We flipped and my friend won and so was to be the shooter. We snuck up and got to within 80 yards when the doe crossed to our field and started working her way towards us. We got tucked into some brush and when she got to about 40 yards my friend got ready. When she started working parallel to us he drew and waited for her to put her head down when he shot. The shot was low and looked to miss the vitals. The deer ran off back towards the woods and at the woods edge stopped and looked back towards us. You could just see her inside the woods looking back and my friend said "Damn it, I don't think we're going to find that one."
My adrenaline was up and without thinking I drew and lined up for the shot. It was like I was in auto pilot and was thinking outside of myself that this is crazy, I can't possibly hope to hit this deer at this distance. Then my shot was away. It seemed that the arrow was in the air for about five seconds which seemed an eternity. At the release I knew it was going to be damn close. And then my arrow hit the deer in the head. Right behind the ear (it must have turned at the last instant) and the deer stumbled and made a god awful noise before turning and trying to run into the woods. At first I was exalted that I made the shot, but then when we got up to it. I started to feel REALLY bad. It turns out that my buddy had missed almost completely and had just taken a bit of hair off the belly.
When we walked off the yardage it was 110 plus paces.
The deer went about 50 yards before we found it and it wasn't dead so we had to finish it off. This is not an enjoyable task as any one who hunts should know.
I don't feel I need to point out what all went wrong with this scenario as it seems to be painfully clear. I will say to those of you who say it was an impossible shot and that people who claim to shoot animals at extraordinary distances are full of it. They are not, and it is unfortunately a makeable shot as I proved to myself.
The bow is hanging up right now and I don't know if it will ever be taken up by me again. This to me was not enjoyable and unexcusable. I had no right to try it and hope that if any of you ever feel like trying to see how effective your equipment is that you avoid the temptation and stick to the high average shots and think of my situation if you ever get tempted to try something daring. I'll probably just shoot targets from now on. I feel so sorry for this instance and hope this doesn't leave too much of a black eye on this sport or dissuade any beginners from actively pursuing it. I'm quite shaken right now and hope that someone out there can learn from this mistake.
Truly Sorry,
Aaron
10-21-2002, 06:46 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: East Central ILLinois USA
Posts: 1,595
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
I think you did the right thing by finishing off the animal and stopped any more suffering. You learned from your mistake,and that says alot . Stop beating yourself up over it. You did it, You learned from your mistake, You cant undo it, no matter how much you wish you could and no matter how many times you relive the incidense over in your mind. Pick up your bow and shoot wisely and ethicly with the respect towards the animal that it deserves.
10-21-2002, 07:24 AM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 7,571
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
Jolly, don't be so hard on yourself. Do didn't have enough time to think about it and reacted on instinct which told you that the deer was wounded, it seems to me that you wanted to try to get another arrow in it, that is what you went on. I'm sure that if you thought your buddy had a clean miss, you never would have shot.
Edited by - BobCo19-65 on 10/21/2002 08:26:04
Edited by - BobCo19-65 on 10/21/2002 08:26:04
10-21-2002, 07:44 AM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Burleson TX USA
Posts: 6,455
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
Geez your being hard on yourself.
Like the others have said you made a mistake but an honest mistake
you thought the deer was wounded so you tried to do the humanly thing.
As it turned out you got the deer would have been another story if the deer got away and was left to suffer.
Now you have filled your doe tag get your butt up off the couch get the bow off the wall and get out there and get that buck.
Where would we all be if we let one mistake stop us from doing anything. Remember when you was a kid and fell off the bike the first time what did your parents do they put you right back on that bike and said ride it.
So I am teling you get that bow and get back out into the woods.
Like the others have said you made a mistake but an honest mistake
you thought the deer was wounded so you tried to do the humanly thing.
As it turned out you got the deer would have been another story if the deer got away and was left to suffer.
Now you have filled your doe tag get your butt up off the couch get the bow off the wall and get out there and get that buck.
Where would we all be if we let one mistake stop us from doing anything. Remember when you was a kid and fell off the bike the first time what did your parents do they put you right back on that bike and said ride it.
So I am teling you get that bow and get back out into the woods.
10-21-2002, 07:53 AM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fort Wayne in USA
Posts: 71
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
Jolly
As I was reading your story the first thing that came to mind was, if your buddy missed the vitals why did you shoot? I'm assuming you thought the deer was going to have a slow death so you were trying not to let that happen. I'm sure it was a split decision for you to shoot and at the end of your story it sounds like you were horrified to see that your buddy's shot would never have killed the deer. I'm sorry about your experience. Fortunately you were able to put the deer down quickly. Two things. First, don't give up bowhunting. It sounds like you have learned from this and will probably more careful with your shooting now than ever before. Second, thanks for sharing the story and owning up to it. I think a lot of other hunters on this board can use this to learn from.
As I was reading your story the first thing that came to mind was, if your buddy missed the vitals why did you shoot? I'm assuming you thought the deer was going to have a slow death so you were trying not to let that happen. I'm sure it was a split decision for you to shoot and at the end of your story it sounds like you were horrified to see that your buddy's shot would never have killed the deer. I'm sorry about your experience. Fortunately you were able to put the deer down quickly. Two things. First, don't give up bowhunting. It sounds like you have learned from this and will probably more careful with your shooting now than ever before. Second, thanks for sharing the story and owning up to it. I think a lot of other hunters on this board can use this to learn from.
10-21-2002, 07:54 AM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Phoenixville, PA USA
Posts: 5,541
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
Jolly, the fact that you are beating yourself up about this so bad shows that you are a hunter with ethics and I truly hope you don't quit hunting. Let's look at the events. Your friend took a shot and you believed it was a bad hit. Granted you probably should have verified it first, but you reacted since the deer was still in sight. My feeling is if you have a marginal shot on a deer and have an opportunity to put another arrow into it to prevent losing it you should even if it is a less than perfect angle. 110 paces is a bit of an exception, but like you said you were on autopilot and running on instinct. You luckily made a heck of a shot and were rewarded with a harvest. We all lose deer from time to time and there is no worse feeling than that. You did what you felt was right at the time to avoid that. They always say hind sight is 20/20 and I think this is what is happening to you now. Don't be too hard on yourself and get back in the woods.
10-21-2002, 08:05 AM
#8
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 7,571
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>if your buddy missed the vitals why did you shoot? <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
Barile, I'm not totally understanding your point. Could you please explain it further?
Barile, I'm not totally understanding your point. Could you please explain it further?
10-21-2002, 08:26 AM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 158
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
I personally would not hesitate to take a "Hail Mary" shot at a deer that I thought was already wounded. The only unfortunate part of this story is that the deer wasn't wounded - but you had no way of knowing that.
I think you're beating yourself up over this because it wasn't a clean kill. Death is rarely clean. As hunters, we need to be able to deal with it. I made a bad hit on a doe during gun season several years ago and had to follow it up with a second shot. It wasn't pretty and it hit me hard for a long time.
The benefit of situations like this is that it makes us better hunters. This past week I've passed on several shots because I didn't like the angle, too far, too close, etc. These are shots I probably would have taken prior to the doe incident, shots that may have resulted in a poor hit.
So take it easy on yourself. We've all been there or will be there at some point.
Turc
I think you're beating yourself up over this because it wasn't a clean kill. Death is rarely clean. As hunters, we need to be able to deal with it. I made a bad hit on a doe during gun season several years ago and had to follow it up with a second shot. It wasn't pretty and it hit me hard for a long time.
The benefit of situations like this is that it makes us better hunters. This past week I've passed on several shots because I didn't like the angle, too far, too close, etc. These are shots I probably would have taken prior to the doe incident, shots that may have resulted in a poor hit.
So take it easy on yourself. We've all been there or will be there at some point.
Turc
10-21-2002, 08:28 AM
#10
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fort Wayne in USA
Posts: 71
RE: STUPIDEST THING EVER! Please read!
BobCo
Jolly said "The shot was low and looked to miss the vitals". If you shoot under the lungs there isn't anything there that would kill the deer. Thinking "Why did you shoot?" was becuase I was picturing (while reading) the arrow blowing straight through the white/brown hair right under the chest. I probably wouldn't have shot if I thought there was any way that the deer would be fine, but then again, if I thought there was any way that the deer would suffer I would have taken the shot. In no way am I saying that Jolly was wrong, it was a split second decision and he did what he thought would be best for the deer.
I probably should not have written that comment seeing how much Jolly is beating himself up over this. It was just the first thing that came to mind while reading his story. I had a bad experience 3 years ago so I am very, maybe overly, cautious when shooting now.
Sorry Jolly, I didn't mean to question you. I know you were trying to do what was best for the animal.
Jolly said "The shot was low and looked to miss the vitals". If you shoot under the lungs there isn't anything there that would kill the deer. Thinking "Why did you shoot?" was becuase I was picturing (while reading) the arrow blowing straight through the white/brown hair right under the chest. I probably wouldn't have shot if I thought there was any way that the deer would be fine, but then again, if I thought there was any way that the deer would suffer I would have taken the shot. In no way am I saying that Jolly was wrong, it was a split second decision and he did what he thought would be best for the deer.
I probably should not have written that comment seeing how much Jolly is beating himself up over this. It was just the first thing that came to mind while reading his story. I had a bad experience 3 years ago so I am very, maybe overly, cautious when shooting now.
Sorry Jolly, I didn't mean to question you. I know you were trying to do what was best for the animal.