Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

I know that the OUTCOME of a clean miss is preferrable vs. a wounded deer. I also know that things occur to even good/great shots. Animals move. Unseen obstructions find the arrow. etc...

In REALITY, though....isn't a total miss a worse shot than one that at least is closer to finding its' mark?

Why do we not look at it this way??????

Fran's thread got me to thinking of this...and I in NO WAY am saying anything about his shot. I agree that things happen when your target is breathing. It just got me to thinking why we give one shot a "pass", when....in reality....it was further from the intended mark than the one that wounded an animal. I know Fran to be a skilled shot and an ethical hunter.

Anybody ever thought of this?

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Yes it is a worse shot, but it is the more desired result of the event.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

GMMAT, I would rather nmss the deer and not wound him. Yes, you are right, there is something seriously wrong with a complete miss, it means, either you flinched, arrow hit something, or your bow is off, not tuned, wrong size, etc etc etc.... One must find out why they missed and be thankful that they did rather than wounding and not finding an animal.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Greg, what a great deer you took, it must have been an emotional moment. Congrats.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Of course the shot is worse.... and sleep may come hard. But at least you know, that you're the only one sufferring, because of it.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Jeff,
I understand what your saying here! A clean miss is a worse shot if you did not hit a branch or anything. To me that tells me you are way off and need more practice before attempting to take an animal! Therefor a wounded animal is also not good in its own way. #1 Obviously you got an animal out there that is hurt! #2 Yes you may have been close to your mark but not close enough, rethink your shot maybe you rushed or just really did not have a clear shot but took it anyway? Alot of things can happen when wounding a deer and it happens to all of us! Hell I had a clean miss on Sat. was I off my mark "NO" The buck saw me and literally ducked my arrow. SO there are clean misses where its not the shooter or an obstruction. I just think every situation is different. I think for the experienced hunter who knows whats going on a clean miss is what they want. I know I was very upset when i missed but also on the other hand glad he totally ducked it and I did not wound him! Dont know if this all makes sense but I do understand what your saying Jeff.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Use a Rocket Hamerhead 2" 3 blade, Rage 2" 2 blade or any mechanical with a 2 inch or bigger cut and those not so perfect shots won't be so bad anymore. You will find more wounded deer with broadhead that does massive damage over your traditional 1" or 1 1/8" fixed blades.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

I would rather miss completely than wound a deer. Unfortunatley i have done both but things like that happen over time. I will say this though, I have never felt like i was going to throw up from a complete miss like i have a wounded one. You will kick yourself in the butt for a while with a miss, but its better than that sick feeling that doesnt go away for a while. my deer this year i had to follow up with another shot because i didnt see a limb when looking through my peep. I felt horrible after the shot but got lucky enough to get another shot.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Just had some more time to think about this.

It is and it isn't. Let's take a shot where a deer ducks. Arrow flies right over it's back. The SHOT is EXACTLY where the archer aimed. The TARGET moved. Can't blame the archer for that.....unless there's an issue with shooting at a deer that's already on high alert.

It CAN be a worse shot (clean miss)....and it can be a GREAT shot. The target dictates much of how we perceive the outcome of the shot. I jus think that the guy who wounds a deer gets unfairly POUNDED, sometimes.....when he's done nothing worse than the guy who missed, clean (as far as execution).....and sometimes put a better shot on the animal.

I see both sides.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Is it better to swing and miss or to foul the ball into the stands ?

Both strikes,one just a little closer to a hit than the other.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Agreed. And this will cause folks to claim a miss when in fact it was a wounding shot. JMO

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Plug a brute in the shoulder with your massive rage BH and see if you still have that opinion. Cutting diameter can help with 'soft' tissue hits tho, I agree.

its no substitute for hitting where you aim though. (I am NOT implying that you were saying that)

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

I had one move on me a couple weeks ago. I did learn a lesson about the whole thing. The 8 point was chasing a doe. I used my mouth to grunt to try and stop them, and then did it again. They both stopped on the 2nd louder mouth grunt. By then the buck was about 43 yards away. I let the 281FPS 420 grain Hammerhead tipped arrow go, it looked like it was heading right for the goods. It seemed that Both deer ran immediately after the shot. My Allegiance is super quiet, but the slighest noise on an alert deer will send them running. The deer ran about 50 yards and stopped, stood there for a minute wobbleing with the doe looking at him and fell over in the bean field. I saw his legs go up in the air. I figured him for dead. I waited, and about 10 minutes later, I saw this deer try to get up. He couldn't. It was a light rain, so the beans were quiet. I started to stalk to where I last saw him. It took me about 15 minutes to get within 15 yards of him. I saw his neck, pulled back and let one go on his neck. The deer, jumped up, ran about 100 yards into the woods, where i saw him stop and fall over again.

End result was, I hit the deer with the 1st shot in the back leg half way between the knee and the rump. While buthering the deer, I found the broadhead logged up by the hind quarter ball socket. The Hammerhead hit the back leg and slid all the way up the bone to the socket taking out the femoral artery and causing massive damage. This was the worst shot I have ever seen on a deer, and if I would have let him lay, he would have died in that spot.

Deer moved, Horrible shot, great broadhead, recovered deer, lesson learned. Don't shoot alert deer at that range. They will dodge your arrow even on the fastest of bows.

I shoot 4 inch groups at 50 yards.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Definitley prefer a clean miss, and agree things happen to great shooters that can cause a total miss.
A wounded deer may never show his face again, and most likely die elsewhere never to be found.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

[/quote]

Yes it is a worse shot, but it is the more desired result of the event.
[/quote]

yup!

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

I could not agree more;).

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

This is exactly why I am for the middle!:D:D
Sorry couldn't resist! Clean miss every day of the week!

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Even in soft tissue this does not mean that you will recover it.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Clean miss, I'd take anytimeversus wounding a deer...Yet I have wounded and lost animals before.. Buck, bear..

marginal hit...... be disciplined and prepaired to wait and pay the consequences of losing the meat. Finding him is better than not at all.. imo

on another note....I knowtwo guys (locally here where i live)that have openly stated to methat theywill purposely wound a big deer just to get him bleeding..because he's big..get him bleeding so they can find him in a day or too.. the consequence of losing the meat is a secondary priority to the antlers on his head.. long as they get those antlers...

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

I agree with the majority. Yes, a clean miss is a worse shot, but the result is much more desirable.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

To add to what Troy said,I also know folks that are of the philosophy that if it is big you get an arrow or bullet in it any way you can,especially so on snow.
I have passed on many animals that I "may" have been able to kill,because the shot wasn't right.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

I'll take a clean miss any day. Last week one ducked an arrow on me and when I found it there was some hair and grease on it but no red blood. I spent the rest of the night searching and then tried again in the morning. Turns out the deer is fine and I just nicked her, since I saw her later. If that had been a clean miss it would have saved about 5 hours.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

First words of the thread header....for those just joining us....

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

I think I see what you're asking Jeff (my name's Steve, btw).

As far as archery and shooting an arrow, a wounded-shot is 'better' than a clean miss as far as being close to your intended point of impact. But as far as hunting is concerned, a clean miss is much better than a wounding hit.

It depends on how you're looking at it.

And I can't help but think you're referring to the other night when you made that not-so-perfect-shot on that HUGE BEAST of a buck you ended up with (big congrats on that one too). If that's where this is coming from, you don't have any explaining or rationalizing to do about it. You know what happened and I'd bet my bow it doesn't happen again.


If I'm way off, then just please excuse me and ignore all this.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

A clean miss means no long drug out death. A bad shot means a long drugout death with not benefit to anyone but the yotes. Or at least that is the way I see it. But I understand what you are saying though. I never thought of it that way, but a miss is a worse shot in accuracy, but its more
favorable then a miserable death with no benefit to the shooter.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Bowman:

I never put a bad shot on a buck this year. You have me confused with someone else.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

Sorry Jeff. I get some of your names mixed up if I don't pay closer attention. I wasthinking of GregH's post. I'm sorry.

RE: Clean miss vs. wounded deer
 

The desire is to kill the deer, not wound it. I am out there programed to kill, of I miss I may feel like crap for missing the shot, but I still feel much better than tracking a wounded deer.