wallhangr

I was watching a hunting show last night and during one of the segments they were watching two bucks chase a doe around underneath them. The camera man was positioned above the hunter and was trying to get the larger buck in focus. When he got him in frame he gave the hunter the go ahead. SMACK......then you hear the camera man say "you shot the wrong deer!"

So, has this ever happened to anyone?

Splitear_Leland

Nope, I always try to identify my target.

Rob/PA Bowyer

I've never shot the wrong deer..LOL

When tkycaller & I guided a local television show doing a special on River Valley Game Calls, the camera man filmed the wrong turkey when the host shot the other one.

We called two longbeards in to the shooters, the host beared down and dropped one, his professional camera man whom I questioned occassionally about sitting on the shooters shoulder replied, "Oh, I'll get the shot". Well, he didn't. He filmed the upper strutter coming in and the host shot the lower bird which was closer to him.

Through the magic of editing, he did make it look really good however.

Oh and I shot the bird he filmed strutting in two weeks later after setting on him every day.

Myersbuck

I have shot a deer and while trying to find it found someone elses. So I started to call out and sure enough two guys come running...no...sprinting twards me. It was kinda funny...dressed that deer out and then they were nice enough to help me find mine.

GR8atta2d

Closest I came was in gun season years back. A shot rang out from private property, I was on State Game lands. A while goes by and another shot. I was up on the top of a ridge and can see the deer coming through the slashings of cut down tree tops on the bench below me. Every time the hunter (who i knew from previous years ) got within a50 yards or so the deer would bolt and he'd miss it. I'm watching the deer through my scope. He's dragging guts and intestines behind him as he escapes a short distance everytime. (the guy never could get a clear shot at the wounded buck). I know exactly where the State Game lands/Private property border is. The buck steps across the line and I drill him. Putting him down for good. The out of breath hunter gets to the deer as I do. I tell'em he's all yours. He was dead on his feet I just put him down for ya. He thanked me and we talked a spell.

I had more than 1 interesting run in with this guy.

He was a legal spike, a fact that I knew long before I pulled the trigger. Always wonder if I'd have been as generous if it was a big 10 pt. Probably!

Edcyclopedia

This past year on my Texas hunt...

Sitting in a ladder stand with mixed fields and trees, I had 5 Does underneath me within 20-50 yards. All of a sudden a real big ten pointer came out of nowhere. He chased one of the Doe's past me into the wooded section, but I couldn't get a shot off and they seemed to disappear.

4-5 minutes later I see this Buck running way off to my in front of me to my right. So I proceed to stealthfully get up, without banging anything or spooking the remaining Doe's. All the while trying to keep an eye out for the buck's direction and using my periphial vision as he continued to close in. After I got into position I had 2 spots with openings through the woods that I was hoping to get him to stop. At the 1st opening I whistled, without him even blinking an eye. So @ the last opening, he was 70 yards running broad side, I decided to shoot him in the 10 yard opening. Just as I shot him, he turned and ran 5 steps toward me and I realized that the "BIG" ten pointer pushed a smaller 8 pointer out from where he chased the Doe. He keeled over and the rest is history.
Opps! It was a nice 8 pointer, just the same, but he wasn't the bigger buck.

In NH you don't see many deer, so it never remotely even crossed my mind that I shot the wrong buck.
I still replay it in my mind... How I was so focused on remaing silent and slowly moving into position, not to spook the other deer.
Chock it up to experience I suppose??!! I still had a great hunt and of course the guys in camp laughed at me, seeing he was the smallest of the group.

wallhangr

That was my line of thinking when it happened, but I gave the guy a little leeway - they were in Loiusiana in heavy cover and body-size wise they were nearly identical. The buck he shot was easily a 120, but unfortunately for him the other was around 150.

GR8 - good sportsmanship on many levels

GR8atta2d

Maybe this story circulates in all deer camps, but I could see it happening.

I heard tell of a guy who was sitting on a ridge and watched an 8pt runninginto a stand of low pines. He shot, watched, watched here comes an 8pt out the other end of the pines he shoots and puts it down. When he went back to the beginning of the pines to check (out of curiosity if he hit it the first time) he found another 8Pt dead.2 different deer 2 shots 1 tag...[]

Camp lore ?? who knows, but certainly plausable.

Splitear_Leland

I guess this is where the idea of ethical shots comes in. If I were wanting to shoot that 150" buck, I would wait and make sure that what I was aiming at was my target. The same as if I were just wanting to shoot a deer, I would wait and make sure my aiming point was on a deer. A lot of guys around here shoot at sounds and movement. It's the same thing, the guy can't be disappointed because it was his own mistake for taking a bad shot at a deer that was not his target.

wallhangr

You could tell he was dissapointed, but kept saying he was proud of what he shot.

I happened to be in the right spot during the rut and had 7 bucks trailing a hot doe. The first two blew by so fast I couldn't stop them. They were all following the exact same path and the third one was a big 8, was holding full draw waiting for him to come out from behind a tree when it took just a bit too long. The next thing I see is a deer coming straight at me instead of broadside from the same opening. I put the pin on his vitals when he turned, but didn't release...something wasn't right. I looked up at the rack and this one looked like a goat, 2 spikes about 10" each. The big 8 then walked out behind him and out of the opening w/o presenting a shot.[:@]