Dozen Arrows

I don't miss...

Just like I never make mistakes!

If for some reason "I miss", it was on purpose.

Schultzy

This Is a long one!! Sorry!! This Isn't a miss but It's the next thing to It.

17 years ago back In 1991 (17 years old) I was bear hunting In northern Minnesota with my dad, mom, brother. My mom and my brother had both already tagged out getting a bear opening night with there bow's on 2 decent bear. My brother decided that he wanted to sit with his older brother and hope to see me shoot a bear. On our way to our spot we were driving down the road when all of a sudden a guy comes flying out of the ditch waving me down. I pull over and roll the window down and this guy Is really worked up. This guy had just shot a bear and after he shot It he started running from his stand tree being he was scared ****less!! Before he shot the bear he said this particular bear was woofing and chomping his teeth at him while looking at him up In his stand. Needless to say this guy was worked up. This guy was hunting under a guide and the guide wouldn't be there till dark to pick him up and he begged me like crazy to bring him to where he was staying about 30 miles away. I decided that he was In no shape to be sitting along side the road as worked up as he was so I did the good deed and brought him to his hotel he was staying at. In doing that It set me back about an hour so I was way late on getting on stand on my bait.

On the way In to my bait which Is about 400 yards off the road we got with In 50 yards of my stand/bait and something took off and took out everything In Its path. I stopped and looked at my brother and said, SOB were too late, we just scared the damn bear!! Actually them weren't the words, they were much worse!! Well we finally got there and scooted up the tree and to my surprise an hour later he came In. Once I saw him I thought to myself, wow!! He was big, he would of dressed out In that 350 to 400lb range. He came In and decided that he wanted to check out the tree that we were In. My stand was about 10' up in a huge Basswood tree. My brother and I shared the stand being we both had a portable seat on each side of the stand. The bear crawled up the tree and was about a foot off of the ground and he was only a foot from the bottom of my see through hang on stand (8' bear, that's huge). I couldn't believe It, I could hear him breath, I could see that sparkle In his eye's but yet I was very calm and not bothered the least having him this close. My brother on the other hand was ****ting his pants!! The bear then crawled down and then decided to crawl back up the tree but this time he did It from the back side of the tree where neither of us could see him. The tree we were In was about 4' In diameter so that's why neither of us could see anything. I looked at my brother when the bear was behind us up our tree and his eye's were fricking huge!! He was shaking so bad that the seat that he was sitting In was creaking from him shaking In his seat, I could hear It. I put my hand on my brothers arm and whispered very quietly and said It will be alright, just don't move. The bear finally climbed down after about 5 minutes up In the tree and finally went to the bait offering me a nice perfect quartering away shot. It was then when I lost It and got all worked up and nervous.

I pulled back and settled my pin right where Its suppose to be and released the arrow off of my finger tab and sure enough I dropped my bow arm after I released. I knew It right away but I thought the hit was still ok yet hoping for a low heart shot. When he took of running and growling the fletching was the only part of the arrow sticking out of the bear (I thought anyway) and the arrow was a tad low but I thought I'd be ok yet hoping for a low heart shot. 2 hours later we took the blood trail and found the arrow right away 20 yards down the trail. The arrow only had 1/2 of penetration and I told my dad that was Impossible being I saw the arrow shoved In all the way to Its fletching. We followed the trail for about 300 yards and every time It would take a step with Its left front leg there would be blood In It's track. A little farther down the blood trail the bear dug out a ground beehive with It's front left foot and there was blood In the hole all over. We came to the conclusion that I shot under It's tummy and hit the foot on It's front leg In the big leg bone. My arrow looked like It was 6" up from It's tummy but bear do have longer hair so that's where I got fooled when I thought my arrow had good penetration. This Is my 1st and only wounded animal so far In 23 years of bow hunting. This bear was easily a P&Y bear, probably In that 20" range for skull size. I later asked my brother that night why he was shaking so bad In his seat and he said that he swears up and down that his pants leg moved and touched his leg when the bear was behind us up the tree when we couldn't see him. The next day we looked In the tree for the claw marks from the bear climbing and sure enough there were claw marks a foot or so with In where my brothers leg would of been. I'm guessing that bear's nose Is what pushed my brothers pants leg In. What a crazy hunt It was!!

Sorry for the long write up.

ZachCL

I misse the first deer I ever shot at way back in like 2002 i think........ gah what a way to start off my bowhunting journey. He was probably a 120" deer, I will never forget that night, I swore I hit him, came home posted on here about how I just shot a nice buck and all this crap thinking I was big stuff. Went back with my pops to look for arrow, blood, deer. Found the arrow, plumb clean. Oh that was a bad feeling having to come back on here and confess the miss. Other than that I have missed two does in the past.

Cougar Mag

Some years ago I had a 160 plus buck come down a trail and stop slightly quartering away from only 20 yards. Not sure if it was the wind or a 6th sense but that huge buck turned his head and looked right at me. Admittedly I was not in good cover. But for the life of me I could not pick a spot and was fixated on his beautiful rack. I missed clean low and he turned around trotting slowly away then walking off in the thick brush. All I could do was watch the tall, wide, massive rack walk regally away as if the king of the woods won the battle, of course in which he did. I immediately became sick to my stomach and he haunts me still to this day.

davidmil

Shirley... fact is, I still miss her. Ahhhhhhhhhhh young love. It's called catch and release hunting.... she released me. LOL

demoIL

Well I didn't quite miss.. But I froze on a 150+ 8pt a couple years ago. I had him at 30 and came to full draw but just watched him walk away.. I couldn't get him to stop so I never shot. I'm sure I would have hit him moving but I suppose I didn't want to miss soooo bad I just didn't shoot..

He was shot the following weekend in the IL shotgun season by landowners daughter during a drive.. [&:]

lnen#1

big b&c this bow season, 30 min later connected with a p&y...still think about that big one every day, what if?

OHbowhntr

I hate to admit it, but in 2004, I had the worst season ever, missing a MONSTER 170-ish typical 12 that I'd watched come in from a couple hundred yds through my binoc's before shooting under him. I also misseda great 10 w/ twin kickers off of his G2's that was probably a 150 class, and I lost another high 140 maybe 150 10pt. To say the least it was a bad year. Add the MONSTER 180-ish the a big doe busted me one mid-draw when he was only 22yds away, and you might understand why I spent a lot of time KICKING myself. I haven't missed a buck I shot at since, but I've only shot at ONE. None of the rest I've seen were legitimate shooters that offered a "good" shot.

MichiganWhitetails74

A 170 class whitetail....It was a hit......a shoulder blade shot and no recovery...Oct. 31st, 1995.

I shot him with a osage stick bow and a Zwickey Head. Off the knuckle.

A night I will never forget. Halloween to say the least.

NY/Al

Never have missed yet...7 out of 7 right now. Im sure that will change someday![8D]