Allowing someone to hunt with a weapon they have never even shot is completely irresponsible and shows a serious lack of respect for the animal pursued. I have to agree with KP on this one, this is not a "happens to everyone" scenario. I hope the doe was missed for her sake but from my experience the only deer that rear up like that are the ones with a bullet in them.

I think Merlin got the point yesterday,he never said it happens to everyone,and the story probobly educated 500 future hunters from making the same mistake.
Oh yea,anyone who says they never missed a deer is either talking trash or will miss.And if youve been hunting long,youve missed more than you remember.

I have learned one thing in my life its easier totalk smack aboutsomeone elses mistake and act like its the most vile thing you have ever heard of. But hmm I bet there is a long list of mistakes everyone has made in their lives that could be picked apart.
Especially they who cast stones.
Like I said time and time again. It was a learning experince for all of us. Just because someone is use to shooting guns doesnt mean they can just pick up any gun and shoot it without some practice first.

Wow when i started reading all the posts i was actully going to side with Killer on this one because you just dont go into the feild with a gun you have never shot period and that is really wrong. But Merlin then in one of your posts you brought up a very vailid point that not everyone has the the chance to have mentors like some of us have. I was just lucky to have been around some very great hunters to learn from my dad and his friend and my grand parents. So live learn and it sounds like you have learned from this and that is all we as hunters can ask of you.. Walt

kshafer,
The word you probably meant to use was "stupid" since "dumb" is defined by someone who is incapable of speaking.

I'll decide when I'm out of line, thanks, and I'll say anything I want.

I stand behind everything I've said here. I have not missed a deer with a gun, as stated earlier. However, I have missed a deer with a bow. I struck a limb and missed, simple as that.

Merlin stated that he hoped to become a better hunter. I think he has an understanding of what some of us would call a better hunter, and I did provide Merlin with some useful information, which you fail to acknowledge.

Merlin,
I'm sorry that you didn't have anyone to provide you with guidance as a young boy, and serve as a positive role model. But we all have to overcome something in our past. If not, how will we ever be able to provide "a better life" for our children. It is your job as a father to do what is right. And sometimes simply going with the flow, isn't right. It is my opinion from reading your posts that you were dishonest in this thread. I'm not going to elaborate since I've already stated my findings earlier in this post. But, your actions, and similar actions by others upset me for many reasons. First and foremost is my association with such actions. I think you are smart enough to know that you were being irresponsible with your actions, and I find it hard to believe that you weren't expecting someone to address these actions as I did.

That said, I am not perfect, I guess I am lucky. Lucky to have a few good mentors who were willing to pass along some really sound information to me, that I in turn am passing on to my children.

If you ever have a question, or would like any advice, please feel free to contact me through this site. I would be more than happy to pass along anything that I can to help you and your family achieve your goals associated with hunting.

JagMagMan,
There are also those of us who haven't missed and don't intend to. I think your analogy is shared by many, but they also place low standards on them selves. I’ve heard the same statement made about duct tape – “there are two types of things in this world, things that are held together with duct tape, and things that one day will”. I don’t own a roll of duct tape either.
I do however recognize that my situation is different from a lot of other peoples. I do not need venison to sustain my life, so I will not take irresponsible shots at animals. If I were unfortunate enough to "need" the meat from these animals, I'm sure I would miss, and probably more than once by taking shots out of desperation.
KP

Hey now Killer. You need to calm down a bit and think about what your saying. Is your life so worthless you have time to sit and read and re-read these posts just to argue your point? Yes, she missed. But she later did the necessary things to not make the same mistake again. Everyone will miss a deer eventually, you just have to keep shooting to get better, lets calm down a bit and be adults. Also, anyone that refers to meat that way shouldnt be hunting. The meat should be very vital in any hunt, not just something you HAVE to use because you shot a deer. deer meat, if prepared right is very very tasty, maybe you should reconsider your posts and go ponder on life for a while.

Killer,
Sorry if my posting the experience upset you to the point you can't control yourself. Sorry if you think what we did was an atrousity.
I don't think it was neither does most people I know. I made a bad call but we get over it. Everyone make mistakes. Bad Judgement calls and so forth. Like you, In my opinion you made a very poor judgment call bashing me about this. It shows lack of tact and respect. Shows your true ignorance. In stead of bashing the next person that posts an experience maybe some helpful advice or insight would work better and not turned this into the most idiotic thing I have ever seen in any forum. Bash someone you don't know over a post not worded to your specifications.
Wanna know the other bad call I made. Instead of letting her shoot when it first walked out I made her wait until it started to head back to the woods. If I would have let her shoot the first time I know it would have been a clean kill. Essence I iced the kicker. So roll with that.
And as far as I am concerned you have pretty much calle dme a liar through this whole ordeal. I don't appreciate and it real doesn't matter what you think. Its what I know and will continue to do that matters.
So in your own words. " I am done with this thread."

I think Merlin has learned his lesson here so no sense beating a dead horse.

Not to say that some of killers concerns arent valid, but I cant say I have ever heard someone b!tch so much about a miss, assuming anyway that it was a miss.

A similarsituation happened to me when I was young. Not shooting a gun first is a bad idea. But I'll share my story soMerlin wont be the only one on the chopping block. My second year out, one of my dads guns was not working so we had to borrow one. I was a bit unsettled about taking a gun into the woods I hadnt shot but at the time my folks were poor and my dad litteraly told me not to practice shoot it because he could not afford to buy a box of shells (had 4 shots in the clip was all), and I always hit the same as my did with his gun. I hitthe buckpoorly but wont go into into the details for fear of people like Killer attacking me, butto the day I dont know if the gun was off for me or if it was since I took a free arm shot at a bit over 100 yards. We recovered the deer the next morning, after a third attempt of following the blood trail, so the deer was not lost.When I was 17 I was very gunho about hunting, and felt bad if I missed one day of not beign in the woods. It was only my second buck, and the biggest one I had shot in NY to the date, which probably influenced my decision to shoot. If it was today, I would have been sitting on the sofa that day for sure, until I could get time to get shells and shoot it, and since I usually dont have a lack of food. But back then it was "you cant put meat in the freezer if you dont pull the trigger" (although my dad tought me well when not to shoot - to the point he thought I was passing up too many shots)but whenI was young and had a nice buck infront of meI didnt always remember all the reasons not too shoot.

I am wiser now but even good hunters can have bad things happen. One other quick story. Cheapie 50 cal muzzleloader, shot at big buck at about 50 yards running full steam. I figured I had the lead on it right and touched off. This also ties into this post since I could not find any blood in the area I shot it. Since it was on snow I was able to track the deer, and picked up blood starting around 50 or 60 yards away atleast. And since it was on snow we could track it really well. To make a long story short we tracked it well over a mile before we couldnt track it any more. I lost this one and I will never forget. But who is to blame? I later shot the gun on paper and was getting terrible patterns. I did shoot this gun alot prior to the season and had a good 100yd grouping. I do not know what happened but the last it was shot the week before was hitting good. I later ended up ditching the cheap gun and buying a quality inline that I could not afford when I was on a college student budget and bought the $99.99 CVA. You cant always chock a miss or bad shot up to being poor skills. Not saying that ol Merlin wasnt responsible at all for his wifes problem, but some of the comments later mentioned seemed like if you have ever missed then your a terrible hunter that should be banned from the woods.

The truth is there are some who may actually never miss, but that is pretty darn rare and more luck than anything. Gun and equipment failure can happen to anyone. Heck a bird could fly across your path the instant you pull the trigger. There could be a localised burstof wind out there at 100 yards that isnt apperant to you, or a bee stinging you as you pull the trigger. Strange thingscan and havehappened.Anyone here can claim they have never missed and they might be true... regardless I dont ever beleive things like that since you can say whatever you want online. I could make such claims, backed up with all sorts of stuff like a phony picture of a ton of trophies for marksmanship, blah blah, or even impersonate some olympic shooter. Just take some folks claims here with a grain of salt.

Ummmm. Isn't that irresponsible as well? Not quite so simple if I understand your very strict ethical standards and shooting proficiency standards.

Isn't it your responsibility to ensure you have a clear shooting lane? Whether that means waiting until the deer is clear of the limb or clearing the limb prior to releasing an arrow at an animal? What it the arrow deflected and wounded the animal in question?

Would this perhaps be a "mistake" on your part?Kind of like making the mistake of letting your wife shoot before sighting in and practicing with the gun. Things that make you go hmmmm......

Just some questions. Some might call a shot that results in hitting a limb "stupid". I myself will just say nothing. Call me dumb [8D]

killer........you are the only one here that has a problem with this. as far as im concerned you can shove the "i havent missed a deer with a gun" thing where the sun dont shine cause everyone misses and if you ask me you are full of yourself. i also dont agree with the fact that she had never shot the gun but i also realize that there are times when there are priorities higher than hunting sometimes and it just doesnt get done. i have been there and done that. do you want to rip on me now? why dont you rip on me since i have wounded one and missed 2 deer with a gun? that is complete bull to me. sorry i dont no the difference in dumb and stupid.