RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

I've had all kinds of problems with buck fever, especially bow hunting. One thing that helped me a lot was going to one of those ranges where you shoot at a movie screen of actual deer sequences, then it "scores" your shots.

Another thing that helped me was one shot practice.Iuse a cardboard box, roughly the size of a deer's chest, and only shoot one practice shot per session, with a broadhead.If I can't make a kill shot on that first shot, I won't go hunting until I can.

Then when you're hunting, you have to let go of the outcome. When a situation is developing, understand that you don't have control of what the deer is going to do. All you have control over is your own actions. Even if you do your part, things may not work out. Trust your decision making skill,trust your shooting ability, and just allow the hunt to play out.

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

you wanna talk buck fever, 10 days ago Im sitting next to a tree at first light. I look over and see movement but it was still kinda dark. I look thru my scope and see a nice 6 or 8 pointer. I aim , pull the trigger and clik, my safety was still on. He heard the click and bolted. Ive been back there every day waiting for him.

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

i feel for ya. i missed a doe at 10 yards with a rifle last week. didn't aim low enough apparently. i was so pissed. just keep at it. who knows next year you might see the same buck and he'll be even nicer.

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

Dont rush the shot! A few of my recent years I have rushed the shot and missed each time. This year if I am shakin, I just take a deep breath and calm down until I can hold steady. I have scored twice this year (quick, clean kills), butIpassed on another one because I could not hold steady.

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

Take a little advice from an old bow hunter ....use a pengilum sight ...it elimantes having to judge yardage from a treestand when your heart is beating 900 miles an hour ..its truly the best advice I could give you.

dd

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

You just pick yourself up, brush yourself off , and start all over again

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

The odds were against you to start with, trying to shoot from the ground. Get up in a tree or a ground blind.

When you make a sound such as a grunt call, the deer will zero in on your location and make it very difficult to draw a bow and get off a shot.

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

LOL I can relate to this. I missed 3 different bucks this year with the bow. I dont get frustrated I just chalk it up to on the job experience. I had a bad habit of shooting juuuust over their backs. Well you can look at my thread I posted tonight and see what happened when I finally took my time, remembered the basics and aimed low. I actually went as far as taping a note on my bow limbs...one stripe of tape said "slow" and the other said "down". Believe it or not....it helped today.


Theres 2 kinds of hunters...those that miss and those that lie...:DMost people dont reallize just how hard it is to hit a deer....shooting cardboard or a McKenzie is a helluva lot different than shooting a living deer that ducks or bolts 9 times out of 10 at the snap of the bow. Bow hunting is definitely rewarding though...well worth all the frustration when everything comes together! Hang in there! Failure just makes success sweeter when it finally comes.

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

Soudns liek a bad case of buck fever. dont feel bad I went through just about a whole box of shells this year myself cause I couldnt hit a damned thing and I never miss ;)

RE: Finally had a shot and missed. How do you cope?
 

I MISSED THE FIRST DEER I EVER SAW TOO, SO I KNOW WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE. I JUST WENT BACK OUT THE NEXT MORNING AND DIDNT EVEN THINK ABOUT THE NIGHT BEFORE. I SAW A DEER DID NOT PANIC AND MADE A PERFECT SHOT. JUST KEEP GOIN BACK OUT THERE AND HAVE FUN. DONT WORRY ABOUT IT.