longislandhunter

Well I finally had a small 5 pointer come within range this weekend. I have gone all season without seeing a buck and when it finally happened I panicked, rushed the shot and missed. here is the quick story. BTW I have taken does but never a buck.

I got to my morning spot late. The sun had just come up. I sat for about an hour and a half and did quite a bit of grunting. I had to leave early that morning so I got up to leave and decided that i would look in this field that was just about 100 yards away before I left. I heard something run away as i started to walk so i ducked into some trees and grunted. All of the sudden this little 5 point with a surprisingly wide rack popped out. He saw me before I saw him and he caught me move. He seemed slightlyspooked and started to walk away from me. This time i quickly moved about 5 feet to a spot where I had more cover and could shoot better. I grunted again and he turned right around and started back towards me. He got to about 25 yards broadsideand probably would have came closer but seeing as how I was hunting on the ground I figured I better try and take him now before he got too close for me to draw on him. he was standing in really tallgrass that went upover his back. Anyway i aimed and really punched thet trigger becuase i was so nervous. The arrow hit a branch ( I heard it)and sailed up and over him.

I have been sick all weekend. i finally get a chance at my first buck this yearand I blew it. How do you guys cope when you know you had a great oppurtunity and because you could not keep your cool you blew the shot. More importantly how do I keep it from happening again? I hate buck fever.

Maryland_Whitetail

I never miss....so I don't know!!!

Things like that are going to happen, learn from it and next time, you will get him.90% of shooting is confidence in your shot!!

RugerM77.270

Hot wings!!!!!!!!

buckhunter14

We all have done it before. I missed a nice 6-point my first year of bow hunting. Spent the entire next week shooting the shot, replaying it every shot. Never missed the vitals once. 5 years later and I have only missed one other deer, and the shot was deflected by an unknown branch. You will re-coop, just get back out there.

BuckMan8

I always grab my 3D target and shoot it over and over again until I feel good. Sometimes I will have a friend over and we have shooting competitions.

BowHuntingFool

I have killed several deer with my bow over the years! I had a buck of a lifetime come under me and I stopped him at 24 yards. I was confident and settled down took aim and I shot right underneath him! I was bummed out BIGTIME! It happens, after the shot when he walked off to about 50 yards out and was standing there for 15 minutes wondering what just happened I was shaking like a leaf on a tree!!!!!!![8D][8D][8D][8D][8D][8D][8D] I love this sport!!!

bigangrychicken

Everybody that hunts very much is going to miss. The shots I miss are usually the "can't miss" shots in which I don't take my time and focus on my target spot.

How do you get over it? A kill shot on your next buck will do the trick.

corey012778

I missed one this weekend too. what I am going to do get over it, figure out by how much I missed by, replay the shot. figure out what I did wrong, what the deer was doing, what I saw after the shot. got bummed. then remembered. last day of mondern, and got 3 weeks of late ML to go

DoctorDeath

I know yourdissipponted but dont let it get you down to bad ...it happens to all of us ...its not a total loss if you learned from it and it sounds like you did ...at least it wasent a Booner then you would want to go jump off a cliff ...Ive been hunting 30 years and killed a number of good bucks but missed a Booner two weeks ago RIFLE hunting ...so as you can see it happens to us all ...just learn from it and figure you may get another chance at him next year and he'll be BIGGER !!

dd

longislandhunter

Thanks for the encouragement. I am going to make sure that next time I see a buck the first thing I am gonna do is compose myself and just go back to the basics.

Thanks again.