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

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.

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

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

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!!

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

Hot wings!!!!!!!!

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

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.

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

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.

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

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!!!

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

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.

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

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:D:D:D

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

crawl under the covers and cry.

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

Thanks to everybody. I have made some posts in the pastwhere people on this forumwere kind of nasty and judgmental.I was hesitant with this one but you guys were reallygreat. I am heading out tomorrow so I will take all of that advice to the field and lets see if i can't redeem myself with a nice Long Island buck.

Oh by the way FossilThomas I did crawl under the sheets but all of the antidepressanst I took after missing the shot made it almost impossible to cry!!:D JK.

Happy Hunting All!!

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

I missed the only buck that I have seen all year. I sighted my muzzeloader in at 100 yards and got a shot at an 8 pt. at 20 yards and in the heat of the moment forgot to compensate and shot over him. This literally has made me sick and trust me if anyone knows how you feel... I do. I have replayed this moment @least 100 times. I just don't know what happened.

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

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take!

It's better to miss completely than to wound and not find in my book. You have the experience of taking that shot with you now. As you increase your experiences, your confidence and abilities will grow!

"The only bad mistake is that from which you do not learn."

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

I'll tell you exactly how I cope, buy something else. I got one with my bow and wanted to use the shotgun to get one also. I missed three times with slugs, clean misses...not wounds or lost deer. After checking my scope after each shot, it was off. For whatever reason after it was sighted in, the next day it was off. I give up, the shotgun will be for turkey....I've waiting on the UPS man to arrive with my new muzzleloader right now.

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

This season I was totally embarresd when I was hunting. 3 doesran up from the left of me and one of the does stopped about 10 yards away behind and to the left of me. I had to turn all the way around and I aimed but I had so much clothes on I couldnt get my head all the way down level with my shotgun. When I shot I was suprised that the does didnt even move! so i pumped again and shot AND MISSED then he still didnt move and I shot AGAIN ANDI MISSED. Then he ran off and I was discoraged but I realized my mistake and next time I will trynot to do it!:D;)

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

LI hunter don't despair...it will happen again. I am 59 years old and can remember each and every miss like it was yesterday. Fortunately I have far more kills than misses and that sort of over shadows the misses. You feel bad at first but slooooowly get over it especially when you do score. Learn from your misses and try to take care of the problem next time. Most of my misses were a result of rushing the shot. Next time try to compose yourself and make that shot mechanically just like you do on the range or at a 3D shoot. Pay attention to limbs and brush that can sway your shot. After the miss I always sit down and look at the reason why it happened. Most of the time if I went by the numbers I would have scored. The hardest ones are when you make a poor shot and don't recover the animal. That is far worse than a clean miss. I feel it makes it more of a challenge when misses are occasionally factored in. The deer truly have the advantage and that my friend is why they call it fair chase. Good luck and get right back on that horse.

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

Everyone misses at one time or another. The same for buck fever. Replay the events in your head, decide what you think went right or wrong. Fix what you can. Relax and try to steady yourself and your breathing, then aim and shoot. Every deer encounter is different but hopefully the next one will turn out in your favor.

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

Yeh LI ....take Franks advice ...hell he should know..... hes so old he use to shoot with Davy Crockette:D

dd

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

Some call me a dinosaur...some say fossil. I like to think fine wine perfectly aged. Yup Davy C and I were there and Scott you were the guide. My only salvation is I hunt with a bunch of great hunters in their 40's and I don't have a problem keeping up…even in the high thin air of Colorado and the endless hollers of south Ohio with all the green briar. The only difference between them and me is I go to bed earlier and probably drink more. Another difference is they do it while on vacation and I get to do it every day. ML tomorrow morning near the house and it is going to be coooooold. Going down to near zero tonight with some wind. The lake is still open out front. I plan to soft push a few swamps to see if I can scare up a doe for my nephew who is 13 has a permit and looking for his first deer.

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

That is a tough shot under pressure---he dropped ducked the arrow as you released. On nervous deer, aim at the lower one third...that has helped me shoot em from the ground when they are nervous. Seems I need to aim about 2-3 inches low and when they drop, it hits where I want it...I have missed MANY times....best of luck man and keep your chin up....get back at it and you will be succesful.

shadow

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

Don't get mad right away, that's for sure. The first deer I missed was a monster 12 pointer when I was 14. I got pissed and got unfocused. Well, when I was sitting there in disbelief, another good 8 pointer ran right behind me. I've never seen deer as big as those two since.

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

What's the big deal? Anybody who says they've never missed and means it is lying, and at least you didn't wound it. Move on.

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

As has been said, missing doesn't haunt you nearly as much as wounding one and not finding it, especially when you're pretty sure it died somewhere.

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

Yep. That one will stay with you for awhile, especially if it was a wall hanger.

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

I know how you feel Monday after watching this 8 point buck since opening of rifle season I got my chance to shoot him and I missed. I spent 2 hours searching for a sign that I hit him but after searching I discovered asplit limb inmy shootingpath, and I have not seen him since.I have only shot3 deer in my life so far and that was the biggest one.

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

I have never missed a deer.

Never shot at one either.

Maybe I should go to one of those high fence places.:)

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

How many pro baseball player miss that pich hit when they need it most? It happens, Even the best are not perfect. Don't let it get you down and don't put even more pressure on yourself next time. All you can do is the best you can at the time. Show me a hunter that has not missed and I will show you a hunter who has not been at it long or lies a lot.;)

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

I know the feeling... Just makes you sick... Just keep at it, eventually the feeling starts to lesson (it never really goes away :()... I still get sick feelings once in a while over a close missed bow shot at a potential booner - and that was from last year....

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

Lot's of good advice offerred here! Like any thing else in life if it matters to you you never quit.You learn from each experience and you go forward making revisions based on what you have learned.We all get adrenaline rushes.I would suggest you do every thing you can to call your shot,meaning you have a very disciplined sequence that you take prior to releasing an arrow and you keep the presence of mind to hold exactly on the spot you want to hit and follow through just as you would while practicing.Basically focusing on making a perfect shot.
I have never lost a deer but I have two experiences with less than perfect hits where when I found the deer very quickly the next mornings the coyotes had decimated them.So what brought me around was disgust with myself for the consequences of less than perfect shots.
Also always remember you are the one with the weapon,you have no need to be nervous!Good luck,keep at it!