We all strive to be the best archers we can be. Precise tuning, dedicated form practice and the best personal fitting bows that can be found. This usually works, but there are times when all of this falls horribly short. Sometimes, everything goes wrong within the blink of an eye. Everyone has a story, don't be afraid, your not alone. What is the most embarrassing, pitiful shot you have ever made? Lets all have a laugh at taking ourselves so seriously. I'll kick things off.

I went to a 450 vegas shoot in Cheyenne years ago. My lane was against the wall and my back was to it. This was a steel building with exposed red iron. On first scored arrow of the whole shoot, my brain said release and my body wasn't up to speed. I released after I had collapsed about 6" worth of draw. The arrow skewed down range and impacted an iron beam, exploding into 1,000,000 pieces. An ear piercing ding echoed through the building and 100 sets of eyes were immediately fixed on me. I have never topped that one- can any one else.

My worst shot and the best shot were the same shot and it wasn't even mine--but I was greatly involved. This would have been in the early 1960s when the older brother of the girl I was dating wanted to go mule deer hunting with me. I didn't know him well, but if he hunted with a bow he must be alright.

We walked up a pine and aspen canyon and I told him to wait 15 minutes and I would go ahead a ways and go up the steep side hill and we would hunt parallel and maybe catch a buck moving. I went up the trail and then peeled off uphill about 30 yards, when I heard something below me and turned.

In an instant of slow motion and time frozen, I saw my hunting companion with his recurve pointed at me and his arrow with white fletchings in the air and coming eye level for my face. I swear to this day I could see the fletchings rotating ever so slowly in what was the perfect shot coming at me, who could not move a fraction of an inch.

Ten yards from that perfect shot the Bear four blade broadhead clipped a scrawny pine branch the diameter of my middle finger and sheared downward, hitting right at my feet. After several long moments of reflection of what might have been, I picked up his arrow and headed down to have a reckoning, but he was shaking so bad he had dropped his bow and was heading into some kind of shock.

After sitting him down and asking him what the hell just happened, he stuttered out he thought I was a buck and shot. He went back to camp and then home. I continued hunting with thoughts between being the luckiest person, or most blessed, or the most unluckiest person around. I never hunted with him again and I don't recall him ever hunting with a bow again. His sister and I later went our separate ways with neither she nor anyone else knowing of the single unluckiest/luckiest shot of my life. And wasn't even mine

Well, that is easy...Today, my first Trad shot at a deer...well, my trad shots at the same deer...two of them. I found out that you can do that with a Howard Hill longbow, they are that quiet. I haven't had that much fun with others That I actually killed. After all the practice, perfect wind, perfect set up, and didn't pick a spot. Man, I had a blast.

dead centered a big doe in the paunch @ 12 yds don't know what went wrong but unmistakable poomph when the arrow hit. backed out came back in the morning with my old Chesapeake bay retriever & found her in no time

Ranger - you can do that with a recurve too. The first deer I shot at with a bow, I missed by FEET - TWICE. I thought I was too old for buck fever, but I was wrong. I don't know if I had the wrong eye open, both eyes open, or what! I probably would have shot better with both eyes closed.

Lowcountry...i missed about the same. She never new I was there. I watched her for a good while. PICK A SPOT!!!....need to put that on my upper limb. :)

Worst shot I ever made was an excellent shot, but I didn’t realize it at the time.

Doe mulie lifted a hind foot as I was releasing and I came within a whisker of giving her the pedicure from Hell.

In the moment, I didn’t realize that I had hit exactly where I was looking; it just felt like I’d missed by a foot and a half. Blew up my confidence and a few days later I passed up a gimme on a big cow Elk.

Shot was great, but the ramifications were disastrous.

I once shot a Caribou in his balls. Now top this one. The arrow went between his legs up his pecker and into his stomach. I wondered why he laid down right away. I got down wind and the 2nd shot was off his rack. He stood up and charged me and the 3rd shot was in his heart. When we rolled him over that's when we found my arrow up his pecker and in his stomach. The heart shot as he went by me. Now that was a rush I'd say I was a little freaked out but kept it together enough to take him out.

I just missed P and Y with him. The measure taped him 3 times and he told me what to do but I said no.

Good enough if he was close enough that's good enough was a great animal.

If I would have tried for a balleni shot in a million years would not ever duplicate that. LOL

My bou was bigger than all the gunners bulls that week a white bull Leaf river herd.

I was blessed all spot and stalked.

Scoop, that is one crazy story. You're a very lucky man. How did you keep from lumping the piss out of him?!

Lucky man scoop. Glad you're here and no splinters in the back!

You know, as intent as I was on doing that, it faded quickly when I saw him nearly in collapse and the shock he was starting to go into. Nothing I could have done would have made him feel any worse, and he might have even wanted a couple of punches to help with his conscience. Looking back, I don't believe I was as mad as relieved to still be there. As with that and a few other encounters in this life, it is amazing the clarity that such things bring and often a reset of what really has a meaning of importance to you. I'm tickled to death I'm still shooting my bow 50 years later. But my wife points out that I certainly hunt alone a lot!

My son almost fell out of his treestand, holding in his lafter, when my bottom limb hit my treestand on release and I shot a really nice 8or square in the rack. He stood there shaking his head, and I wouldn't take the shot from that side of my stand again. Thankful I didn't cripple or lose him. May have had a headache after getting an arrow in the main beam from a 60# recurve at about 12 yards. Did once center shoot a little tree covering a little bucks ribs. I thought I could place it between the tree and his front shoulder....

whoops ...laughter..sorry

Wanted to tune a new bow and arrow setup one day. Weather was bad so I shot from inside in kitchen, out the back sliding door and into the target. It took longer than normal but I got into a rhythm. Tweak, open the glass door, shoot. Tweak , open the glass door, shoot. Tweak, open the glass door , shoot...

Yep! Rhythm got messed up with a...tweak, shoot, open the glass door.

Wow! Them doors really shatter!

Cat, I would have charged you myself if you shot me there...LOL!!!

My worst and best shot - all in one! My first "Robin Hood" shot,...trouble is it wasn't in the bull's eye but in in the four ring!

Dropped my arm as I shot a nice six point buck. Creased him low. Blood trail petered out. I saw him a week later, he out-foxed me good but that's another story...

My two worst shots both involved hitting the limb of my bow during the shot. The first time I was stalking a group of hogs and I slipped to within 15yards with a cedar tree between me and the hogs. So I came to full draw and slowly leaned around the tree for a shot. The problem was that I’m 6’3” and was shooting a 66” longbow. The top limb hit a tree branch upon release and sent the arrow at least 6’ above the hog’s back with the arrow leaving the bow at a 45 degree angle. My arrow struck a metal gate a good 15 yards past the hog and sent every hog scattering.

My second incident was very similar except that I hit the bottom limb of my recurve on the tree stand and put the arrow in the dirt at the feet of a very confused whitetail.

Still trying to come to grips with this shot. It was a one in a life time shot. Don't know if it qualifies as my worst, because I don't think it was even bad. The results were. Happened 11/13 this year.

I was waiting for a SW wind and had the wind switch to good mid morning. Hung a stand before noon. About 4:30 I saw a buck walking through plumb brush L to R. His left side may have had a double main beam. I think it had at least 12 points on that side AND AN EYE GUARD. The eye guard was close to 8 inches long. What kind of buck in the wild has an eye guard left on his rack by mid November???. Right side was more normal with probably 3 stickers on at least 5 long points. Brow tines were really long 10 to 12 inches. A buck of a life time.

A buddy told me I had to be able to make a 35 yard shot for another stand. I really practiced 35 to 40 before I left and rarely missed. He stopped in an opening at 32 yards. I drew back and took my time, made a solid release. Arrow looked on course - until it got there - I couldn't see where it hit. Just takes place in a split second. The buck jumped back about 15 feet and just stood there.

I counted to 100 five times and he still stood there. If I had to guess close to 20 minutes. All he did was look around. And when he turned his head, it looked like the whole woods was moving.

I got another arrow on the string (if I had used a side quiver I would have been SOL). That reaction with my experience is a gut shot animal. I'm just pissed at myself. I need to get another arrow in this animal. After about 20 minutes he starts walking away ass end toward me, not looking like a normal walk. I got ready to take the shot. He walked up a little hill and turned broadside at around 50 yards. I drew back and shot again with what felt like a solid shot. Again, I can't see where the arrow hits, but he just walks away slowly. Gut shot?

He walks about 30 yards and lays down. He's in brush and I can see his rack if his head is up in the binos, but at times he puts it down. I watched him until dark, head up, sometimes head down for 15 minutes. At 6:30, I left everything in the tree excep my bow and quietly got out of there.

Needless to say it was not a good night. This is public land, so I was thinking everything from a guy jumping him to coyotes. I got there two hours before light and with a SW wind stalked the bed. Found blood and trailed it for another 200 yards.

When back to the first shot. A clean miss. Went up in the tree and took the shot again. Looked good but deflected before it got there. Went to the 50 yard shot and found the arrow with only blood on the broadhead. I think I was probably low and hit him in the bicept and it bounced out.

Not an easy series of events to swallow. At least he's OK.

Bowmania

When i first switched to left hand shooting, I was feeling sorry for the left hand Groves that I just bought, so I thought I would take it out for a spring turkey. Even though I had a more target style form with it, I could really pack arrows tight on the target in my back yard. I called a big tom in with the first calling series. He gave me a perfect 20 yard shot. I took a very careful shot, aimed hard, released and hit a sapling that was no where near my arrow flight path. My follow through was perfect, so perfect that I could see that I shot left handed and aimed with my right eye. Don't know why, but that bow draws out the old target shooter in me even though it is left handed, it makes a nice wall ornament now..

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