As a long time reader of the wall who has appreciated the knowledge and entertainment you all have shared, I felt compelled to share a hunting story from this past weekend. Hopefully, you'll find it amusing and at least slightly educational. The set-up; 20 acres of woods next to a small lake, bedding area to the north, food to the south, nw wind at 12-15mph, 18 degrees. My buddy and I walked in from the south and I set up next to the lake, he went up a tree 60 yards away sw of me. Took a bit to get set up as it was a new spot to sit, made a fair ruckus getting ready and my stand wouldn't stop creaking when I moved... 2 minutes after hanging my bow up and ranging several trees I caught movement coming from the north at 50 yards. Big, beautiful 10 point walking casually right towards me. I grabbed the bow but didn't turn my feet for fear of making the stand creak. He turns slightly left at 20 yards, following a trail that would put him at 14 yards straight west of me with a good opening to shoot. He pauses behind a little brush, allowing me to raise my bow, then continues. The problem is, I'm a lefty. Lower body facing north, shot location to the west. As he approaches the gap, I squat slightly to get my shoulders squared up 180 degrees from my feet, then start to draw. A soft grunt stops the great beast right in the middle of the opening and I pause a couple seconds before pulling through and releasing the arrow. It sails gloriously through the air an inch or so over the stag's back BEFORE he ducks, spins, and sprints to the nw without slowing as he disappears over a hill 150 yards away. As I quietly chuckle/sob, my buddy, who didn't see the buck coming but definitely saw it going, texts and asks if I shot. I reply-"right over his back". My buddy shoots a nice doe a few minutes before legal is over and we recover it 250 yards and about an hour later, caught the liver. Before climbing down, I tried to replicate my shot and draw back but it didn't feel right. Then I squared my lower body and drew again, everything felt right, and I released the arrow and watched it hit right at my point of aim where the buck had stood. I realized that I couldn't get my thumb tucked tight under my cheekbone at anchor when my upper body and lower body were crossed up. It was close, but off enough to send an arrow 12" high at 14 yards... So, lesson learned. Fix your creaking stand and/or make sure you're at least reasonably positioned for a shot as soon as you see your trophy coming. Write it down so you don't forget it. You don't want to know how it felt watching that giant run off. Also, I was a little discouraged about going out again until I checked in here and read through a few hunting stories, particularly Frisky's ongoing "hunt", and now I'm chomping at the bit again. Going to lay out my hunting clothes for the cat to lay on in a few minutes. I write this as sort of a thank you to all who have shared their stories. Hopefully it helps or encourages somebody in the same way all those stories have for me.

Get out there if you're able! Willard

Nice post, sounds similar to a nice 10pt i missed high and him ducking the other day....shoot straight

Get used to it! Haha

On a serious note, I get feel sick when I miss.

The jumping string really hit home this year for me, I have to really force myself to aim low. Misses happen for a zillion different reasons, sometimes our fault but not always. Still makes you sick that you somehow missed or even made a terrible hit. But, your try very hard to learn what went wrong and then do your best not to do it again. And yes, it can still happen again. In the heat of the moment, things happen. I used to go into kill mode then just did it. now, I go into kill mode and it is what it is. We hope to be a polished machine but it doesn't always work out the way that we plan. Don't give up but simply strive to do better. A friend once told me after I missed, "It just wasn't its time to die." I wish you the best and keep going at it.

If missing keeps you from going back out, you'll be in for a lot of disappointment, my friend. :) Lots more space around them, than there is on them.

And as an aside, I don't aim to miss deer, I do my best to pick a time when they aren't alert. If you do that, you won't have many issues with jumping the string.

Are you new to bow hunting ?

I've been hunting for 40 years but took up archery 6 years ago. The last half dozen animals I used a gun on were all within bow range and I thought I could do without the noise from a gun.

Technically, it's my 2nd miss with a bow (there's a squirrel out there suffering psychological trauma) but I've been fortunate enough that every other critter I've shot with a bow at went home with me. I knew the streak would end, stings a little that it was on such a nice deer.

I don't hunt from an elevated stand much and I think that's why I was hesitant to move much when the buck showed up and I ended up twisted up before the shot. The sight picture looked good though, just a poor anchor in the end. He didn't move until after the arrow went by (quiet bows are important!) and that's how I knew it was on me. There's lots to be learned from a miss though and I'm happy to share if it can help someone else too.

And I hear you, George. I try to get so close that I can't help but hit them. I get a kick out of getting too close to draw. Almost as much as eating fresh backstrap, but not quite :)

I'm not really discouraged since I know where there's a nice 10 pointer running around (also a whopper of a 16 pointer, but that's another story), I'll just need to find a new way to meet him.

Keep at it you will get one. Rather miss then wound one.:)

Big dog, you sure have that right. The only thing wounded is my pride. And my buddy is keeping that wound from healing anytime soon :)

(there's a squirrel out there suffering psychological trauma) LOL Don't ask me how many times I've shot high...

Keep at it.

Doesn’t EVERYONE shoot over the first time???

A clean miss is far better than a bad hit.

Everybody will miss , the only way to avoid it is not to shoot and that is no fun.

Bend at the waist. Aim at lowest kill spot on deer. Take a full second to make sure your on, before releasing. I always whistle to stop them. But you might ask that guy that likes cats. He knows all. ;^)

Thanks for sharing your story and sorry about the miss on that dandy 10 point!

I imagine that just about every honest bow hunter would admit that they've missed. It stings, a lot of time and hard work for that couple seconds to all come together and it doesn't sometimes.

It sure is sweet when it does all come together though. Missed shots and blown chances are the some of the best education there is in my opinion and education is expensive.

Best of luck to you the rest of the season!

Oh heavens, if you've never missed you aren't a hunter. I think my first miss was when I was about 6 years old. You just learn and move on.

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