When it comes to the topic of misses, I’m no stranger. At some point, if you hunt long enough, you will miss or wound an animal. What you do after making a poor shot is a bigger deal than the shot itself.
Oh, the stories I could tell of hunts gone wrong. We all have them and pick up a few more every year it seems. Trying to remember hunts gone bad and applying them on future hunts will help you recover faster and possibly make the best of a touchy situation. Once a shot is taken it can’t be taken back, so making the right shot the first time is always best. What happens after the arrow is released tends to be up to the hunter, in most cases. Experience is the best teacher and if you are lacking, this is the time to get help. One of the most important things to do is pay attention after the shot and attempt to make sense of the situation.
I’m not trying to write a book here, but the stories of my trial and error hunting years could fill one. You would think after nearly 20 years of bow hunting experience, you would have seen everything. This is definitely not the case. New mistakes are waiting to arise, and will, as long as you hunt. The more you make, the less you have to experience. So getting them out of the way and learning from them early is ideal. I had three such experiences in under an hour, back when I was totally green. I learned a lot that day.
I have had my share of bad luck in the woods, but this day took the cake. It started off good, with no rain and cooler than normal temperature for that time of year. It was late October and the rut was just starting to heat up. I wasn’t too picky back then and any deer over a year and a half was fair game. It just so happens that small bucks tend to move heavily at this time of year. As day broke, the morning started out a bit slow. As it reached about 9 am, I heard footsteps in the leaves across the fence. I am allowed to hunt both properties, so I positioned myself for a shot. Not long after, I saw a six point approaching me. It came in to about 20 yards and as it passed behind a tree I drew the bow. The deer walked into my lane and I whistled to stop it. It gave me a perfect shot and I let the arrow fly. About half way to the buck the arrow connected with the barbed wire, deflecting it downward and embedding it into the ground at the deer’s feet. The deer didn’t know what had happened and whirled around to look behind itself. I was so surprised, I never loaded another arrow even though the deer was still in range and paying no attention in my direction. It finally bounded off to live another day.
The next deer to approach was a spike buck and it came in on the same trail as the first one. He was moving a little faster than the first deer and gave me less time to draw my bow. As I attempted to draw, the deer came out from behind the tree and spotted my movement. I was stuck at half draw and we all know how this ends. I held as long as I could and finally had to let down. When I did, the deer spotted me and bolted. Feeling pretty dejected, I decided to throw in the towel and go get my arrow that I shot at the first deer.
As I sat in my chair cleaning the dirt out of my broad head, I caught movement through the woodlot. It was another small, broken, six point approaching, but this time from the downhill side. His path would have taken him wide of my shooting lanes, so I decided to call him in. I grunted a few times before he heard me, but when he did, he came right in. As deer do, he tried to circle downwind, in an attempt to smell the perceived intruder. This put him behind a fallen tree top. It looked like I had enough room to squeeze an arrow through, but on release, found otherwise. The arrow struck a limb, deflecting the arrow towards the deer’s head. It center-punched him in the left antler, doing little more than rattle his brain a bit. He walked away shaking his head and looking around for what had smacked him.
All three of these situations could have been dealt with differently, which may have ended up better, had I reacted accordingly. On the first deer, I could have cut the fence and reloaded immediately. There was no livestock on the property and I was allowed to do so and I had more arrows. To date, I have missed three deer to reload and get it on the second shot. Those small mistakes cost me a deer and I can assure you the next time on the hill, it was cut and another arrow was nocked. On the second deer, I should have finished drawing my bow. I have had several experiences after that one, where I got away with drawing while the deer was looking at me. Most of these occasions you will also get a shot, so just go for broke and draw. On the last deer, I would have waited for him to completely clear the branches. I have missed more deer from deflections than I have from making bad shots, so obstructed shots are definitely not recommended. In all of these cases, something could have been done to better my situation. I was just lacking in experience.
Good wishes and go for broke, it might put a deer in the back of your truck.