First hunting experience (not good)

[RockinU]

Very few hunts are actually that nerve wracking and gut wrenching, few to none, I'd even go so far as saying.

You'd think so, but I've seen some truly astounding stuff guiding. I've seen others on the level with OP's experience, even with modern center fire, scoped rifles. I think OP deserves credit for the work he put into preparation, as unfortunately not all do.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I

You'd think so, but I've seen some truly astounding stuff guiding. I've seen others on the level with OP's experience, even with modern center fire, scoped rifles. I think OP deserves credit for the work he put into preparation, as unfortunately not all do.

I agree with this. I've had some hunts go sideways, but probably not that far sideways. The OP sounds like he was prepped and practiced up. I have this suspicion that the guide just wanted to get on to the next thing when he made the decision to try and pressure that buck.

 

[thusby]

I’ve watched someone miss 9 different deer over 7 days with a scoped 30-06. Ranges from 20 yards to 300 yards. All clean misses.
We target shot on day 5 to check and he could drill the center out at 200 yards.
Visualization helps. Throughout the year I try to to think of deer standing in front of me, then I imagine controlling my breath, lining sights and a slow trigger pull.Might be goofy but it’s been a decade or so since I missed.

 

[RockinU]

I

I’ve watched someone miss 9 different deer over 7 days with a scoped 30-06. Ranges from 20 yards to 300 yards. All clean misses.
We target shot on day 5 to check and he could drill the center out at 200 yards.
Visualization helps. Throughout the year I try to to think of deer standing in front of me, then I imagine controlling my breath, lining sights and a slow trigger pull.Might be goofy but it’s been a decade or so since I missed.

I had a hunter once who shot a red stag right in the belly at about 60 yards. Deer ran to the edge of the brush at about 110, and stood there humped up while the hunter unloaded his rifle at him, reloaded, and unloaded a second time without hitting him again. 1 hit in 8 shots and he was out of bullets.

I’ve got several stories about that hunter. I might have to write a book one day.

 

[OzzyDave]

One thing I’ve learned since I started bowhunting is you can’t keep doing the “what if” game. Chock it up to experience. Keep at it man.

 

[The Hedgehog]

If you're going to take up something that involves shooting high velocity lead or sticks with razors on them at living animals, you're going to have to accept the fact that sometimes, regardless of your attempt for everything to be pretty - it won't be. I've seen a handful of things that truly sucked. I also had a couple bad long archery antelope recoveries. 2015 was a lot like yours. I didn't take any grip and grins. I hit him 6 times and it was a 2 hour ordeal. I almost lost him, even with him packing 3 arrows around.

 

[Fullquiver]

One thing I’ve learned since I started bowhunting is you can’t keep doing the “what if” game. Chock it up to experience. Keep at it man.

I would sum this up by saying learn from your past and don't repeat what contributed to the mishap.. Archery is truly a mental discipline as much as a physical one. So replaying the failure over and over again in your mind would certainly be detrimental. However not learning from the mistakes made is equally detrimental..

I've seen plenty of archers who fit into both of these categories.. The wise man will learn more from his mistakes and move forward not destined to repeat them.. I would say that the best thing one can learn as an archery hunter is to truly understand your limitations and to live within them.. Far less game would suffer this same fate if the above was practiced..

BTW I have been an archery hunter for over 40 years and have taken more game than I can honestly remember.. My father was a champion Archer and an exemplary bowhunter. What I say here are the results of too many hard earned lessons..

 

[Jeremyc_1999]

Hi everyone,

After posting this yesterday I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. It was hard to get those words out, but it helped. I then took a long walk with my dog and things started coming back to normal.

What I wasn't expecting was the huge outpouring of support and the fact that this thread got as much attention as it did. I am really grateful for everyone here who shared their thoughts, stories, and let me know that my experience was far from unique. Reading through all of it really helped me a ton.

I think I'm now able to objectively look at things without a huge amount of emotion clouding my thoughts. Don't get me wrong, it still hurts, but I can at least now look at things a bit more clearly.

Lessons learned:
1. Give the animal at least an hour, if not longer based on the shot placement. The more I think about it, that first shot was fatal. I think my only exception to this rule will be if I hear a loud crash, and even then I'll give it half an hour. My thinking is that after the hour the antelope would have been either dead or close to it and we would have had more information on whether or not to pursue a second arrow. When you have to make a decision on what to do next, all you can do is base it on the information you have, and giving the animal more time might give you the information that you need.
2. This one is probably specific to me... don't shoot an animal in the late afternoon. I don't want to be fighting darkness again to try to recover and/or field dress an animal. Once I get more comfortable tracking and recovering game, this rule will change.
3. I will be changing my broadhead set up and retuning my bow. I don't blame the head entirely, but it was definitely a factor in what happened. With the same shot placement, I feel like a bigger cut would have dropped him sooner. I understand that anything can happen, but it is in my control to do as much damage as possible. The one thing that convinced me to switch things up was the blood trail. This was a double lung shot and I would have had a rough time recovering the animal had it not been out in the plains. A deer in the woods might have been lost.
4. I need to relax during my shots. That's literally the first thing I was told when I took private lessons. Any tension in my arms or back will (and does) result in the arrow doing funny things. I have a shot sequence that I go through at the range that first involves taking a big, deep breath before the draw. I felt like all of these steps went out the door the second the target was an actual animal. I think this is something that I can control by just focusing on calming myself and relaxing even when the shot opportunity of a lifetime presents itself. I got good experience on my first hunt on what it feels to have a big antelope in your sights, and I felt that each shot was progressively easier to take and better matched how a shot would feel at the range. The notable exception was when things went south and after I got shook up after the gut shot. I need to clear my head before each shot, regardless of how hard it might be to do so in the moment.
5. I need to practice shots out to 80-100 yards rather regularly. This is not a shot I would take unless my hand was forced to put another arrow into a wounded animal.

Ultimately, I'm starting to look at things more optimistically and positively. At the end of the day, I achieved my goal. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't glamorous, but I did it. Hell, I double lunged a nice antelope at 58 yards!

Another thought entered my mind last night that has stuck with me and convinced me to pursue my deer tag in two weeks... what example would I be setting for my kids if I quit now? For the record, I don't have any yet, but I think the point stands. I had so much love and excitement for the sport before Thursday, and I'm not going to let one bad experience ruin it. The excitement is starting to come back, and I'm going to hit the range next week. I'm going to give myself a week off, but I'm going to get back on the horse.

I know it sucks now, but I think it's actually probably a good thing that what I experienced happened when it did. I keep thinking about what would of happened if the first time something like this happened was on a solo hunt, where I would really be second guessing myself. Also, I now have the experience of what to do when things go sideways next time. It was a hard, but I think good, learning experience.

Finally, I think I've decided to have the horns mounted and to put them up in my office as a reminder of the lessons learned and that life has a way of teaching you them in the hardest ways sometimes. I also plan on moving the mount around so that it's always going to be next to whatever animal I most recently took as a comparison of where I started and where I am now. I want it to be a symbolic reminder that I took those lessons to heart and stuck with it.

Thanks again for all the support. I'm not giving up and I'll be back out in the woods here soon.

Congrats on a good learning experience. I would encourage you to keep hunting. We need more people like you.

A few other things that I can think of:

A valuable lesson may be that you should have stood up to the guide a bit more. You knew that you were mentally shot and should have been done for the day. (Although if you would have quit, you may not have had this valuable experience)

research new broadheads. The guide may have suggested mechanicals, but they can have problems too

I try to get my heartbeat up with exercise when practicing. The excitement never seems to go away for me with bow hunting and I still get some buck fever.

 

[Bullshot]

Nothing much more to say than most of what has already been covered. Keep your head up. Learn from the experience and try to minimize a repeat. Keep practicing. Limit your shots to 1/2 what you practice for awhile. Make it a game of discipline and controlling those points of failure. You sound like a good person, and the sport of hunting needs those.

 

[Cogreeny]

I wouldn’t sweat it things happen it’s hunting man up and go shoot the next one enjoy the meat be happy.

 

[geetar]

Losing an animal you shot or making a bad shot can eat you up inside. The fact that you care shows you are a sportsman and not just out there flinging arrows or bullets wherever they end up. Give it time and get back at it. Best of luck!

 

[bushman13]

Technically the Facebook generation (users) are old people.
20-30 somethings use the Gram, and the kids use Snapchat and Tiktok.

As far as the OP's problem. You are slinging a stick at an animal. Compound that with buck fever and voilà. Learn to kill them with a rifle first, which also requires every now and then, an up close finishing shot or a slit throat.

"Sorry to hurt you feelings. Sharing that with total strangers on an Internet forum is a good thing? Sure, guys gotta talk things out. Probly with a good friend and hunting buddy would be good. My apologies to the op if I offended. As said, I wouldn't share this with the world. mtmuley"

You're old, mtmuley, and obviously don't possess any applicable understanding of the facebook generation. Should probably stick to talking about Cooper tires, RUM's, bullets and other hunter man stuff.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Tough experience bud. But that is what is was. An experience. Part of it. Adrenaline is a tough thing to learn to control and it only comes by experience. Stick with it. The more times you encounter it the better you will get at funneling it into focus. I’ve seen some say to switch to a rifle, but I’ve seen tons of animals wounded by poor shots from a high power rifle. I remember being a young pup shaking like a leaf with a rabbit in my sights for the first time with my .22.

 

[tzone]

None of my practice at the range could have prepared me for the absolute rush of having an animal that large come within bow range.

This pretty much sums it up, honestly. If anyone tell you they haven't screwed up a shot or made a bad hit is lying or hasn't hunted much. It happens bud. It sucks.

Congrats are in order, I assure you.... You shot your first BG animal, and stuck it out to the end. You did what you're supposed to do. You may feel bad about it, but you did what we're supposed to do as hunters. If you would have left it and tried to find another animal, you'd have a problem. But, you didn't.

Congratulations.

 

[ErictheRed]

This sort of thing is why I switched to a cross bow. It just works better for me and the animals I hunt. It keeps things enjoyable.

 

[The Hedgehog]

This sort of thing is why I switched to a cross bow. It just works better for me and the animals I hunt. It keeps things enjoyable.

Nothing could go wrong with a crossbow, other than your wrist becoming permanently limp.

 

[ShortAction]

I would only add that you may want to consider small game or varmint hunting to help you get used to live targets. I'm not saying the consequences of a poor shot are less; only that the possibility of buck fever would probably be diminished. In my experience it helps you develop many other skills as well as calmness during the shot.

 

[BluegrassBilly]

We've all taken shots we regretted. First time hunts always have a tinge of guilt associated with them. All hunts should, in fact.

Buck fever is hard to replicate when practicing. Many hunting shooting advice columns involve some physical exertion prior to practicing a shot - I think Randy has a video with someone doing 10 burpees and then shooting a rifle within 10 seconds. Others have recommended running up a hill with your bow and then taking a shot on a target at the top. Anything you can add to your regimen to help you learn to calm those nerves and settle your shot will make you a better hunter.