Skynard
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- Joined
- Jul 1, 2019
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- 46
We've all had a miss, a malfunction, or a mistake while taking aim at an animal. Share your worst shooting moments and misses! Rifle, archery, primitive, anything in between!
What's your worst miss? Share your story!
- Thread starter Skynard
- Start date
Skynard
Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2019
- Messages
- 46
I've had a few bad run-ins with my muzzleloader. One time I had a buck following a doe in a field. Got off the ATV, walked down the fence line directly at the deer. It was so focused on the doe it literally did not care that I walked within 100 yards of it. I rested on the fencepost. Took aim, missed. Reloaded, missed. I then released that I only carried enough materials with me for one reload. I ran back to the ATV where my brother was, grabbed his muzzleloader, ran back down and shot, but yet again, missed. All the while the buck stood frozen and never moved. We came to realize that our black powder pellets were over 2 years old. I believe that they had gotten wet or went out of date I guess.
I shot 3 times with a MUZZLELOADER, and didn't kill the buck.
I shot 3 times with a MUZZLELOADER, and didn't kill the buck.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
The one that hurt the most was a 6x6 bull that I’d been tracking in the snow for the better part of a day in some miserable conditions. Finally got a shot at under 100 yards in heavy aspens with about 5 minutes of shooting light left and hit a branch in between me and him.
Second place would be a really pretty chocolate bear that I just whiffed on. In hindsight I never had a very steady shooting position and I probably misjudged the wind. I also had a cursed rifle for both of those shots.
Second place would be a really pretty chocolate bear that I just whiffed on. In hindsight I never had a very steady shooting position and I probably misjudged the wind. I also had a cursed rifle for both of those shots.
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p_ham
Well-known member
5hr stalk, 30" 3x3 bedded 17yds. Bounced the arrow off of every tree branch between us. Almost quit archery that day.
I think I got excited and jerked the shot.
I think I got excited and jerked the shot.
T Bone
Well-known member
Watched this guy for two days until the wind got right, then put a sneek on him.
100 yard prone shot with a muzzleloader. As close to a sure thing as I've ever had. No idea where the bullet hit, but it missed.
The next day I located him again and got in range. Pulled up the muzzy to shoot and felt the rear site move. The set screw on the rear site had broken and it was loosey goosey.
100 yard prone shot with a muzzleloader. As close to a sure thing as I've ever had. No idea where the bullet hit, but it missed.
The next day I located him again and got in range. Pulled up the muzzy to shoot and felt the rear site move. The set screw on the rear site had broken and it was loosey goosey.
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220yotekiller
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2017
- Messages
- 771
I have 2, the first one was a cow elk standing broadside at 150 yards, I had a dead prone rest and completely missed, as in didn't even come close. I had accidentally grabbed my Dads shells (we were both shooting 270s at the time).
The second one I had a mule deer buck standing broadside at 350 yards, once again I was prone, off a bipod and was shooting a 257 Weatherby. I missed him so bad it wasn't even funny, he didn't even look bothered while he trotted over the ridge. That rifle is the reason that I can't stand the 257 Weatherby cartridge, every animal I shot with it was a goat rope, I got sick of dealing with it and sold it and bought a 7mm Rem Mag.
The second one I had a mule deer buck standing broadside at 350 yards, once again I was prone, off a bipod and was shooting a 257 Weatherby. I missed him so bad it wasn't even funny, he didn't even look bothered while he trotted over the ridge. That rifle is the reason that I can't stand the 257 Weatherby cartridge, every animal I shot with it was a goat rope, I got sick of dealing with it and sold it and bought a 7mm Rem Mag.
WestKyHunt
Well-known member
I will preface this story with the fact that I was ~13 and had only killed one deer before hand.
This was during rifle season, but I had left my 30-30 at my uncles where I usually hunt. I decided to walk across the street from the house and sit a stand after school one day. No rifle, so I grabbed the CVA wolf.
Doe and a fawn came by well within range, but I start shaking like a leaf being young and what not. I aim at the doe and fire.. miss. Reload in what seems like record time (thank you quick loader) as the 2 deer stand there asking each other wtf just happened. Shoot again... and miss. Reload... again as the fawn comes running towards me for whatever reason. Finally as the young doe is standing at only 15yd I put in another primer and fire. Thank the heavens, finally a hit!
I use my last pellet, bullet and primer to reload and wait as long as I could before I got down. Ran back to the house to grab my dad. We carried her back and hung her on gamble off a electric pole.
My old man then left me to gut, skin and butcher all on my own.
Learned a lot that day.
Always carry more ammo then you think you might need, deer can be pretty dumb, plywood over saw horses can make a table in a pinch, don't put your knife on one side of said saw horse while putting a hind quarter on the other side, and (most importantly) don't attempt to catch knives flying through the air
This was during rifle season, but I had left my 30-30 at my uncles where I usually hunt. I decided to walk across the street from the house and sit a stand after school one day. No rifle, so I grabbed the CVA wolf.
Doe and a fawn came by well within range, but I start shaking like a leaf being young and what not. I aim at the doe and fire.. miss. Reload in what seems like record time (thank you quick loader) as the 2 deer stand there asking each other wtf just happened. Shoot again... and miss. Reload... again as the fawn comes running towards me for whatever reason. Finally as the young doe is standing at only 15yd I put in another primer and fire. Thank the heavens, finally a hit!
I use my last pellet, bullet and primer to reload and wait as long as I could before I got down. Ran back to the house to grab my dad. We carried her back and hung her on gamble off a electric pole.
My old man then left me to gut, skin and butcher all on my own.
Learned a lot that day.
Always carry more ammo then you think you might need, deer can be pretty dumb, plywood over saw horses can make a table in a pinch, don't put your knife on one side of said saw horse while putting a hind quarter on the other side, and (most importantly) don't attempt to catch knives flying through the air
Nick87
Well-known member
I was 19 years old. Opening day of gun season rattled in the biggest whitetail I've ever seen on the hoof still to this day. 5x 6 with trash and about 20" to 22" inside spread. Got way too excited and rushed the shot right under him. He stood there afterwards and I was shaking so bad I couldn't reload the muzzleloader all said and done at the end there was a pile of sabots and pyrodex pellets under the big oak I sat in and he walked off. Still makes me sick to my stomach on a weekly basis 16 years later.
Bambistew
Well-known member
I was 16yo hunting by myself, in my favorite spot in SW MT. I left the truck at 5am, made it 2.5 miles up the mountain and had to wait for a bit more light before I headed into "the spot." Its another 2 miles to the top but you're hunting the whole way up. It was late September, around the 30th.
I hunted up hill all morning seeing little and hearing no elk. I'd made this hike dozens and dozens of times over the years and knew all the little pockets inside and out as well as all the tricks and trails the elk take. Once I hit treeline around 10, I stopped ate my lunch, which I'm sure consisted of a pack of Starburst, a Ruby Red Squirt and a sandwich of some sort, all tucked into my Treebark fleece bookbag backpack. It was time to head to for the pickup. I had 2 and a half hours of hiking to get there and the morning hunt was pretty much done but wanted to make a circle around and shoot some grouse on a hillside they like.
I made it down the ridge about 1/4 mile and heard a bugle then some grunts and cow calls. I had perfect wind, sun to my back and the high ground. I knew where they were headed and moved to intercept. Maybe 10 min later I'm in the middle of a herd of 40-50 elk. I have cows all around me, they're slowly moving toward a bench to bed. Then I hear a tree being raked, a big tree. I can still close my eyes and hear those antlers rasping on that crunchy logepole bark. Then I hear a deep bugle at 30 yards. I pull a XX75 tipped with a 125gr Savora 4 blade from the quiver on my Bear Whitetail II. I see the flash of a bulls tan hide at 25 yards near 4 cows and a spike. Then he steps out from behind a young bushy lodge pole. He's got 7 on the side facing me, and big frammed. I draw, leaving my finger over the arrow for some dumb reason, and cut the shit out of my finger. I see the blood running down the riser but still aim and release, watching the arrow flying true right at his ribs. To my horror I see it glance off a weathered, rubbed spindly tree limb that was right in front of the bull. He looked directly at me and pealed off the mountain heading for the next country, leaving all his cows. I found the arrow with tan hair on it and followed his plowed up tracks for nearly a mile. I still have the broadead and it still has that hair stuck to it. That bull was killed later that fall in rifle season, 6x7 scored about 350. I will never forget that day. Its been almost 27 years and I could hike to the exact spot tomorrow. As a matter of fact a HTer posted a picture on here a number of years ago that was within 200 yards of the spot. I killed my first archery bull very close by the year before, and i called in two other archery bulls killed there by my hunting partners. Super spot still today but gets way more traffic.
I missed a huge ram 2 years ago, but it was nothing like the events that unfolded with that big bull.
I hunted up hill all morning seeing little and hearing no elk. I'd made this hike dozens and dozens of times over the years and knew all the little pockets inside and out as well as all the tricks and trails the elk take. Once I hit treeline around 10, I stopped ate my lunch, which I'm sure consisted of a pack of Starburst, a Ruby Red Squirt and a sandwich of some sort, all tucked into my Treebark fleece bookbag backpack. It was time to head to for the pickup. I had 2 and a half hours of hiking to get there and the morning hunt was pretty much done but wanted to make a circle around and shoot some grouse on a hillside they like.
I made it down the ridge about 1/4 mile and heard a bugle then some grunts and cow calls. I had perfect wind, sun to my back and the high ground. I knew where they were headed and moved to intercept. Maybe 10 min later I'm in the middle of a herd of 40-50 elk. I have cows all around me, they're slowly moving toward a bench to bed. Then I hear a tree being raked, a big tree. I can still close my eyes and hear those antlers rasping on that crunchy logepole bark. Then I hear a deep bugle at 30 yards. I pull a XX75 tipped with a 125gr Savora 4 blade from the quiver on my Bear Whitetail II. I see the flash of a bulls tan hide at 25 yards near 4 cows and a spike. Then he steps out from behind a young bushy lodge pole. He's got 7 on the side facing me, and big frammed. I draw, leaving my finger over the arrow for some dumb reason, and cut the shit out of my finger. I see the blood running down the riser but still aim and release, watching the arrow flying true right at his ribs. To my horror I see it glance off a weathered, rubbed spindly tree limb that was right in front of the bull. He looked directly at me and pealed off the mountain heading for the next country, leaving all his cows. I found the arrow with tan hair on it and followed his plowed up tracks for nearly a mile. I still have the broadead and it still has that hair stuck to it. That bull was killed later that fall in rifle season, 6x7 scored about 350. I will never forget that day. Its been almost 27 years and I could hike to the exact spot tomorrow. As a matter of fact a HTer posted a picture on here a number of years ago that was within 200 yards of the spot. I killed my first archery bull very close by the year before, and i called in two other archery bulls killed there by my hunting partners. Super spot still today but gets way more traffic.
I missed a huge ram 2 years ago, but it was nothing like the events that unfolded with that big bull.
I will call this a mistake. One I don't regret. Each outing gets better!
After a full two day drive, we arrived and set up camp. It was first evening on a two week hunt. A mile from camp we began "moose calling", it was very windy. In between calling sessions. We munched on pistachios. I turned for a 360 degree scan and found this bull, working the dirt, pissing & blending "moose Cologne"
We let out a few bull grunts and he became interested.
After these photos, we bull grunted and waved our flag. He circled us. This was clearly a legit bull. We just got here, today.
A mile from camp, darkness is coming very soon. There are more like this roaming about. We let this one go.
After a full two day drive, we arrived and set up camp. It was first evening on a two week hunt. A mile from camp we began "moose calling", it was very windy. In between calling sessions. We munched on pistachios. I turned for a 360 degree scan and found this bull, working the dirt, pissing & blending "moose Cologne"
We let out a few bull grunts and he became interested.
After these photos, we bull grunted and waved our flag. He circled us. This was clearly a legit bull. We just got here, today.
A mile from camp, darkness is coming very soon. There are more like this roaming about. We let this one go.
Ist elk hunt Idaho archery great week worked bulls every day last day 350 ish bull 50 yrs broad side screaming his head off pulled back set pin on him hesitated looked again thinking this isnt 50 its closer to 40 lowered bow set 40 pin and released arrow plowed into tree right under him prob clipped a few hairs under his heart while I tried to knock another arrow he moved down mtn a bit and all I had was ass n antlers next
every elk hunt after I think of that it was 20 ish yrs ago b4 range finders were really very good so didnt use them much but he wasnt going to cross opening and come any closer
every elk hunt after I think of that it was 20 ish yrs ago b4 range finders were really very good so didnt use them much but he wasnt going to cross opening and come any closer
Boarmaster
Well-known member
I shot at a buck few weeks ago out of my climber stand At 125 yards. The wind was blowing hard and the pine tree I was in was moving back and forth. I put my crosshairs right on his shoulder and let one go. I think the buck was as surprised as me I missed. He never even flinched. I jacked another round in and shot again. He lurched and piled up about twenty yards away. When I got down to where I shot him I seen a big gouge in the pine he was standing next to. It would have had to a foot and a half off. At a 125 yards ? I just shook my head and collected up up my buck feeling a bit embarrassed but mostly thankful.
CowboyLeroy
Well-known member
I had a really bad 4wheeler wreck in 2016. All of the ligame to in my left knee and two broken vertebrae in my neck. That was may. In November I was sitting Aladdin stand on a powering right of way and had a deer come out behind me. A 13 point t piebald buck! I proceeded to shakily stand up, turn around, and shoot right over his back. The buck then did something totally unexpected. He crouched down in the grass! How he couldn't connect the dots between the loud bang and the big crippled guy trying to reload a rifle forty yards away I'll never know but he didn't. I reloaded, aimed a little lower, and connected on the second shot.
If you were to look closely at the mount you could see where the first bullet was close enough to cut the hair on his back.
Disclaimer: in Georgia we count the eyeguards.
If you were to look closely at the mount you could see where the first bullet was close enough to cut the hair on his back.
Disclaimer: in Georgia we count the eyeguards.
I had a buck on trail cam for 3 years, kinda topped out at the 160” mark. Every camera I put out he’d be in front of, but I never could find him while hunting. Muzzleloader season of 2011 I sat on a horrible cold day along a cedar draw that he hung out in. No action all morning and as I’m about to crawl down 2 bucks come out and head towards me in the thick cover. One was him and the other smaller, the smaller buck took a trail that was completely obscured from my view by tree branches. I was assuming the big one would do the same. He was about 50 yards and I tried to squeeze a shot through a window of of tiny branches. Between the smoke and flying limbs I have no idea what or where I hit, the buck darts down the trail he was on and stands literally under me as I’m trying to reload. I almost get the bullet seated and he looks up and away he goes………. If I would have been patient I think that buck would have walked right to me.
Found him dead of EHD in 2012 in a small swampy area while cutting beans. It was kind of funny that I really wasn’t that upset I didn’t kill him, I had so many pictures of him it was almost like he was a pet in a sense. Finding him dead on the other hand was a gut punch. I felt like him and I got cheated out of a few more years of cat and mouse games. That 1 deer did more to change the way I hunt and my attitude towards it than anything else. It took me from a 22 year old know it all kid that thought thought hunting was about killing the animal with the biggest antlers like it was a competition, to just enjoying the experience. I’ve been successful on almost every hunt and fishing trip I’ve been on the past 10 years. I may not catch or kill anything, but I do my best to enjoy it.
Found him dead of EHD in 2012 in a small swampy area while cutting beans. It was kind of funny that I really wasn’t that upset I didn’t kill him, I had so many pictures of him it was almost like he was a pet in a sense. Finding him dead on the other hand was a gut punch. I felt like him and I got cheated out of a few more years of cat and mouse games. That 1 deer did more to change the way I hunt and my attitude towards it than anything else. It took me from a 22 year old know it all kid that thought thought hunting was about killing the animal with the biggest antlers like it was a competition, to just enjoying the experience. I’ve been successful on almost every hunt and fishing trip I’ve been on the past 10 years. I may not catch or kill anything, but I do my best to enjoy it.
After reading other’s experiences I think we can agree muzzleloaders and muzzleloader hunting need to be banned under the Geneva convention for being cruel and unusual. Not to the animals, but to the hunters who are scarred for life from the uselessnesses of them.
Nick87
Well-known member
I was thinking the same!
Geneva convention made me think of this, I use this line every chance I get.
- This violates the Geneva Convention. - l never heard of it!
Red Dawn (1984) clip with quote - This violates the Geneva Convention. - l never heard of it! Yarn is the best search for video clips by quote. Find the exact moment in a TV show, movie, or music video you want to share. Easily move forward or backward to get to the perfect clip.
getyarn.io
Dougfirtree
Well-known member
The one that haunts me is a cow elk that I shot at a while back. I was still-hunting through timber and spooked several elk about 40 yards in front of me. They were milling about, trying to decide whether to run, but the lodgepoles were pretty thick and it was tough to get a complete view of them. I didn't want to make a mistake and shoot a bull. Finally, one showed up clearly through a lane in the trees. She was facing directly toward me and the lane was about 6" wide but she was only 40 yards away and I was kneeling. I put the crosshairs on the center of her chest and fired. The other elk bolted, but she didn't move. I racked the bolt and that got her moving. She headed downhill and out of sight.
My buddy and I spent the next 3 or 4 hours scouring the spot where she was standing and the woods all around us, trying to find any sign of a hit. We were on hands and knees all over the area we knew she'd travelled over. Not even a hair. We circled out for quite a ways, poking into the blowdown tangles. We also walked back and forth along the lane I shot through without finding a bullet hole in any of the trees.
The lack of any sign of a hit, after a lengthy and thorough search, makes me feel like I missed and hit a tree. But, the lack of a tree hole, the relatively easy shot and the way she stood still while the others ran, makes me worry that I hit her and somehow she just didn't bleed, or drop any hairs as she ran off (she would have had to run quite a ways as we basically searched the whole side of the mountain). I was using a 160 grain accubond at modest speed, so I felt pretty confident that bullet would penetrate well and do enough damage on a frontal shot. I'll never know, but I think about that one alot.
My buddy and I spent the next 3 or 4 hours scouring the spot where she was standing and the woods all around us, trying to find any sign of a hit. We were on hands and knees all over the area we knew she'd travelled over. Not even a hair. We circled out for quite a ways, poking into the blowdown tangles. We also walked back and forth along the lane I shot through without finding a bullet hole in any of the trees.
The lack of any sign of a hit, after a lengthy and thorough search, makes me feel like I missed and hit a tree. But, the lack of a tree hole, the relatively easy shot and the way she stood still while the others ran, makes me worry that I hit her and somehow she just didn't bleed, or drop any hairs as she ran off (she would have had to run quite a ways as we basically searched the whole side of the mountain). I was using a 160 grain accubond at modest speed, so I felt pretty confident that bullet would penetrate well and do enough damage on a frontal shot. I'll never know, but I think about that one alot.
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