solocamcan

Choke job....brain dead moment....moronic shot placement...etc etc EVER!

Here's mine...Last October 9th my friend and I went hunting just outside of town on some land that bordersa 80 acre wood lot that belongs to the University of Illinois, of course you can hunt it, and it's loaded with P&Y deer, anyways, at about 830am he comes and gets me andtells me he seen a giant go into a thick hedge row about 1/2 mile long and50 yards wide. We had a strong 25-30 mph south wind and he proposed a deer drive...I said "With a bow"? Well we ended up doing it, I got situated on the North side, he drove around to the South side, he couldn't of taken 2 steps out of his truck and I heard the sound of deer running in the standing bean field, they all were within 25 yards but all were does, prob. 13-15 of them, then I seen antlers running through the hedge row at me "I can't believe this is actually going to work" I told myself, I pulled my bow back when he was still 80 yards out but closing fast,well he was following in the footsteps of a mature doe, she got dead even with me about 5 yards away, and stopped, then let out a snort and bolted...when she did that hestopped, staring right at me at 8 yards away, with morethan 1/2 his body behind briar's and aa small tree, I aimed a little further towards his shoulder not wanting to hit the tree, and to be TOTALLY honest, my thinking was at 8 yards away and shooting 68pounds, with my Muzzy, even if I caught the shoulder, I'd be able to get more than enough penetration...well maybe I would have if I hit the actuall shoulder blade instead of the shoulder joint[:@]He spun around and on the 2nd jump my arrow fell out...I watched as my first ever P&Y (somewhere around 150")bounced away forever. I literally became sick to my stomach. I second guessed EVERYTHING, should I have aimed for the neck NO...Should I have just put my pin as close to the tree and him as possible and hope I don't hit it...Should I have have waited 10 more seconds to see if he messed up and took another half step....YES. Do this day I can replay this moment like it happended 30 seconds ago, it's what is making me a better hunter I believe.

stikbow26

Oh I know the feeling, It was 2004 I was hunting a 180 class buck I had seen 5 times in this same picked corn field and I knew what run way he was going to use that night he had a pattern to him. I was set early so that I wouldn't blow anything RIGHT!!!! Well I had bought a new pair of binco's and at about 2 hours before dark a 130 class 8pt came out chasing a doe around and around the field so I was just sitting there when I heard a branch break 10 yards behind me and there he stood mister 180 class 10pt himself. Well as slow as Icould I got my binco's off and hung up and as I was picking my bow up I was watching the buck to make sure when I could maove and not move and little did I know the tip of my broadhead was hitting a tree branch and when the arrow took as much bend as it could Thawack there went the arrow up agaist the riser and to say the least that buck was going mock 10 across the field and no shot for Wally!!!!

Ben / PA

Took a buddy out with me a few years ago. It was the first time that he had been in the whitetail woods. I told him where the deer were likely to come from and where the shoot opportunity would be. Right after daylight the nicest 8 that I have ever had the chance to shoot came in from the opposite direction and let me miss a chip shot at like 16 yards. Then I could have had a follow up at 9 yards, but I was shaking too bad and banged the arrow off the bow. My friend went on to kill a 118" 8 in rifle season that year for his first buck ever and followed it up last year with 18 1/2 inch wide 115 inch 9 point this year. He still rides me to this day about the buck that I could have "fell" on and made it easier. I can't wait until he gets turned to mush sometime.

early in

I hate to laugh, but that's funny!It's sooo easy to figure the right way to have done things, after the fact! And speaking of that, here's a good one.
I shared this not long ago, but here it is again. Last year I'm sitting in my stand a I'm listening to the squirrels rustling in the leaves. I usually look each time to make shore it's not a deer because at times they can sound similar. Anyway it gets to the point where I'm tired of looking, only to see another squirrel.
A short while later I hear a slight rustling again, only this time it's quite close to me (10yrds). So I turn (too quickly) to look, thinking it's just another tree rat. But it's not! It's a nice10pt, for my area anyway. He see's me move, turns and BOLTSthe other direction!!
That was thebest buck I've ever seen in my area in 6 years of hunting
there! Oh well, that's what happens when you get lazy and break the rules. Always turn veeeeeery sloooooowly to look at things.

virginiashadow

The first year or two I began bowhunting I saw a beautiful 8 pointer running on the base of the small hill I was working. I bleated a couple of times. About 2 minutes later he comes walking down the trail and was about ready to give me a perfect broadside shot. I wasa newbie bowhunter so I drew wayyyyyy too early andthen he stopped right before he was going to pass the last tree in my way, right before my shot opportunity. I held my bow on full draw for what seemed like minutes. Finally he stuck his head out and for some reason, just on cue, I saw my arrow launch( I was like what the f.......!).I guess my arms were so tired that they just gave out.The arrow proceeded to hit him right in his beautiful 8 point rack. I wanted to kill myself.

GMMAT

Last Fall....stuck a young doe on the morning of a hunt. I knew I smoked her.....but I didn't see her go down.

A little while later....I had another shot opportunity at another doe. I didn't see her go down, either....but I thought I put a good shot on her, too.

I recovered the first doe....but not the second.Temps were not in my favor, either.

I'll never take another shot on a subsequent deer.....unless I see the first one go down, within sight.

SwampCollie

Oneida bow + Climbing Treestand with front rail 20' up + deer at 8 yards = loud noise, poor arrow flight, no deer, and a whole lot of cam retiming!

Whats sad is I did it again the next year with my new Hoyt Ultra-Tec....

MichiganWhitetails74

In 1995 Halloween night I was on stand on some property near my home in Livingston County Michigan. I was 21 years old and I was using traditional equipment on ALL of my hunts then. I had my osage stick bow and I was using cedar shafts and Zwickey broadheads at the time.

About 5:30 PM an 18inch 8 pointer fed off to my left (Probably a 120 class and it was the biggest deer I had ever seen at that point in my hunting career. He fed towards my stand and when he got along my right side....at 8 yards...I shot and blew 4 feet over his back!!!..

In disbelief I knocked another arrow and thought about what had just happened. At 7PM I looked out in front of me and saw what appeared to be the tallest spike I had ever seen in my life....what I was looking at was a 21-22 inch 10 point with 8 inch brows and 10-12 inch tines....the body on this animal was like something I had only seen in Alberta or Saskatewan...I'd say he was 170 - 180 class...Long story short...I made it to full draw with my osage stick...after a 3 minute stare down....When I releasedI drilled the buck in the shoulder blade....The entire area where he stood smelled like a barn yard...it was like someone took a gallon of tinks and dropped it on the ground...I looked for 3 days and never found him....In 22 years I've never had another shot opportunity like that...I have thought about that buck everyday of my life... since that Halloween night in 1995.

Hoyt_Viper

It was the 3rd day of bowseason and my neighbor (builder/developer) told me I could hunt a new piece of land he bought. It was 2:00 PM and I figured I would drive out and find a tree for a stand. I got out of my truck and closed the door VERY slowly and silently. I walked 3 steps and heard a noise about 20 yrds away from me so I froze...watched a beautiful 8 pt 200# buck come out of thicket.

Did I mention my bow was in the passenger side of my truck?

solocamcan

Great Stories guys.....the rest of you need to fess up, because we ALL know it's happened to 99.9999% of us.