Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
08-20-2003, 06:17 PM
#22
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Kilauea Hawaii Hawaii, USA
Posts: 155
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
I' ve made all the mistakes but one time I almost blew it real bad.
Hunting feral goats in Hawaii, I had already shot one small nanny and spotted this big billy that I had been seeing on the cliffs above every day. He was further down on the same ridge as me. The nanny was on my back like a back pack with her legs tied like pack straps. I snuck up behind a bush and found the big billy which I did shoot but I almost made a huge mistake. When I drew back the leg of the goat on my back was sticking right out into the string' s path. If I would have shot I would have really messed things up but luckily I double checked everything before I shot and spotted it.
I backed up behind the bush, quietly took the goat off my back and drew back again, peaked out from behind the bush and made a 15 yard shot. Got the billy a little far back but still got liver. That was my biggest goat but if I would have shot, it might have ripped the string in half or flew the bow back in my face or something bad like that.
Hunting feral goats in Hawaii, I had already shot one small nanny and spotted this big billy that I had been seeing on the cliffs above every day. He was further down on the same ridge as me. The nanny was on my back like a back pack with her legs tied like pack straps. I snuck up behind a bush and found the big billy which I did shoot but I almost made a huge mistake. When I drew back the leg of the goat on my back was sticking right out into the string' s path. If I would have shot I would have really messed things up but luckily I double checked everything before I shot and spotted it.
I backed up behind the bush, quietly took the goat off my back and drew back again, peaked out from behind the bush and made a 15 yard shot. Got the billy a little far back but still got liver. That was my biggest goat but if I would have shot, it might have ripped the string in half or flew the bow back in my face or something bad like that.
08-20-2003, 09:10 PM
#23
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NW Montana / SW Alberta Rockies
Posts: 3,258
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
I have missed deer for one reason or another but the most difficult one is to come in when your too cold, I mean like when you been sitting there for the past 4 hours and now your shakeing and all numb and you keep on hunting, but you just can' t come in, if you get my drift. Bobby 
08-20-2003, 09:41 PM
#24
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ridgeland MS USA
Posts: 850
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
My biggest mistake was not waiting long enough to take up the trail after a liver/single lung shot. It cost me a P&Y buck, we walked up on the buck still in his bed 2 hrs after the shot, he calmly stood up and walked off. It was dark and I hadn' t brought my bow along b/c I didn' t want it getting in the way while dragging out my trophy. I clearly saw the exit hole well into the rib section and I just knew that the buck would walk a short distance and then collapse. I quitely slipped out and elected to come back in the next morning. I never saw that deer again. I searched for a week, every inch of our hunting grounds, and found nothing. That deer haunted me EVERY day for about 2 years. I' ll never make that mistake again.
08-20-2003, 09:55 PM
#25
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: St. Cloud MN USA
Posts: 1,757
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
Learned this lesson over 20 years ago. Shoot your deer and wait. Give them time to expire. The biggest mistake hunters make going to look for their deer 20 or 30 minutes after they' ve shot it. Here are suggestion after shooting a deer: On a perfect shot, 100% sure of arrow placement and penetration, give it 1 hour. On a shot I' m pretty confident was good but not 100% sure 2 hours. Lastly any deer I' m not sure where I hit it or if I actually made a bad shot, overnight or 8 hours.
This really works and the absolute last thing you want to do is walk up and push a deer that hasn' t expired yet. It really makes an ordeal out of the hunt and quite often results in loss of the animal.
Good Luck!
This really works and the absolute last thing you want to do is walk up and push a deer that hasn' t expired yet. It really makes an ordeal out of the hunt and quite often results in loss of the animal.
Good Luck!
08-20-2003, 10:12 PM
#26
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia USA
Posts: 226
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
Last year.... I just KNEW that buck was further than 20 yards- I just KNEW IT....
Why in the #%#$ did I put my 20 yd pin on him ???????????????
Why in the #%#$ did I put my 20 yd pin on him ???????????????
08-21-2003, 04:08 AM
#27
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 1997
Location: Cheasapeke and Delaware Bay Region
Posts: 10,485
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
Not getting out of bed. Big mistake. My brother hunted my stand when I didn' t show up and arrowed a hugh 9 point.
08-21-2003, 06:47 AM
#29
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fulton County, IL
Posts: 482
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
Like all the others, I' ve had the fortunate opportunity to have many " learning experiences" . The one that sticks in the back of my mind happened last year and was a combination of two things. After sitting in my stand for about 4 hours I started getting cold, so I climbed down from my stand. Went to untie my bow and looked up and saw a nice 9 ptr. [Didn' t have time to untie the string] So I knocked an arrow, but when I was looking through my Savage Pendulum sight it didn' t move. Apparently, the bar the sight sits on can move in and out, so the bar slipped out of place causing it to be stationary. All I needed to do was tighten it a couple of times and it would have been fine. The problem was, I just neglected to check my equipment out. That (hopefully) will never happen again.
08-21-2003, 09:46 AM
#30
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Posts: 2,584
RE: Hunting mistakes, which ones have cost you your animal?
Last year, had a nice 6pointer walk up on rifle season, he was about 20-25 yards out. I immediatly cocked the hammer on the Nef 30-06 i had in my lap, mistake. That guy heard it and stared me down for about 45 seconds. He moved his head and jumped over the barbwire fence he was coming down and was outa my life. THEN my friend kills that same one a few days later [:' (] Had i aimed the gun then cocked the hammer it would of been fine, or pulled the trigger then pulled the hammer back so it cocks with no noise.