Whats the Worst Shot You Ever Took?

[Skyhigh]

I have two that I am not particularly proud of.

Back in highschool I misjudged the distance to a deer at about 30, missed, then it ran to 70. I had time to range it and everything, but it was pretty far. Shot, hit it cleanly through both lungs, and it died after about 100 yards. I was completely lucky that the result was what it was, and would not shoot at a deer that far again unless some serious practice occurred before and conditions were absolutely perfect. Its weird, I felt completely sick afterword knowing that it was blind luck that killed the deer.

Drew a doe antelope tag a few years back. Hunted pretty hard for several days to find a herd on the public ground we had access to. Stalked in for a few hours, lots of crawling and cactus. At this point I was pretty invested to shooting an antelope from this group. I watched the herd of 40ish antelope for about 30 seconds, picked the largest doe on the edge of the group that I thought had a clear shot on, and shot. They were about 200 yards away, but I had a good rest and everything. The doe I had intended to shoot took a step and face planted, took the top of her heart off. The doe behind her that I didn't see was hit in the liver, and took about an hour and a half to die while I was cutting the other antelope up. Called the warden on myself for killing an extra animal. Was able to gut it for him and he took it to a family on a list they have of families in need of meat. Also got a relatively small fine, but I was happy to pay it. It all worked out, but I was stupid for taking a shot and not knowing what was behind the intended target. Definitely a lesson in being patient and making sure of everything around the target and what could happen if you do it incorrectly.

 

[Willglaus09]

We have all released projectiles we wish we had back. Its all part of the sport, aids in learning, and keeps us coming back. Keep your head up and improve for the next encounter!

 

[Conroy]

Asked my ex to marry me

 

[22lr]

Asked my ex to marry me

I was waiting for that one to pop up! haha

 

[Northpark]

That first shot of jager! Haven’t been able to even smell the stuff since then.

On critters I’ve got a few arrows and bullets I wish I had back but the one that still bothers me is a buck I hit with my bow when I was 18. Gut shot and never found because he caught me draw and jumped about 10 feet and I panicked and just shot at him.

 

[roosiebull]

honestly, less "high horsers" than I expected in this thread still a couple, but i'm impressed. internet forums always have some flawless individuals who are immune to mistakes, and adrenaline makes them think more clearly... they were obviously born with such traits.

I have to get out of the house here pretty soon, so I won't have time to type the hunting mishaps I have had. looking back, I have been lucky at times that things worked out, and lucky at times that I cleanly missed.

every person I have ever met who has killed much game has a list of their own, usually a lengthy list if you get them talking, things aren't always perfect in the woods.... can be "in theory" to folks who have not killed a bunch of stuff.

I started archery hunting when I was 16, no mentors, no hunters in my family, just figuring things out as I went, and learning from my numerous mistakes early.... as one could imagine, I had LOTS of mishaps my first couple seasons.... like I said, too many to pick one.

looking back, one particularly comical hunt was opening day my second archery season, by 10am I was out of arrows and hadn't touched the hair of an elk.

I cherish those early memories, and the lessons learned along the way. I am still not immune to mistakes, and last year opened a new chapter of them.... I honestly felt like I went back in time 20 years re-learning the lessons I learned 20 years ago, it was my first season hunting with a stick bow.

the short of it is I missed 4 bulls inside 20yds (3 were inside 15) a couple were bad luck, a couple were whiffs from rushing shots. I broke my 15yr streak of killing a roosie with my bow every year, but wasn't for lack of effort or shot opportunities.... pretty frustrating in real time, but I have hopefully made the adjustments and continue to.

2020 is recurve redemption, but I will have a compound around just in case, haha. missing didn't bother me much, but the idea a miss is close to a poor shot did. I have been through this before, adapted and overcame, and that's still the plan.

mistakes happen, if you cannot accept that, hunting isn't your thing.... we can mitigate a lot of them with experience and mental awareness, but cannot stop them.

the mystery is a big part of the attraction to hunting.... to succeed in a scenario you had failed in before, it's all part of the addiction..... personally testing and bettering yourself.

if you started out perfect like some claim, what's the point? buy a damn cow and feed it all summer..... it's largely enjoyable because of the challenge, and the challenge isn't very challenging if you were perfect every time.

either some people haven't killed much, they are full of it, or have a terrible memory of their own downfalls and mishaps.

 

[22lr]

honestly, less "high horsers" than I expected in this thread still a couple, but i'm impressed. internet forums always have some flawless individuals who are immune to mistakes, and adrenaline makes them think more clearly... they were obviously born with such traits.

If I only had a dime for every bad judgement call I've made while out in the woods I might have enough money to buy one of those rifles that never misses.

 

[roosiebull]

If I only had a dime for every bad judgement call I've made while out in the woods I might have enough money to buy one of those rifles that never misses.

these discussions on the internet remind me of the verse that's something to the effect of "take the beam out of your eye and you will see clearly to take that splinter out of your brother's eye"

some don't have the ability to recall their own mishaps, but anyone who has killed some stuff had some moments along the way we wish we could have back, to do it again.

unfortunately on these platforms, people can sensor their experiences, to seem any way they want. this thread has been pretty good compared to some similar ones I have seen.

i want one of those rifles and one of those bows that don't miss

 

[NW307]

I was on my first deer hunt when I was 12 in nw MT. My dad worked for the natl forest we were hunting and had a pretty good idea where the deer would be. I was about as amped up as a 12 year old could get, plenty of target practice, hunter safety patch proudly sewn on my orange vest, read probably every hunting magazine at the barber shop, you name it. We got to dad's "secret spot" and sure enough there was a doe grazing about 75 yards away. I was so jacked up I could barely keep the deer in the scope let alone the crosshairs. I didn't even try to find a rest or go prone I just let the core lokt fly.

I hit her directly in the guts, we were close enough to see exactly what happened. My old man was starting to holler about shooting again or why I didn't take my time and set up and it was already at a dead run directly away. Beginners luck was strong with my that day and it tried to jump a downed tree and stumbled directly into an adjacent tree at full speed knocking it out cold or breaking its neck. I had enough time to get down there and shoot her at point blank behind the shoulder just like I had learned in hunters safety haha. Gutting that thing out was tough, I learned a lot that day.