Well we always tell on here of our successes,and a few tell almost stories well I got a I blew it twice story.Been doing a little hunting in and around other things and had patterned a descent buck.Waited,waited,and waited some more and get up to head out because it's dark enough I can't see my sights and walk up on him getting ready to come out.Sat one day he came out behind me,caught me standing up.Another day I finally got a chance to get off a shot and I think it went between his horns.Go figure.It's funny to me shooting 3"squares and that barrel,and sights seems rock solid,make it brown,add horns,and the end of that barrel looks like a ball in a pinball game.Take away the horns,and it's just like paper.For what it's worth on the land I hunt 16"is the minimum.Any ideas how to fix this problem?

don't feel bad, we don't see many deer here on the coast and I had broadside shot at a doe at about 50yds uphill and I shot over her back.

we all miss it is part of hunting.

It could have been worse you could have shot him and couldn't find him.

calm down, take a few deep breaths, and if you are not steady, either wait until you are or pass up the shot. a swing and a miss sucks, but not as much as a bad shot! If you can place the shot where it needs to be on paper, then it is all in your head and only YOU can get that right! You work hard to get yourself in the possition to take a game animal, and at the moment of truth, it's exciting and there is a lot of pressure. It all causes the shakes ...

When it has antlers lob a hand grenade.

Really, just try and take the emphisis off the antlers and let you muscle reflexes form all the practice take over.

Once shootable game is identified, my shooting habits kick into gear and I concentrate on nothing except the critical factors needed to make sure the POI matches the POA.

Getting into LR shooting has greatly improved my "short" game. Taking game at 300yd is nothing anymore...not bragging by any means, just stating that quality LR shooting practice hones the skills and makes shorter shooting easier. I'm also not saying that is your cure...building shooting skills to the point of them being a reflex is the ultimate goal.

When I shot on the 3D archery tournament circuit I regularly practiced out to 100yds eventhough the max distance in competition was only 50yds.

"When it has antlers lob a hand grenade. :)" Tigger



Great answer Tigger.

All the others are good also. Experience, experience, experience; plus a lot of mistakes in between, equals a seasoned hunter who will STILL blow it from time to time.

No worries here. Coyotes do that for me, I've killed hundreds and they still get my heart rate up and adrenalin going so bad that I can easily blow it!

One thing thats helped over the years is to cut the pages from the hunt mags with photos of the game you intend to hunt and tape to the wall in your room. Load your handgun with some snap caps and sight in on the vital area and slowly squeeze the trigger.I believe this has helped me over the years to zero in on the animal I`am hunting and make a good shot. Good luck...

Been hunting over 50yrs and still miss on occassion. It happens, and it's usually the 'give me' shots. AS Greg stated, adrenalin and heart beat kick in and it happens. I'm glad it does!

To me missing is part of the fun. The "work" begins after you hit the animal!

We all miss pick your self up and u will get another shot. and u will be more ready then ever.

I had an interesting miss Sunday morning. It was a 60 yard quartering forward shot on a 3 year old spike. I set the cross hair right in the sweet spot to crash diagonally through his chest cavity and just as I pulled the trigger the little rascal swung his head back to scratch his rump with the longer of two spikes. I pulled the shot. I knew it was a bad one, and as I looked towards the deer expecting to see him flag and run, I saw him go down like he had been struck by lightning. Well I hopped out of my blind and walked over to see what had happened. When he had swung his head back to scratch I pulled high and right. The path of the bullet was higher than his back, and just happened to catch him directly under the chin exiting the base of the skull.

Every shot at an animal is different. No amount of experience can count for that. You do what you can to quickly dispatch your quarry, but I am firmly convinced that despite what most hunters claim, there are easily as many accidental hits as misses.

You do realize the internet is full of experts...........but when it comes to missing, I'm on top of the game. Sometimes I even amaze myself! It's going to happen, sooner or later. Don't lose sleep over it (even though I have) and get yourself prepared for the next opportunity. good luck

It must be the bullets that guy in lower LA loaded!!

That's why they call it hunting?
Steve

I do the same thing and I have very little problems with deer anymore but elk screw with me something fierce. I know my issue goes to the issue of not enough field time this year and I can tell a difference from when I was in the high desert and was shooting just about every weekend and now where I'm lucky if the weather cooperates enough to shoot once a month not to mention my medical stuff. The key is more rounds down range = better shooting in the field but shooting from field positions is important. The buck fever thing like I said I'm with james on the one method but the rest will come with time and the more bucks you dump the easier it becomes to control ones self at least until after the shot. I know another thing I've done is if it is a situation where I have to wait to pull the trigger or release the arrow is I just focus on the point I want to hit and I quit looking at the antlers. The one and only shot I had this year I just blew it and I new it as soon as the gun went off and that is going to happen to everyone sooner or later no matter how good of a shot you are

I was hunting with a buddy this weekend. He has years of hunting. Im standing under his tree. Sure enough a 12 pointer walks out 50 yds he had to look at it for about 5 min counting points. It walk out look at me put its head behind a tree. My buddy pulled the trigger and killed the tree. Needless to say he had a long ride home.