Sitting here this morning with my ar in 6.8spc.   Yesterday my son used it.

He turned the scope focus all the way in for some reason.

Big buck just jumped out at 65 yards running down the trail.

I pull up squeeze the trigger and nothing happens.  Stinking primer doesnt go off.

I reload and wing 3 at him running.  Maybe I scared him a bit but thats it.

Now I'm thinking why was it so foggy looking thru the scope.  Its a nice clear morning.  Thats when it hits me, the scope is way out of focus.

Comedy of errors this morning.

Now I'm sitting here with 1 bullet waiting on another deer.

You lost me at "wing 3 at him running".

Yeah, don't do that.

You have never shot at a deer that was running?

With all the dogs chasing them here in va. Thats about all we see this time of year.

I had shotgun hunted Iowa for 20 years, in the famous Alamakee county.  The first year it was legal I took Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag.  I was moderately proficient with it, but not really.  I had practiced a lot at 25 yards.  I had a huge whitetail walking straight towards me on a trail.  I had the gun braced on my knees.  I took the shot at 65 yards.  The buck ran over the next hill and my another guy in our party got him with a shotgun.  The deer scored 167.  I was very disgusted.

I am absolutely terrible at range estimation.  I was hunting some land I know well with my 12yo daughter.  We were at the bottom on an slope that went gently uphill dipped down, then continued uphill.  Saw a dandy buck at the uphill tree line, oblivious to us.  I estimated 350-400 yards.  Prone, with a good rest, calm, it was picture perfect.  I couldn't have asked for a better "long range" shot situation.  Took my shot and he donkey kicked and took off.

I was sure I hit him.

He stopped before disappearing into the woods and I kept telling my daughter any second he was gonna drop.  We watched him for 10 minutes before...well he just went back to grazing.

Took another shot with the same results, except this time he took off for good.

We grabbed our gear and started to hike up to look for blood.  When we crested the first small rise I instantly realized the problem.  What I had remembered as being a slight dip before the slope the deer was on actually had a 300yard wide field in it before the slop the deer was on.

What I had thought was at max was a 400yard shot was actually about 800 yards.

As I said I'm terrible at range estimation and my daughter still wont let me live it down.

About 10 years ago my son who was 12 at the time had a scoped win 94 30-30.  He was having trouble pulling back the hammer.  So the night before hunting season I fixed it.  Yep put a hammer extension on it so it was easy for him.

Next day he has a big doe at 10 yards.  Pulls trigger and nothing.   Guess I forgot to check the clearance on bottom of a scope.  It scrapped just enough to slow down the hammer.

I still hear about that one every year.

I've hunted Clayton and Allamakee counties for years. Never had a deer go more than 50yds after being hit with a 12Ga slug. Saw plenty of deer run for a long,long ways after a Muzzleloader or handgun hit.

At a full speed run? No.  I know where they are and where they're going, I'll get him next time.

Walking? Yes.

I even shoot moving targets at the range.  I can connect pretty regularly, but they don't move up and down and a hit on steel isn't the same as a vital zone on a deer.

“Running down the trail”.  Were you hoping for a Texas heart shot?

Shotguns are for hunting deer-driven dogs.  Rifles are for still hunting.

Why would deer drive dogs?

Got to be careful how we word things some folks are very anal about it.

Anyway, back to the stories.

My only "miss" story involved a learning experience with FAST, LIGHT bullets and brush.

Was hunting my 4th (and final) season with a 264 Win Mag.  Had a monster 12 point creep up through a runoff gully about 35 yards from me.
Stood perfect broadside behind a brush pile, with his head and neck clearly visible, could make out most of his body through the brush.
I slowly raised, aimed at the notch behind his shoulder, and fired. He didn't even flinch. I slowly cycled another round.... boom! He flicked his ears and just stared at me.
I was positive it was a good shot... waited another minute for him to fall... nothing...
He put his head down, I cycled another round..
He lifted his head, looked me dead in the eyes, then bolted back down the gully.

I gave it about 10 minutes, then slowly went over to where he stood and searched the ground.
Nada, no hair, no blood. Plenty of prints, could see where he spun around and his tracks down the gully.
Followed them 200 yards before losing them after he crossed a creek and onto an neighboring property.
Went back to the brush pile, found two cleanly "sheared" twigs.
Only thing I could figure is that little zinger vaporized on impact with the brush.

I know the gun was dead on, because 3 days later, I connected with a 350+ yard head shot on a doe across an open pasture field. And dropped 2 more in the next half hour.

Lesson learned is that high velocity light-weight rounds do not make good brush guns.

Switched to an 06 the following spring and never looked back.

I had a clear 75 yard shot at one of the biggest bucks I have ever seen on the hoof. Pulled up my Remington 7400 in .270 and squeezed the trigger. Deer takes off and I emptied the mag at him. Come to find out my wide open shot had one 1/2” vine in it between me and the deer, and of course I hit it causing my bullet to be deflected. It’s been over 20 years ago and I still think about it!!

This thread is a perfect example of why I hate other hunters more and more every year.

You don't "wing" shots at deer. For one, there's no way you can be sure of your target or what's behind it if you're winging shots at a running deer. Second, you run a really high risk of injuring the animal with no chance at recovery.

Also, brush guns refer to a weapon that is short and handy so you can use it in close cover. Bullet weight (within reason of course) doesn't matter. Brush affects projectiles.

I find it funny that people pass judgement on others with very limited info.

winging shots is an expression that we use to mean shooting at something.  Perhaps I should have worded that better.

I hunt from an elevated stand with sandbag rests.  My property is large enough to shoot safely in all directions.

My trails are 50-100 feet wide and mowed to about 4 inches in grass.  They are also several hundred yards long.

So yes I know exactly where all shots are going as well as any animal we shoot at.

Maybe we should not think the worse in people.  Possible even give them the benefit of the doubt.

Most hunters I know are good decent people who care about animals and safety.

In these parts it's also used to refer to a caliber suitable for threading a shot through tight openings, tall goldenrod, brush, etc.
Terrain in these parts is tricky.

And as to the tale above, the "brush pile" in question was the remains of a fallen hemlock.
Could see through it clearer than a tumbleweed.

Those fine twigs were enough to vaporize a 264 WinMag bullet, but would've been as good as non-existent to a 30-30 or an 06 180gr.
Deer was all of 5 feet behind it, deflection wouldn't have moved impact more than a fraction of an inch.

There is absolutely no way you can say what a bullet will do when it hits an obstacle. There are too many factors in play. The only safe option is to make sure you don't have an obstacle in the way to start with. Anything else is irresponsible.

What does "wing 3 at him running" sound like to you? That doesn't sound controlled to me. So you know exactly what's going on miles beyond your target at that precise moment? Even on large pieces of public ground, I'd say "winging 3 shots" at a running animal wouldn't give you any idea of where that bullet is probably going or what is in its path.

Ok pal...
Google some deflection videos...
Pretty sure Old Painless did a few here too.
You're entitled to your opinion though... and so are millions of other hunters.

Damn, a guy can't start a thread any more without a dozen experts nit picking every damn word he says and bitching about it.

If you weren't there and have nothing positive to contribute to the thread move on.

But they know better

Had one at 220yds.  Perfect shot, pond bank behind her as a backstop, nice big doe grazing and slowly waking.  I line up and put the 200yd hash mark behind her elbow, and I squeeze, and squeeze, and squeeze.  "Fuck"!  Safety is on.  Click that off, start over again.... bang.  She's standing there confused but alert.  I kinda freeze up because WTF?  I know this hash is bang on that range.  I know it.  By the time I decide to send a second one she's leaped back and is at a fast run to the fence line and over.  I go down and look for any sign of a hit and there's nothing.  Not a drip of blood I can find.

I'm so shook up about that shot that I setup a steel barrel at that spot with a shoot-n-see target.  Recreate the shot and I land 3 about 1" left and 1" south of the center point.  Only thing I can figure is that I picked the wrong hash in the heat of the moment and shot over her back.  Otherwise she's like the ghost guys in the Matrix series and bullets just go through her like air?  After that I decided to set it for 100yds and always dial for distance, not use hold-over or under and a 300yd zero.  Still can't picture how I missed that shot.

Had a good buck in my sights one year.  I decided to be super sniper and shoot him in the head,, to make it easier to clean him.  Yep, missed.  And, missed two more times as he hauled ass out of there.

Missed a nice buck this year because my range finder was fubar.

Sighted in with my new HALO XL450...all was fine.  Get out, set my stand, start ranging trees and the whole time I'm thinking "damn these trees sure look further away than x yards..."

Well sure enough something is fucked up with my ranger finder.  Ranges fine from the ground but it's "true range" feature is all sorts of wrong... ranged a tree at 25 yards from my stand.  Had a nice buck standing right next to it and shot it at 25...shot went WAY low and hit it in the outside front leg.  After all was said and done I ranged that tree from the base of the tree I was in.  38 yards...

Should have went with my gut when I first started ranging trees but there was a lot of elevation change in the area and a bunch of undergrowth that I thought was just throwing off my perception.

I have researched this for years. Old Painless isn't the God of gun info. There are tons of tests that show more deflection with lighter and faster bullets, more deflection with slower and heavier bullets, no difference, and no major impact. It's one of those things where it's really hard to say one way or the other or to test all of the conditions you might run into in the field. The only responsible choice is to try to eliminate/avoid the obstacles. You can't eliminate everything, but you can avoid the ones you know about.

Yup.
And you can "eliminate" grass/twigs as an "obstacle" (to a point) with a slower, heavier bullet.
Sorry if that offends your sensibilities.

FWIW: I hunt on private property, where there's all of 4 guys total on 700+ acres.
I know where everyone is, and what my backdrops are.
At no time was safety compromised by that shot into the light brush pile.... unless you think the bullet would "deflect" 90 degrees left and 30 degrees up, retain velocity, and travel over the next hill...

Attached File


I found this while cutting firewood last week.  Not mine, we've owned the land for 6 years, but the previous guy was a big buck only hunter so I'd love to hear the story.  I was going to cut the broadhead section out, but I think I'll just leave it.

My most memorable "miss" was a few years ago during late doe season.  I took a shot at a big fluffy doe, nothing, she trots off.  15 yards in front of me a 1" hickory sapling slooooooowly falls over, with a .224" hole through the middle.

If you posted how you wiped your ass in the morning, somebody would be posting a minute later, telling you how you are doing it all wrong.

The f'ing internet.

Can't we all just get along.

That Broad head picture reminds me of a long ago story.

I had a big doe walking down a trail in the woods.  I was in my climber stand with my bow.

( I checked the surrounding 10 mile radius and determined all the brush was clear and that it was safe to unleash an arrow).

I picked a spot about 15 yards from my tree to take the shot.  The doe just had to step out from behind a big oak.  I took careful aim and released the arrow.

Only to hit the one 2 inch diameter tree that could have possible been in the way.  Doe just casually looked at my and walked on down the trail.

This just goes to show you that even with checking the 10 mile radius, you can still overlook a 2 inch tree right in front of you.

I used to hunt with a guy that got pissed at me for passing up a shot at a buck.  It was only 30 yards away, but in some really thick brush, and I couldnt stop it in the one lane that existed.  He told me that I wasnt "hunting right" if I wasn't willing to just wound a deer..........

My most regretable miss?  I had just spent two days shooting out past 1000 yards.  So to say a little cockiness got in the way would be an understatement....... I spot a deer about 90-100 yards away in a field of knee high something or another.  Its head was down, but I was pretty sure it was a buck.  Didnt care either way, as it had a huge body, and I had a tag for a buck or doe.  I get the crosshairs on it and take the safety off.  It raises it head and exposes a rack that makes my brother exclaim "holy effing shit!".  I squeeze off the shot and lower the gun confident the deer doesnt realize it is dead yet.  I know see what had my brother so excited.  Sum bitch was enormous.....  When then watched as he bolted off, all the while I am thinking he is going to pile up any minute.  He stops at 200ish yards and looks around for a few minutes.  I watch him walk off onto private property.

Spent hours the next day looking for even a hair, and found nothing.....

Nothing that exciting but I missed a deer for the first time ever yesterday.  Perfect broadside shot at 305 yards with a borrowed .300 Rum rem 700.  Felt like a moron afterwards I'm Pretty sure I just didn't account for the howling wind and that just pushed my shot in front of the chest but we'll never know.

Haven't missed many with a gun in my 26 years of hunting.  Archery?  different story/sotries

1) New bowhunter and had to self teach as nobody in my family bowhunted.  Walking thru fields 30 minutes after sunrise on the way to my stand I spot a deer.  I got so worked up that I fired every arrow I had missing every shot, badly.  it just stood there like WTF is going on and then wandered off.  It must have been over 60 yards.  I spent the better part of the morning searching for arrows .

2) Watched a bowhunting video where the hunter was wearing some stretchy mesh head cover.  I thought it looked cool so I went to the store and bought one.  It was the kind you put on your head, pull the mesh away from your eye and cut it.  I never did practice with it on.  Went out to the stand and had a nice 8 point come in.  Chip shot at 20 yards broadside.  When I came to full draw and found my anchor point I realized I could not see thru the fabric that bridged over my nose.  Took the shot anyway (like an idiot) and gave the buck a nice scar on the top of his back.  Threw out that head cover that night.  Always, always, always practice with all of your hunting gear on at least a couple times a year.

3) About the same time as the 1st story I was in a wooden tree stand that I nailed into a tree.  Didn't know how to judge distance from an elevated position yet and was only shooting a 35 lb Darton compound.  A doe walked in to what I thought was 25 yards.  Nope.  35 yards.  Took me quite a while to dig that arrow/broadhead out of the tree she was standing in front of .

4) 13 years old and in the U.P. with my Dad, Uncles, and Grandpa for the 1st time.  14 was the minimum age for firearms so I took my bow.  Still didn't know much about bowhunting gear so when I walked into the sports shop/bait shop up North the guy asked me what kind of broadheads I was using.  I said "about 4 different kinds".  He looked at me and then my Dad and said "son, you need to have all the same."  He handed me a pack of Savora 5 blades that were something crazy like 145 grain.  Did I shoot one to see if it shot well with my current zero??? Nope.  next morning Dad and I are sitting about 30 yards apart on a ridge facing opposite directions.  He's sleeping with his 30/06 across his lap.  8 point buck follows a doe up the ridge just yards behind my Dad.  I couldn't wake him without spooking them so I took the shot.  Smoked a big dead log under the bucks armpit.  Paced it off at 20 yards and had used my 20 yard pin.  Yeah, a little bit of a difference between a 100 grain and a 145 grain in that slow-assed bow.  The deer pretty much jumped over my Dad but he was so spooked he never got a shot .

I think thats enough humiliation for now.  Great thread OP.

The fact that you missed 3 times is the reason you should not shoot at a running deer.

Who cares how steady your "rest" is.   You are not competent by your own admission at hitting a running animal.   You are simply firing at it, and hoping you get lucky.  If your scope is fogged or other issues prevent you from getting a clear, sure, shot, the ethical thing to do is not shoot.

I see 2 or 3 deer every year hobbling around after gun season with a leg blown off, or other wounds on the extremities, likely due to people "winging shots" at them as they are running. They would show no blood trail, but will end up dying a slow painful death.

This is the reason I have trained my kids using muzzleloaders or a single shot rifle, to deer hunt with during gun season.  I tell them they have 1 shot, and to make it count.  They have let many running deer go for that reason.

It doesn't take an expert to know there are certain things you should do or not do,  or shots you should, or should not take.

As hunters,  sometimes people need to be called out for something unethical that occurred.  We are our own worst enemies.   By approving of  one "winging 3 shots" at a running dear, or at least not discouraging it,  a hunter will likely feel justified to do it again, with similar results, and more wounded deer.
So those that disagree with the OPs story,  are trying to share something positive,  for all hunters to learn from.

I totally missed one with a 300BLK AR that was about 4 yards away. Didn't even touch him as far as we could tell later.

He'd stopped right under the tree, facing directly away from me, as I aimed for the base of his neck and fired.

The problem was 20+mph winds whipping me around in the top of a pine tree like a pinata.  

This is more of a hit and miss story:

A couple of years ago my hunting buddy invited me out for gun season.  We woke up early and went and sat in an elevated blind that was supposedly exactly 100 yards from a corn feeder.  After a couple of hours I saw a massive 6 point walking in from behind the feeder.  He stopped right under the feeder.  My buddy had a .308 and I had a .357, so he lined up for the shot.  The buck was facing to our left (his left side facing us).  He didn't jump, kick, or even look spooked.  He just turned and started walking for the tree line about 40 yards to our right.  His right side was quartering towards us as he walked.  My friend racked in another round and took aim.  *Bang!* Nothing, deer just kept walking.  Friend gets another round in the chamber and fires again.  This time the buck took off running into the trees.  Neither of us saw a hit so we decided to wait before going to look for him.

While we were waiting 3 does came to the feeder.  Again, my friend lines up his sights on one and fires.  All 3 does scattered and the one he shot at went for the same spot in the trees as the buck did.  She stopped 10 yards short of the treeline and we didn't see anything that looked like a hit, so he shot again.  This time she jumped, kicked, and ran into the trees.

We were certain that was a solid hit at 40 yards with a .308 so we didn't wait long to get out of the stand and go look for her.  30 minutes of searching and we switched from trying to find the non-existent blood trail to a grid pattern.  We were 20 yards apart doing our search and I hear him whistle.  He had a shit-eating grin so I walk over to see that buck at his feet.  Entrance hole on the left side, so he hit him on the first shot.  Perfect double lung.  Remember, he didn't kick or even look spooked.  I decided to knock my buddy's grin off his face by reminding him that he still missed the next two shots.  As we were dragging him out we stumbled across the doe lying in a small ravine.  His grin came back.

5 shots, 2 hits, and I still give him shit every time he brings up the day he shot two deer in one sit.

A couple of years ago I was sitting in my ground blind when an 8 pt buck with wide rack approached.  I raised my Ruger 77/44 bolt action rifle into position.  The buck stopped, turned sideways to me, and presented me with a clear broadside shot from less than 40 yards away.  Easy shot if there ever was one.  I put the crosshairs on the magic spot right behind the shoulder, and with the rifle resting solidly on the sill of the blind window, slowly squeezed the trigger.  CLICK.  WTF????  The buck heard that click and bolted into a sprint that must have took him into the next county.  He ran and ran and ran like he had boundless energy.

After the shock of what happened wore off, I discovered the bolt had not been fully closed.  It was maybe less than an eighth of a inch from being closed and that was enough to cause a light primer strike.  Figured on my way into to the blind I brushed against a tree and moved the bolt ever so slightly.  Now I religiously check the bolt to assure it is tight against the stock.

There is a happy ending though.  About an hour after the miss another big 8 point wandered in.  This time the bolt was closed all the way and the buck took a round through the heart.

I was walking back from my stand about 11 am on opening day of shotgun.  I was still hunting my way back as I was the farthest one out.  I saw a 6 pointer walking along the levee about 30 feet below me and 60 yds away.  He was head on to me.  This was my first time shotgun hunting in several years, I had been exclusively bowhunting the last 5 or so seasons.  I was thinking like a bowhunter and waiting for him to close the distance and turn broadside.  Then I remembered I had a gun and took a shot right before he disappeared.  Seconds later, he popped out above me on the trail to check me out.  I almost shot but didn't because he was skylined and he took off.  I checked all around for blood and found none.

That was when the wire of the reticle broke on my Pentax scope.  That evening I shot a doe offhand at 130 yds standing on the ladder of a tree stand with a broken reticle.  Still have no idea how I missed that buck, I was a NRA high-power expert classification at the time.

I don't miss often but had a strange one last year. I was hunting deer with a custom built 7mm Remington Ultra Mag. Handloads that were sub moa. A doe walked out at 225 yards and stood broadside. I had a solid rest and didn't rush the shot. The deer just jumped a couple times at the shot then stopped to look around. A few minutes later it walked out of the field completely untouched. I didn't shoot at it again. I figured it made it through the first attempt it deserved to live. I checked the area just to be sure and no hair or blood was found. I went later that day and checked my rifle and it was still dead on at 200. I'm still unsure what happened. The next couple I shot at were both dead in their tracks.

Somebody apparently missed this nice little 8 pt and a small spike.  My dogs found what remained and brought it back to my front porch.  It's missing again, which means they drug it off somewhere else where the other can't find it.  

My 1st year deer hunting, I was 14.  My grandmother had just given me my grandfathers 336 in .35 Rem.

Everyone told me if I see a doe, let her keep walking, a buck will likely be following.

Well, it happened just like I'd been told.  I let a doe walk by at about 80 yards, and a couple minutes later a 10 pt buck followed.

I pulled up the rifle, shaking so bad I didn't dare shoot.  

Lowered the gun, took a deep breath, pulled up and let a shot fly!!  The buck took off like a bat out of hell over a hill, and I heard 5-6 shots.

An hour or so later, a couple guys came over the hill, and told me they'd both missed him, too.  

.

So, here I am, 53, and have killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 deer, but still haven't gotten 1 with my grandfathers rifle.  

We have a late firearm season, for does only, starting on Monday.  So, maybe...  

Several years ago, I came out of the woods without having shot anything.

Asked my step-mother if she wanted to shoot my crossbow to unload it.

I set her up on the railing on my back porch, pointed to the target 20 yards away, and she bullseyed a poplar 5 yards in front of her.  

A couple years later, we cut that tree down, and saved an 8" slab for her, with the bolt still in it.  She has it displayed proudly on their lanai in FL.  

Hunted for elk out in Colorado. My Leupold has a CDS dial on it. Bouncing thru the mountains I look at it one day and realize it's almost a half turn off. Turn it back to zero pretty sure I'm not a full turn off. Rookie mistake and didn't check how many turns I was from maxed out in either direction. Get back to Michigan and firearm opener is that week. Opening night nice doe comes out. Wait for a perfect broadside shot at 70 yards. Pull the trigger and she runs off, down into the swamp slowing down as she passes my buddies stand. Look all over for indication of a hit. Nothing. Shoot the next day at the range, yup 1ft high at 100 yards. Sailed it right over her. Dialed the scope down one full turn and it's right back to where it was. Lesson learned, just glad it wasn't a big buck or bull.

The one miss that haunts me to this day is the largest Mule deer buck i've ever seen.  He was approx. 250-300yds from me sunning himself at the edge of some dark timber.  I wasn't in a position where I could get any closer but I felt confident with the shot.  I had my 25-06 and have made several hits on prairie dogs and coyote at 500yds+. I steady myself on my pack and took my time.  The deer wasn't moving as it had been storming the past few days and this particular day the sun was out and the deer were active.  I squeezed the trigger and the deer bolted at the shot.  I went over to the spot where I had seen him and found no blood or any sign that I had hit him.  I looked around for tracks but the trail went cold quickly.  I hiked back to camp and set up a target and found that my scope crapped out on me.  Was way left and low and the adjustment knobs did nothing when I adjusted them.  
This taught me to buy the best equipment I could afford.  The scope I had was a Tasco that was supposed to be one of their better models.  Well it was a cheap turd like the rest of their products.

Never missed one with a rifle, standing still or running.

I did miss an easy shot one morning with a bow.

Practiced my ass off, got pretty good.  Put the broadheads on the shafts and headed out to the range we had out back.  Brother-in-law asked what I was doing.  I told him I wanted to see where the broadheads would hit and make adjustments to the sight pins.

He says, "That's a waste of time.  The target tips and broadheads hit the same point of aim.  Hell, he had the same Bear Kodiak Magnum I'd bought and we'd bought the same big heavy Bear aluminum arrows.  I took his word for it.

A few mornings after that a nice 6 point walks up a trail that the trail I was sitting on dead ended into.  The buck stopped, broadside to me about 25 yds. away.  He looked my way, turned to look back down the path behind him and I drew back, he turned to look up the trail where he was headed and I let fly.  The arrow hit the ground under him and he jumped about 5 ft. straight up and came down and looked at me like, "Now why in the hell did you have to go and do that?"  Then we took off as I was trying to get another arrow ready.  I went over and dug my arrow out of the leaves and headed up to the old KLT 200 for the ride home so I could sight my bow in.

And that was the last time I paid attention to what he said.

I had a buck walk directly under my stand one time bowhunting.  I mean he was straight underneath me. I could have spit on his head.  I was in a climber and at the time had one of those pendulum sight pins.  I leaned way out over the platform (I was belted in, drew and the sight "bottomed out")  Actually sighted down the shaft at his mid neck and touched the release.  The arrow missed his neck by a 1/4 inch and stuck into the ground about 2 feet with just the fletching wobbling.  He snorted and stomped the shit out of the arrow.  As I was pulling another from the quiver I "tinged" the riser with the arrow.  He looked straight up at me and was like WTF is that.  Never got the 2nd shot off.

Missed a big six point at 16 yards on a trail bow hunting. I grunted him in. At first he came from behind me then went into the thick brush to my immediate right. He was walking right to me. When he got back out onto the trail he turned broadside. I sent my arrow and a small tree branch that I didn’t see deflected it, I completely missed the buck. He ran for a lil ways, stopped looked back at me, and then he was gone.

When I shot my bull elk out in Wyoming years ago. He was down in a canyon with about 15 in a heard. He was laying down about 250 yards. I had to lay down and kinda hang off the side of the cliff to get a shot. When he stood up I took a shot and he kinda shook his head and just stood there. The guide was like "you hit him, put another into him". I shot again and it dropped. We hiked down and the bull picked it's head up and looked at us when we got close. I put another round into his neck and he went limp. When I got up to him I noticed a chip out of one of his antlers. My first shot somehow was way off and I clipped his antler. It must have rung his bell enough that he was disoriented and just stood there for another shot. Everything ended up working out and I was 1 of 7 that got his bull. I was happy despite my wild first shot.

Had been seeing one particular buck for several years.  Always nocturnal, only on the property between Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Lived the rest of the year somewhere else.  Didn't have long tines, but had tons of them.  Main beams looked like alligator jaws.  Something like 9 tines per side.  Scored in the 170-180 inch range.

Was bowhunting from the ground on Thanksgiving Day and he came walking down the hedgerow, 10 AM, from downwind.  I know he smelled me but he was so rutted up, he didnt care.  Only time I ever saw him in daylight.

 I had a hand me down bow that was too small for me and when I drew, I could feel the broadhead touching my glove.  I let off, adjusted my grip, and drew again.

Seven yards, eye level, arrow flew, about 3 inches in front of his brisket.  He ran out about 60 yards into the pasture, stuck his tongue out at me, and that was the last time I ever saw him.

When I drew the second time, I didnt look thru the peep sight.  Looked past it and the arrow went right where I was "aiming".  I literally got sick to my stomach for such a stupid mistake.  Still get sick thinking about it.

Shotgun season in Indiana and went out for the afternoon in a light rain that had been going all day. I was not in my normal stand as I had seen a huge 14 pt'r laying up near there so I decided to try a seldom used stand on my neighbors property that was inline with the trail this deer had been running on. I had been hunting this guy for a week at least and I was not overly confident in the location of the stand and with the weather.

As I made my way across an open area to the stand I heard the high weeds off to my left crunch as I saw the 14 pt'r get up and roll away from me. I took aim as he bolted for heavy cover through an old hedge row/fence row. I aimed and held as all I could see was his massive rack crashing through the hedges. Never saw him again and often think that I should have shot anyway.