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Blew the hunt of a lifetime

dblmainbeam

Member
Saturday morning headed for the stand early. The wind was blowing 6000 mph. So after about ten seconds with full camo and knowing I was heading for a tree with no wind protection I decided to wuss out. I decided to just go out driving looking for some action.
After about an hour of driving I had only seen 2 bucks chasing does around and was headed for home. I passed a new public hunting area that was in crp for as long I could remember and they mowed it this fall. Out in the middle there are 3 small ridges of hardwood. I turned around to glass them for the heck of it. I saw 4 deer and one was a buck. He looked pretty good but I had know idea how good because the wind was blowing so hard even with my window mount I couldn't zoom it in. All I knew was he was a good one.


I watched him bed down eyed the tree he was by and decided what the heck it was a north facing ridge with a strong north wind. Its a half mile section so I parked in a low spot and headed out.

It was great. Fresh new snow,quiet ground, and the wind in my face. I was within about 40 yards of the ridge line when a doe comes running and stops 20 yards east of me blows and runs. I figure my stalk is wasted. I headed for the spot anyway. I peek over the ridge only to see a set of antlers moving around in the weeds. I think to myself OMG!!!!!!! hES WAY BIGGER THEN I THOUGHT yOUR GOING TO THE TAXIDERMIST TOMMORROW ,WHOS GOING TO HELP ME DRAG HIM OUT. Hes only ten yards away. I knelt down, hooked up my release, took a deep breath, and the stood up and pulled back at the same time. When I was at full draw, there he was perfectly broadside with his head down but there was some tall grass covering his vitals. So of instead of taking the shot I take a step sideways not realizing one of the does is staring at me. She blew and he was like a rocket ship long gone. I could have easily flung a wild running shot but didn't.

For the last 2 and a half days I keep picturing his vitals with those few blades of grass in front. I keep asking my self should have I made the shot instead of trying for the better angle. I don't know. At ten yards is grass going to affect your shot? By the way He was a hawg!! Way bigger then anything I got on the wall. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cry.gif
 
Can't say I have ever tried that shot. What I will say is I think you would be feeling WORSE if you would have released and had bad results (i.e. wounded and unrecovered HAWG) knowing that a buck of that calibur had possibly been wasted. It's early in the season and you may get rewarded yet for your sportsmanship and self-discipline. Good luck and go back and find him. He is there somewhere.
 
Tough call but I agree you made the right choice.
If the grass was almost touching him I think it would've been ok but I think even a few feet in front of him it would have deflected the arrow enough to make things worse.
 
GOt some good season left, and sounds like it was an awesome encouter.

As far as taking or not taking the shot. If you could see his vitals through a "few" blades of brass, at ten yards I probably would have shot. But if you could just see his back and knew that his vitals were just below but couldn't see them, it probably would have been a unsafe shot........yet very hard to pass.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BWJ</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Can't say I have ever tried that shot. What I will say is I think you would be feeling WORSE if you would have released and had bad results (i.e. wounded and unrecovered HAWG) knowing that a buck of that calibur had possibly been wasted. It's early in the season and you may get rewarded yet for your sportsmanship and self-discipline. Good luck and go back and find him. He is there somewhere.</div></div>

Trust me.. You will be glad that you didn't take a possible wounding shot.. It sucks!
 
Doesnt sound like YOU blew the hunt. Sounds like the doe blew your hunt for you.

Sounds like a great hunt there, even throuh it was a bust.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Iowabowhunter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">GOt some good season left, and sounds like it was an awesome encouter.

As far as taking or not taking the shot. If you could see his vitals through a "few" blades of brass, at ten yards I probably would have shot. But if you could just see his back and knew that his vitals were just below but couldn't see them, it probably would have been a unsafe shot........yet very hard to pass.
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I agree with IBH, it all depends on how much/how thick grass. But in the end, doesn't really matter. What matters is it's a hunt you will not soon forget, either for the fun /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif or frustration /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cry.gif
That is why we do what we do /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
 
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