Glory and Disfeat, mistakes to learn!

[alaskanwhtail]

I think it would be a good time to tell us what your biggest most worst hunting screw up on that throphy buck that offered the lethal shot is. Lets get a few pointers that can be shared and learned to educate us further in the deer woods.

Mine was when I was 14 and had a 145-150 class buck 35 yds away and thought it was to far away like 50 yds and did not shoot at it. I told my dad about the expeirance and he put me in the area ground blind This buck had circled a few does that were 10 yds away from me eating apples and this big boy stood up on his hind legs and raked his antlers for several seconds and then uranated in the scrape. My dad and I never whent back there to hunt him.
Mistake was that I never shot any thing over 15-20 yds with the bow at that age, if i was shooting league I would've been able to judge the yds with no hesitation. shooting league has helped me to become the consistent shooter that I am.

 

[5465]

mine was when i was about 16. it was the first year my dad let me hunt with a gun by myself. now i pry did know more about whitetails and hunting them then most 16 year olds due to the fact that i had been with my dad in the woods since the age of 4 and he taught me more then i thought my little brain could hold. anyways the one thing he always told me was that a "big one" could very easily be in the smallest little brush pile, even ones that don't look like it could hide a fawn, and they will let you walk right by them and never move as long as they think that you haven't detected them. of course at that age i always told him " there ain't no way if i am standing beside a brush pile that a big buck will just lay there until i pass, there too nervous in situations like that". well on that terrible terrible day, the first day of shotgun season in 1996, we had put together a drive that afternoon and i volunteered to be a driver. i had walked what seemed like a million miles , jumped up a few does and a couple good bucks. i had beaten every brush pile that I thought a "big one" would be in and left those little ones out, beside that was stupid right? well i had just passed thru a thick field and had decided to go back over all my steps in case i missed a brush pile, so i re-traced all my steps back to where i started my drive, which was stupid anyways because i would be driving deer the other way, anyways so when i got back to where i started i headed back toward my dad and uncle hoping that i would get a couple more up. at this point i needed a drink, and as i reached this thick field edge, i saw my dad on the other side and motioned to him how i was going to drive the field edge. well he kept pointin in my direction and puting his gun in the air, i thought by his motions he was saying hurry up and get to it i wann get a deer. well i walked right through it hitting every brush pile that i thought a big one would be in and had walked passed this small brush pile about 20 yards that didn't even look like it could hold a tackle box, i passed within 2 feet of it, in fact it was technically the 3rd time i had passed it, so i thought well no big ones here and i leaned my gun up against the tree to pull out my water bottle when i looked up and saw my dad motioning to turn around. when i did boy was i surprised, stand just 20 yards behind me and right beside that little tackle box size brush pile that i thought couldn't even come close to holding a deer was about a 160 class 9 pointer, where was my gun, leaning up against the tree. by the time i turned to grab my gun he had taken off in the other direction. after that incident i walked over to my dad and he said "told ya didn't i" he siad that he had spotted the buck as sson as he got to hi treestand with his binoculars and watched me walk right by it 3 times. then i said "so you were motioning for me to pay attention that there was a buck in front of me get ready to shoot". from that day forward i have hit every brush pile big and small. boy am i an idiot!

 

[SaskGuy]

I've screwd up on the same big one 2 yrs in a row, I know he's a high 180's typical as i found one iof his sheds this yr, 83" and he's likely close to 25" wide. Anyways both times it occured on the first day of muzzleloader season and both times I didn't expect him to show up where he did, in fact this past fall his arrival was almost exactly as it had been the first yr, maybe 20 yards west. To make a long story short I never ever took a shot at him though both times I snuck out under the cover of darkness while he fed on alfalfa. Both times I overestimated the distance on him by a bunch, 2 yrs ago I paced it out at 90 steps, this yr about 100. 2 yrs ago he showed up just before legal time ended so the fading light made him look farther away than he was, this year he came out a bit west and I had moved my blind a bit from the year before so I didn't feel comfortable even though I watched him through the scope for 10+ minutes. I didn't want to risk making a poor shot as I work every day and can't try find a deer in the a.m and where he came out of is thicker than the hair on a dog's back, I'm not sure I'd ever find him if he got back in there. I definately know where I'll be first day of Muzzleloader season this yr, same spot!!! Can you say rangefinder? I can, just can't afford one. I'll take the easy route this summer and put up marking tape at different yardages from the blind.

 

[Central Iowa]

About 10 years ago one beutifull early november morning I was setup in a inside corner of a field edge that funneled alot of activity inside the timber, and from a point from across the field. As I watched a doe emerge from the point looking behind her I readied myself knowing a buck was behind her. As she headed for me he came busting out on a dead run and chased her right to me. At 10 yards I was able to yell and stop him. I looked through the site seen brown and let an arrow fly. But, it was high and just missed him. They both ran into some thick cover about 50 yards away and then walked off. I sat there in disbleif. How could I of missed him he was right there at the end of my arrrow. I realized I never picked a spot and aimed. I just pointed, seen brown, and released. This buck would have been my best trophy yet. I have since learned to always relax and pick a spot, focus on that spot, and shoot that spot. I was caught up in the moment and didn't follow my routine. Today having the oppurtunity to fill mutiple doe tags has also helped prepare for these shots. Nothing beats the real deal for practicing for those rare trophy oppurtunities.

 

[OneCam]

I'm looking forward to my 17th year of trial and error

During the previous 16 seasons I have made every mistake in the book - some of those seasons were full of missed opportunities.

A number of years ago I had a double main beam buck at 25 yards - upon release my bottom bow limb slapped a branch and the arrow missed low - ouch.

That same year I had another great buck working toward me - as he approached I opted to wait for the "perfect shot" . . . well of coarse that never came and he walked on out of my life. I can still picture him at 20 yards broadside in an opening as I was waiting for him to make it to a better opening. This buck's sheds scored around 81" each as 5 points.

I've had plenty of events like these that have haunted me over the years yet in reality they are lesson's that hopefully will make me more successful in my pursuit.

 

[Shredder]

After being at this many years, I have had many lessons learned and tons of lost opportunities.

One of my better lessons learned for allowing me to hunt more years was the efficacy of saftey harnesses in preventing falls.....(I bet Fall Guy would agree...even Muddy has had a bout with gravity)

Tactic I use have come from the errors of the past from myself, friends and site members. Every year gives me new ideas on stand placement, paths to the stand, call usage, decoy usage, and scent usage. I hope I have at least another 21 years to chase these wary critters.....maybe even more years if I am lucky

 

[sureshot]

My biggest mistake ever came last bowhunting season. It was November 5th and the rut was on. I had many does cross by my stand at day break and i knew a buck would be following them. My friend, who was video taping said he saw a big buck moving my way. i could not see him from where i was at, but sure enough, he came. He was a nice 10-point, would score in the 150's, which would be my biggest buck i have ever had a chance at in my 4 year bowhunting career. Well anyways....while i was drawing he saw me and he stared right at me, i rushed the shot and i hit him right in the guts. I never did find him, and i realized how bad you feel when wounding a magnificent animal like that, and that patience is the key in nearly all situations.

 

[Liv4Rut]

Once you deer hunt long enough, every mistake you can possibly make has happened once or twice, ive gone through them all, the only thing good about a mistake is, you know what you got to do the next time. lets see ive screwed up, wind, stand placement, too high, too low, drawing back too soon, waiting too long to draw, waiting for the so called perfect shot, getting out of the stand too early, rattle and grunt too much, not hunt a tree with good cover, hunt out of a squeaky stand, have my second safety on my knight, shot a bent arrow once, not paying attention walking in the woods, wearing too much, trimming too much, hunting too small a tree, fogging up the scope, use too much scent, rush the shot, hold the bow too long, not a good entry/exit route, not going out with the attitude this could be the day and many many more. Whether it was buck or doe, I've screwed up many hunts when i was younger, but now after 11 years it all adds up and makes you go out there with a whole different attitude, and a different perspective on how to hunt whitetails

 

[Kat]

Not staying warm enough has cost me two huge bucks that I know about, and probably many more that I don’t. The first year that I bowhunted I set up in a new tree in the corner of a fence line where I had seen a mature buck with a split G2 cross the night before. I was wearing my cheapy 200 gr thinsulate boots (the only ones I had at the time) and the wind started picking up and it got cold. My feet were hurting so bad by sundown that I couldn’t stand it any longer. I turned around to climb out of the tree and who do you think was standing 30 yards away behind me, looking right at me??? The next day I bought warmer boots, but of course never saw that buck again.

The one I still kick myself about happened last November, the first really cold morning. The stand I was in didn’t have a bow holder. I had heater things in my handwarmer, but the only way I could put both hands in it was to sit down and lay my bow in my lap. Nice and toasty. Everything was great until the biggest buck I’ve ever seen was suddenly right in front of me. The ground was damp and I had been scanning the woods over my shoulder. So there he was right in front of me and I was stuck sitting down with my bow on my lap. I managed to slowly get my bow up and body turned while he was nosing around at 10 yards. I couldn’t draw as he was facing me, but then he turned broadside and started walking to my last opening. I started to draw and my seat squeaked a little and he didn’t even stop to look for the noise. He disappeared like magic into the nowhere that he came from. I’ve always made shots from that stand while standing up so that never happened to me before. If I would have had a bow holder so I could keep my hands warm, I would have been standing and he probably wouldn’t have caught me off guard. That won’t be happening again.

 

[bjkpharmd]

Kat,
We just had a post about this being a family site or else I'd have to remark on how to solve a squeaky seat.

Pharmer

 

[Limb Chicken]

Well, let's see which one do I want to bring back after putting it in my lessons learned and then forgotten about?

The first one and possibly the most humerous one is the first year that I was in a tree stand...I hated heights to begin with and didn't think there was any way I was going to be able to draw a bow while having both hands wrapped around a tree...Anyway what seemed like buckzilla appeared at fifteen yards about a week after I started hunting. Well after I somehow managed to stand up leaning against the tree while my legs were seemingly made out of jello, I drew my bow. I knew something didn't seem right because as I was looking through my peep it appeared as though my arrow was pointing way right of the target...well I let er fly much to my surprise the arrow sailed 25 feet to the right of the animal as it remained in the same place not bothered at all by the near miss of my projectile

. Well, ole Limb managed to get another arrow nocked and draw again this time I figured I should look through the peep with the correct eye and was thinking to myself, pick a spot...well I did and when the arrow bounced off the rack of this deer. He looked at me and I swear to God as my witness he shook his head looked at me and walked away thinking to himself...rookie.

Lesson learned...don't be an idiot and look through the peep with the wrong eye...Lesson learned 2 pick a spot...preferably in the kill zone of the animal!

Another happened to me three years ago...I had a couple of good bucks under my belt at the time and I decided to "let em walk" well my buddy Greenhead and I met up for lunch and he proceeded to tell me about this nasty big buck that crossed the fence and worked into a bedding area and never came out...well we made a plan and that night we sat in two different stands about 200 yards apart. It was go time and I heard the distinct noise of a deer crossing the false fence my stand was on, I looked and sure enough here came a nice buck down the fence. I thought to myself that can't be the big one. I will let him walk...well he got closer and closer and finally I decided he looked pretty good. So when he was broadside at 30 standing in the wide open I half heartedly drew my bow and decided I would settle...well I missed and I was kind of glad I didn't have to end my season until he walked up on the hill and started throwing his head around...Good Lord! I think he would have been my best to date had I hit him...Lesson learned...don't be an idiot and pass a 180 inch deer because you don't think it is the big one. Although it wasn't the big one, it was a close second!

 

[Kat]

Pharmer...

I should have known...

I’m sure that’s a whole other topic: foods you eat or avoid during deer season.

 

[ironwood]

Kat that topic has been covered in the passed as have others like removing body hair to improve scent controll. We should bring some of those oldies TTT. I believe the poster on the body hair thing then showed a trophy picture in the field with a hawaiian shirt on and full beard.