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Moment of Truth...

turtlshell

turtlshell

PMA Member
...and i CHOKED:(

Found a big buck Friday afternoon in a field with a doe and a smaller buck. Watched them lay down in a fence line and it was time to put the sneak on.

Sneak was easy. Got to around 30yds and got in position to shoot. Broke open my bow and started to stand. Got all fixed up and tried to snort him to stand. He wouldn't get up. Hell he barely bothered to notice i was even there. A few more yells, stomps and "HEYs" and I had to let down.

I regrouped and started the process over again. I had readjusted my position a few feet, which gave me a better sight angle. Broke my bow open and started to stand about the same time the smaller buck was coming to investigate. He alerted, which got the big boy to start to stand. I start moving my bow into the kill zone. Got my 30yd pin settled in behind his shoulder and let arrow rip...RIGHT OVER HIS BACK.

Turns out the tree he was under that I had hit with the range finder was 30yds, but he wasn't directly under the tree...therefore he was more like 22yds. Add that in with the nerves and I probably had my 30yd pin a bit high (in hindsight) and all I got was a good show of him running out of my life to live another day...and lost $25 worth of arrow&broadhead.

He was the biggest buck I've shot at with my bow and the first mature buck I've seen this season.

My vacation is over for now, but I'll be using some more. Going to use three days of vacation before Thanksgiving to get another 9day hunt.
 
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While that really sucks, I think there are a couple positives you can take away from this.
1) You got to see a mature buck
2) You put the sneak on a mature buck and got within 22 yards of him. Not an easy task by any means and there are only a handful of hunters who can say they've ever done that
3) You missed clean and you don't have a wounded deer that you can't find
4) I'm sure you have learned something from this experience that you'll carry with you for the rest of your life and will make you a better hunter
5) You still have an unfilled buck tag in your pocket and there is still plenty of season left

It'll be OK....get back out there & go get 'em!
Good luck & looking forward to reading a harvest report from you at some point!
 
IowaDave said:
While that really sucks, I think there are a couple positives you can take away from this.
1) You got to see a mature buck
2) You put the sneak on a mature buck and got within 22 yards of him. Not an easy task by any means and there are only a handful of hunters who can say they've ever done that
3) You missed clean and you don't have a wounded deer that you can't find
4) I'm sure you have learned something from this experience that you'll carry with you for the rest of your life and will make you a better hunter
5) You still have an unfilled buck tag in your pocket and there is still plenty of season left

It'll be OK....get back out there & go get 'em!
Good luck & looking forward to reading a harvest report from you at some point!
Click to expand...

I agree on all points. I DO feel fortunate to have even seen a buck that size where I hunt and to get so close. Trust me, he looked amazingly larger at 22yds than he did through the binocs. I'm guessing a buck in the 300lb on the hoof range.

I'm especially happy that it was a clean miss. I've been down the road of hit deer with no retrieval...NOT what bow hunting is about.
Thanks for the encouraging words. I hope I can post a successful hunt for your vicarious-ness...I'll do my best. After thanksgiving I'll be satisfied with a doe, but until I'm after a mature buck.
 
One of my lifetime goals is to put a stalk on a bedded buck like that. Not all was lost, just stalking in that close to a whitetail is for sure a difficult task.
 
The stalk has to be awesome. I know how much my heart races every time I have something walk under my stand, I can't imagine the rush is would be to initiate a sneak attack on foot.

It may be a bummer now but it is definitely something you will learn from and remember for a long long time
 
My first year ever archery hunting deer out here, I put a stalk on a bedded buck, had to duck walk/crawl through a grass clearing in the woods and got busted at 40 yards. What a rush, though. Last year (2009), I got in the middle of a group of 4 does and 2 muley bucks (the only deer I saw all season). My frist attempt had a blocked lane and, on let down, I managed to hit the trigger on my release shooting the ground 10 feet in front of me. That got their attention! I found the rear 1/4 of my arrow, looked up and saw the group still moving. I continued the stalk/intercept and got to what I thought was 50 yards. With all 6 pairs of eyes all ready looking my direction, I couldn't get my rangefinder out so I went with that best guess. My first shot ever at a deer resulted in a clean miss and 6 spooked dear later, I was out 2 arrows and 2 broadheads. All I could do was smile, laugh, and take in the rush. While trying to find my arrow, I discovered that the buck I was aiming for was 70 yards, so I shot way in front. You are far from alone and putting a stalk like that is unnerving enough, let alone getting everything to line up perfectly. Good to hear you have a positive attitude about the whole thing. Come on down for some more good spot/stalk/still hunting anytime! As IowaDave said, go back out there and make it happen!
 
Cool experiance whether you got the deer or not, you'll always have the memory of the stalk. Maybe next time you will get the deer too. Good luck.
 
Several years back when my father was still able to hunt we spotted a nice buck lying in a picked cornfield about a half mile away from the road. We decided we could get to him if we used the wind to our advantage and the terraces as our cover. The wind was blowing about 20 mph and there was a small amount of snow on the ground. The stalk took over and hour and in the end I was able to shoot him, still lying in the same position as when we first saw him, from only 7 yards! My dad to this day still talks about that hunt as if it were the best hunt of his life!
 
I just reread your post and I think there is a perception error on your part, Turtleshell (respectfully, of course). I don't think you choked. I think you made an error in judgement that was affected by all kinds of factors (adrenaline, depth perception of tree vs. buck, tunnel vision, buck fever, etc.) that were out of your control. I think you made a very solid decision (range) based on all of the information you had in front of you. Maybe if you had slowed down and studied the situation a little more, you might have realized the distance difference between the tree and the buck, but maybe not. I think there is a HUGE distinction between choking and missing based on inaccurate data that was beyond your control. JMHO, for whatever its worth.
 
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