Many things sting in life, and some negative events stick with you for a long time. For any hunter, missed shots and unrecovered wounded deer can lead to regret, even for a lifetime. Why? It’s largely because, unfortunately, those whiffs are just as memorable as the well-executed double lung shots made on a good buck, bull, or other big game animal. It’s troubling enough when it involves a doe or a particularly unimpressive scrub buck.
It was November 1974. My dad had situated me in a mediocre-at-best ground blind that was nothing more than a pile of dead limbs and a seat cushion. Like many of my early hunts, I felt not only excitement but also pride for being able to hunt with a rifle on my own. Unfortunately, the hunt would end with a wild shot from my granddad’s old 30-30 with a side-mounted scope.
Like any good hunter, I’ve blamed the gun for that initial miss ever since…
The kicker was that I cleanly missed only a doe from 70 yards. It was a huge disappointment, as seeing any deer on the family farm was a big deal in those days. Like some of the misses in my hunting career, I came away wondering if I even managed to aim. I would lose sleep for days, and obviously, it still enters my thoughts from time to time today.
I would go on to take up bowhunting, and there have admittedly been a few more airballs in the deer woods I’ve hunted. One thing is certain: errant shots come with consequences, emotions, and often tiring work. Let’s dig a little deeper.
The Clean Miss
“How the heck did I miss that shot”? It’s bewildering to know our bullet or arrow completely missed its mark. On many such occasions, the seconds following a miss are often ultimately marked by questions like, Did I even aim? I know that with a bow, I’ve wondered if I even lined up my shot through the peep sight, in my haste. Indeed, self-doubt takes over the space between your ears. It’s palpable. Luckily, the more time passes after the shot, the more acceptance enters my brain. It’s a sour kind of acceptance, but like my grandfather once told me, “The best miss is a clean miss”. Here, the wayward path of a bullet or arrow can be met with the comforting notion that at least I didn’t wound the animal. It still ain’t fun.
Searching for wounded (or missed) deer brings on a variety of emotions, mostly not good ones.
When the Stakes are Higher
When a hunter makes a poor shot on a deer and wounds them, a lot of things are in play. A clean miss is hard to swallow, but making a poor shot that either grazes the flesh or misses any vitals is an extra emotional experience.
Let’s be honest; wounding a particularly nice whitetail or other game animal throws gas on the emotional fire.
Almost every such occasion requires an exhaustive search, following a blood trail far into dense cover and unforgiving terrain. While we hate tainting the meat and wounding an animal, let’s face it: the bigger the antlers, the more it is about doing everything you can find it and ultimately putting it on your wall. I mean, you’ve already chosen the location in your house!
When we miss the better specimens, every hour after the shot is extra sickening.
Excuses and Wounded Egos
I’ve always gotten a kick out of tennis players who, after a bad shot, automatically stare deep into the soul of their high-dollar, pricey racquet as if to say, man, you just made a terrible shot! Indeed, just like a racquet or baseball glove, our bow, rifle, or convenient surroundings become our lackey; our scapegoat. “My arrow grazed a limb”. “He jumped my string”. There is a plethora of excuses hunters make for those errant shots, whether the arrow hits only air or simply misses any vital organs. Why do we do that? I’m certain it has much to do with the missed opportunity at tasty venison, right? How about the missed opportunity at a mature target buck – maybe your best chance to date at a real stud? Sometimes, yes.
But what’s really going on here? If you’re anything like me, my identity as a hunter and ego took on some unfriendly fire at the hands of a wayward bullet or broadhead. While I’ll never minimize the amount of work and time that typically go into that moment, I still pray for perspective, and I need it – especially when the decision is made to postpone the search until the next morning. It’s painful and even difficult to get sleep; a miserable event that is super-sized by a lack of acknowledgement of any of the many other positive aspects of current life. I mean, these moments seemingly represent the end of the world as we know it, despite much evidence to the contrary.
Sound a little dramatic? Well, I don’t know about you, but I can quickly transform into quite a diva at the drop of a hat – or sending of a wayward shot.
I’m likely no better than anyone else with this bewildering event, so I recommend that you do as I say, not as I do. There will be more shots at deer and other game animals in the future.
Are You Rested?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the more unacknowledged reasons for our misses in the field. Hunting is hard work for many reasons, but toward the top of my list is physical and mental condition. Getting up at 5:00 a.m. isn’t always a walk in the park, especially when, on short rest, you repeat the process a few hours later for the afternoon hunt. It’s easier for some than others. I can remember, back in my drinking days, I’d enjoy libations deep into the night before the hunt, usually around a fire pit. I mean, everyone did. There was usually one guy who enjoyed dinner and a little evening fellowship, but hit the rack at a decent hour. Come to think of it, I never recall having to help them recover a deer. Go figure.
Blood is always a welcome sign, but unfortunately, doesn’t always lead to recovery of the animal.
It’s great to enjoy fellow hunters at deer camp, but weariness and fatigue lead to less concentration, poor decision-making, and regret in the deer woods. Unfortunately, it has for me on a few past hunts.
Sometimes You Win – Sometimes You Learn
Following such a dent in our hunting ego, there is another productive act you can adopt. Each whiff will teach you a few things. That is, if you let it.
In the immediate aftermath of every miss, it feels like an out-of-body experience. There is confusion, and often the release of a few savory words – you know, the ones mama used to wash your mouth out with soap over. But, as the acceptance stage slowly sets in, it’s a great time to evaluate what went wrong. I’m not referring to the excuses that instinctively form in the brain. It’s time for an authentic evaluation of the whole experience. It’s time to learn.
For archery hunting in particular, myriad simple things can go wrong, including ignoring proper form, poor shot selection, failing to practice from a sitting position, and not properly maintaining my equipment. For the latter, I can remember on more than one occasion, unknowingly damaging my site pins in the brush on the way to my stand. I now have an inexpensive site cover that doesn’t leave the bow until I settle into my stand.
There are a lot of variables involved in successfully harvesting a deer or other game animal with any weapon, especially with stick and string. A lot of things have to go right. Managing your equipment, practice regimen, and emotions is actionable. It’s an opportunity.
It’s always a relief to find an expired, especially after an exhaustive search. However, it’s not always in the cards.
Missing a deer during a hunt can significantly affect a hunter’s experience. It can lead to a grinding search effort, seeking permission to search bordering properties, and even additional expense hiring a professional dog tracker.
More than anything, it can lead to feelings of exasperation, disappointment, and even guilt. After all, as hunters, we value making clean, ethical shots. However, if not blown out of proportion, it can at least lead to improvement as a hunter.
Yeah, the blown shots can linger in your brain as much as the perfect ones. While old adages like “that’s why they call it hunting” rarely provide comfort, they’re true. Embrace the bloopers as part of your hunting experience and story, and ask yourself, “Would hunting be as fun and rewarding if nothing ever went wrong?”
