Excuses made for missing a deer

[Baratheon]

in the past, i have sneezed and gave out the hideout and position.

[heatheroo]

Took a shot at a doe a few years ago. Maybe 20 yards from my stand. POW! Deer continued to meander along. I was so sure I hit her I didn’t shoot again, knowing she was going to keel over at any second. ....and she just walked out of sight. There were a couple other does standing about and i didn’t shoot those either knowing doe #1 was going to pile up at any second. After all deer departed and I was trying to figure out how I could have missed my eyes focused in on this little branch with a fresh groove in it. I had been shooting 4X Bushnell scope for ages and that year I upgraded to a Redfield 3x9 scope. When I saw the deer I cranked the scope to 9x. With my old 4X I would have seen that branch. At 9x it was invisible.

[ItchyTick]

Never missed. All compound bow (when I was younger) and now crossbow.

[Qtrborecrazy]

I just call myself DUMB SHIT, move on, no excuse needed.

[mrat]

1972, tree stand, 1st deer, age 14, .270, 30 yards, walking buck, led him by 1 foot in front of body (2 ft in front of chest aim point). Zipped right in front of him. He was walking right to left, turned and ran at about 10:00 from his path of travel, almost straight at me. 2nd shot creased his back, just down through skin. He then stopped with a quartering shot. 3rd shot went through L shoulder, L lung, hit top of heart, through R lung, out R ribs. Nice Central Bucks County 8pt; biggest deer to date. Excuse was leading him (Obviously not necessary for 3100fps). All happened in about 5 sec. Pretty quick shooting for a kid with an open sighted Remington 700. Still have rack and gun. Have never since shot at a moving deer. Never missed again.

[Gripsafety]

The first year I hunted deer, I had a shot at a doe that was at the bottom of a steep downslope from me. My heart was pounding and my mind was racing - downhill, shoot high or low? I aimed high, never had a chance.

[God's Country]

I was posted on a drive once, and never chambered a round. Click.....by the time I realized what had happened the opportunity had passed.

Similarly a few years ago while on a drive, my bolt lifted enough to prevent a shot. Didn't realize it. Oddly the trigger still pulled and "click", which required chambering a new round. Still wasn't quite sure what occurred until later.

[Ranger P229]

I missed the first deer I ever shot at, 20 years ago this season. Typical kid, got worked up seeing a buck and missed a shot I shouldn’t have taken on a moving animal.

I’ve missed a few times with the compound. Haven’t in the past few years, but I’m sure it’ll happen again.

I know of two new, young, hunters that missed deer this season from having trouble finding deer in the scope. Short range shots and high magnification make it difficult to find brown animals in brown woods through brown vegetation. I’m a huge proponent of red dot sights for deer hunting anywhere where your shots are likely to be 150 yards and under.

[Gunowner99]

My excuse, no deer to shoot at.

[RockIsland]

Our youngest got his first deer this year. 50 yd shot on maybe a 50 ft downgrade.

He hit it about 6" high of where he said his aim point was. Through the ribs, splattered his liver, and took out part of his spine. He shuffled backwards about 10 feet and flopped over.

Nice and neat to gut and no damage to the meat. I might have to start aiming there.