2016 Mistakes and Root Cause Thread

[wolc123]

What did you do wrong this year and why?   We all like reading the stories and seeing the happy faces when everything goes right but stuff rarely works out perfect and we could all do better.  It takes some guts to admit mistakes on a public forum and I thank those who already have or will because it gives all of us a cheap way to learn those lessons without having to make the same mistakes ourselves.   That is the best thing I see about this site.

I will start it out:   The doe I killed on opening day of gun season suffered for about 40 seconds longer than she should have.  More "prime" meat was destroyed than should have been by my first shot, which was outside of the vitals, and a second shot was required to put her down.   My first shot from a rest at 100 yards with a 12 ga sabot slug using a bolt action rifled shotgun and a fixed 4 power scope hit her high, above the lungs, and broke her back.  She clawed her way into a ditch and I immediately closed the distance and put a second shot into her brain.   I claim 100% responsibility for that mistake.  The root cause was that the gun was sighted in 5" high at that range and I knew it but was too cheap to use the extra slugs and dial it in closer.   I remember thinking that the 5" high would be ok because it would enable longer shots without holdover but I would not have done it had I known it would cause that doe to suffer longer than she should have, and the loss of about 6 good chops.  

I think I also discovered this season, the root cause of a mistake I made two years ago where I missed the largest bodied buck I have ever seen while hunting on my first shot (I also missed him on my second shot but fortunately the third one was on the mark).   I was high up on a mountain ridge and I fired that first shot at a 300 +/- 20 yard range from a well rested position with my 30/06 with the scope dialed up to 9X, at the buck down in the valley below.  He was stopped when I fired but started walking immediately after the shot.   I assumed a hit (I had previously learned the hard way to assume every shot is a hit until proven otherwise).  There was fresh snow and visibility was excellent.   I follwed him parallel from up there and fired a second shot offhand when he reached another opening.   He must have heard that one and stopped walking.   I rested the heavy rifle on a tree and fired the third lethal shot, dropping him there in his tracks.

At first I thought that first miss was caused by firing the shot from an oiled barrel.   I verified that was not the case on the range last summer, finding that my bullets hit within an inch of the same place from an oiled barrel or one that has fired two shots at 100 yards.  This fall I got back up on that ridge and noted some branches that may have caused the deflection of that first bullet.   Even though I took my largest deer ever from that spot, I did not hunt it this year because I did not want to repeat the same mistake.  I found a better spot, where the shots would be closer, and was rewarded with an almost perfect one-shot kill on my rifle buck this fall.   I did take about three pages of flack on here for taking that shot but those folks were not there to see it and I would take it again in a heartbeat if it were ever offered.         

Edited December 11, 2016 by wolc123

[Doc]

Now, just to be clear...... Did you mess up those shots, or did God mess them up. Maybe the divine-intervention mode was turned off when those shots were taken.

I'm sorry. I apologize. I couldn't help myself ..... The devil made me do it.

[First-light]

It was 2 years ago  that operator error caused me to not harvest a giant on 3 legs. This buck was shot opening morning by the neighbors. They blew off the left front leg below the knee of this 3.5+ deer.

I saw him limping badly coming across the back of my property. He was a very wide buck with a lot of mass.

He stopped at 50 yards or so and was deciding which way to go. He headed right for me. Came right under my stand so close I couldn't pick him up in the scope. Did another check took the safety off and squeezed the trigger. Nothing nada zero. Clicked the safety back tried again nothing. Now I look at the safety and click it over once more and still nothing. Somehow my 1187 auto loaded was jammed. At this point I pull the action back and slide it up with a new shell. Pull the trigger nothing. He starts to take off so I do it one more time and aging nothing. Deer is gone. I'm pissed and meet my brother and go over what happened. We unload the gun and put new shells in and it fired no problem. Here is what went wrong. When I loaded my gun in the stand that first shell didn't seat properly cause I had my hand on the action so it would make less noise. I did that on the second and third reload with the buck there. Lesson learned for sure. It's too bad nobody ever saw that buck again. He was a real nice one and probably met his demise with the Yotes. 

[Doc]

13 minutes ago, First-light said:

It was 2 years ago  that operator error caused me to not harvest a giant on 3 legs. This buck was shot opening morning by the neighbors. They blew off the left front leg below the knee of this 3.5+ deer.

I saw him limping badly coming across the back of my property. He was a very wide buck with a lot of mass.

He stopped at 50 yards or so and was deciding which way to go. He headed right for me. Came right under my stand so close I couldn't pick him up in the scope. Did another check took the safety off and squeezed the trigger. Nothing nada zero. Clicked the safety back tried again nothing. Now I look at the safety and click it over once more and still nothing. Somehow my 1187 auto loaded was jammed. At this point I pull the action back and slide it up with a new shell. Pull the trigger nothing. He starts to take off so I do it one more time and aging nothing. Deer is gone. I'm pissed and meet my brother and go over what happened. We unload the gun and put new shells in and it fired no problem. Here is what went wrong. When I loaded my gun in the stand that first shell didn't seat properly cause I had my hand on the action so it would make less noise. I did that on the second and third reload with the buck there. Lesson learned for sure. It's too bad nobody ever saw that buck again. He was a real nice one and probably met his demise with the Yotes. 

Most deer can survive and even do rather well on 3 legs. In fact one of the fattest deer I ever took was a three-legged doe. She even had a fawn that year. Actually if they have to become amputees, the front leg would be the best to lose instead of one of the rear power legs.

However, I can't even begin to imagine the frustration with the gun problem with a huge "gift-buck" offering itself up to you.

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, First-light said:

It was 2 years ago  that operator error caused me to not harvest a giant on 3 legs. This buck was shot opening morning by the neighbors. They blew off the left front leg below the knee of this 3.5+ deer.

I saw him limping badly coming across the back of my property. He was a very wide buck with a lot of mass.

He stopped at 50 yards or so and was deciding which way to go. He headed right for me. Came right under my stand so close I couldn't pick him up in the scope. Did another check took the safety off and squeezed the trigger. Nothing nada zero. Clicked the safety back tried again nothing. Now I look at the safety and click it over once more and still nothing. Somehow my 1187 auto loaded was jammed. At this point I pull the action back and slide it up with a new shell. Pull the trigger nothing. He starts to take off so I do it one more time and aging nothing. Deer is gone. I'm pissed and meet my brother and go over what happened. We unload the gun and put new shells in and it fired no problem. Here is what went wrong. When I loaded my gun in the stand that first shell didn't seat properly cause I had my hand on the action so it would make less noise. I did that on the second and third reload with the buck there. Lesson learned for sure. It's too bad nobody ever saw that buck again. He was a real nice one and probably met his demise with the Yotes. 

Many years ago I harvested a 3-legged buck just like the one you are describing.  I had to check the date to make sure it was not the same one.  That remains the largest-antlered deer I have killed (I am a pure meat hunter), and the second heaviest.  I made a mistake on it, but the mistake the guy made a week earlier cancelled out my own.   I was many years younger and a lot faster back then and was easily able to catch up to the buck who had only two good legs, after my first shot hit high on a front leg breaking the bone.    He stumbled thru the thick bush, hindered by his very wide rack, broken front upper leg and shot off rear hoof (the other guy did that).  After my first shot, my scope fogged over and I emptied the magazine as he stumbled by, close under my stand, not touching him with the other 4 shots.   I got down, reloaded, and caught up to him in the brush, using my last slug on his neck from point blank range.  I have been carrying 10 bullets ever since that.   I have not used more than three in over 20 years since, but you never know.      

When mistakes are made, two things should be done:   First is to minimize the damage, and second is to learn from it so it is not repeated.   I minimized the damage on that doe this year by delivering a second shot ASAP.   Next season I will sight that gun in properly so it is not repeated, even if it takes a few more of  the $3.00 each slugs.   I minimized the damage on that heavy buck two years ago by taking two more shots ($1.00 ea bullets), finally connecting on the last. I prevented a possible repeat this year by hunting areas where closer shots were more likely.    

Edited December 11, 2016 by wolc123

[BigVal]

Yep I shot a 3 legged doe. But I shot it because I thought the other leg was shot off. Aged it at 8 years old. 

[wolc123]

They do real well on 3 legs but not so good on two.  That 3 legged buck I killed was showing no sign of injury when I took my first shot.

[First-light]

That big buck was moving pretty good on three legs.

[vizslas]

Check your nuts and bolts.make sure your scope base on your shotgun is not screwed up. I think i blew mine at the range. the threads are shot on the front hole. so my scope pointed left of my barrel .cost me a gut shot buck that walked by my stand and at least two or three doe.i am going to switch to a b square.

[catskillkid]

A friend of mine was "still" hunting on the ground when an animal stood up on 2 legs and ran / hopped away from him, he didn't shoot. The animal ran past another friend who shot and killed it. The animal was a doe that was missing its two front legs below the knees. I asked my first friend why he didn't shoot it when it first stood up, he replied that he thought it was a kangaroo. True story.

[Renegade Hunter]

This year I messed up on a really nice, wide 8 point. I had two small bucks, a 6 and a 4 or 5, fighting out in front of me at 40 yards for about 10 minutes. Really cool to watch, first time I had ever seen it. Anyways, I look behind me and here comes Mr. Big sneaking up the hill, locked in on those two bucks. He was on a run that went by my tree at 15 yards. I grabbed my bow and got ready. I drew as he was coming to my lane and put the pin on him. I took my eyes off the pin, found the opening in front of him and refocused on the pin. For some god forsaken reason, as soon as I saw brown hit my pin I released. I immediately knew I let it go too soon. He hopped a few times toward the other bucks and they all sat there staring at each other. The smaller ones began wheezing and going back at it and Mr. Big slowly walks off. I found a little hair and two spots of blood from where I must have grazed the front of his chest. Still kicking myself in the a$$ over that one. The root cause I would say is I got too excited looking at those big, white, wavy horns.

[BigVal]

My mistake was wearing a glove on my release hand with a release that was on its way out. Big ten pointer lived on because of it.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I wasted way too much time on a property that just wasn't holding deer. Next year I'll move around more


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[wolc123]

3 hours ago, vizslas said:

Check your nuts and bolts.make sure your scope base on your shotgun is not screwed up. I think i blew mine at the range. the threads are shot on the front hole. so my scope pointed left of my barrel .cost me a gut shot buck that walked by my stand and at least two or three doe.i am going to switch to a b square.

That brings up another mistake, actually more of an accident that I had a few years ago.   The rope broke while I was lifting my shotgun up into my treestand (while unloaded of coarse).  It fell down about 15 feet, landing on the scope and shearing the base-mount bolts clean off.   I had to go up to the house and grab a backup gun for that hunt.  I drilled and retapped the holes a size larger (were #10, and I went with 1/4".)   Maybe the smaller ones were designed to shear and save the scope, but it is a cheapo anyhow (Bushnell Banner). It has always been very clear and easy to adjust.  I am looking for an excuse to upgrade it but have not really had one yet.  That gun/scope has got the job done every time, with only two "2nd shots" required that were not on different deer. I did have to shim a little under the base, while bore-sighting, to get the crosshairs close to the barrel bore after the remount.  I always make sure all the scope and base mounting screws are torqued well prior to sighting in.     

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, Renegade Hunter said:

This year I messed up on a really nice, wide 8 point. I had two small bucks, a 6 and a 4 or 5, fighting out in front of me at 40 yards for about 10 minutes. Really cool to watch, first time I had ever seen it. Anyways, I look behind me and here comes Mr. Big sneaking up the hill, locked in on those two bucks. He was on a run that went by my tree at 15 yards. I grabbed my bow and got ready. I drew as he was coming to my lane and put the pin on him. I took my eyes off the pin, found the opening in front of him and refocused on the pin. For some god forsaken reason, as soon as I saw brown hit my pin I released. I immediately knew I let it go too soon. He hopped a few times toward the other bucks and they all sat there staring at each other. The smaller ones began wheezing and going back at it and Mr. Big slowly walks off. I found a little hair and two spots of blood from where I must have grazed the front of his chest. Still kicking myself in the a$$ over that one. The root cause I would say is I got too excited looking at those big, white, wavy horns.

I think we all have suffered a bit from that one, known more commonly as "buck fever".   The way I got over it was to immediately look away from the antlers and at the hair I wanted to hit, after making the quick decision that it was a "shooter".  I may not have shot the 2-1/2 year old I did this year with my crossbow, if I had stayed focused on his rack.  His body was big and he looked like a solid 8 when I first saw him (turned out to be a busted up 5).  No big deal, because I am a meat hunter primarily. I am thankful the bolt hit very near the hair I wanted, from a somewhat difficult angle.      

[DirtTime]

The only mistake I feel I made was taking the g/f out on opening day of gun to a heavily hunted state land area. She hated all the shots we heard, and all 4 spots we scouted prior to season and tried to set up in had hunters already in there. It is what is is, but she now has a major reluctance to hunt that place again.

 

But, I made good on that as the private land we have access too in the NZ got the logging done early and I was able to get her out and let her hunt without the chaos of high pressure land. We only got up there twice, and we saw deer both times. Just no bucks.

 

IMO though, a mistake is making a bad shot, or setting up with the wind blowing from your back. 

[uberyan]

First season in the books for me.

Buck tag went unfilled as I never got to see one.

I'd say my biggest mistake/learning experience was being too creative with terrain.

Underestimating gradients on topo maps and thinking I could just charge up from the opposite side and bring death from above, only to find the slopes to be steeper than I thought and the deer weren't even there.

That ties into another mistake, not getting out more frequently in the earlier part of rifle season.

Hunting small plots of state land, should've know the number of available bucks would be limited.

By the time I wised up and just started hunting the lowlands into the wind and seeing deer, the bucks had already been taken. Really cool experience getting within 50yards of does without them ever knowing you were there.

Still had a lot of fun, got a lot of exercise charging up and down the slopes. Can't wait for next season.

[Core]

Biggest single mistake was hitting a deer on Saturday I could not recover. 

[ny hunter]

25 minutes ago, Core said:

Biggest single mistake was hitting a deer on Saturday I could not recover. 

Where were you hunting I found a dead deer in 3h yesterday 

[Core]

6 minutes ago, ny hunter said:

Where were you hunting I found a dead deer in 3h yesterday 

8F I doubt it got that far

[ny hunter]

7 minutes ago, Core said:

8F I doubt it got that far

Yeah I agree.....,Man it sucks loosing  a deer sorry bro

[wolc123]

Last weekend was the fist since opening of cross-bow that I did not see at least one deer.   My mistake was over-hunting too small of an area.  (3) hunts on less than 40 acres in two days was too much.  I should have left our own farm for at least one of them.   My folks always like to see me and they have over 60 acres of decent hunting ground.  This weekend, I will be paying them a visit or two.  I have one, long 3-day weekend left and two DMP's for adjacent zones.  

I took a vacation day Friday and had been planning a combination squirrel/bear crossbow hunt at my friends camp in the Southern Tier (no DMP's for there and no buck tags left) but the weather looks iffy for that and my wife's family decided to have an early Christmas party on Saturday night.  They are leaving for their new Adirondack house to spend Christmas up there later next week.  My new goals for this weekend are: 1) Kill squirrel(s) with crossbow 2) Fill DMP(s) with crossbow 3) Don't make any mistakes. If I can pull off any of those, from Friday thru Sunday, it would be the first time for me.          

[chas0218]

Getting out of the stand this year I lowered my wife's rifle to the ground made sure it was tied but wasn't pay close enough attention a branch below grabbed the loop somehow and untied it about 2' from the ground. Gun hit the ground then fell over onto the rocks in the hedgerow. It wasn't very high up bit still had me cussing all the way down the tree. It was raining pretty good that day so I was back at my dad's wiping it down and noticed the one scope mount bolt was loose. Not sure if it was the fall or not but the head of the bolt snapped clean off. Happy I noticed it before I went back out for the afternoon hunt. I was also happy I made the last minute decision to bring my .270 with me that gun saved me a wasted weekend.

[moog5050]

My biggest mistake was suggesting to my group that biggest buck pays for dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse at season's end in the same year I kill my best buck to date.  I half suspect my buddies had shots on bigger bucks and passed for the free meal.  lol

[grampy]

7 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

My biggest mistake was suggesting to my group that biggest buck pays for dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse at season's end in the same year I kill my best buck to date.  I half suspect my buddies had shots on bigger bucks and passed for the free meal.  lol

Heck, even if there were three or four more guys to buy dinner for. With that buck you shot this year, you still got the better deal!!! Maybe phade and the boy's will go easy on ya and order sirlion's instead of filet's!!! And of course there is the bar bill to consder........yeah,...... you still are making out! That was one heck of a buck!!!