2016 Mistakes and Root Cause Thread

[moog5050]

12 minutes ago, grampy said:

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!!!

Thanks Grampy.  I am not really complaining.  But, I am still hoping one of them shoots a booner in ML. 

[ApexerER]

It would take me two weeks to write all the mistakes I have made in my deer hunting adventures and I would probably forget half of them so I will only write the mistakes I made this year.

Mistake number one - Opening day of Crossbow I decided to sit in a stand I wasn't familiar with. I had a group of 5 large doe come in from behind me on my right. Of course the worst possible position being a right handed shooter. As I slowly stood up and got turned trying to beat 5 sets of eyeballs they became spooky and the lead doe started marching back the way she came. I was following her in the crossbow scope waiting for a clear opening and she was about 30 yds away. When I had a clear shot I squeezed the trigger and everything sounded terrible. I knew immediately what happened. Following her in the scope I lost track of where I was in the stand and when I fired I was to close to the tree allowing my crossbow limb on the rt side to hit the tree when the crossbow expanded. My bolt slammed a tree about 10 feet in front of me nowhere near the deer and they all ran off. Thankfully I didn't damage the crossbow.

Mistake number two - I believe it was the second weekend of crossbow. Again I am sitting in another stand I had never sat. With about 15 minutes or so of legal light left I was thinking this sit was a bust when I heard a noise and look behind me to see 5 doe sneaking behind me from my left to right about 60 yds away. I stood and turned around hoping a buck would be chasing (and be closer) but no such luck. I sit back down and think about packing up when a deer comes in from my left in front of me to my right getting closer. I catch glimpse of antler and as he comes around me on my right he stops and looks my direction. I can't see how many points but he is much wider than his ears so I decide he is a shooter. I got the crossbow up, put the 30 yd dot on him and squeeze the trigger and watch as my bolt with the lighted nock deflects off a branch and smashes a tree behind him. He slowly trots off.

Mistake number three - I get impatient with my treestand not seeing many deer. After checking my trail camera I find a picture of the big 9 out in day light while I was sitting elsewhere. Not sure this was a horrible mistake because I killed him on opening day of rifle but I could have just as easily never saw him again.

Mistake number four - Last day of rifle season. We are doing drives and I am on watch. It is the last push of the day and I have a deer come down the ravine, stop 35 - 40 yds tops in front of me. I have a steady rest, clear shot behind shoulder, squeeze the trigger...Bam, I have a dead deer running. Nope....no blood, no hair etc...still haunting me. I made a post about it in another thread...

Every season is a learning experience and that is why I love hunting.....

[ApexerER]

56 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

I would gladly buy my hunting buddies dinner every season if it meant I shot the biggest of the bunch.  Even if that bill was bigger than the taxi it would be worth it to me....

[moog5050]

7 minutes ago, ApexerER said:

I would gladly buy my hunting buddies dinner every season if it meant I shot the biggest of the bunch.  Even if that bill was bigger than the taxi it would be worth it to me....

Seemed like a good idea at the time because then if you lose, you still win.  Now I realize that if I win, I still lose.  Ha.  Happy to buy them dinner.  Just joking.

[phade]

1 hour ago, moog5050 said:

Seemed like a good idea at the time because then if you lose, you still win.  Now I realize that if I win, I still lose.  Ha.  Happy to buy them dinner.  Just joking.

That was a $700 arrow.

[grampy]

42 minutes ago, phade said:

That was a $700 arrow.

Ouch!.....lol

[tuckersdaddy]

Biggest mistake? Going to work instead of the stand.

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[Steve D]

I would have to say my biggest mistake this year and every year is to much deer hunting. I truly enjoy bow hunting  and almost hate to see gun season come. I get a lot more enjoyment from bow than gun and every year I say it will probably be my last. When the next season comes around I find myself out there again wondering why I am doing it. There are other things I would like to be doing and sometimes some things I SHOULD be doing that are placed on the back burner until after deer season.

 I honestly think the only way I will conquer this is to have an exceptional bow season where I will not feel the need to be out there with the gun.

 Root cause: It's in my blood I guess.... and the desire to pursue that monster buck and step up to the challenge will not go away.