Bowhunters- PLEASE Don't Take Bad Shots- See Picture

[WNYBuckHunter]

25 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

Thank you for your honesty on the unrecovered deer.   Many folks do not have the guts to admit stuff like that on the internet.   The most important thing the Bible teaches is to trust in Jesus, and I give Him all of the credit for the two dozen or so deer that He has blessed me with over the last 12 years, as well as those over my prior years where I struggled a bit more.   

Do you only shoot when you are 100 % sure you can make it ?  My number is 90 %.   I have been very blessed over the last 12 years that He has given me that extra 10% that I surely would have lost on my own.   

In the latest case, He allowed me to put more than 90 pounds of boneless venison in our freezer Friday night. I learned yesterday morning, just how much of His help was required for that.   I had put a Crossbow bolt thru the "twofur" (deer that produces 2X the average amount of meat), on the previous week Friday, in the late afternoon.   I could not find my bolt that evening.  I saw it yesterday morning, while back up in the same stand.  I had taken the shot in the last 10 minutes of daylight, thru what looked like a good opening at the time.   As I stared at the fletching sticking out of the ground, 32 yards away in the bright light yesterday, I marveled at all the small (1/4" diameter or less) branches that the bolt had to snake thru to reach it's target.  I counted more than 15.  That was my first shot at a deer with my Crossbow in the woods (the prior two were 59, and 15 yards across open fields).   I had seen the two 1" branches, a foot away, on each side when I took the shot, but not all the little ones in between.   

I have never been 100 % sure that I could make any shot on a deer.  I had a handful that were 99%, and I actually did not make one of those.  That was 14 years ago. My firing pin froze up and my Marlin 512, and it did not go off on a doe standing 15 yards away when I pulled the trigger.   She would have been the only doe I ever killed at my folks place, but it was not to be.  Maybe she was the grandmother of the twofur that I killed there this year.   Only one of my shots was perfect, and that would be my infamous "Texas Heart Shot" which has been referred  to on this thread was good for 5 or 6 pages on this forum. The fact that it keeps getting brought up is like the gift that keeps on giving.  I judged my chances of a recovered kill to be about 98 % for that shot, at a standing buck at 50 yards.  I can only take a bit of the credit there, for putting the bullet in the right spot.  My 30/06 holds a 3/4" group from 100 yards so centering the bullet in a 3/4" hole from a rest at half that range was no big deal.   All of the credit for lining the buck's body up with the gun barrel, so that the heart was struck, the neck was broke, very little meat was damaged, and the guts came out as clean as a whistle, belongs with He who calls ALL the shots.   Several others on here have admitted to taking that shot, but I have not heard of another that was so perfectly executed.  They all had to deal with significant messes at gutting time, from what I hear.    

           

The way I look at it is that there is no 100%. Stuff happens that can affect the best shots. That is why I will never intentionally take a shot that is outside of the parameters of my practice. I take high percentage shots.

[wolc123]

 

3 minutes ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

The way I look at it is that there is no 100%. Stuff happens that can affect the best shots. That is why I will never intentionally take a shot that is outside of the parameters of my practice. I take high percentage shots.

That's cool.  It would be nice if everyone thought that way.   I have read on here a few times where folks have said they only take shots they are 100 % sure they can make.   I guess that is ok if they are good with food from the store or eating out.   I prefer to feed my own family with "blessings from Heaven".  It sure don't hurt that it is also  a lot more fun than standing in lines at grocery stores or cafes.   

[Hunter007]

Be it bow, crossbow or gun 

Bad shots  from deflection or panic or wind or acts of God will happen to even the best of hunters . Its hunting nothing is 100% guaranteed.. you just have to try to use your best judgment and don't try taking shots that you know you can't make. Or don't practice at .

[BigVal]

Texas heart shots for real?? 

Maybe if I was broke and needed the meat. I'd rather go to the grocery store and buy meat than shoot a deer up the ass and pray. 

Jeesh

 

Edited November 20, 2017 by BigVal

[Marion]

Texas heart shots for real?? 
Maybe if I was broke and needed the meat, I'd rather go to the grocery store and buy meat than shoot a deer up the ass and pray. 
Jeesh
 

You're gonna get poop all over your meat

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