well im kicking myself

[tommyc50]

Monday morning I get in the stand I picked out 4:45 am and after settling in[ coughing ,farting, sneezing opening closing zippers oh and felcro  I HATE THAT stuff!!] I sit ready for  sunrise , first its the owls then coyotes and then the turkeys start to cackle and fly down .So @ 6:55 I look behind me and see a buck come in the field @ 92 yds[ I ranged him looking around and went back in the woods .Then I see a buck in my neighbors field WOW a really nice 8 pt.. Then @ 7:30 I got a cramp in my leg  and stood up[ I was sitting there for over 2 hrs] I look down and there's the buck a small racked 6 pt but a nice deer I seen earlier  snuck up on me from behind and im looking @ him and hes looking @ me @ about 24 yds I grab the bow and he moves off back into the woods on the other side of the field . now im looking in the woods w/ bow in hand ready to see if he comes back .Then @ 8 :30 he comes down the other side of the field and I draw and  I had the 40 yd pin on him and I really felt uncomfortable with the shot cause when I could see ,I took my ranges and it was 41 yds then 49,51  53 yds so it was conflicting and I let him walk . what really bothers me I KNEW @ 6 : 45 to be ready the first time I seen him and I wasn't. . MY  thing about fishing and hunting is to be  in the right place @ the right time and BE READY. Well I did two of the three  . the second time I seen him I have no bad feeling about, I know I could have hit him but to kill  him is another story . really don't want to not find him and leave him for coyote food. please guys comment I really need your opinions 

[tommyc50]

oh yeah I knew it was a good day when I had a hawk land on a limb 2 ' from me good omen for sure

[Jeremy K]

It beats not seeing any deer.

[Buckmaster7600]

I always say the most important part of hunting is capitalizing, hopefully you’ll get another wack at him.


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[turkeyfeathers]

IMO   You did the right thing   Can't kill em all as it's hunting and not shooting.   

Regarding Velcro : I would have paid top dollar for it Monday afternoon. longunderwear, camo pants on. leafy ghilli like drawstring pants for outer layer and don't I zip the head of my Johnson into my camo pants  zipper  after taking a whizz.  The freakin zipper got stuck and the movie American Pie came to mind. I did keep the beans below the frank though  I'll never admit to it .hurt like a mr fr ,nor did it happen if asked      It was the bottom pant leg zipper too ,well you know because hung like that

[moog5050]

WE have ALL been caught off guard at some point.  Sounds like a fun morning and a good call not shooting when it didn't feel right.  You will be rewarded with a better opportunity.

[Salmon_Run]

Great decision on your part not taking a shot you weren't  100% comfortable with taking for a clean harvest. You have great ethics and self control.

Fear not I am sure the deer Gods will reward you greatly....

Best of luck......

[Dom]

The season is early no need for kicking yourself for nothing.Most all of us would have done as you did.

[erussell]

If i had shot every big buck that outsmarted me i would have to buy a bigger house.

[nodeerhere]

Well u didn't kill the 6pt! Now u have a chance to kill that nice 8pt that was in ur neighbors field! Just put ur time in. U will get another chance! This is my 3rd day in the stand and I haven't even seen a deer! 

[turkeyfeathers]

Just now, nodeerhere said:

This is my 3rd day in the stand and I haven't even seen a deer! 

Cmon 4th day  for a deer sighting so you can change your forum name !

[wolc123]

It sounds like you definitely did the right thing. I will be very surprised if you are not rewarded with a better shot at a better buck sometime before the end of archery season.  I know that everyone is different, but I will not take a shot at a deer (with any weapon) unless I am 90 % certain of kill where I can recover the meat (antlers don't do a lot for me).   More importantly, whenever I take that shot, I assume that it is a hit until PROVEN otherwise.  If that means spending the night in the woods with a lantern I will do it.  With a gun: a follow-up shot or two (which connect) is a sure-fire way to prove that the first shot(s) were hits or a misses.   Autopsies never lie.   If I was you I would be thankful that I could sleep in my bed that night.          

[BowmanMike]

I agree,wouldn't force it this early in the game...or later either.

[wfmiller]

I passed twice on the same buck last year because I just wasn't 100% sure. The first time I know I made the right decision. The second time I am still kicking myself a little for, but I would rather see him walk then wound him and not find him.

A couple people said you will be rewarded for the choice, I sure wasn't. I never got another chance all season, including gun season. That's why I never pass on a buck to wait for a bigger one, because I know I won't get another chance. 

[rob-c]

It has happend to all of us, no doubt. Funny thing is I remember all the blown shots just as well as the made ones..

[wolc123]

6 minutes ago, wfmiller said:

7 minutes ago, wfmiller said:

I passed twice on the same buck last year because I just wasn't 100% sure. The first time I know I made the right decision. The second time I am still kicking myself a little for, but I would rather see him walk then wound him and not find him.

A couple people said you will be rewarded for the choice, I sure wasn't. I never got another chance all season, including gun season. That's why I never pass on a buck to wait for a bigger one, because I know I won't get another chance. 

 

100% seems too high.   In 35 years of hunting,  I can't remember any shot that I was 100 % sure of making.   There were two that I was 99.5 % or so.  I only hit one of those.  My gun failed to fire on the other due to a froze up firing pin.   The 90 % rule has served me very well lately.  Over the last 14 years, even the 10 % I should have lost have ended up in our freezer.  You must either not care much for venison or get a heck of a lot of chances.      

[grampy]

3 hours ago, tommyc50 said:

Monday morning I get in the stand I picked out 4:45 am and after settling in[ coughing ,farting, sneezing opening closing zippers oh and felcro  I HATE THAT stuff!!] I sit ready for  sunrise , first its the owls then coyotes and then the turkeys start to cackle and fly down .So @ 6:55 I look behind me and see a buck come in the field @ 92 yds[ I ranged him looking around and went back in the woods .Then I see a buck in my neighbors field WOW a really nice 8 pt.. Then @ 7:30 I got a cramp in my leg  and stood up[ I was sitting there for over 2 hrs] I look down and there's the buck a small racked 6 pt but a nice deer I seen earlier  snuck up on me from behind and im looking @ him and hes looking @ me @ about 24 yds I grab the bow and he moves off back into the woods on the other side of the field . now im looking in the woods w/ bow in hand ready to see if he comes back .Then @ 8 :30 he comes down the other side of the field and I draw and  I had the 40 yd pin on him and I really felt uncomfortable with the shot cause when I could see ,I took my ranges and it was 41 yds then 49,51  53 yds so it was conflicting and I let him walk . what really bothers me I KNEW @ 6 : 45 to be ready the first time I seen him and I wasn't. . MY  thing about fishing and hunting is to be  in the right place @ the right time and BE READY. Well I did two of the three  . the second time I seen him I have no bad feeling about, I know I could have hit him but to kill  him is another story . really don't want to not find him and leave him for coyote food. please guys comment I really need your opinions 

I applaud your common sense and self control! The hunting spirits, no doubt took notice! They may reward you with an even bigger prize!

Can't count the times deer have caught me half stepping. My last big blunder was last year on thanksgiving day. I was going in for surgery the next day, and not feeling well. But I wanted to be out there! Made my way to a great ground blind that hadn't been hunted yet that year, bordering a big swamp. Was in before light, and was still there right before noon. Had not seen a deer in that time. Now anytime I stand up, especially from a ground blind, I ALWAYS look 360 degrees around me. You guessed it! Discouraged by not seeing any deer and needing to move, I just stood up. 40 yards away, over my left shoulder stood a buck I've been after for three years. He didn't stand there long and was gone before I could get on him.

So I share your pain!

And before the end of this season, there will be plenty of pain to go around, for many of us!  

[doebuck1234]

Plenty of time to make it happen.bigger things to come with the rut upon us!Good call

[Jdubs]

Better to swallow your pride than force a bad shot.  I learned that "Be Ready" lesson the hard way last season.  The reason for the missed opportunity has been burned into my brain ever since.

[JRod 8G8H]

You did the right thing it's not even mid October yet plus it sounds like you have multiple bucks cruising already. I haven't seen a buck from a treestand since last year!!

[crappyice]

IMO   You did the right thing   Can't kill em all as it's hunting and not shooting.   
Regarding Velcro : I would have paid top dollar for it Monday afternoon. longunderwear, camo pants on. leafy ghilli like drawstring pants for outer layer and don't I zip the head of my Johnson into my camo pants  zipper  after taking a whizz.  The freakin zipper got stuck and the movie American Pie came to mind. I did keep the beans below the frank though  I'll never admit to it .hurt like a mr fr ,nor did it happen if asked      It was the bottom pant leg zipper too ,well you know because hung like that:mda:

One correction....”There’s Something About Mary” not “American Pie” Both wonderfully educational but “Mary” got the “how’d he get the beans above the frank?!?” line.


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[wfmiller]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

100% seems too high.   In 35 years of hunting,  I can't remember any shot that I was 100 % sure of making.   There were two that I was 99.5 % or so.  I only hit one of those.  My gun failed to fire on the other due to a froze up firing pin.   The 90 % rule has served me very well lately.  Over the last 14 years, even the 10 % I should have lost have ended up in our freezer.  You must either not care much for venison or get a heck of a lot of chances.      

The first chance I would have had to shoot under a branch from a tree in front of me, wasn't sure it would make it under. I would rather pass on the shot then hit that one branch and scare the deer off. So he walked away not knowing I was there. The next time he came in he stopped behind some weeds. I wasn't sure I could punch a hole through with an arrow. So yeah I passed on him twice rather then take a dumb shot.

I don't take questionable shots with the bow, that's just dumb if you do.

[wolc123]

10 minutes ago, wfmiller said:

The first chance I would have had to shoot under a branch from a tree in front of me, wasn't sure it would make it under. I would rather pass on the shot then hit that one branch and scare the deer off. So he walked away not knowing I was there. The next time he came in he stopped behind some weeds. I wasn't sure I could punch a hole through with an arrow. So yeah I passed on him twice rather then take a dumb shot.

I don't take questionable shots with the bow, that's just dumb if you do.

What would you estimate your chances of success would have been on those two shots ?  The first one does not sound so good.   The second one may have been doable, depending on how thick the weeds were and how far behind them he was.   I killed a heavy buck last fall, with an arrow, in the late afternoon.  The lighting was not so good in the woods at the time.  I saw an opening between branches, and my aim was true.   The next time I hunted that stand at mid-day, I found my arrow (that had "passed thru" the buck's boiler room) sticking out of the ground. I was surprised to see all the smaller twigs that had not been visible in the low-light conditions.  Based on that single "brush-busting" experience, I would say your odds may have been ok.   That said, I probably would not have taken that shot, had all those little branches been visible at the time.  

I am reluctant to take "iffy" shots because there is nothing that bothers me more about hunting than hitting and not being able to recover a deer.  I am extremely thankful that it has been almost 15 years since I have gone thru my last such unpleasant experience.   That one was with my muzzleloader.  It was only due to by my own poor tracking and a couple bad assumptions (that fresh snow would show blood if the shot had hit), that I did not find that "single lunged" buck until after the coyotes had.  My shot struck right on the mark, but was up high and there was no exit wound.  I no longer trust fresh snow (small drops of hot blood cuts right thru it leaving no trace on top), and I assume every shot is a hit until PROVEN otherwise.   Those lessons, learned the hard way, have helped put at least one young buck, and one mature 8-point in our freezer in the years since.                    

[wfmiller]

11 hours ago, wolc123 said:

What would you estimate your chances of success would have been on those two shots ?  The first one does not sound so good.   The second one may have been doable, depending on how thick the weeds were and how far behind them he was.   I killed a heavy buck last fall, with an arrow, in the late afternoon.  The lighting was not so good in the woods at the time.  I saw an opening between branches, and my aim was true.   The next time I hunted that stand at mid-day, I found my arrow (that had "passed thru" the buck's boiler room) sticking out of the ground. I was surprised to see all the smaller twigs that had not been visible in the low-light conditions.  Based on that single "brush-busting" experience, I would say your odds may have been ok.   That said, I probably would not have taken that shot, had all those little branches been visible at the time.  

I am reluctant to take "iffy" shots because there is nothing that bothers me more about hunting than hitting and not being able to recover a deer.  I am extremely thankful that it has been almost 15 years since I have gone thru my last such unpleasant experience.   That one was with my muzzleloader.  It was only due to by my own poor tracking and a couple bad assumptions (that fresh snow would show blood if the shot had hit), that I did not find that "single lunged" buck until after the coyotes had.  My shot struck right on the mark, but was up high and there was no exit wound.  I no longer trust fresh snow (small drops of hot blood cuts right thru it leaving no trace on top), and I assume every shot is a hit until PROVEN otherwise.   Those lessons, learned the hard way, have helped put at least one young buck, and one mature 8-point in our freezer in the years since.                    

Chances of me making the first shot, extremely low, and I was right not to take it. The second shot I think about and have know idea. He was 30 yards away and I actually drew back on him, but when I put the pin on him I couldn't even see his body through the weeds, so he walked again. He was like 5 or 6 feet on the other side of the weeds. Had he been right next to them or in them it would have been a different story.

[wolc123]

6 hours ago, wfmiller said:

Chances of me making the first shot, extremely low, and I was right not to take it. The second shot I think about and have know idea. He was 30 yards away and I actually drew back on him, but when I put the pin on him I couldn't even see his body through the weeds, so he walked again. He was like 5 or 6 feet on the other side of the weeds. Had he been right next to them or in them it would have been a different story.

It sounds like you did the right thing by not shooting.  You might get a better shot at him this year.   I could see the whole body of the buck that I shot thru the little branches last fall.  He was walking at a steady pace, which dropped my estimate of making the shot to about 90 %.   That is right at my lower limit.  Had better lighting allowed me to see those small branches in the opening, I would not have released the arrow.   I have heard folks talk about "stopping" a moving deer with a whistle.  That might be ok with a gun, but I would never do it with archery tackle.  Moving targets are not such a big deal for me, since I take thousands of practice shots at them every off-season.   I don't want that deer to have a clue what hit it, and I want it to be as non-alert as possible when I release the arrow.  In my early years of archery hunting, string jump caused me a few bad hits.     That deer you passed was close to the range where string jump is of the greatest concern, another good reason for not taking the shot.   

As bad as a bad hit makes me feel, a "clean miss" is worse yet, as far as I am concerned.  That means that I did a poorer job, even though the deer feels better.   The non-vital area of a deer is bigger than the vital area, but the area outside is infinite.   That is another reason why I will not take an initial shot at a deer, if I am not 90 % sure I can make a recoverable hit.  Follow-up shots don't count.  I always assume that every shot is a hit.  I will let them fly, as long as they are safe, even if I think the odds of a hit are as low as 1 %, if the deer is still on its feet and within range.  A little more damaged meat is a lot better than a wounded deer and "tag-soup".   I am still a little pissed about a miss on my first and largest Adirondack buck, back in 2014.  I still spend a little time looking for the branch that my bullet may have struck, every time I am in the area.  I am very thankful that I assumed it was a hit, or I would have never taken the second (also a miss), and the third shot, that put him down in his tracks.  I was also very fortunate to find a nice tree to rest my heavy rifle on, and that the noise of my second shot stopped his walk while he was still within range of my 30/06 (just over 300 yards).