# do dissappointing.....



## ohiobassman (May 18, 2005)

i rattled a big 8 point away from two does last night. they were in an alalfa field and he circled down wind of me and crossed a fence about 50 yards away. he came behind my stand looking for the fight, no shot. he then turned around and headed back the way he came. i stopped him at the fence, 50 yard downhill shot. i shot and heard a loud smack. must have caught the shoulder. i followed decent blood for about 80 yards then it started to downpour and all blood was lost. my dad went out today and looked for two hours for him with no luck. i am so dissappointed. this would have been my biggest buck with a bow, he was between 135 and 140 if not bigger. it was such an awesome hunt that i hated it to end this way.


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## leadcorebean (Jul 17, 2006)

not to be mean but what do u expect at 50 yards.sorry but 40 yards is even pushing it for me. its not that u cant hit something that far but making the shot count and get in there to do some damage is the point. hope u dont take anything the wrong way just my 2 cents


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

I have to agree @ 50 yards, theres just too much chance to loose a buck of a lifetime.


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## ohiobassman (May 18, 2005)

i will agree with you guys, part of me thinks i should have let him walk and hope to see him again, but i practice at 50 yards and it was as open of a shot as you could get. i would never shoot that far if it wasnt. and, it was such a neat hunt and i called him in and everything that i thought i owed it to myself to try and seal the deal. im not done looking for him yet, i am going to broaden my search, there is a big thicket in a woods that is across the road and he headed that way so its not over yet.


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

"i will agree with you guys, part of me thinks i should have let him walk and hope to see him again, but i practice at 50 yards and it was as open of a shot as you could get."

50 yards at a target is not the same as 50 yards at a deer. You were wrong in taking that shot.


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## fish*FEAR*me (Mar 8, 2006)

i too have to agree with everyone here... i had a similar situation happen this weekend with a nice buck. i rattled this deer in to about 40 yards and couldnt bring myself to letting that arrow fly. i practice at 40 yards all the time too. but its just not a high percentage shot, and there are too many things that can go wrong in the time it takes an arrow to fly 40-50 yards. let this time be a lesson to you and learn from it..thats all. im sure you've been through enough loosing a nice deer like that. keep looking!


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## Wannabitawerm (Apr 13, 2004)

The best thing to take from all of this is, you learn more and more every time out. I won't criticize you on whether to take it or not as I'm new to bowhunting, but sometimes we learn what not to do by doing wrong! Glad we have these discussions on topics like this as I'm learning boat loads of info. on a daily basis. Good luck and keep learnin', bassman


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

It is very difficult to resist the temptation of taking that long shot at the buck you want.

Practicing at 50 yards and being good at that range is so much different than shooting a deer in a hunting situation.

When shooting at your target it won't move, you don't have the Adrenalin in high flow and most importantly if you make a bad shot the target does not run off to die unrecovered. If you make that bad shot on the target you can just shoot again, a bad shot on the deer and you will most likely never get another opportunity.

I hear so many times, "it was then or never, he wasn't going to give me any better shot" or it was too far but it was the buck of a lifetime" If you wouldn't compromise your limits for a poor shot selection at a scrawny little doe, why make those compromises at a deer you really want. The risk is just too high for the reward. Our personal ethics and respect for the animals we hunt should dictate a high probability of success for every shot selection before we let that arrow go.

Bow hunting really should be more about hunting and getting the deer into your effective killing range than about bowshooting. The shot should be a small part of the hunt if you do your part as a hunter. A questionable shot passed today provides for better opportunity tomorrow.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

Well said Lundy!

We have all used poor judgement at some point & hopefully we all learn from it. Very low percentage kill shot at 50 yards even with today's equipment.

Good luck in your search.


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Good luck on your search.I think most of us have made bad choices bowhunting I hope you learned something from this!


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## Jack'n Fish (Oct 1, 2007)

Well it seems you learned an important lesson. Rubber dear don;t move real dear in real hunting situations have tons of varaibles that aren;t in the backyard. I shoot out past 50 all the time but don;t think I would ever shoot at a live whitetail that far, Elk yes deer no. At least you learned a lesson. Remeber if you're doing it right it should be under 20. I had to pass on a 180 class last year that did the smae thing I'm not gonna lie I drew and aimed but didn't release and don't regret it. In most of Ohio's whitetail habitat 30 is pushin it and 40 you had better be good at 50 be prepared for unexpected results. Anyway good luck this seaseon maybe you'll get another crack.


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## rackman323 (Jul 13, 2007)

"The shot should be a small part of the hunt if you do your part as a hunter."

Lundy I disagree. A bad 10 yard shot is no different than a bad 50 yard shot. Everyone has there limits and it is most important to know what you are comfortable with. I do agree there is a difference between practicing and ability. But thats why we practice. Only ohiobassman knows if he should have shot or not. We all would react differently in that situation depending on our confidence.

Besides the shot, I would argue that judging the shot distance is as equally if not more important than the shot itself. Just my 2 cents.


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## tsmokiee (May 11, 2007)

Rackman you're dead on...

About 20 years ago I had a 10 yard shot at a nice 12 point, but there were a few limbs between us, I had pulled the bow back and held it for as long as I could and was worried that if I let down it would make a noise and scare him. I made a poor decision and tried to squeeze the arrow thru those limbs and got a deflection, it hit him right in the head, he took off and I felt like crap. I looked for 2 days straight for that deer without luck, about a week later one of my hunting partner finally found him and I tagged him and still have the rack, but it was still not a smart shot and I actually quit bow hunting for 10years after that. Since I've been back bowhunting I've been blessed with several deer, and only take high percentage shots. 

All of us make mistakes, and ultimately we end up beating ourselves up for it. I think some of the posts in this threads and the other one where the young man took a shot in low light are a bit too harsh. I'm pretty sure that both of these gentleman wish they could take their shots back, but they can't, so what is the purpose of telling them 10 times they screwed up? Bottom line is we've all screwed up something in our lives and had to learn from it and these guys will too......

Feel free to beat me up for being a softie, but I like to be positive when possible and I'm not seeing that in most of this thread...


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Lundy said:


> Our personal ethics and respect for the animals we hunt should dictate a high probability of success for every shot selection before we let that arrow go.
> 
> Bow hunting really should be more about hunting and getting the deer into your effective killing range than about bow shooting. The shot should be a small part of the hunt if you do your part as a hunter. A questionable shot passed today provides for better opportunity tomorrow.


Rackman,

You disagree with me on what?

If you read what I said, it was about making sure you can make a clean kill with a high probability before you choose to shoot. I don't care if that is 1 yd or 60 yds. The reality is that when you increase yardage you increase the variables and reduce the percentage for success. Being that we are shooting at a live animal and not a target we owe it to the animal to do everything we can on our end to ensure a quick clean kill. Good shot selection for each hunters skill set should be paramount in those decisions no matter what the actual yardage, there is no magic yardage.

I still contend that a hunter that replaces hunting skills needed to get his quarry into his effective shooting range with FPS of his equipment to extend his shooting range is in for some disappointing times ahead.

And yes I still believe the actual shot is a small part of the the hunt for a good bowhunter. Everything that leads up to the shot is much, much more important than the shot itself. There is a vast difference between being a good bow hunter and a good bow shooter.


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## rackman323 (Jul 13, 2007)

Lundy...my comment was in regards to your statement about the shot. I completely understand your comments and mostly agree with them.

Your effective range is absolutely 100&#37; about bow shooting, that is what defines the range. Without the shot there is no kill. I do not disagree that there are many variables that go into making a clean kill, but the shot is in fact the only thing that matters. And yes we all should do our part to ensure the highest probability of a clean kill. Placing your stand in the right location or scouting skills are another thing. You won't have deer to shoot at if you cannot do that to begin with.

My only contention was I believe that the shot is of way more importance than you stated. (The shot is way more than just pulling a trigger.)


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