Trad Gang

I thought this would be a simple question to answer, and thought I would know what the answer would be until I started thinking about it.
The question is do you miss game often...but, I consider most trad hunters to be very ethical and unwilling to take shots they are not comfortable with.  If that is the case, then I would think a miss may not be as common as I am thinking as compared to say a wheelie bow shooter.
I apologize if I am over-complicating this.
Ken

No

Nope,  but not to say i havent or wont miss.

Answering this can be very humbling for some. I have missed a few. I would rather miss than wound. I have done both. In fact about 4 years ago I shot 4 deer that I could not find. That was very discouraging and I had a hard time accepting it. I stopped hunting and worked on my shooting until I felt confident to go back to the woods. Since then I have put heart shots on every deer except one.

What had me so worked up was at the time, I had total confidence in my hunting set up, stand placement, shot selection, ect. But when I released the arrow it was not going where I was looking.

I once had a streak of 33 kills with one miss.RC

Yup... I miss them from the end of January until mid September when the seasons open back up! Heh!  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

No

Haven't missed a deer in the past 18 years with any weapon.

If u count blown stalks I miss them all the time but if I get the chance to drop the string on a med or large game a miss is very rare
Jim

I missed now and then  back in the day, but hasn't happened in a number of years.  Not that it isn't possible I guess.

I tend to shoot over deers back sometimes, but I rarely wound game.

Not when I shoot.....but I do miss them when they just don't show themselves!

Here are my tallies.

0 for 5 on deer. All shots were slam dunks at less than 15 yards. Buck fever or something. The deer never moved. I just flat out shot poorly.  :smileystooges:

Nope, but I take short shots. I've said it before and I'll say it again; you have to be almost cocky in your shooting ability when shooting at live animals. No doubts whatsoever that you are going to make the shot, or don't take the shot..that's what works for me.

The first 33 years I bowhunted, I killed every deer I shot at. The last 10 years is about 50%. I was thinking of quitting, but with health issues and long hrs. at work, believe that to be the reason. Now that I'm retired, I hope to get back to being better.
Hap

Miss a lot of small game.

Well when I shot a compound I was 0 for two on deer and missed a few tree rats and a pheasnat or two. When I went back to trad bow I am 4 for 4 on deer. I am sure misses will come but I try to keep shots real close so a miss never happens, i can only hope that continues.

I've missed three chipmunks recently......small little targets and one actually scurried out of the arrow's path.

The worst day of missing I ever had was my 2nd year in 1971. I missed 3 different deer that morning. I was 17 (56" Grizzly).  I was so bent out of shape with buck fever that I doubt I could hit the ground if I dropped my arrows from the tree!

Since then I've killed deer most years and 3-4 some years. I'm sure I don't miss more than one shot every 5 years but I'm a very conservative shot.  I do wish I had missed 2 of 5 shots I've taken with my recurve since returning to this equipment in 2010.

In 1983 or so I missed an entire herd of Antelope near Lost Cabin, WY. Very humbling. The miss cleared  my sinuses and an Antelope Doe made me 50% later that day.

I don't miss deer or hogs because if I think it's a poor shot, I don't shoot.  I miss squirrels a lot, usually don't miss rabbits, never been able to get to full draw on a turkey, I gotta start using some sort of blind.

I missed the same hog 3 times in a few minutes, a coupla years ago..........even after the third shot she never ran away. I hung my head in shame, gave her the finger and walked off. All were 15 yd shots.

yes, i do.

hunting hogs with dogs is a wild endeavor, and the shots come as they do.

that is my excuse.  

joe

No....

But if you hunt a lot, and a lot of different critters it's bound to happen....but it always surprised the heck out of me when it does   :mad:

hate to sound critical of a legend, but maybe this will put things into perspective:
i'm about 2/3rds done reading fred bears field notes "the adventures of fred bear" and i have to say those guys missed a lot! and took some wild shots! lobbing shots over a rock into a bighorns ribs! running bear! etc. great book by the way.

anyway, i think we all miss in some way or form. maybe not the animal but how about the spot? if you were aiming at a tuft of hair behind the shoulder and stuck it in the liver is that a miss?as long as there is a recovery i guess it doesn't really matter?
what does everyone think?  :dunno:

I have only missed once in my trad lifetime. But I put enormous restrictions on myself and have probably cost myself many possible trophies because of it. But I'm okay with that...I've done pretty well so far!

I've missed, mainley a dirrect result of my lack of concentration caused by "buck fever". I have found out that since I started Traditional years ago that if I just STOP PUTTING SO MUCH THOUGHT INTO EVERYTHING,AND JUST SHOOT, my results have turned around 110%

not with deer and pigs. i set up for 10 to 15 yard shots. squirles are a total different story though. the funny thing is i'm always blown away when i miss one and i have missed hundreds  :banghead:    :banghead:

No

I've missed my share.  Many years ago I missed 3 elk on opening day.  First was a cow that came by me as I was tucked behind a small pine in a meadow. She caught me drawing and was on alert.  She simply was gone when the arrow got there. Next was a small bull at just under 30 raking a tree and my arrow sailed over his back.  Disgusted with my shooting, flustered, and ticked off, I decided to go back to camp and just shoot.  I ran into a herd on the way back and they filed by me at 15 yards. A couple young ones saw me but I was frozen and had the wind so they shrugged it off.  Finally the little 5x5 at the rear came into a shooting lane.  I proceeded to bounce an arrow off his antlers. Hmmm wonder what I was looking at?

I went back to camp and (of course) couldn't miss if I tried :^)

I am much calmer nowadays and without that artificial pressure a young man can have to fill a tag.  Makes for more predictable outcomes when the string drops, but I still toss up an airball now and then.

Shot plenty of critters where the arrow didn't go exactly where I wanted it.  If they run 30 yards and tip over, its pretty easy to wipe that "miss" from the memory bank.  Other times that kind of "miss" results in a trail with no end and will stick with a guy a long, long time.

I try and learn from it and take the steps to prevent it from happening again, but shooting wild game with a bow is an imprecise venture with the potential for serious success or failure looming over every opportunity.

Sure I miss, some of my most memorable moments are misses.

Recently letting go my "training wheels" a couple years ago, I can say I've missed less with the stick than with the wheels.  But then again, for every one shot taken with the stick ... I've probably had something like 20 for the wheels.  However, I think the percentages are close.  

Turkeys are another story for me.  I've got a horrible track record with turkeys ... I seem to always shoot over those things!!! Ok, not "always," but it feels like that.

I think you're right, generally, that a trad hunter considers they're shot more deeply than a wheelie hunter.  Yet, I hope it's probably more a function of the hunter than what they're shooting.  I've got to imagine the passionate ones take the same deep approach to their trad hunting as they did any other hunting.

The misses can be caused from a heightened level of respect for the animal. For instance; I have never shot at a deer over 14yds and have managed to screw it up every time. I am so careful in my shot selection, that when the time actually comes, I am way too excited and mess up.  :banghead:

I should have had at least one deer for every year I have been shooting with traditional equipment. I don't get as excited with groundhogs for instance and have no problem with them.

Rabbits seem to be another problem for me altogether. I'm not even going to get into that...

Not often, if I did Id have to strongly evaluate if I really belonged in the woods with a stickbow at that particular stage in time. Missed more small game than I can count but not big game. I tend to get Elvis legs after the shot, not before.

No

I was`nt counting squirrels. Heck I miss 80% of them.RC

Thanks guys....after starting to think about it, that's what I figured I would hear.
Oh, and Elvis legs!  LOL....gotta remember that one.
Ken

No
I expect to kill every time I draw my bow

the more particular I am about animals being; calm, close, broadside, and unaware of me.  the less I miss.  I'll go 7, 8 in a row  then blow one. be particular.

I have missed a few....

I haven't missed on a hog, whitetail, or turkey. I take that back. I did miss a buck a couple of years ago, when my string hung up on a strap. The arrow went right between his legs. Other than that, no I haven't missed. Now, I've missed my aiming spot by a few inches, but those shots were still within my margin of error, and I ended up with clean kills.

In 30 years, I've only lost one animal. It was on a turkey, and I made a killing shot, but he had enough energy left to fly into the thickest swamp imaginable. I'd have had to actually step on it to find it.

I have had a couple of liver shot deer that made for difficult tracking jobs, but, with the help of my dog, I was able to find those animals.

I'm pretty cautious when it comes to shot selection, though, and don't mind letting something walk if everything isn't just right.

On coyotes, I have missed a few shots. Those shots were at pretty long distances, at night, and at some pretty skittish critters, so I don't feel too bad about those misses.

On squirrels, I probably kill about 1 in 5. I do give half of the misses haircuts, though.

Very seldom.  Once in the past four years.  Now if you count small game, a little more.

Tree rats are challenging.

Squirrels and rabbits? All the time.

Big game? No. I don't take long shots, I always set up so my opportunities will be a slam dunk. Certainly I HAVE missed, but not recently....when I was younger and dumber....lots.

The year I first started hunting with traditional gear I missed 6 yes 6 deer in a row!  This was largely due to inexperience and buck fever. I don't miss big game to often anymore but it does happen. I missed a very big Illinois buck a few years ago and that one still hurts. Most of my misses were due to being overly excited/putting too much pressure on myself.  Going to africa really helped me. When you are hunting there you will get more shots at big game animals in one ten or fourteen day hunt than you will get in many seasons of deer hunting.

If a guy shoots at three deer and hits one in the guts, one in the leg and the other too high in front shoulder, not able to find them after a reasonable search, does that mean they did not miss?    :dunno:  

I can't help but wonder if the question was: "do you make a clean kill shot every time" and /or are you able to retrieve all of your game....the responses would be much different.     :p  

I don't take shots (deer) these days that don't have a great potential for a clean kill.  Consequently I don't drop the string too often  but have shot at a few tree rats, only to kill one in my lifetime.

Yes
I miss more than I hit.
Normally over or under.
Ive nicked a leg a time or two.
I am a good shot on paper, but for some reason I miss deer.
I can hit a tennis ball more times than not at 12 yards.
Ive hit soda bottles on the roll.

But a deer is often safe from harm.
Just keeping it real.

QuoteOriginally posted by Macatawa:
If a guy shoots at three deer and hits one in the guts, one in the leg and the other too high in front shoulder, not able to find them after a reasonable search, does that mean they did not miss?     :dunno:    

I can't help but wonder if the question was: "do you make a clean kill shot every time" and /or are you able to retrieve all of your game....the responses would be much different.      :p    

I don't take shots (deer) these days that don't have a great potential for a clean kill.  Consequently I don't drop the string too often  but have shot at a few tree rats, only to kill one in my lifetime.

I assumed thats what the OP ment....you are correct, a marginal hit is much worse than a miss.

quote:

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Originally posted by Macatawa:
If a guy shoots at three deer and hits one in the guts, one in the leg and the other too high in front shoulder, not able to find them after a reasonable search, does that mean they did not miss?     :goldtooth:  

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