Best Miss Story

[Osprey]

I opened myself up on this one on the other thread, so figured I'd go ahead and start it - "best muzzleloader miss story." :redface:

Got a couple that rank pretty high, but I'll start with whitetail. Maybe ten years ago there was a nice 8 point on my farm I was after. Had a few trail cam pics of him over two years and watched him in the fields during the summer. During early BP season in late October I finally saw him, edge of dark, stepping into a cleared woods lane about 60 yards away. Rack looked as tall and big as a bushel basket, shining white in the twilight. Lined up the sights on the .54 TC Renegade, hit the set trigger, then touched off the main trigger. Boom. No sign, no hit, never have figured out to this day where I hit or how I missed. Was a very depressing night.

But it got better that same November, killed him with my bow, 20 yard shot, hiding on the ground in some brush with a doe decoy in the field. Just over P&Y minimums, still the best one I've personally taken off our place. :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

'90-'91 was on stand at first light with a .50cal TC Hawken caplock I'd left loaded over night in the house, charged with Pyrodex...6 pointer steps out onto a loggers road, I touch the set trigger and the cap goes off but not the main...I'm barely starting to relax my hold and the darn thing went off...must have been a 4-5 second hang fire.

Rifle season started a week later and I ended up killing that same buck with a .30-30...when I walked over to him, there was a patch of hair grazed off across the top of his spine straight up above his heart area where the hang fire PRB went.

Have never / will never hunt with a muzzleloader that was left loaded overnight again.

 

[Halftail]

I actually got a couple of "Missed" Yarns that turned out OK.First one....It was November 93' I was still hunting up over a steep Pine ridge deep in the Tobeatic Wilderness area.I had never taken a buck with My Hawkin 50.and I just stepped over a log when I catch a glimpse of this deer walking my way.Darn thing walks right up to me not 12 yards away before I can see his small 6 point rack.I took aim kinda at his brisket/chest area and let haul at him....It stopped him dead in his tracks :shocked2: I mean he was very much alive.. :shocked2: Immeadiatly I started reloading and almost got the ball drove home before he dropped down over the steep side of the ridge.. :shake: ...Luckily I went back to that same ridge 6 days later and killed him with my .308 and like Roundball he was missing a strip of hair right accross his brisket area.I'm chalking that one up to being out of breath from climbing that steep hill.....That's that story and I'm sticking to it... :wink:
Another miss happened in 04'
Late that year some snow on the ground and a fine mist was in the air.I loaded early before Daylight and hunted a few miles northwest of the camp in some "New" country.Got back to camp at around lunch time.Brought my New Englander in and wiped the water off of the barrell and stock wood.Had lunch and beat it to my Treestand where I had been watchin 12 Does and Fawns most of the season.I sat there till almost dark when this smaller 4 pointer walked into range...I took good site on the Butt of his neck and "Let go".....SNAP!! The cap went and so did the buck.....This was late in November and it was the only buck I had seen that year... :cursing: :cursing:
I ducked down in my blind and put on a new cap and peeked up over the side and looked down in the trees and there he was 20 yards down in there farther standing @ss to me looking over his shoulder...I stood up took good sight on the back of his head/Neck and "Let go".Got lucky on that one.Gonna be interesting to read the Miss Yarns!

 

[Osprey]

I guess this is my best (worst?) one, and it's on sika. Late BP season a few years ago, late Dec/early Jan. I guess I shouldn't mention what sort of muzzleloader I was using at the time. :surrender: Had hiked across the salt marsh to a small pine island, climbed way up a pine in my summit stand for the afternoon and settled in to wait. It was cold and windy, probably 25-30 mph blowing across miles of open water and marsh before it hit me. Skinny old Loblolly pine was swaying pretty good. Been there an hour or so and looked over to see a nice 6pt stag, trophy size sika, feeding in the bayberry bushes, maybe 75 yards away. He was coming toward me, so I let him come. He finally reached about 45 yards, but his body was hidden behind a fallen pine and brush. His head and neck, however, were well in the open. I lined him in the scope (yeah, it was one of those...), crosshairs on his neck, figured it was a cake shot. Hit the trigger and BOOM. Sika dissapeared.

Now this is a small island, so I'm thinking cool, I nailed him and dropped him in his tracks in the brush. So sure that I didn't reload. 20 seconds later he shoots out of that bayberry brush doing about mach 4, running out into the needle rush, and stands there, broadside, at 80 yards. Of course no load in the gun. I'm frantically trying to reload and put a primer in the gun, when I look up he's gone. But it's miles of 2-3 foot tall grass around, and I don't see him running, so I'm still hoping, that he either fell dead or bedded there.

Finish re-loading, climb down the tree in the stand, walk over to where I last saw him. I get within 25 yards and the grass starts moving like a gopher is in it, a wake heading across the marsh. C'mon, just pick your head up deer, I thought, but he kept his head tucked tight under the tops of that needle rush until he was over 100 yards away, then started bounding in big leaps. Hateful devil deer.

Went back and looked at the first spot I shot at him, a branch was clipped off near where he stood. I forgot that with the wind blowing the tree was arcing 2-3 foot, so by the time I pulled the trigger and it went off I actually shot way wide. I think the branch fell on him and he hit the dirt, not knowing what was happening in all that wind.

I love sika, but sometimes I really hate sika... :cursing:

 

[Halftail]

It don't suprize me but we must be the only 3 "Doughheads" on this forum to ever miss a deer with a muzzleloader... :shake: :wink:

 

[Osprey]

I doubt that! Just the only three confident and good looking enough to admit our faults and miscues. :hatsoff:

 

[Halftail]

You got the good lookin part right....

:wink:

 

[Hoyt]

Whats a miss?

 

[rabjr]

I don't generally miss with muzzle loaders but I have once or twice through the years. The best "Miss story" has to be last years late season...

I took out my 1792 Contract rifle with hopes of ending the season with tagging a Doe. Just before dark a nice Doe trailed by her yearling came out into my shooting lane. She stopped broadside and the yearling which was a few steps behind her kept coming. I remember saying to myself I need to shoot if I'm going to before the yearling gets in the way. I could see out of the corner of my eye as the yearling's head pulled up even with the Doe's rear end, I focused on the sights and pulled the trigger at about the same time. Through the smoke, I see a deer run to the right, one was sprawled out on the ground frantically trying to regain it's feet, it does and runs off to the left. I assume the deer I shot went left. A search left turned up nothing so scratching my head I reran the shot over and over. We searched to the right, nothing.

Looking at the spot where the Doe stood when I shot, we found a divot in the dirt and this Miss story started to come together. :haha:

I apparently dropped the front end when I shot and shot under her hitting the dirt which pelted her. Causing her to buck, of which the yearling that was just stepping up to her caught the full force of her kick, knocking her flat on the ground. Happening so fast and looking through smoke, I assumed the wrong animal had been shot.

I hate missing but this one sure was funny as hell to me later. :haha:

 

[RC]

I member that story swampy! but boy i sure do feel better that nite knowin i missed than the wonderin...strange how them misses stay with jus like the hits do...boy i member mine...oh god...still :cursing: me!

 

[RonT]

Not ML related, but since you mentioned bowhunting also... Mr. Big was standing on a trail to the right of the tree,maybe 10 yds., he started to walk to my left,I led, shot and WHAAAAAK!

 

[roadrat79]

Well I dont have one about me But I gota post about my Fater and Brother-inlaws Draw cow elk hunt last year in Idaho and the elk with 9 lives (careful their smart, the'll mess with your mind).
This was the first ML hunt for my brother-inlaw (B-L) and the first ml hunt for my dad in a loooong time. First mistake, they didnt practice nearly enough....well hold on here goes.. :rotf:
They were out hunting opening weekend and had split up in the morning when my B-L just about walks into a cow elk, something like 45 yards which is pretty close for their area. She is just standing there patiently while he pulls up on her and then "Click" :cursing: nothing, well she takes off running and happens to run through the bottom of an old clear cut with ohh about 8ft new pines growing in it that Dad is watching from the top. Well Dad sees her, sites up, ~85yrds and fires when she stops to look back, :cursing: his fired but he got a ticket from the forest ranger for cutting down a green tree...well ok no ticket but that 8ft tree is only 3ft tall now :grin: . Well this elk now decides to give my B-L another chance and heads back that way and practically runs him over, this kinda sorta happens again later on in the season also except with a herd of 20, the running over part. Well my B-L gets his gun up now with a new cap on it and sites in and fires, and waits..................Boom.. :cursing: ...hang fire...and he didnt follow through.. that was a lucky Elk...a smart one too demoralized them a little, they said that they could here it :rotf: at them in the brush... :grin: but gave the family a great story :rotf:

 

[captaincaveman]

2002, NICE 10 pt. at 20 yrds. I was using Dads .54 Renegade. I missed. Oh wait... It gets better. He ran 10 yrds and watched me reload. I missed him again at 30 yards. He just stood there looking at me like an idiot. At this point I just said "oh hell, you win, get the (bleep) outta here!!!" I shot the rifle the next day and it was like a foot and a half high at 25 yrds!!! The #$%&ing adjustable sight must have moved in the truck on the way there :cursing:

Josh

 

[jethro224]

OK. Year before last I was sitting there in the falling snow when a basket-racked 8 point walked right up on me. Maybe 6 or 8 yards. It was a bad angle for a right hander so I decided to shoot him lefty. My GPR flinter went off and the lil buck took off.

I watched him run as far as I could see him. Then I went over and looked for blood. There was none. No hair either. I couldn't have missed that close! So I started trailing him.

50 yards later there was still no blood. I went back to where I shot at him and there it was... a nice, neatly centered shot into a sapling! :redface:


My "Best" miss was with a bow tho. At the time, I had yet to kill an antlered buck, or any deer at all with a bow. I finally got the chance on a smallish 9 pointer at about 15 yards and shot right over his back. He hightailed it out of there.

After a few minutes, I climbed down from my treestand and fetched my arrow. I couldn't believe I missed such a gimme shot.

Back in the stand, I played the shot over in my head and mentally kicked myself for flubbin' it up. After a few minutes I came to the conclusion that I had better take a practice shot. There was a brightly colored leaf on the ground about where the buck had been when I missed so I imagined it was a deer and flung an arrow straight into the leaf.

Imagine my surprise when the woods exploded right behind me at the sound of the thud. That same buck had sneaked back in on me and was standing RIGHT BEHIND ME when I took the practice shot! I coulda been takin' a real shot! Instead I'm watchin' my buck run away again.

Now I'm REALLY flustered. Sittin' there in my tree. Can't believe I just blew it AGAIN! :cursing: And I hear a noise behind me again... It's a doe! At about 5 yards! Gravy shot!

I ease up from my seat and sloooooowwwwwly turn around to take the shot. I'm at about 1/2 draw and hear another noise behind me again. Glance over my shoulder and THERE HE IS AGAIN! Just standing there lookin' at the doe.

I gotta try for the buck so I let down my draw and start to turn around for the shot. When I get part way turned, he starts walking toward the doe... the wrong way... goes behind me again.

Well, I never did get another shot that day. The buck and the doe wandered off into the sunset together. I went home deerless but with a heck of a good story and a memory forever. :grin:

 

[GreyWhiskers]

My best miss was actually 2 misses. I just got my driver's license and took Dad's truck into the hills for the weekend archery opener. I decided to stand under a large oak tree and watch a game trail. Sure enuf a small forked horn wandered in and stopped about 25 yards in front of me. I let fly and the arrow deflected when it hit a twig hanging from the tree. The buck ran off.

While I was kicking myself and wondering if I should try to find my arrow the same buck came back with a larger 3 pointer. Could have shot the small buck at 10 yards but decided to shoot the bigger one that was standing in the exact same place as my first shot. Well the arrow hit the exact same twig and you know the rest of the story. :hmm: GW

 

[KyFlintlock]

I was stillhunting with the .50 flinter about 5 years ago through a cedar thicket very slowly and gave a few grunts, when to my astonishment a buck grunted back and stood up about 15 yards from me in the thick (very thick)! He was a GREAT BUCK, lots of points, long tines and whopper! I immediately laid the hammer back and took aim. He turned toward me, but it was SO thick I couldn't get a good chest shot. He took a step toward a hole and all I needed was one more step for a clear shot. Then, his eyes met mine and they grew twice their size, he had me. I took aim at the best spot I could get through and fired. When the smoke cleared there was some white hair and he was gone. I had hit one of those dang branches and grazed his belly.

Long live the king. I had never seen him before that day and we never saw him again. I did hear the neighbor killed a big 13pt that same fall, who knows.....

wess

 

[TDW]

About 12 years ago my son (14 at the time),and I went out to fill my "B" doe tag. We were going to hunt a friends ranch a short drive from town. On our way we passed the local game warden at his "check station". We stopped to shoot the breeze for a few minutes, and to show off the new Palyszeski type D smooth bore I intended to use.The whole idea of hunting with a flint smoothie interested the warden and he said he would be at the check station all day and to be sure to stop on the way down.
We arrived at the ranch and were soon on the hill. I was eager to try the smoothbore as i had been practicing with it for a month, and knew I could hold a 3 or 4 inch group at 50 yards with it easily. As we eased over the first hill, we came upon a group of mule deer grazing contentedly about 40 yds away. At the center of the group stood the largest buck I have ever seen.
Now, I used to guide elk hunters for a living, and the sight of big horns never really got me excited. This was a monster!! The terrain was open and level and the buck was standing broadside to us about 35 or 40 yards distant. My son was behind me and whispered "geez dad, thats a huge buck!!". I was standing next to an old dead tree so I eased the smoothbore over a low branch. With a dead rest, no wind, and a broadside shot, I was already congratulating myself on the kill. I touched her off and the musket roared! The shot went right between the bucks legs and impacted against the hill. I COULDN'T BELIEVE I MISSED!! to which my son whispered "Wow dad, I can't believe you missed!!" (smart alecky kid!).
The buck didn't even flinch and stood contentedly eating while I frantically reloaded. Again, I braced against the branch and touched the musket off. KLATCH..POOF! I hadn't cleaned the touch hole!! "Uhh, Dad", my son started to say something, but I "shushhed him (smart alecky kid!). Hurridly repriming I leaned back against the branch and took a well deliberated shot. This one went over the bucks back, and hit the hillside!! At this, the buck started to wander unhurridly toward the top of the hill (probably thought it was too windy and noisy where he was!!).
I figured I had one chance left, that I could reload as he walked up the hill. I thought that if I didn't spook him I could get one more shot at him after he went over the hill. "Uhh, Dad" my son started but I shushhed him one more time (danged smart alecky kid!). I reloaded (remembering to clear the touch hole!). The huge buck crested the hill and casually walked over the top. My son and I quickly made our way to the top of the hill only to see the buck 500 yards away and gone at a dead run! I knew something must have happened to the musket to make it shoot so badly, so further hunting was pointless. I knew it couldn't be me, as I never get buck fever! On the way back to the truck I spotted a small white rock on the hillside about 50 yds away. klatchboomwhack! the small rock disintegrated!
The truth became obvious and I was humiliated! At this point my son piped up "Well it could have been a lot worse!" I asked him how he figured that. He replied "Well, you would have had a tough time explaining that buck to the game warden, CAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE A BUCK TAG...REMEMBER??!" Uhhh!!! I'd kinda forgot that part!
My Humiliation complete, I did what every good father should do. I swore him to secrecy under threat of death, and promised him to be more understanding when he did stupid kid stuff!!
Tom(who listens to his smart alecky son more than he used to)

 

[Osprey]

Somebody was looking out for you on that one! Be happy you missed. :shocked2:

 

[smo]

The Hole In The Ear Deer . We played peek-a-boo in a honey suckle patch in the rain for about 5 mins. before I got P.O. & took a head shot at about 30yds. When the smoke cleared I walked over to claim my critter. When I arrived at the spot where he was standing, No Deer to be found .As I was re-loading my rifle I noticed movement across the hollow to my left it was the same buck playing peek-a-boo again. :nono: This time he wasn't as lucky. ( Sorry about the Pic but was taken a while back with a 35mm ) Link

 

[wildeagle]

My second yr archery hunting I had my 10 yr old with me. He was about 5 yrds away in some honeysuckle. I was hunkering down behind a big oak. A couple of deer came wandering down the trail with a 5 pt in the middle of the pack. Now being my 1st deer with a bow I was being real careful and trying to remember to do it right, I had him dead to rights and let the arrow go... THWACK , sounded to loud for deer!!! My son and I went to look for the arrow and found it buried dead center in an oak sapling, then to add insult to injury my boy asked me why I didn't shoot at the big one!!! I said " I did, didn't you see me ". He said not that one , the one behind the group , IT HAD SIX POINTS ON ONE BEAM , AND I COULD'NT COUNT HOW MANY ON THE OTHER BEAM. Out of the mouths of babes. :shocked2: :surrender: