todays big buck

[daniel collums]

well it was the perfect day, got to sleep in late done a few chores around the house and got my firewood stacked on the porch. ate dinner and decided to hunt with my t/c .54 hawken today because i was going to my stand by the swamp where the hogs came from. got up in my stand and just got the stand strapped to the tree. i sat down got a cap on the nipple and heard a hound running and getting closer, i aimed my rifle in the direction of the hound and there comes the buck, a good one he looked like a 8 point with about a 15 inch rack. i pulled the hammer back and pulled the set trigger, the buck ran up to about 30 yards of my tree and stopped. i put the bead on his front shoulder, he was almost standing straight on looking my way. i thought to myself this is just so good then i pulled the trigger boom, he kinda jumped up then took off. he ran right by me. i think i must have jerked the trigger or hit a limb or all the powder didn't go off or my barrel got bent or my sight got off or i had a bad flyer or he jumped the ball, it was awful cold and my eyes were watering. whatever happened i missed clean. i think i shot right under. like the old man says, sometimes it be's like that.

 

[Patocazador]

"Stuff Happens." Too bad. That would have been a nice end to the day.

 

[daniel collums]

i should have waited he was fixing to walk right beside me, i think buck fever hit me. now that its over with i'm glad i missed. he would have been my last buck, i still have a bunch of doe's i can harvest but i like the thought of being able to get a wall hanger if he comes by late in the season which last till the end of jan.

 

[George]

Did you try to track him? Don't really expect a clean miss at 30 yards.

Spence

 

[Richard J.]

There is a lot of people that assume they missed the shot. You need to get on the track and follow. Some will run a good ways. If it is a high shot there will be no blood for a long ways, then it will pour out everywhere. If you pull the trigger it is your duty to make sure it is a clean miss.

 

[daniel collums]

i know i missed, he just trotted right by me less than 15 yards to my side without any kind of mark . then he stopped on the next ridge and turned back listing to the hound that was chasing him. then the dog came by and ran him off and it was so quiet you could still hear the hound a mile away running him. i replayed the shot over and over knowing i shot low, then i climbed down found where he stood. there was a hole busted into the ground, no hair or blood or meat or bone. i followed his tracks all the way over to the next ridge where he was standing, found where him and the hound crossed a sandy ditch and then i followed his tracks to the next hill. if i thought i hit him i would have kept on going.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Sorry about the miss. Look at it this way; You didn't have to clean him :rotf: You'll do better next time. Dan.

 

[JonnyReb3]

Did the same thing 3 seasons ago with the biggest buck i've ever seen in the woods. Was broadside at 30 yards and motionless when i pulled the trigger. Clean miss verified with hours of searching..no sign of a hit and testing of the rifle that hit 18" low at the same distance plus 2+ years of reliving the hunt in my mind made me realize," i guess it was me".. ..HOW DID I MISS?

Fired off the T\C White mountain Carbine about 3 hours after i watched the buck of a lifetime run off and it shot a foot and a half low.(hours of preseason testing beforehand).. bumped sights..whatever..i screwed up and have just now begun to accept that.. in other words, i know kinda how you feel. :blah:

 

[Livbucks]

Hey I was on a deer drive last year. Whole slew of fawns came running up to me so close I could hear them breathing. Waited on a fat nanny to come out and sure enough she did. Aiming at her from 15 yards as she stood there. The fawns were looking at me and looking at her wondering what to do. I touched it off and they all flushed. Walked over to where the conical hit the ground and not a spot of hair nor blood. Shot right under her. Still do not know what happened besides I was just caught up in the moment and didnt do all that I was supposed to. All I could do was wish her a Happy New Year.