My Weekend of Almosts

[jims82]

Opening morning I missed a nice 5x5 bull. I forgot my range finder at camp and guessed him to be 45 yards when really he ended up being 52. Needless to say my arrow went right under his chest and stuck in a tree behind him. Later that night I was in a tree stand and could hear the buck in the picture coming fast. I set up for the shot where it sounded like he was coming. He ended up coming out of the trees 15 yards more to my right. In my current position I was unable to shoot that direction without standing up in the tree stand and turning half way around. He ran and stopped directly under my stand. I thought a couple of steps and I would have him. Instead he got my wind and sprinted 50 yards behind me and behind a wall of trees. Than the next morning I spotted him coming at about 80 yards. At 70 yards he stopped and made a slow 70-100 yard half circle around me and continued on his way. I changed game plans and tried to catch him closer to his bedding area that night and Monday morning but he never showed up. I am not too disappointed yet, I have him patterned pretty well and will hopefully get another shot next weekend. Hopefully my next post will be him on the ground.

What do you guess on score? I was thinking 175-180ish

 

[m48goat]

oh man..that was an unlucky weekend! hopefully next weekend you get that buck! seems like you have him figured out! good luck!
-goat

 

[OldJake]

good luck!

 

[mmwb]

Unlucky in terms of filling the tags, but getting a shot at a good bull and seeing a great buck... sounds like a good weekend to me.

 

[sageadvice]

" ...uessed him to be 45 yards when really he ended up being 52. Needless to say my arrow went right under his chest..."

Forgot your rangefinder? If the distance between 45 and 52 yards is the difference between a sure kill and a miss...or worse a crippling shot, maybe a guy should not take that shot without a rangefinder. There are very few, if any, guys that i know that can tell 45 from 52 yards in the field!

I don't know, i don't mean to be tough on you but i Never forget my rangefinder after a hard lesson learned years ago, never! Sounds like you are in good country with good tags. Good luck on you coming up hunts!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[theox]

>" ...uessed him to be 45
>yards when really he ended
>up being 52. Needless to
>say my arrow went right
>under his chest..."
>
>Forgot your rangefinder? If the distance
>between 45 and 52 yards
>is the difference between a
>sure kill and a miss...or
>worse a crippling shot, maybe
>a guy should not take
>that shot without a rangefinder.
>There are very few, if
>any, guys that i know
>that can tell 45 from
>52 yards in the field!
>
>
>I don't know, i don't mean
>to be tough on you
>but i Never forget my
>rangefinder after a hard lesson
>learned years ago, never! Sounds
>like you are in good
>country with good tags. Good
>luck on you coming up
>hunts!!
>
>Joey
>
>
>"It's all about knowing what your
>firearms practical limitations are and
>combining that with your own
>personal limitations!"


i disagree. i choose not to use a range finder as it further challenges me. i think that would be stupid to not shoot just cause you forgot your electonic cheating device!


too bad on your misses,such is hunting! thats what makes it fun! no guarantee!

 

[IDArcher]

>" ...uessed him to be 45
>yards when really he ended
>up being 52. Needless to
>say my arrow went right
>under his chest..."
>
>Forgot your rangefinder? If the distance
>between 45 and 52 yards
>is the difference between a
>sure kill and a miss...or
>worse a crippling shot, maybe
>a guy should not take
>that shot without a rangefinder.
>There are very few, if
>any, guys that i know
>that can tell 45 from
>52 yards in the field!
>
>
>I don't know, i don't mean
>to be tough on you
>but i Never forget my
>rangefinder after a hard lesson
>learned years ago, never! Sounds
>like you are in good
>country with good tags. Good
>luck on you coming up
>hunts!!
>

Dear Mr. Ethics Police,
Maybe this is the hard lesson that will teach him to not forget his rangefinder again. We're all entitled to making mistakes and I certainly dont fault him for taking that shot. Maybe he's comfortable shooting that far and he's probably really good at judging yardage but sometimes there are things that make the distance a little deceptive. Sorry we cant all be as perfect as you and never forget a piece of our equipment all mighty one.

 

[TOPGUN]

If he was really that good at judging yardages like the previous post mentioned, then he wouldn't need a range finder and would have made the shot it would seem! I would have to agree with Joey that if that 7 yards makes the difference between a kill and a miss I would have the range finder tied to my bow or something else that always goes in the field with me so as not to forget it and miss, or even worse, wound an animal. Anyway, IMHO there was no big reason to make the snotty remark in the last sentence of the previous post.

 

[Zeke]

Your weekend sounds like a resounding success to me. Even if no critters hit the dirt you had success. Congrats on that.
It will be even sweeter when you come back on the site and share your successes pics with us.
Keep up the good work and good luck,
Zeke

 

[sageadvice]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-21-12 AT 07:39PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Aug-21-12 AT 07:19?PM (MST)

Those that follow my stuff know that i don't spend a lot of time here being part of the "ethic Police". I did though, just finish our third class of teaching our local Hunters Education and must say that a large portion of the class teaches these students to make sure that they know the distance and absolutely can make the shot, BEFORE shooting,.. or don't take the shot.

Wild shots being just part of the game as in, "i disagree. i choose not to use a range finder as it further challenges me. i think that would be stupid to not shoot just cause you forgot your electonic cheating device!" Is idiotic at best. If you don't know the distance and exactly where you will hit, you have no business shooting at a animal. Period!! I am surprised you would say something as that ox, seems you should know better.

I know from reading thousands of posts here, that there are some few who appear to have no ethics whatsoever, that i was going to get some rift from a few. I don't care! If you can't shoot responsibly, don't shoot at all!

So anyway, To the original poster, no biggie but Dude, lol, don't forget the RF!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[jims82]

Thanks for all the posts. I am always open to constructive criticism. In my own defense however, that was my first time with a bow not having a range finder. I had set it on my pack the night before so I wouldn't forget to put it on. At 4:30 am in my dilusional state i must have bumped my pack and it fell with out me noticing. I was kicking myself about it the whole morning.

I feel very comfortable shooting 50 yards and practice almost on a daily basis. I had ranged a bunch of other shooting spots from my stand before the hunt so I knew approximate distances. The trail I was hoping he would come through was 22 yards away. THe bull took a trail a little further back which was unexpected. I had plenty of time to think about the yardage and decided that it looked just about twice the distance. I felt I was right on and so I took the shot. Turns out I was dead wrong and that is why I own a range finder, which I will never forget again.

 

[littlebighorn]

jims,
It sounds like you had a lot more excitement than I did last weekend. I didn't even knock an arrow, but we did see some nice animals so we will keep at it.
Anyone who has hunted for very long has made a mistake or two, and you are wise to accept some constructive criticism.
Forgetting a RF is less likely to happen now for you and you have obviously learned something from it. I suspect even sage has done a stupid thing or two, in his hunting experience! I know I have.
The point is to capitalize on mistakes so they don't repeat themselves. I am hoping this weekend will turn out even better...for both of us.

 

[sageadvice]

LBH said, " I suspect even sage has done a stupid thing or two, in his hunting experience!"

Hundreds probably!! lol Some even a second time...but i try to learn and share with others the mistakes i've made, part of the reason i'm here now. Lots of times i think about a mistake or stupid thing i've done, laugh to myself, and move on!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[Califelkslayer]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-22-12 AT 07:13AM (MST)[p]On my wife's antelope hunt a few years ago I carried my rangefinder religiously, for several days. I took it out of my pocket one time cause it was jabbing me while in the truck. As luck would have it we saw a good buck, drove the truck around a hill and stopped. In my haste to get her out with all of her gear, I left the range finder :-(.

After a long stalk concluding with a crawl, she was set up prone with her pack as a rest. I reached for the range finder, whoops!

I guessed 300 and had her hold 2/3s up the animal. Way off, probably closer to 400. She did figure it out on the 3rd shot and took her first animal BUT it would have been nice to just put him to sleep in his bed.

It sounds like you had a great weekend. That's archery hunting, and why we do it. Good luck throughout the season.

 

[DidIDraw]

Great buck! Hope you get your chance at him.

I don't care that you forgot your rangefinder. I'd be a hypocrite to say I've always had it together when I hunt (I've forgotten everything under the sun at one time or another).

 

[SWAGshootn]

I'm done with the Ethics Police on MM!!

I'm glad someone had a little excitement and got to fling and arrow or two

 

[fatrooster]

Congrats to sageadvice for bringing up his opinion and a bigger congrats to Jims82 for being a big man and thanking sage for his comments. We've all made stupid mistakes and we've all been chastised for them. It takes a big man to accept it and move on with a smile on his face. I've learned a lot on MM and sometimes I've found myself changing my methods of hunting and my opinion of my ethics. Thanks to all of you who give your advice. fatroioster.

 

[RipnFlip]

Last weekend ranged a buck at 40 yards he walked off behind trees. I circled around and got in from of him. He appeared walking at me. Threw up the rangefinder didn't work. Pushed the button again and nothing. I guessed him around 30-35 yards. Decided not to even draw back. Just a 22-24 3x3 stupid batteries. Got home went str8 to the store got 2 new batteries. Now if he was a giant I for sure would of let it fly. tie that rfinder to ur backpack lol. Good luck