I believe mine was a huge muley, maybe a tad short of 35"s BTW, That was many years ago...I stepped on him and he exploded out from under me..My first shot was at probably 6 feet, missed, the next 5 or 6 also missed and he then walked away as I dropped a box of 30-30s in the dirt and was fumbling to find one and load, by then he had dropped over the saddle...

I heard a shot on the other side and climbed over to see my dad and uncle gutting him, close inspectin showed a furrow of hair over his shoulders but never scratched the skin...sad day for a kid...

Another was when I was about 11 or 12 and the ranch hand took me hunting..He aways stepped off his horse rested his .22 pumb over the saddle and shot his deer, so when we saw a deer I did the same with my 25-35, I heard a scream and he grabbed my gun, yelling shit don't do that!! OK..

The at last we jumped a big buck and I stepped off and my gun wouldn't shoot, the hammer was on half cock, he said your hammer isn't cocked so I cocked it but the deer was gone, I had a raging case of buck fever so I turned explain and KA-BOOM rocks all over his horse and the horse dumped him, he got up grabbed the gun and home we went, not words were spoken...Another not so hot day for a kid!! Thats just two incidents, I can tell you 100 more just like them...Dad said the only deer and elk I killed were the ones that zigged when they should of zagged..

Just how I survived my mispent cowboy/ hunter youth is still one of the mysteries of this world, but I will credit it to Lone Star beer.

Hmmmmmmmm, I don't recall ever missing.

easy one.......the 87th target in a trap shoot.....it cost me my first (and never again got that close) 100 straight at trap.

Oh, yea....the cheap bastards at federal wouldn't send me a 99 badge for my jacket!!!

Read my story I got one! in the hog hunting forum. I had some long range misses, but a pitiful miss at probably 15-20 yards when the hog ran out of the thickets. I did manage to kill the hog though.

On African game, I haven't been across the pond ... yet.

well, I've had a couple, first one to think of was a chip shot at a nice Eland and nto really a miss but worse............I pulled on the trigger and nothing happened, check the saftey, pulled again, nothing..........Eland hauled ass, then I realized I didnt have the bolt closed.

Huge pigs all of 15 yards away, I had an 1894p marlin .44 rem mag with tasco propoint I placed the dot on his chest and squeezed the trigger and the bullet went under his belly and so did the rest of the mag 7 shots I think, it was a lean trip and that woudl have made things a little nicer.

I don't own a red dot site any more

2nd place high school JROTC national championship match 1984 rimfire 3 position rifle, so close. However my true Miss of a lifetime was a redhead with big hooters and she got away, far away.

Had a nice easy shot, about 100 yds, at a Mulie in the Sierras and mounted my '06, saw nuttin but black. Had my scope cover still on. By the time I got 'em off, he was was sproinking into Nevada.

In 2000 on my return to africa I had a .416 Rem.mag built.I did not get it in time to reload for it. And was not shooting as well as I felt I should.First day in camp I miss on a big baboon.Chased them over a mountain then having to walk back to the truck.Next day I've got a waterbuck 35-40 yards away.Everytime I bring up the rifle I totally loose them.My P.H. finally grabs the barrel of my rifle pointing right there.Needless to say I still cant see a thing.Then I shoot a very small gemsbok cow.I did manage to get a good red hartebeest and zebra.Once back home and at work I noticed my vision was blurry.The eye doctor got it sorted out.Aint made a bad shot since.

In April of this year, during the rut, after having had an interesting few hours trying to entice Sika stags to show themselves it was time to sit down and have a short break. I was leaning against a tree on a small clearing. There were plenty of indications of stags being in residence but they had not shown themselves. After eating some dates and drinking some cool water, a pair of antlers bobbed up in front of me at about 30 yards. They traversed my showing a magnificent trophy animal which stopped behind a tree. The stags stuck his head around the tree and looked right at me. Bloody hell it was the best head I had ever seen on a live animal. Remembering that I had shot a pig at about the same distance the week before which resulted in spliting his head wide open I slowly reached for my rifle, which was at my side and looked at the antlers. Oh my! There were indeed wonderful. I pulled the trigger and clearly saw the animal react to to the shot. He bound away, never to be seen again.
I did find blood and a little bone which looked like it came from the animals skull. There were abrasions on saplings which the animal ran through and caught those magnificent antlers on. I spent some two hours looking for that stag but could not find him. A few hours later, with two friends, we tracked the animal with a dog but after several miles the dog lost the scent where the trail crossed a stream.
I have never been so disapointed in loosing an animal. I even returned a week later to the area and walked around for some time sniffing in great lungsful of air in the hope of being able to pick up the smell of a downed animal, but no.
I think what I had done was to aim just a little too low and the bullet missed the brain. I was so concerned that I might split open the head that I made the mistake of a life time and lost a magnificent animal. I don't think the shot went astray I was sitting down and both my elbows were braced against the onside of my knees. At that distance I did not miss but aimed low.
I am totaly ashamed of myself for shooting in the way that I did and still curse myself for being an idiot.
I only wish it had just been the miss of a lifetime, it was certainly the loss of a lifetime. Bugger!

Let me tell you that Freudian psychology is bunkum there was no cathartic release in typing the above!

Several years ago I hunted the Nebraska Sandhills for deer. I had never been there before and thought it was going to be wide open and flat so I moved the zero of my '06 to shoot about 6" high at 100 yards (don't ask ... I really don't know why!).

I get there and hunt a couple of days and was lying on a sand bank looking at a doe about 100 yards away when the scope fills up with antlers. A huge muley buck had stuck his head out from behind a dune and all I could see was his head and about 8" of his neck. I squeezed off a round, knowing he was mine . . . forgot about the 6" high at 100 yards!! It was a clean miss!

Another hunter took the buck a couple of days later. He was 33 1/2" wide and beautiful!



JDS

It wasn't a miss of a lifetime because it only lasted 6 years, but her name was Rae Krisanne.

Three big aoudad rams on the Hart Ranch east of Van Horn, Texas. We were on top. They headed for the rim and disappeared over at about 200 yards. I bailed out of the jeep and ran to the right, the other two guys went left. We knew when they got to the bottom of the rimrock they would move left or right.

I got to the rim and immediately saw a herd of mule deer on the down-slope. The wind was blowing hard and I reminded myself to stay balanced on the edge. Then my eye caught movement right between my boots. One ram stood in the crack of the rocks about 100 feet below me. Before I could react he stepped through the small opening. I centered on the opening quickly and waited. The second ram stepped in to it, and I centered the crosshairs straight down between his shoulders, and pulled the trigger. The rock exploded right between my feet. The crosshairs had been over the rimrock, the line of the barrel had not.

That was the miss.

My feet were stinging from the rock splinters that had slapped my boots, but I had the presence of mind not to fall over the rim, and also watch for the rams. One was in high gear at about 150 yards, quartering away from the rim, down the slope. I swung on him and sent a 120 gr Sierra hollowpoint, boattail from my 25.06 after him. It went in behind his right shoulder. His legs went out from under him and he skidded to a stop, stone dead.

That made up for the miss.

Seeing he wasn't going anywhere, I sat down and removed both boots to see if I had all my toes. No harm, no foul.

I missed the biggest whitetail I have ever had in my sights when I was 16 years-old. He was about 75 yards away standing broadside to me and I shot at him twice with a .243 pump action Remington while he was stanging still; I didn't touch a hair on his body. I went to the range, and my rifle wasn't even on the cardboard at 100 yards. I think I knocked it off sight when we were riding the four wheeler to get to the area.

The miss that bothers me the most happened about two years ago. I had been going to a ranch in West Texas hunting a huge blackbuck for a couple of months. One day I was sitting in an old tripod blind with no shooting support, and he came into the field about 400 yards away. I watched as he worked his way towards me. He came all the way across the field and was about 60 yards from me slowly grazing along. I put the crosshairs on his shoulder, squeezed the trigger, and then watched a black and white streak with 23" horns disappear across the field at about mach 4. I still don't know how I missed; I checked the rifle, and it was dead on.

About 1974 I was hunting in the Laramie Range in Wyoming. I got caught out in the open by a bull elk that my companion called in (Actually, it was the very first time he had ever blown an elk "whistle".. one of those little Herter things). When I saw elk antlers coming up over a ridge, I lay down in the grass and hoped the bull would pass me for a shot.

He didn't, of course, and stood facing me at 25 yards, just boring holes in me with his eyes. I tried to draw my homemade 70 # recurve while lying on my back, and when I got to 3/4 draw, I sat up and canting my bow way over to avoid hitting the ground with the bottom limb, I shot as he turned to depart.

The bull spun and both me and my buddy watched the arrow sail off the side of the mountain. We found no blood up where we were and when we went to the edge of the ridge we saw the fletching about 200 feet below and 150 yards out in the valley.

We both laughed like heck and went back to the vehicle to drive the round about way to retrieve the arrow.

Before we could do that, we got into some mulies and my buddy got his first bow kill on a 4x4. We took it back to the ranch and had lunch and began hunting again, eventually getting to the valley and the errant arrow.

Just as we got to the spot, Lee, my friend commented about "sacred feces" and pointed up the mountain where the earlier elk and Ernie encounter had occured. There, hidden from above by the lip of the ridge, was a dead-as-hell 6x6 bull elk. The weather was cold and the ridge had shielded the carcass from the sun, so the bull was quite fine for food and mounting. We had a little (though semi-guilty) celebration and started cutting up meat.

How two fellows, still young enough to have good eyesight, could not tell that an arrow had gone through the chest of a bull elk (and in fact be positive that I missed), I don't know, but we'd have both bet our wallets that I'd missed clean, especially since the arrow didn't even slow down...

I'll never again not immediately retrieve an arrow... you can bet on that...

So my most memorial miss was actually a hit and that elk now resides over the fireplace at the landowners house.. a little payback for a "free" hunt that resulted in 10 years of re-invites!

One shot that completly makes me sick to my stomach everytime I think about it:

Alberta 1995, Black Bear hunting with a Bow & Arrow,
sitting on a bait one evening, Bear comes in from behind me, as soon as I see it I know it's a monster! He walks right under me, I was shaking to beat hell by now! kept telling myself, "Let him get to the bait wait for the shot!" My leg started shaking out of control! I never got this shook over a monster Whitetail! This bear wrecked me! As he took a piece of meat and walked slowly past the bait drum, I raised my bow, and went to draw back, Sh--! I couldn't get my bow drawn! Something was wrong! Come to find out I had a very bad case of "Bear Fever!"
Bear turned and came back to the bait, I had to talk myself into calming down some so I could take the shot, mind you now, I practiced all year for this one moment. I could hit a half dollar at 25 yards every shot! This bait was 18 yards away, Put the pin on him, right behind the shoulder and let it fly!

The arrow disappeared alittle low on the bear! It ran 30 yards, stopped looked around and lumbered off, not to be seen again! I tryed to put another arrow in him but it was to thick with brush.

The next morning the guide and me looked all around, found some blood, followed it about a mile, no good, after going back to where I shot, the arrow was recoverd, blood on one fletch, I just grazed him. The kicker, the size of him next to the 55 gallon drum and the paw print, the guide guessed him to be well over 600 pounds!!! Yes 600 pounds! this bear they had seen earlier, they knew who he was! And I blew the shot! I must have taken a look to soon when I took the shot! Dropped my arm!!!!

I'm sick again!!!!!!!

They say "Cofession is good for the soul." Since I need some soul improvement, here goes.

A couple of years ago I was hunting in the Karoo area of the RSA. Living on this huge unfenced ranch was a monster vaal rhebock. He had been hunted for many years and missed by several very well known hunters from the US and RSA. Variuos PHs had estimated him to be from 10 1/2 to 11 1/2 inches long. I had him reserved and spent 5 days chasing him. He was the most wary animal I have ever hunted. We saw him the first day but didn't realize it was him until he was over 500 yds away. We saw him 4 or 5 more times but when we would crawl and peek over a ridge, there he would be 600 to 800 yds away looking at us. Finally on the second to last day the trackers set up a drive and he came running toward us at 260 yds. It was a full frontal shot and he should have been in the salt. I fired and the little 50 lb bugger but he ran off untouched. I forgot to account for a 30 mph cross wind. I didn't deserve it but took a 9 6/8 " buck the next day that made #13 in the SCI book. Any body is welcome to kick this dummy where the sun doesn't shine.

465H&H

It was a cold Texas morning the boy and I were setting in a box stand on a plateau covered with oak and cedar. This was a buck stand no feeder. We had patterned the deer for two seasons. It had frozen hard that night with a little sleet. Just at first light we heard the twang of a deer jumping a fence some 200 feet to the south out of sight. We were both instantly wide awake. Within a few minuets two does passed. We waited. Directly the boy said there he is the 10 point was 35 yards away. We both eased our gloves off our numb fingers the boy checked his rifle. I started to open the sliding window. It was frozen shut. I tried harder it came open with a loud pop. The buck bounced into the near by brush. But Waite he was coming back to the doe trail. I told the boy to take him the angle was wrong and all the other windows were frozen also. From my position I could just bring my rifle to bear, I took the shot. The dear ran like he was heart shot. We waited a few minuets then went to track. The bright drop of blood was good to find we began to track. Some what later the boy said. I could see he was about to burst out laughing, I said what did you find him. He said no and we wont the blood is dripping our of you! I had cut my thumb opening the stuck window and not noticedbecause of the cold. It was an easy shot but I mist clean. We saw the deer later in the season. This is one of the fond memories I have of the boy. He did not let me forget the miss to soon especially me tracking my self.

Doyle Hufstedler

My most memorable miss was the crushing blow that still haunts me of missing my first whitetail standing broadside behind a couple of Jack firs. Never even looked through the sights. Just shot right over the back. Damn! Even as young as I was it is hard to forgive myself.

Regards,

Mark

I can think of two embarrassing shots: one time when I was still a boy I shot at a cottontail with some of my fathers friends presents...one of those guys shot at the rabbit as well...when the rabbit fell dead, my father was very proud of me..until I opened my single shot Win M37 20ga shotgun and their was no shell in the gun ( ), and there was another time that I shot at a California blacktail with, again, and empty chamber. I have since learned and am actually obsessed with insuring that my bun is loaded! I actually look at the bullet in the chamber before just before I shoot, even today. I have also missed 5 or so deer within 15 yards with a .50 cal ML. I hate iron sights. I have killed may more deer with a bow than with a ML. Very embarrassing, especially when others are watching and or when you have to explain why and how you missed!

Mid-day after 6 days of hard hunting a Mule Deer that would have been a perfect trophy was laying in the snow about 275 yards away. Easily the biggest prettyest deer I've ever seen through a rifle scope.

He was in a position that anyone driving into the area would have spooked him. After the first shot he stood up. after the 2nd he climbed the hill a little closer where the sun was shining on his coat and wide tall antlers, after the 3rd he disappeared.

When I went to check for blood, since I knew the 3rd shot was perfect I discovered he had run up the hill with no blood sign at all and I lost him after about a mile of trailing.

Later I found that the scope had been knocked off zero by about 6 inches left and high at 100 yards, I never had a chance at that range.

First hunting trip with my adopted dad. Turkey hunting down in the Missouri Bootheel near Fredericktown. My first Turkey hunt ever. I bought a lynch box call and practiced on our way driving down from central Illinois.

About 11:00 am I set up in a good place - for a snooze. I hate getting up that early. Before taking a nap I hit a few desultory kelps on the call. Just as I was getting comfortable in ghosts a decent gobbler looking for little miss hard to get. My heart started pounding harder than it ever has or will for sex, skydiving or even my wedding day. I jerked the trigger and hit the dirt (on a twenty yard shot). I shucked another shell into the 870 and then put the safety back on. Tried several times to pull the trigger, but the safety held.

I finally tried to stand up but my legs were shaking uncontrollably and I had to sit back dow. I was just a fucking basket case. I've killed my share of turkey since then and been calm as you please. That first performance was pathetic, but it is one of my favorite memories from the game fields.

lawndart

I have laughed & sat here shaking my head in agreement with a number of these stories, i have resembled these stories before myself.

Not the most sporting story but it is true, my father, mom & I were headed to our deer hunting spot in the pickup when ma spotted a huge white tail trotting along behind a couple does. We stopped & watched them, I'll be damned if they didn't come directly across an alfalfa field & went in front of the pickup at no more than 15 yards away. I jumped out of the pickup, loaded my rifle & missed that buck 3 times! I turned (rather frantic cause he was a big bruiser) & said "Dad shoot that SOB!!" He was laughing & said"Shoot your own damn deer!" We put the rifle on paper & discovered that the scope had been knocked off zero almost 6 inches haigh & 6 inches left at 15 yards. I still hear about that one.

Last year in Mongolia I missed not one, not 2, but 3 different Gobi ibex all standing still broadside none of them more than 125 yards away. My guide, Baat, (he is a good friend of mine)asked me in his most cutting tone 'Hey sniper do you want me to tie one up by the neck so you can shoot enough shells to hit one?"

It seems as though my best stories have me being the butt end of the joke.

Mike

2003 in the Oragne Free State hunting with my good friend John Harris. I had borrowed John's pre-64 Winchester M-70 in 30-06 for the hunt as I didn't want to bring a light rifle for what began as primarily a dangerous game hunt. I had used John's rifle to make a long shot on a Tsesebee earlier in Zimbabwe and was confindent in the rifle. I told the PH if he could get me within 300 yards I could make the shot. After one of the longest and most difficult stalks I have ever done I got a shot at a great Mountain Reedbuck at 200 yards. With a good steady rest and plenty of time I just flat missed him and then missed him again at about 300, 400 and 600. I was sick and the young PH was looking at me like "what more do I need to do for you".

Perry

My mother in law

Husky

I was on the back of the pick up with Rick and Sean was driving. We were lamping foxes, and we got a set of eyes in on of the grass fields.

Charlie was sat in a dip in the field 80yds away with his whole body sheilded. With a couple of squeaks he got up and walked towards us, considerately stopping broadside for me. I put the scope on his shoulders and squeezed off the first round. According to Sean the shot kicked up about tree feet to the right. The fox looked at the light and took a couple more steps and stopped. Bang again!! "your'e getting better mate.... that was only 2 feet away!!"

I finaly missed with the 4th shot and charlie departed giving me the finger....

Ther was nothing wrong with the rifle cos Rick nailed him 20 mins later in the same field at 150yds.

We set up a coke bottle and the guys said "shoot that". three holes on the "O" and I had no excuses.

"Yust think of them as big coke bottles with tails!!" was all the advice I got...

That was about three years ago and I hadn't missed since, (probably taken over 100 shots in that time) , until last week. A cub nearly ran into the Quad while looking for thhe mouse that Rick was imitating. As he departed he stopped at 15yds. I shot with the 308 and clean missed him. he didn't hang around for three more shots though....

FB

My worst miss was my first elk hunt with my Shiloh Sharps 45-120. Elk comes in 15 feet above outfitter and I while we were looking downhill bugling. I look up, the elk runs around a rock and stops at 25 yards. I shoot and miss off hand shot (nervous as heck). Bull runs, outfitter bugles, elk stops about 45 yards, I reload and shoot. Elk runs, outfitter bugles, elk stops, I reload and shoot again. Elk flips over side of small cliff, I think he's dead(he actually just tripped and fell), but he get's up and runs...uphill. Outfitter is now ready to shoot me and gives me the "look". Learned lesson: keep mule away from scratching trees(they can bend a vernier sight easily), never use a vernier sight with too small of a peep hole, make sure buckhorn's are on for close range shooting. Last lesson, be prepared to lose a shirt tail if you miss, and be glad he just uses the knife on your shirt tail.

Sept 8, 2001 east of Gunnison, we were delighted to find 2" of snow had fallen during the night.

Had burned a lot of charcoal in preparation for this, my second blackpowder elk hunt, and was confident that, given a shot at 100 yds or less, both my .50 cal. Hawken and I were up to the task of filling my cow tag.

Since it was still snowing, decided to take up the outfitter's offer to set up a pop-up blind in an area I had hunted the year before and seen several cows (Of course I had a bull tag that year. ) Figured the cover would help insure the rifle would not misfire due to moisture.

Well, the 4 wheeler dropped me off at the trail to my area and I walked in an hour or so before daylight. In the dark, I missed the landmark I recalled from last year by about 50 yards, but when it was light enough to see, decided I would be best off to stay where I was.

The only problem was that the blind was on a fairly good slope and I was trying to sit on a nylon seat on a hunting stool. Kept. sliding off, so found a piece of split limb about 3" in dia. and scraped the ground fairly level, then placed the split limb so the pipe stool leg was on it and almost level. Man, was that an improvement!

Sat there several hours and decided to try my hand at calling. Well, I had no more than taken the call from my lips when a large cow came boiling out of the timber about 50 yards to my right, looking straight at the blind!

She stared straight at me and when she started to lose concentration and look a bit to one side, I would slowly raise the Hawken. She took a step or two downhill and repeated the above scenario. Finally, I managed to get the rifle out the "window", cocked the hammer and set the set trigger while the cow slowly walked behind a screen of trees toward a fairly wide opening. When she steps out into that opening, she's mine.

Well, I was twisted around pretty badly to get the rifle out the right hand window, so decided I had time to twist to the right on the stool while she was still screened by brush.

As I turned, the stool slipped off the split branch and dumped me, cocked rifle and all unceremoniously in the dirt! All I could think of on the way down was that the rifle was going to discharge; sure hope I can control the muzzle!!!

The muzzle contacted the blind and moved it enough that the cow was alerted and she departed post haste, leaving me laughing at myself all the while thankful that the rifle did not discharge.

Regards,
hm

2004 mpumalanga RSA

Returning from the day's hunt on the atvs we see a huge kudu bull. My friend and I don't have the PH with us, but he is easily in the 50's and into his 3rd curl.

I pull out a Blaser .270(not very familiar with it, but who cares this is a chance of a lifetime), stalk thro a copse of trees to check him out. Friend says he is huge and that i should take him. I have a tree as a rest and lots of time, he hasn't noticed us and the wind and light were in our favour. He is no more than 120 metres away. I fiddle with the weird bolt and safety, centre him in the scope and pull the trigger( of course have no idea where the trigger breaks or how i shoot with the darn thing). "crack!" and down he goes. no groggy steps, no running, down he goes.

Friend and i look for 5 seconds, no response from kudu, i pick up spent cartridge and friend lights cigar and pats me on the back. We wander up to him, only to see him get up and run away, never to be seen again.

We searched for 2 days to no avail. we must have walked 5-6 hours a day in the thick jess and scrub. picked up ticks and what not, but never saw even a blood spot.

my two lessons are never shoot a gun you aren't 100% confident in and always shoot as large a diameter bullet as you can. Sigh one day i'll get one as big.

I still sigh when i think about it.

cheers,tm.

I wounded a big Whitetail, and I was tracking him. I came upon his tracks, and kneeled down looking for blood. I started scanning around, and there he was at less than 30 yards laying down looking at me. I slowly leveled my rifle at him, slid off the safety, and pulled the trigger. The bolt fell on an empty chamber, and he was gone.

I did manage to kill him later with a running shot at 150 yds.

One of my most embarrassing moments occurred on the first trip out hunting with my older cousins. A big rooster pheasant flew right up in front of me and I missed it cleanly with both barrels. I can still hear them laughing.

I was hunting mulies up above Angel's Camp in the Sierra foothills of California back in the 70's and came across a monster mulie standing still, facing away from me at about 100 yards. I don't remember how wide he was but it was proportional to at least a 26-28" tall rack. He had 5 points on the left and 6 on the right and big thick bases. I remember the slow squeeze on the trigger and the bang of the rifle. When I recovered from the recoil all I saw was him in high gear going over the hill. I checked carefully for blood, hair, etc. and tried to follow him for the next couple of hours but as near as I can figure I shot right between his antlers as I stared at them.

When I was a youngster I was playing cat and mouse with a little blacktail buck during bow season. He and some does would cross a fence line every evening but not in the same exact place. So one evening I would set up and he would cross 50yds away. Next evening I would set up where he crossed yesterday and he would cross where I was set up the night before- you know how it goes Finally I'm set up and he comes feeding along the fence line on the other side. As he gets abreast of me he's 20 feet away broadside. I slowly rise and draw in one smooth motion and as the arrow releases, he pulls his head back to whirl around and leave. I still see that arrow passing 2 inches in front of his eyes. You don't do a head shot with a bow

I might as well tell off on myself again, I've had a few over the years, but thats what happens when you hunt a lot.

One that comes to mind, that I just flat got buck fever on was a moster steinbuck, I had never laid eyes one one, but when I saw this one I know it was a ringer. we were driving a dry river bed and I spoted this Steinbuck and he had a set of railroad spike sticking out of his head. I got them to stop the truck, I had two PH's with me and both went ape sh.........t. I was standing in the middle of of a ford ranger truck bed with two dead kudu and a impala that I had take earlier in the day. Beside that I had a Ph, a tracker, my wife and me in the bed to boot. I figured I had one chance, that little sucker was about to rabbit, so I took the only shot I had at about 50 meters, off hand shot, cause I couldn't get to the rack and get a rest for all the people and animals. None the less it was a bad miss, PH looked at me and said, you just missed the biggest Steinbuck you'll ever see. If I could have got the othe tracker driving to turn the truck off I might have had a better chance.........I can still feel that diesel engine shake, or was it me , them boys ain't done much outlaw huntin......thats all I can say, got to get that truck shut off.

Thats easy, after i got of the service i went to Center county for the first week of deer camp. I figured i needed to get started hunting four lagged animals again. At 915 the first morning i missed a nice 6 point at 50 yds or so. Now taking in consideration i had finished second in my class at Marine Sniper School at Quantico i was dumbfounded,flabbergasted,speechless,sick to my stomach, and ruined for that day. I have relived that shot over and over in my mind, and there is no way i could have missed, but every time i look at that tree with the 165 grn 30-06 round in it i shake my head. Charlie

It was my custom to take some "pot meat" if the seasons allowed, at the end of the hunting day when in eyesight of camp. Grouse, rabbit, etc. Elk hunting in middle Idaho, long day, a week into hunting, empty handed, saw a grouse looking at me from the trees, good background for a shot, 7MM RM with about 110 gr reloads (not elk loads), the grouse did a panic flight just as I eased the trigger, he took the bullet square in the breast at 20 or so yards. An impressive explosion of feathers, no recoverable grouse, peanut butter (old) sandwiches for supper. I did get a feather! And started packing a 22 for small game!

It was a miss because it should have been a head shot!