I was chewing the fat with an old friend this morning, and as usual the conversation turned to hunting camp stories and hunts shared. We ended up on 'lost opportunities'. I have not taken any shots at big game that I regret, but there is a shot I didn't take that haunts me more the longer I hunt. It was the largest typical Mule deer buck I have ever seen, on the hoof or in a book. It angled out of a draw to my right and went straight away heading to the does I had been watching for 2 days. I got on him at about 75 yards and easily followed his progress with the x on the base of his neck for the next 300 yards before he started to climb to the does on the hillside. I was toting a 257 Wby that morning and was very confident in our ability to 400 yards with the 100 grain TSXs I had loaded. He ran off the 2 lurking bucks on the hill side and immediately chased a doe into the adjacent brush. I watched those 30+ does for the next 3 days until the weather turned assuming I would see him again. I passed on a dozen other good bucks waiting, but he had vanished, never to be seen again. Now as I did at the time I know I could have spined that deer and cleaned him up with a second once he hit the ground, but I just couldn't make myself take that shot. I can still close my eyes and see that oak tree on hooves clear as day.

Sounds like a no brainer to me I would have shot him I the Texas heart.

As it was said a shot not taken is always a miss.

I am a firm believer in if you don't shoot you well not get them.

Dangerous game is a bit different One needs to be positive on them.

Why didn't you shoot? A 75 yard shot sounds like a winner to me. Even with your popgun .

Many,many,many years ago I was sitting on a blown down white pine with my back to the roots in a big swamp in Northern Wi.Understand this tree was huge and I was 10 feet up.The swamp was huge old growth trees and you could see pretty good in it because of little understory.About 50 yards away a bunch of does were coming.In the middle of the pack was a huge old buck .Truly a Booner.I edged my rifle up and took a shot at him.He dropped like a rock.I was so elated I literally jumped off the tree to go look at him.I never levered another round into the chamber.As I walked up to him he jumped up and ran.I never even lifted my rifle up I was so surprised.Lesson learned , always put another round into a downed trophy.

I figure that anyone that has spent much time in the field chasing critters has had cases of shots they did not take but should have, and shots they did take that they shouldn't have.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
I figure that anyone that has spent much time in the field chasing critters has had cases of shots they did not take but should have, and shots they did take that they shouldn't have.

+1, +1......

quote:

I figure that anyone that has spent much time in the field chasing critters has had cases of shots they did not take but should have, and shots they did take that they shouldn't have.

+1

I'd add this: It's much better to regret the shot that you didn't take than to regret the shot that you did take.

What's the worst thing that can happen if you don't take a questionable shot? The animal gets away and you get to hunt some more. Nobody's going to go hungry.

That's not so bad, considering the consequences of a shot gone wrong.

Anyone who hunts long enough will end up with some regrets about shots not taken or shots gone wrong... And most if they're honest, will have both.

quote:

I'd add this: It's much better to regret the shot that you didn't take than to regret the shot that you did take.

I will give a Second and an AMEN to that thought.

The only "do over" I can think of is if I could go back to being 10 yrs old, I'd apply for every bighorn sheep tag available in every state, including desert bighorns, every year. Mule deer tags in primo areas as well.

Back when I lived in Ontario, I drove to Quebec for my first-ever caribou hunt. On the 5th day of a 7-day hunt on which few bulls were being seen, I was presented with a shot at a truly beautiful bull at a lasered distance of 425 yards. I was an eastern deer hunter...I had practiced for years on paper at 400 and 500 yards, but had never shot anything other than coyotes and groundhogs at those distances. I had no intention of pulling the trigger, but my buddy and the guide literally brow-beat me into it, asking why I had ever bothered to practice if I didn't intend to use the gun at those ranges. I relented, shot, and dropped the bull cleanly. Later that day, I shot a slightly less-impressive bull at maybe 150 yards.

That long shot (long by my standards) has bothered me ever since, because I felt, and still feel, that I cheated myself of the hunt. That 'bou is still the best one I've ever taken, and I look up at the antlers daily...and usually wish I had let him pass, and actually hunted the next one. No offence intended to the long-range crowd, but it just does not turn my crank to snipe an animal that far away...it felt like dry-firing at the TV.

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
Back when I lived in Ontario, I drove to Quebec for my first-ever caribou hunt. On the 5th day of a 7-day hunt on which few bulls were being seen, I was presented with a shot at a truly beautiful bull at a lasered distance of 425 yards. I was an eastern deer hunter...I had practiced for years on paper at 400 and 500 yards, but had never shot anything other than coyotes and groundhogs at those distances. I had no intention of pulling the trigger, but my buddy and the guide literally brow-beat me into it, asking why I had ever bothered to practice if I didn't intend to use the gun at those ranges. I relented, shot, and dropped the bull cleanly. Later that day, I shot a slightly less-impressive bull at maybe 150 yards.

That long shot (long by my standards) has bothered me ever since, because I felt, and still feel, that I cheated myself of the hunt. That 'bou is still the best one I've ever taken, and I look up at the antlers daily...and usually wish I had let him pass, and actually hunted the next one. No offence intended to the long-range crowd, but it just does not turn my crank to snipe an animal that far away...it felt like dry-firing at the TV.

Hmm. Not sure where to take you on this one.

First off congrats on a successful caribou hunt. Second, I think you are making this into a bigger deal than it really is. 425 yards on a animal isn't really long range. If you would have said 1000 or 1500 or something like that I would have probably had more sympathy with your whole "cheated yourself" mantra.

Don't look at it as you cheated yourself, look at it as you got to prove to yourself that your practice paid off. 10 years from now you won't regret the 425, you'll think of it as a great hunt, and it was a great hunt you tagged out with two bulls. Something that doesn't happen every caribou hunt.

10 years ago, I went on my first Namibian safari and truth be told I shot a lot of stuff from the back of the truck. It was how it was done on that ranch. Today I have a hard time remembering that part. Now I just think about the great shot on a baboon at 450 yards, and the warthog I missed and the ostrich that was the most fun of all.

I understand, it's certainly not long range by the standards of many folks. My point is simply that even at that distance, I felt completely disconnected from the animal...it might as well have been a paper target. The second, smaller bull involved a long stalk that culminated in a close shot, and is an infinitely more pleasing memory...to me...than the "nicer" bull.

And...that hunt was much more than ten years ago. I remember it with interest, but not much excitement, which is why I said that given a second chance, I would do it differently.

If you want to feel connected go pig hunting with a knife.Don`t get much more up close and personal than that!!

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Originally posted by OLBIKER:
If you want to feel connected go pig hunting with a knife.Don`t get much more up close and personal than that!!

Spear, rock, club for those who feel they have to be up close and personal.

No one forces any one to take a "long" shot.

I am sitting in my little nest of four twisted Oak Brush trees on top of Thornburg in 1997 when the stormy day promises snow and lots of it. I have been here many times with several Bulls to my credit. At sun up with clouds swirling overhead but a bright sun on the horizon for fleeting moments many Elk start to file over at 800 yards. Quickly the sun disappears but enough light shows approximately 500 Elk including several legal Bulls. The last one over the horizon is a 7X7 Bull that would go in any record book out there. It then starts snowing buckets and I lose sight for a while. The herd feeds toward me taking two hours to come by me in the thick snow, legal Bulls-cows-calfs. I decided to not stalk out of my honey hole with that many all around, thinking the huge 7X7 would appear out of the snow any second. Long story shot, after three hours and 18 inchs of snow later I had to leave my nest and retreat before the deep snow trapped me on the mountain. I will always regret not stalking the 7X7 that day, because he never came within sight and I left the mountain empty handed. Had I stalked I might have either killed him or left without him, which I did anyway. That is why it is hunting. I took his little brother the next day further down the mountain, but still dream of the monster on the mountain. Good shooting.

Any hunt is what the hunter makes of it.

Those not involved personally in the event are entitled to their opinion, and that is all it is, because they were not present, so they really do not know how they would have reacted.

They can philosophize all day long on actions they Might have taken, but they do not know for certain what they would have actually done.

I have never regretted taking a shot that killed an animal, close range or long range.

I do regret shots I did not take that I realize after the fact I could have made.

I think all of us regret the shots we have taken where an animal was hit and lost.

Hunting is hunting, there are no guarantees.