2023 deer season regrets…

[The Fishman]

Saturday night I killed my first buck. I had been hunting a stand and a doe came out and busted me. After sitting in the stand for another 30 minutes I left. I went and sat down at the base of a tree near a feeder. A yearling walked out and I watched her for 10 minutes. I had no intention of shooting her. Since I was just sitting on the ground 50 yards away with no cover, I tried practicing bringing my gun up slowly and sighting the doe. She got nervous from the slight movement, but stuck around. It was about 15 minutes after sunset and getting dark when a larger doe walked up that I decided to shoot. When I cocked the hammer back on my 30-30, the yearling and doe became agitated. As I was waiting for the doe to stop moving, I caught a buck come up out of the corner of my eye. I immediately moved the rifle to his position and fired what I thought was a good shot. He took off running funny so I knew I hit him. I waited and listened a few minutes and then went to the house to get a flashlight. I found blood and started tracking. I heard movement and backed out and came back an hour later. I tracked the deer through thick woods over to my neighbor's field and then lost the blood trail. I called the neighbor to get his advice on what to do. He came out and we found the deer about 60 yards into the field. He was still alive, but wasn't getting up. We put him out of his misery. Once I started examining him, I realized my shot was low and right of where I was aiming. I took out both of his front legs and the buck had somehow made it 200 yards without the use of his front legs. I felt terrible. What should have been an exciting moment in killing a 9-pointer was overshadowed by my regret of rushing a shot, injuring the deer, and not making a lethal shot. I made the mistake of getting excited and not calming myself before pulling the trigger. I will remember this in future hunts and let the deer walk if the shooting conditions are not ideal and I am not calm. The only bright side is that I am pretty sure this buck destroyed a cage and mauled a chestnut tree nearby and we now have plenty of sausage.

 

[Bill Loser]

Saturday night I killed my first buck. I had been hunting a stand and a doe came out and busted me. After sitting in the stand for another 30 minutes I left. I went and sat down at the base of a tree near a feeder. A yearling walked out and I watched her for 10 minutes. I had no intention of shooting her. Since I was just sitting on the ground 50 yards away with no cover, I tried practicing bringing my gun up slowly and sighting the doe. She got nervous from the slight movement, but stuck around. It was about 15 minutes after sunset and getting dark when a larger doe walked up that I decided to shoot. When I cocked the hammer back on my 30-30, the yearling and doe became agitated. As I was waiting for the doe to stop moving, I caught a buck come up out of the corner of my eye. I immediately moved the rifle to his position and fired what I thought was a good shot. He took off running funny so I knew I hit him. I waited and listened a few minutes and then went to the house to get a flashlight. I found blood and started tracking. I heard movement and backed out and came back an hour later. I tracked the deer through thick woods over to my neighbor's field and then lost the blood trail. I called the neighbor to get his advice on what to do. He came out and we found the deer about 60 yards into the field. He was still alive, but wasn't getting up. We put him out of his misery. Once I started examining him, I realized my shot was low and right of where I was aiming. I took out both of his front legs and the buck had somehow made it 200 yards without the use of his front legs. I felt terrible. What should have been an exciting moment in killing a 9-pointer was overshadowed by my regret of rushing a shot, injuring the deer, and not making a lethal shot. I made the mistake of getting excited and not calming myself before pulling the trigger. I will remember this in future hunts and let the deer walk if the shooting conditions are not ideal and I am not calm. The only bright side is that I am pretty sure this buck destroyed a cage and mauled a chestnut tree nearby and we now have plenty of sausage.

It happens to literally everyone who hunts. Learn from it but don't let it ruin an otherwise successful hunt. Great job staying on it and finding it!

 

[SwampCat]

Saturday night I killed my first buck. I had been hunting a stand and a doe came out and busted me. After sitting in the stand for another 30 minutes I left. I went and sat down at the base of a tree near a feeder. A yearling walked out and I watched her for 10 minutes. I had no intention of shooting her. Since I was just sitting on the ground 50 yards away with no cover, I tried practicing bringing my gun up slowly and sighting the doe. She got nervous from the slight movement, but stuck around. It was about 15 minutes after sunset and getting dark when a larger doe walked up that I decided to shoot. When I cocked the hammer back on my 30-30, the yearling and doe became agitated. As I was waiting for the doe to stop moving, I caught a buck come up out of the corner of my eye. I immediately moved the rifle to his position and fired what I thought was a good shot. He took off running funny so I knew I hit him. I waited and listened a few minutes and then went to the house to get a flashlight. I found blood and started tracking. I heard movement and backed out and came back an hour later. I tracked the deer through thick woods over to my neighbor's field and then lost the blood trail. I called the neighbor to get his advice on what to do. He came out and we found the deer about 60 yards into the field. He was still alive, but wasn't getting up. We put him out of his misery. Once I started examining him, I realized my shot was low and right of where I was aiming. I took out both of his front legs and the buck had somehow made it 200 yards without the use of his front legs. I felt terrible. What should have been an exciting moment in killing a 9-pointer was overshadowed by my regret of rushing a shot, injuring the deer, and not making a lethal shot. I made the mistake of getting excited and not calming myself before pulling the trigger. I will remember this in future hunts and let the deer walk if the shooting conditions are not ideal and I am not calm. The only bright side is that I am pretty sure this buck destroyed a cage and mauled a chestnut tree nearby and we now have plenty of sausage.

If you are not getting excited, you need to quit

 

[The Fishman]

If you are not getting excited, you need to quit

I still get excited squirrel hunting so deer won't be a problem. It is the excitement to the point that I am not patiently aiming and pulling the trigger that I want to avoid. I don't want to do what I did to another animal.

 

[Baker]

I have a big regret. . I found a buck I wanted my nephews young son to shoot. Put them in a blind fairly confident they would be successful. I went elsewhere. What I regret till today is I didn't go to the blind with them capturing their hunt on video. It was a magic memory excitement beyond the pale for both father and son and I could have captured it in a way they could cherish forever. Unfortunately there is no take two. Opportunity lost. Look at the smile on their faces...

 

[Mortenson]

I still get excited squirrel hunting so deer won't be a problem. It is the excitement to the point that I am not patiently aiming and pulling the trigger that I want to avoid. I don't want to do what I did to another animal.

We hear ya. All have been there. Some don't want to ever do it again (probably most of the men on this site). Personally I want slam dunk shots. I'd rather lament for the rest of time the one who got away than think about wounding another. Appreciate the delicious venison and be thankful for the gift of the animal's life. You'll use this experience in the future. Congrats on the harvest.

 

[Mortenson]

I have a big regret. . I found a buck I wanted my nephews young son to shoot. Put them in a blind fairly confident they would be successful. I went elsewhere. What I regret till today is I didn't go to the blind with them capturing their hunt on video. It was a magic memory excitement beyond the pale for both father and son and I could have captured it in a way they could cherish forever. Unfortunately there is no take two. Opportunity lost. Look at the smile on their faces...

View attachment 61686

Pictures are better than videos!! Congrats!

 

[omicron1792]

Trying to emulate the ”buffalo method” with my home food plot. Planted Green Cover Warm Season Soil Builder in the spring, using my usual lightly disc, broadcast seed and fertilizer, then drag. It came in very well, got a couple of early summer rains and it looked great, except I think it had too much brown top millet in it. Come time to plant for fall, I broadcast Green Cover Fall Release, no fertilizer, and crimped it. The crimping worked very well, but the food plot pretty well sucked. I should have fertilized it I think. I planted the same mix in my conventional way on my deer lease resulting in a great looking plot, but too many brassicas. If the deer don’t eat them I’ll get a custom mix next time and replace the brassicas with something else. Deer here don’t eat brassicas well, at least I’ve never seen it.

Got to be careful crimping summer crop for fall.
Most don’t recommend that. Grant woods plants into standing and that all, no crimping. Summer stuff to thick stemmed, Better to let cold make it wither away standing. Been my experience too.

If anything flail mower it a week or two before planting and let it break down some. Clover and grain seeds small and don’t like thick cover rolled down over it

 

[omicron1792]

Trying to emulate the ”buffalo method” with my home food plot. Planted Green Cover Warm Season Soil Builder in the spring, using my usual lightly disc, broadcast seed and fertilizer, then drag. It came in very well, got a couple of early summer rains and it looked great, except I think it had too much brown top millet in it. Come time to plant for fall, I broadcast Green Cover Fall Release, no fertilizer, and crimped it. The crimping worked very well, but the food plot pretty well sucked. I should have fertilized it I think. I planted the same mix in my conventional way on my deer lease resulting in a great looking plot, but too many brassicas. If the deer don’t eat them I’ll get a custom mix next time and replace the brassicas with something else. Deer here don’t eat brassicas well, at least I’ve never seen it.

I agree on brassicas. Just not a thing here. They don’t do well. Deer don’t care for them. I’ve given them plenty of time to get accustomed to it.

 

[omicron1792]

I have a big regret. . I found a buck I wanted my nephews young son to shoot. Put them in a blind fairly confident they would be successful. I went elsewhere. What I regret till today is I didn't go to the blind with them capturing their hunt on video. It was a magic memory excitement beyond the pale for both father and son and I could have captured it in a way they could cherish forever. Unfortunately there is no take two. Opportunity lost. Look at the smile on their faces...

View attachment 61686

Old looking nephew.

 

[Baker]

Old looking nephew.

Actually, great nephew...my nieces son. Terrific guy and successful entrepreneur . By the miracles of time reversal, we are now the same age:)

 

[omicron1792]

Actually, great nephew...my nieces son. Terrific guy and successful entrepreneur . By the miracles of time reversal, we are now the same age:)

I was joking about your farm manager on the right!

Awesome looking family and deer

 

[Baker]

I was joking about your farm manager on the right!

Awesome looking family and deer

I figured that out after I posted. Cols weather has my mind working slowly

 

[Teeder]

My intention was to start taking doe earlier in the season and buck after the rut. I did it backwards.

As usual, I regret mucking up my woods too much before the season starts and then hunting the same stands too often.

 

[T-Max]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Fishman]

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You have no regrets? Like not even a single letter?

 

[Bill]

My post 44

We eased from hunting Big Antlers only to hunting mature bucks a few years ago. If it looks 4 or 5 it's on the list, unless it looks like it could become "THE Deer" in another year. Gotta have something to hunt.

Need to dig up a pic but I let a cool buck walk with a bow. Probably shouldn't have. I thought he was 4 until I laid eyes on him in early November at 10 yards. Then I thought he might only be 3 and would be even cooler next year. Haven't seen or gotten a pic since late November and he was on camera at least twice a week all year. I hope it was a happy neighbor and not a road hunter, death by fighting, or a car.

my post 44 and 45 above. Guess I spoke too soon. Haven't seen this guy since late November after letting him walk. Maybe he will be a cool deer next year. He came home yesterday.

 

[omicron1792]

My post 44

my post 44 and 45 above. Guess I spoke too soon. Haven't seen this guy since late November after letting him walk. Maybe he will be a cool deer next year. He came home yesterday.

View attachment 62039

Man that’s good trigger control.

I agree on the mature buck thing. Seems to be the way to go. My only issue is how accurate are we judging on the hoof? Game cameras certainly help.

 

[omicron1792]

My post 44

my post 44 and 45 above. Guess I spoke too soon. Haven't seen this guy since late November after letting him walk. Maybe he will be a cool deer next year. He came home yesterday.

View attachment 62039

Do you think making sure antlers are outside the ears or come anterior past the nose help with aging?

 

[sandbur]

Just my opinion.
If you want to make hunting fun again,
Ditch the cameras, don't have a "hit" list. Go sit and when you see a deer you feel like shooting, shoot it. If you don't feel it, don't shoot it. That way 0 regrets can be had.
I'm not against cameras by any means, usually put them out after season to get an account of what's left out there. But I stopped using before and during the season 3 years or so ago. I'm not a trophy hunter by any means, my issue with cameras is I check them to much, which is why I stopped putting them out. By doing so ,sightings went way up, my enjoyment went way up. I shoot what I want and allow anyone who hunts here to do the same.

Good advice here for Swamp Cat. I quit using cameras 10-15 years ago. There are no hit lists. My wife and I make a decision on about how many deer to kill on the farm. We pass some young bucks and sometimes shoot one. Our daughters don’t hunt much anymore, but one did return to hunt this fall and made a nice, one shot kill.

I feel this trophy hunting, or extreme emphasis on QDM is not good for the sport. I was in that boat for about 20 years.

We hunt for venison to eat every year and appreciate nice bucks as well. I kind of enjoy not knowing exactly what bucks are out there.

Each person and family has different goals at various times in their hunting life cycle and I can respect their choices.

Short answer, drop the cameras, and the hit lists. Decide how many deer to kill and celebrate each kill.

Emphasis should be on enjoyment and not trophies.