Ever experienced that "Sick Feeling"?

A

AbLonewolf

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
Alberta
I have been hunting for 40 plus years, and once in awhile, I have blown an opportunity...hence, that "Sick Feeling". Sure this has occurred to most hunters. It happened to me this year.

As in previous years, we headed out to our Camp for the annual early season moose hunt. Buddy and I found a promising cutline with lots of fresh pizz holes, rubs and scrapes. So we concentrated in that area. After 2 days, I called in a mid size bull and my buddy promptly shot it. Good start!

We returned to the same area 2 days later, and I set up at my usual spot at 0820hrs and started calling. Not 20 minutes later, another mid size bull pocked his head out of the bush, and stepped out, facing me straight on, looking towards my direction. I estimated the distance at between 350-400 yards. I had my BogPod set up at the tree line and set up the rifle. Had a "Mexican Standoff" for about what seemed to be a good 5 minutes. I did not shoot due to the fact he was facing me, and distance. Grunted a couple of times and he did actually take about 10 steps towards me. He then turned and started waling slowly towards the opposite side of the cutline. I felt comfortable and took a shot, which spun him around. He then walked towards the trees again and took another shot. He then disappeared into the trees.

My buddy heard the shots from where he was and about 20 minutes later, met me where I was. We waited another 30 minutes and checked things out. We eventually found 2 small pools of blood about 20 yards into the trees...then only small drops for about 60 yards...then absolutely nothing!

We had everything marked with orange tape...then we planned a "grid search". After about 3.5 hours, no evidence of nothing. We came to the conclusion that I probably "humped" him. We further believed that the hit was not fatal and other than being winged, that bull is probably still alive and well. And further, we believed we did everything that could be done to try and find him. My buddy had his GPS on track mode, and when we later checked it...looked like a large spider web.

Having said that, although this occurred about 3 weeks ago, I still have that "Sick Feeling" about it. I have dissected the incident many times in my head, should I have done things differently...but hindsight is 20/20.

Guys care to share similar stories? To the ones that have been hunting for many years, these things happen sometimes, and I bet most of you have experiences that "Sick Feeling"...
 
5 years ago I had a nice 10 point whitetail at about 150 yards coming into the rattle.... He stopped and we had exactly that, what you describe as a mexican standoff... He stood there straight on at me licking the air and grunting and stomping trying to decide what was up... as he wasn't sure what was going on and obviously felt uneasy he turned broadside as he tried to get the wind from another direction... I had practiced that shot from my stand several times and felt very comfortable with it.... I slowly raised the rifle to the shooting rail and set the crosshairs behind his shoulder and squeezed.... heard the "thwack" and he dropped, thrashed around then bounded 20 feet into the nearest thicket....

It was now almost 5 at night and beginning to get dark so I walked back the 20 minutes to camp, dropped off my rifle and grabbed a change of clothes and my deer hauler and walked back to the spot at dusk... There was snow on the ground so I knew tracking sign would be easy... Wher ehe stood when I shot him was a large amount of blood spray on a small cedar followed by lots of drops between there and the thicket.... as soon as I got may way into the thicket I found a large blood pool wher ehe had laid down.... followed by a few drops that led to yet another large pool... after that was more drops as he made his way from the thicket.... I kept going maybe 50 meters and there were large amounts of drops every 5 or so meters some with clots in them.... By no wit was almsot dark and I was working with flashlight and as I enteredt towards another thicket I heard a thrash and as I ponted my light in the direction of the sound ther he was getting to his feet... I watched him bound awkwardly into the cedars and decided to wait another 20 minutes before going any further on him....

In the end after jumping him all I found were continued blood drops... still heavy and every 5 meters or so.... he eventually circled back on his trail and between his drops an dmy prints circling back I could not tell which drops were headed in which direction as they had melted into the snow... I headed back to camp for a sleepless night and went out after him first thing the next morning, only to find nothing.... Two days later across the road maybe 1 km from where I lossed him I saw hundreds of crows in the hardwoods and went in to find him laying there... the crows were doing their usual clean up job...

I take some comfort in that his death provided for other animals but I still feel sick thinking about it and to this day don't know how he didn't die shortly after trigger pull... especially with so much blood loss... I have always been shot selective but I think the experience has really made me focus more on calming down before a shot and making doubly sure that it get smy best....

If you hunt long enough it happens to you eventually.... still doesn't make it any easier....
 
Few people on here are going to admit it. To much holier than thou posting. It happens a lot and by people with good intentions too, not just slob hunters and poachers.

I used to find 3 to 6 animals a year that were shot and got away by looking for ravens. Lots of times you could see where people had walked around the animal but never saw it. I once walked up to a deer and didn't see it until I was standing right on it I could smell it but couldn't see it, it was at my feet. Some of them the only reason I saw it was the white raven #### on their back. That tall brown grass can hide a deer like you wouldn't believe, so can thick vegetation like raspberry's and stuff like that. The conditions around here are the reason I use bullets that make large wound channels and have an audible sound when they hit. Drop them fast and know without having to find blood or hair when you make a hit so you can confidently keep looking. It can happen all to easily even when things go right.
 
This is the Internet, no one has ever screwed up.

I wounded a nice whitetail buck many years ago. Shot was what I estimated to be 350 yards, turns out it was more like 450. I followed the blood trail for several miles, but it was just drips and all in his track on a well used deer trail. I concluded that I probably got him in the front leg.
I haven't shot that far since, I prefer much closer ranges, less to go wrong.

Over the years I've shot enough animals that I have no trouble passing on any shot I don't feel comfortable with. When I was younger, all I had on my mind was SHOOT!!! :)
 
I've been sick twice.

Hit a young fork in the shoulder with a mechanical, hurt him but he lived.
Hit a young buck back near liver with mechanical, searched for days, coyotes got him for sure - heard them having a party, rushed shot - my fault.

These two deer have taught me a lot.
 
I have only hunted big game no more times than I can count fingers on my one hand and shot one deer only but being an avid waterfowl hunter for 35 seasons and hunting in every way from alone to groups as large as 10-11 shooters I have had and seen my share and more of crippled birds that have continued on to an uncertain death. It is always disheartening to lose one. That has never changed since the first one!!
 
In near 20 years of hunting, I've hit and lost 2 mulie bucks. One to a cliff and one a bad shot.
I'm not alright with it even today as I post this. Makes a man question whether he should hunt at all.
But we perservere and take the education from it, learning no matter how good a hunter or marksman we have become, we owe it to the animals we hunt to get it right every time.
 
If you hunt it is not a matter of if but when this will happen. With all of the possible variables involved it is almost a statistical certainty. It will happen to the best stalker,hunter, marksman out there unless you take your first big game animal and never get another chance.

We all strive to do our best but sh*t happens. Anyone who thumps their chest and says they've hunted for decades and have never lost a wounded animal or missed a shot is full of crap or never gets to shoot at anything.
 
Gut shot a deer from 100 or so meters away.


Here's the story:

Saw a handfull of mule does down in a coulee, I was at the top they were at the bottom of the coulee. I ran ahead to get a mice lead on them. Laying there looking down waiting for the does to appear and trying to catch my breath and setting up my shot. It was a fairly easy shot in my opinion or so I thought. Does show themselves moving slowly, pick the one I want and for whatever reason rush the shot and hit the deer in the guts. Doe runs off with that hunched over look with the other does still hanging around. Just stood there watching it go out of sight.


To make a long story and stalk/run/walk short, I brained it about an hour later when it's head was up. It was a complete mess, gut droppings too follow, not much blood now with a busted head. The other does just off in the distance watching. Learnt alot that day and now I never rush a shot or take it for granted on what I'm doing. I pretty much let the animal go on it's way if things aren't perfect. No rushed shots, no jumping up tripping over my feet, no long distance pokes. I have also taught my kids this as it's called hunting and there is no need to just start shooting for effect and hope for the best. Hunting ...no target practice or indiscriminately killing for the sake of it.




A friend of mine shot this big old buck through the hindquarters and it dropped in the bush. It took him awhile to find it as the bush was thick and it was a few hundred yards away. When he finally got there, the buck was dragging itself away from him with it's front legs, it's back legs were useless and it had a huge chunk of it's hindquarters gone. He dispatched it and never hunted again. True story. This was a guy who back in the day made his living off of coyote fur and occasional trapline trips. He was simply crushed and lost his hunting spirit. Consolable.
 
Last edited:
Over the years, I have gotten quite selective, especially since moving to AB. I can easily pass up a poor shot. However, that being said, the reasons come from bad experiences.
I no longer, estimate ranges. When I set up, I range everything in front of me, creating an ad-hoc range card so I don't have to guess. I guessed wrong far too often in my early years with less than stellar results.
Even with these experiences making me careful, I still mess up. Last time was about 3 years ago. Spotted a nice doe in some tall grass. Foggy morning. Tall grass. No shot unless prone. Short shot, about 75yds. No rush. Got into the prone, grasses in the way, took up an estimated heart shot POA, squeezed, bang, and she was gone. No blood, just gone. I finally spotted some gut. Told my wife that I had gut shot that doe. Now the tracking was on. As I continued, that doe jumped up right in front of me! Not 10feet away, staring at me. Just stood there. I heard a movement to my right and saw a flash. Then the doe took off. I realized I had shot her fawn! She led me a merry chase until the fawn was done. She kept showing herself and leading me and my wife along until I realized I had not seen any gut in some time. Went back and found a spotted fawn WELL-HIDDEN in the brush. Still alive, but unable to move any longer. I will never forget the terror (did I imagine it?) in her eyes as I dragged her out of the brush and my wife told me she was still alive. Disgusted with myself, I ended the chase and tagged that fawn.
I can only conjecture that the fawn was standing between me and her mother, facing in the opposite direction, but completely obscured by the tall grasses. To an honest hunter, there are no excuses, only lessons, hard-learned and experience hard-won.

Now, I don't shoot unless it's right. I no longer relish dragging animals out of the woods, I don't like spending half my day looking for an animal that was marginally hit, I don't like that "sick feeling" of not finding one. My shots are ranged, rested, steady, and well within my comfort range on quiet, stationary animals. Most drop right there, few make it back into the wood line, and those don't go far.

I must agree with Nester...in my youth, it was shoot, shoot, shoot! Now, it is sure, sure, sure! And every new hunter I take out gets the same lessons. Get crazy and you don't hunt with me again.
 
Superbrad said:
5 years ago I had a nice 10 point whitetail at about 150 yards coming into the rattle.... He stopped and we had exactly that, what you describe as a mexican standoff... He stood there straight on at me licking the air and grunting and stomping trying to decide what was up... as he wasn't sure what was going on and obviously felt uneasy he turned broadside as he tried to get the wind from another direction... I had practiced that shot from my stand several times and felt very comfortable with it.... I slowly raised the rifle to the shooting rail and set the crosshairs behind his shoulder and squeezed.... heard the "thwack" and he dropped, thrashed around then bounded 20 feet into the nearest thicket....

It was now almost 5 at night and beginning to get dark so I walked back the 20 minutes to camp, dropped off my rifle and grabbed a change of clothes and my deer hauler and walked back to the spot at dusk... There was snow on the ground so I knew tracking sign would be easy... Wher ehe stood when I shot him was a large amount of blood spray on a small cedar followed by lots of drops between there and the thicket.... as soon as I got may way into the thicket I found a large blood pool wher ehe had laid down.... followed by a few drops that led to yet another large pool... after that was more drops as he made his way from the thicket.... I kept going maybe 50 meters and there were large amounts of drops every 5 or so meters some with clots in them.... By no wit was almsot dark and I was working with flashlight and as I enteredt towards another thicket I heard a thrash and as I ponted my light in the direction of the sound ther he was getting to his feet... I watched him bound awkwardly into the cedars and decided to wait another 20 minutes before going any further on him....

In the end after jumping him all I found were continued blood drops... still heavy and every 5 meters or so.... he eventually circled back on his trail and between his drops an dmy prints circling back I could not tell which drops were headed in which direction as they had melted into the snow... I headed back to camp for a sleepless night and went out after him first thing the next morning, only to find nothing.... Two days later across the road maybe 1 km from where I lossed him I saw hundreds of crows in the hardwoods and went in to find him laying there... the crows were doing their usual clean up job...

I take some comfort in that his death provided for other animals but I still feel sick thinking about it and to this day don't know how he didn't die shortly after trigger pull... especially with so much blood loss... I have always been shot selective but I think the experience has really made me focus more on calming down before a shot and making doubly sure that it get smy best....

If you hunt long enough it happens to you eventually.... still doesn't make it any easier....
Click to expand...


So did you tag him when you eventually found him ??
 
AbLonewolf said:
Trying to stir the pot? Stick to the topic...
Click to expand...


Actually no, i'm interested to know if he or others would tag the animal that they shot if found at a later time. Sorry if that's not ok with you boss. From now on i'll check with you before making anymore posts.
 
Last edited:
doublelung said:
Actually no, i'm interested to know if he or others would tag the animal that they shot if found at a later time. Sorry is that's not ok with you boss. From now on i'll check with you before making anymore posts.
Click to expand...

Your question was actually off topic but just for the sake of avoiding what could turn a good thread into a pissing match... yes I tagged the deer.. I kept the antlers as well.... they serve as a good reminder...
 
Superbrad said:
Your question was actually off topic but just for the sake of avoiding what could turn a good thread into a pissing match... yes I tagged the deer.. I kept the antlers as well.... they serve as a good reminder...
Click to expand...

I think when someone asks a legitimate question and then it turns into a "pizzing match" it is not the fault of the one who asked the question but of those who responded as if there was something wrong with the question.

However some moderators don't see that logic and react in a different (non-moderate) manner.



I have a sick feeling story:

The snow had been on the ground for a few days and so there were deer tracks everywhere that deer had been moving at all. I saw a buck with a doe and shot down a narrow cut-line at him with a .243. Both deer disappeared and I did not see which way they went. I waited and watched then walked slowly up and two deer ran off on the left side of the line in the area the two had been. Seeing no blood or hair on the line, I followed to the right where the deer had run off and saw none. I knew up ahead there was a road that went to the left and so I slowly made my way to it and walked back and forth along the road edge looking at all the tracks that crossed it. Then I went back to my truck and drove to that part of the road to look and think. All at once the buck crossed the road a couple hundred yards down. I drove down, got out and looked for blood. Seeing none I figured I had made a clean miss.

Two days later I was driving by the same area and saw ravens in the trees in the area I had taken the shot. I went to investigate and there about 50 yards to the RIGHT side of the line was the buck, dead and partly eaten buy scavengers. I back tracked him and there was one or two drops of blood in the snow close to him and nothing else.

It was near the end of the season and so I continued hunting till the last day then went and cut off his head for the antlers and closed my tag.
 
Superbrad said:
Your question was actually off topic but just for the sake of avoiding what could turn a good thread into a pissing match... yes I tagged the deer.. I kept the antlers as well.... they serve as a good reminder...
Click to expand...

I thought it was a fair question to ask after reading your story. Good on you for tagging it.
 
2008, I took a 300 yard broadside shot on a stationary bull moose from a very good rest with a 7mm-08 I am very familiar with. The shot felt good, I heard the "thwuck", and saw the moose hunch. It then spun around and headed for a swamp, I took a second shot as it was running for the thick stuff and was quite sure of that shot as well, then waited a few and gathered my field dressing supplies before heading after the moose. To make a long story short, after a full afternoon and most of the next day trying to track, find, look for more blood, I never did recover that moose. To this day it still bothers me as I have never figured out what went wrong. There was a good blood trail for about 100 yards, then nothing, the moose went into an area where I have never seen so many fresh moose tracks in such concentration, even after recruiting some help, was never able to figure out where he went, or what happened to him.

I have shot quite a few big game over the years, and have had a few "sick feeling" moments, usually over a bad shot where the animal was suffering bad until a finishing shot was made, but that one damned bull still makes my stomache churn when I think about it. Mostly due to the fact that I still don't know what went wrong, my aim? Bullet failure? Walked past it 100 times and didn't see it laying there? No idea.... I was, and still am stumped, and that still bothers me.

Anyone that hunts enough will eventually have an experience that leaves you feeling sick, unless you have much thicker skin than I.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom