Missed My Elk (sad face)

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KingPin

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Well .... I missed my elk this year. I had waited a few years to priority up on my antlerless elk and finally got the draw this year.

I thought I was ready - obviously not quite as prepared mentally as I thought I was.

I had a nice time wandering around with a friend of mine; we were wandering around in 108, which is very beautiful. I've lived on the prairie my whole life but I've never seen areas quite as beautiful as I was able to see this past weekend. Anyway that aside.

We were looking around for the better part of the day for a herd that we knew was around. We finally spotted them late in the afternoon. I actually thought it was a herd of horses at first until I was clued in otherwise.

We had to find a way to get around on the other side of them so the wind would be more favorable - this meant a little bit of a hike then a crawl up a hill. I'm a bit girthy so that part would have been humorous to anyone watching.

I don't think I was mentally prepared for the sheer size of the beast. When I first popped my head over the hill and saw the herd and then how large the bulls were and the cows! wow just magnificent. It took me a moment to compose myself.

I sat up and adjusted my scope ~230 yards; found a nice cow. Seemed a little more mature and didn't have any yearlings hanging around and she was on the outside of the herd; I figured this should be allright. A distance I've tuned in to on paper and can make the shot on.

I'm not sure what happened but when I put the scope up and tried to focus in the adrenaline hit pretty good and my ability went down the crapper. 2 shots aimed at the cow behind the shoulder; both seemed to miss. The first was standing and second shot I took while she was starting to move. No jump, no blood, no nothing........ I pulled that shot pretty good or hit the dirt.

The herd took off and they kept a ways off - just enough that I couldn't get a clear shot as we watched and kept on them.

Followed them around glassing for another hour just to make sure I didn't down the one - nothing down. I'm pretty sure as I'm watching them the bulls are having a good time laughing at me.

It was quite interesting to watch how spread out they were when I first came up on them and then after they moved the first time the bulls seemed to push the cows and yearlings to the back of the herd.

I'm going to try to steel up over the next couple of years and I'll have at it again.

I've hunted for deer and birds and haven't had this reaction in a very long time..........It's the damndest thing but I can't wait to go at it again.

-=King=-
 
It happens to everyone. Just keep at it and the more you practice the more confident you will be, which makes the shot at game easier.
 
Nice to read a story when everything didn't go exactly as planned. Thanks for sharing. Elk have a way of overwhelming a hunter, and I've missed elk a few times myself, killed a bunch too. One suggestion for you: when hunting "spot and stalk" style as you were, try to make sure you have a rifle rest of some kind. I usually carry and use use crossed sticks from the sitting or kneeling position, African style. In open short grass country resting your rifle over your daypack from prone is even better.
I still get the shakes now and then, but a rest makes them much less "missy".
 
Cranky Pants said:
It happens to everyone. You are NOT alone!

2 years ago I fired 3 shots at an 8 point whitetail at 100 yds standing broadside. Missed all 3

Buck fever, what can I say! :p
Click to expand...

This happened to me last fall. It was the second last day of the Ontario rifle season. I was excited that my intuition on when and where a buck would appear, based on a quick look of a map and an hour of scouting the week before, paid off. He appeared, I have never seen a deer that big in Ontario. I lost my composure and forgot all my steps to go from sight on vitals to trigger pull. I missed him three times fully broadside.

He was so rutted up he didn't even run; he just walked away. I was so flabbergasted that I missed an easy 90 meter shot that I didn't even take the fourth shot opportunity he gave me. I trailed his tracks for 500 meters without any blood sign so I was happy I didn't wound him. I wnet and check my scope and I was able to shoot the lid off a water bottle at 90 meters so it was all my nerves. It's weird because I killed a bigger buck the year before in Alberta. I guess I was just too pumped up for my first Ontario deer.

When I flew out for my Alberta hunt the following week, I packed my shooting sticks. Unfortunately, I didn't use them despite having the opportunity. We ended up getting a deer even though I didn't shoot it.
 
Thanks everyone! The words and advice are always appreciated; i'm feeling kinda dumpy about this one.

I always enjoy reading the stories where everything lines up and the shots are near perfect. I would have loved to have had that chance and that story this past week.

I'll keep plugging away and getting better with the rifle; take up some advice and get some shooting sticks or a bipod. I was silly and had left my pack a ways back to sneak up the hill - hindsight being 20/20 it would have made a great rest...

I'll enter the draw again - once more into the fray.
 
Im feeling your pain boy!

I hope you get another go at the Elk!

I too, have been in this situation, even though I have shot a tonne of these Sambar deer, when they are big an generally it is in a surprise situation... you can almost BET I F the shot up..... crosshairs wave, I jerk triggers and most of the time shoot high or infront.. FML. should have some big bruisers on the wall!!

good luck next time round !

WL
 
So you used a laser rangefinder to measure the range, and then adjusted your scope? I don't use turrets for big game hunting because it adds one more thing that can go wrong if a person gets excited.
 
As my grandfather once said to me when he heard me beating up my 16 year old self for missing a shot, "If you ain't never missed, you ain't done much shooting."

He was right, of course, and a clean miss is far preferable to a bad wounding shot, but a bad shot is always proof of a mistake of some sort. The older I get, the more convinced I am that I must eliminate mistakes that can result in wounding, so I carry shooting sticks and I get close, and moving animals are pretty safe unless they are very close. Haven't made a serious mistake in a long time, but I have made enough to know that they seem to happen most often when I'm pretty sure there is no way the shot can be a bad one. I find it very hard to squeeze a trigger unless I'm really certain.
 
You really need to follow that elk for a ways to make sure it was a miss. Sometimes there will be no blood or hair at the hit site even though the shot was good.

Better luck next time.
 
All part of the experience. Thanks for sharing your story, and it does happen to most everyone at some point! Better luck next time around.
 
Thanks! It's nice to find support among fellow hunters and enthusiasts. I still can't help but feel a little lousy about the shot; shooting at paper that doesn't move is much easier LOL.

To answer I did follow with the herd for another 45mins/hour just to make sure that nothing dropped. We could see them but they were far enough off at this point to not try making another shot as they were well passed my comfort level with the rifle I had. I'd feel much worse knowing something was wounded and I left it to suffer or not be harvested. That happens, I know, but I'd like to avoid it for myself personally if i can.
 
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