My first year hunting I blew a 40 yard shot at a decent buck. I had to free hand the shot because the stand I was in didn't have a rail. Just wondering if anyone else has blown some chip shots?

170" deer in Missouri. 20yds shot low and clipped brisket. Undoubtedly my only chance at a deer of that caliber in this life

Doe at ~15 yards.........

10 feet with shotgun. First buck., I was sitting on the ground in the trail and he came head down grunting and scared me to death. I killed him as he ran away at 20 yards.

I missed a pig at eight yards and a doe at nine yards with a self bow, then killed the doe at 30 yards with second shot. I have never missed inside 7 yards...ever.

I missed a solid 130" buck in KY with a bow that was smelling of the tree I was in. He was walking to me and all I had was a front chest shot, so I waited for him to turn, he never did, walked straight to my tree smelled it, at 1 yd I shot and missed and he walked right under me into the thicket behind me, never to be seen again

First deer I ever shot at with a bow was roughly 7 steps from the base of my tree....shot about 2" under her.

Missed a monster at 15 yards chasing a hot doe on a cutover in Butler Al. I will never forget that deer. They were jumping windrows and I couldn't get the scope on him. I shot as him passed right under me ....no hair or blood nothing but sheer disgust of which I now feel again.

Missed a doe at 18 yards with a bow. Closest with a gun was probably 60 yards. It was a good buck. I was in a thick hardwood bottom and hit a limb in front of me that I never saw.

Bow shots shouldn't count; I've missed a couple straight down. When you are up 25' that is not such an easy shot.

I once missed a doe with a Contender that was maybe 5 yards from the tree. I had killed the first deer I had shot at with it and she was the second. She was behind me to my left and I didn't have any sort of rest and must have pulled the shot right over her. She ran out to about 30 yards and I reloaded and missed her again. Guess that one was just from nerves after blowing such a close shot. She ran off, but another one in the group stopped in a narrow opening maybe 60 yards away and I hurried another shot at her. She ran off and I thought I had missed her too, but she was dead just out of sight.

If deer hunting is getting boring, switch to some sort of handgun and it will get more interesting. I did get more efficient with it; killed about a dozen or so before losing interest, and most of them were in the 100-175 yard range. I found that with a good rest and remaining calm it wasn't really that much harder than hunting with a rifle. But until you kill a few with it, it can be a real challenge. I learned to set up my stands so that I was sure to have a rest available, or be in a position that I could rest the gun on my knee.

somewhere in the 75 yard range

I had the barrel of my rifle in between the rungs on the bottom of my climber trying to shoot a big ten point I had grunted in standing directly under me. It happened so fast I don't think I really looked through the scope. When I pulled the trigger thinking this was gonna be an easy kill I showered his ass with dirt and away he went. Week later my wife shot him at 2:30 in the afternoon on a green patch

pretty dang close.

I missed a nice chocolate racked 8 pt at 30 yards with a slug gun. I “reacted” to the recoil before I shot, and shot right over his back. Won’t ever forget that deer... he was a wall hanger.

Missed a 8 pt. during thanksgiving. 15 foot, Was getting up to leave shooting house and never knew he was there till we looked each other in the eyes. Had to squat down to get the rifle out the window. Looked for hair or blood for 2.5 hours.

Same deal, walked up a thick mountain trail just to see what was there. Sat down to take a break. A nice 8-point walked right out on me. 5-6 feet away. We saw each other about same time. I just pointed and shot as he bounded into the brush. Knocked a pile of white belly hair out. If he hadn’t jumped. A- Bolt 30-06. Neighbor’s killed him a day or 2 later.

Missed a nice buck at 7 yards with a bow once. Hit a limb.

With a rifle the only one that’s close to come to mind was a 65 yard doe. Shot twice and never touched her. Went home andshot my rifle and it was 18” high at 100 yards. Still don’t know how that happened.

I giggled at that.


I missed a doe at 10 steps with a rifle once. Missed a big 8 in Missouri at 19 yards. My hand was so cold, I couldn't move my fingers. I've missed several with a bow lately that I had to ask WTF is wrong with me. The big 8 hurts the worst tho.

about 20 feet, with a scoped .44 mag handi-rifle. bullet hit a little bitty branch, then broke a front leg. he could still run plenty fast to get away ...

Everyone has to have a first post and mine might as well be embarrassing. I'm 39 and just started deer hunting this year. Tonight I dry fired at a hog that was only ten yards away... maybe closer. I had unloaded the chamber to get in the treestand and forgot to load it after pulling the gun up. Not sure if that counts as a miss but it's pretty sad. At least it wasn't a deer.