Yup, I miss

[Guy Miner]

12 years consecutive "Expert" with the M-16 in the Marines. 200, 300 & 500 yards, iron sights.

12 years as the county SWAT team sniper team leader.

Washington state SWAT sniper instructor for a few years.

NRA "High Master" in long-range rifle competition.

Placed well in a number of competitions, including a few wins, both formal NRA High Power competition as well as less formal "tactical" type competitions.

NRA rifle instructor.

17 years as police firearms instructor including patrol rifle instructor.

Life long hunter, with a pretty good history of first shot kills from short range out to 400+ yards with standard hunting rifles.

Handloading at about 5 years of age, now I'm 62... How did that happen?

Really nice hunting and target rifles with proven accuracy.

Excellent handloads with great attention to detail...

And yet.... I can miss!

Cracks me up sometimes. Just about the time I'm feeling real comfortable with being able to count on making hits, quick hits, good hits... Sigh... A target just stares at me with no new holes in it... Or an antelope bounds away, apparently with a magic ability to deflect bullets!

Gah!

It's all part of the challenge. And humbling.

Guy

 

[DrMike]

I have a few notorious misses that gnaw at my memory. I don't dwell on them. I do try to analyse what happened and make appropriate adjustments. Still, the irritation remains to erode my joy of shooting.

 

[truck driver]

Not as elaborate credentials as you but yeah I miss too, some of the shots drove me crazy trying to figure out what happened. Problem is for me I shoot some very flat shooting rifles and then some not so flat so if I have just put one of the flat shooters away and pick up the other I tend to for get which rifle I have or I should say which caliber I'm shooting. I have shot low quite a few times.

 

[bdbrown66]

I feel your pain. It happens.

 

[69gto]

I had an old guy tell me many years ago that anyone that says they have never missed have not shot at very many animals.

 

[SJB358]

I feel that! Not near the time on a rifle as Guy, but I have a fair round count and missing still happens. Hate it, but I’ve had a few I could could kick my own butt over.

 

[ShadeTree]

Happens. Can think of several bucks I'd like to have a chance at again. Not lay up shots, but certainly doable. It knaws at ya.

But, you just gotta think of all the successes that could've easily gone a different way.

 

[cloverleaf]

Ive seen a few pronghorns with force fields capable of deflecting bullets...several...cleanly... fortunately. Deer season this year found me passing on a marginal shot to protect my average. I have been one for one the last couple years and didn't want to mess that up! 'cause I know I can still miss... CL

 

[salmonchaser]

Dang I still have nightmares over some of mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gbflyer]

I generally miss. [emoji1]

 

[elkeater2]

Me too. I hate the immediate self-doubt and rifle doubt that is created! Every time I've gone and set up a target at 100 yds. and re-shot after a miss, the rifle has been spot on. Nobody to blame but me!
EE2

 

[PJGunner]

Last miss I did was on my elk hunt last December. The guide spotted a coyote about 150 yards out and asked me to shoot it. I think he wanted to see if I could shoot. Well I had a good rest and Mr. Coyote was standing still looking at us when I squeezed off the shot, and missed. :shock: The guide watching through his binocs said I cut hair right at the top of it's back as he saw the hair fly. My bad as I forgot to allow for the trajectory at 150 yards. A slightly lower hold would have made it a bad day for Mr. coyote. Later on the last day of the hunt, a half hour before the ending of legal hunting I made up for the miss by shooting my elk at the base of the skull as it ran away. guess i redeemed myself in the guide's eyes.
Paul B.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Guy I have made some unbelievable shot's and had some muffs I would like to try again.

Everybody misses but a good shot misses less.

 

[Guy Miner]

Last miss I did was on my elk hunt last December. The guide spotted a coyote about 150 yards out and asked me to shoot it. I think he wanted to see if I could shoot. Well I had a good rest and Mr. Coyote was standing still looking at us when I squeezed off the shot, and missed. :shock: The guide watching through his binocs said I cut hair right at the top of it's back as he saw the hair fly. My bad as I forgot to allow for the trajectory at 150 yards. A slightly lower hold would have made it a bad day for Mr. coyote. Later on the last day of the hunt, a half hour before the ending of legal hunting I made up for the miss by shooting my elk at the base of the skull as it ran away. guess i redeemed myself in the guide's eyes.
Paul B.

Nice work on the elk Paul!

Most coyotes aren't very big, and they can be a challenging target. I've done alright on 'em... But there may be a few out there who just educated me on their sprint speed after that first shot. Around here, central Washington, it seems that the AR-15 has become the coyote rifle of choice. So easy to make a second or third shot...

Guy

 

[preacher]

Think positive! Myself, I "try and see just how close I can get without actually hitting them". Like PJ did with the coyote! Its like 'catch & release"... I can do it all day! sometimes I "miss" more closely than others....

 

[Palouser]

Thank you for posting this! From everyone you talk to, everyone has a 1/164th MOA gun that they drop varmits with at 7,234 yards, always on the first shot! We are still human, no matter how good. It takes a humble and modest man to post this, and I appreciate it.

 

[longwinters]

Two years ago I was sitting in my post when I nice 6 pt popped out of the wash at 200 yds. I put the crosshairs on him and squeezed the trigger, he leaped back into the wash and I saw him go down. Waited a few minutes and went to check him out. Hmmm, he wasn’t there. Had about 12” of snow on the ground so I could see where he fell etc... but no blood. My brother in law came over and we tracked and then gridded for several hours and no buck. I remember telling him “I don’t miss”. I remember feeling sick about wounding him because I don’t miss.

I shot that buck the next day at 70 yds chasing does. And there weren’t any previous bullet holes.

Long

 

[DrMike]

Yup, it happens. My grandson took a poke at a doe a couple of years back. She was just on the edge of a slight depression and appeared to go down hard. However, she bounced up and was gone pretty quickly. We searched very thoroughly, and not a drop of blood. No hair, nothing! We tracked her for quite a distance, and there was no evidence of a wound. The best I can guess is that she was startled at the sound of the shot and slipped down the slight incline. A whitetail's reaction is honed to near perfection, I do believe.

 

[hunt127588]

I just did it as well this season. I shoot targets from 50-1250 yds consistently. I practice all year and then I miss an 80 yard shot on a nice buck. I attributed it to rushing the shot and slapping the trigger. I know better; However over-confidence got the best of me. I rather a clean miss and some humble pie than a wounded animal perish in a lingering death.