Why have you missed?

[Outdrmn]

I bet almost every miss has something to do with trigger manipulation.

Short version, first hunt ever tried to manipulate the trigger on my first deer. With the safety on and adrenaline pounding my heart against my ribs didn't think of the safety. Just pulled again and harder.
Guess I didn't miss though

 

[bengineer]

I missed an 80 yard still head shot on a calm whitey doe. Barrel was touching the sheep fence i was shooting through and even after checking, I missed the contact. Needless to say, she was surprised when the crack went by and I was surprised she ran away.
Been shooting small furries at distance and moved to a way closer shot. Yup, got excited and forgot to hold/dial lower. Shot a foot over another chip shot. Thankfully no wounds on those two.
I missed the wind call on a 285 yd pronghorn and put an 85 gr 243 tsx behind her shoulder. Double lung wound allowed her to run about 200 yds before she laid down and died on the 2 track I was following. Providence smiled on us that day.

 

[wyogeargeek]

In my day they called it buck fever.

 

[tonyf3]

Adreneline/Buckfever when I was 12 to about 17
Young adult to my early 30s.. it was rushed shot.

I guess i can call it middle age now. In eastern MT. the wind is constantly blowing and it goes from gusty to moments where it stops. The forecast is always 10-15mph and like clockwork on a 7 day hunt we lose 2 days to 40+MPH winds.
We hunt an area where the mountains just grow out of the ground. The wind hits the mountain from the south and runs the mountain side heading east and it speeds up it makes its way down the mountain.. On a 500 yrd shot you can have a few different wind patterns to contend with.

I've seen my uncle make some spectacular misses when it's sub freezing and you can see the vapor trail from that bullet getting knocked around.

 

[Korhil78]

My kid missed twice on a cow elk at 525 yards. It was because he was using his 7mm Sherman MAX launching a 169 Gr hammer hunter at 3120 fps and I had the 6.5 creedmoor launching a 140 Gr bullet at 2750 fps chosen on my kestrel for the ballistics. He was shooting at least a foot high over the elk lol.

What made me realize it was that he was arguing with me that there was no way he missed even on the first shot. Looked down at the kestrel and was like …OH CRAP!! Chose the right rifle and bullet combo in the kestrel and bam…dead elk on the third shot haha. So it was definitely OTHER!

 

[RidgeTop]

The reason I voted trigger manipulation is I have been practicing indoor pistol on a laser/computer controlled 'Strikman'. It is very evident when you miss and recall your trigger control for that missed shot it almost always comes down to a brain fart just when you pulled the trigger. Practice concentration.
I shot indoor ,22lr pistol in College. I learned early on I could not hit a barn IF I had anything on my mind outside of shooting. Not an exam, not a girlfriend, nothing. When I practiced mind control I was able to shoot my best of 298 out of 300. Not bad as I was using a sporting pistol -Browning Challenger. Carried it to the range in a holster. Others were using the highly praised Hi-Standard and I out shot them all. Practice mind control. BTW, Our most accurate ammo was Remington, 40gr Std Velocity.

 

[Korhil78]

My wife has the mind control thing down to an art!

 

[dogz]

The biggest lessons have been when NOT to shoot based on a condition, you can always try again or move to another position but you can't take back a shot!!

This............is the best reason I can think of to be constantly practicing in poor conditions (wind, rain, blizzard etc) to as far as one would ever consider shoot to. It'll teach you when to take the shot and when not to!

 

[LVJ76]

Rushed shot.

Javelina spring hunt 4 years ago. We were driving back to camp at around 5 pm, and we spotted a couple of them on a saddle of the hill to our west. I jumped out of the truck, loaded a round and fired just before they moved to the back of the hill. Missed, thought they were around 350m and I aimed high, and I missed high. They were at around 240m but did not have time to range them, and usually I'm pretty good at judging distances, but not in this case. Rifle was sighted at 200m

They took off and so did I, grabbed my pack and went after them. Found them on the hill behind the one I shot at. 325 yds away I aimed just above the head, dropped it where it stood. Both shots offhand, but miss read the range because I was in a hurry.

I should have waited on the first shot and stalk them.

 

[LVJ76]

Missing an easy shot is humbling.

Amen

Shooting a moving deer or elk is not something I would even consider at 500 much less 1200 yards. I am not judging or trying to bring ethics into this at all. I just can't imagine trying to figure out all the variables involved in making this type of shot.

I've shot several deer running between 100yds and 300yds. I did practice a lot on moving targets though. It's takes a lot of practice, a lot. Like shooting doves, here they fly by you at an average of 40mph or more on a windy day. Practice, practice, practice.

On a running deer I've never gotten buck fever. unlike shooting at a deer standing still, on those I still get buck fever every time.

 

[comfisherman]

In my pre rangefinder days it was usually an over/under range error.

Wind still gets me, I'm a bit to reliant on water to gauge Wind. Starting to be less skilled with various terrain estimations.

Missed a lot of shots in the early dialing days, 15-20 years ago to now we've come along ways on everything from repeatability to revolution stops and counters. Heck zero stop would blow my 22 year old mind. A strike eagle has nobs it took a 3.5k premier heritage to get when I started. Who remembers Miss matched mil/moa... or bumping the power ring after months of practice with that spiffy sfp tree reticle....only to miss because the hashes at 12 were way off from the 16x you practiced at the range...

 

[Huntnful]

In my pre rangefinder days it was usually an over/under range error.

Wind still gets me, I'm a bit to reliant on water to gauge Wind. Starting to be less skilled with various terrain estimations.

Missed a lot of shots in the early dialing days, 15-20 years ago to now we've come along ways on everything from repeatability to revolution stops and counters. Heck zero stop would blow my 22 year old mind. A strike eagle has nobs it took a 3.5k premier heritage to get when I started. Who remembers Miss matched mil/moa... or bumping the power ring after months of practice with that spiffy sfp tree reticle....only to miss because the hashes at 12 were way off from the 16x you practiced at the range...

People getting drop validation on a certain power of a SFP scope with hashes, and then using it in the field at a different magnification has to happen A LOT! I've shot scoped rifles for 20+ years, and didn't even know that was a thing until I started getting serious about long range. Then learned about FFP & SFP.

 

[Korhil78]

I know this is a little off topic but since you mentioned it. I never use the hash marks and I can't even begin to explain why I don't lol. If the animal is 350 yards out, I'm still dialing for it but I know good and well that I could just use the hash marks real quick.

 

[Huntnful]

I know this is a little off topic but since you mentioned it. I never use the hash marks and I can't even begin to explain why I don't lol. If the animal is 350 yards out, I'm still dialing for it but I know good and well that I could just use the hash marks real quick.

Hahahaha I've used my turrets at 160 yards and 250 yards on bucks also lol. I just do it automatically. If they don't know I'm there of course. Never used a hash for elevation either.