Have you ever shot the wrong one?

Founder · Mar 18, 2023

It happened to me once. The two bucks bedded, I got them mixed up because they were in thick oak, and ended up shooting the wrong one. It was a sick feeling when the buck I intended to shoot come running out of the oak.

Who else has made this screw up?
Let’s here the stories, see pics!

brutus54 · Mar 18, 2023

I drew the Vernon Deer tag quite a few years back, and the weather and visibility was horrible. Snowing like crazy. I seen a nice heavy, four-point running through the Cedars over a hill down into a canyon. I popped up over the ridge and on the other side in the blinding snow storm I seen what I thought was him in the cedars on the other side of the hill about 250 yards away. I pulled up Thinking it was the one I just seen and shot. It turned out to be a 4 x 2 not the one I saw…. I was sick to my stomach. Not a very good feeling after waiting to draw that tag… I did the right thing and threw a tag on it and dragged it back to my truck..?

easyelk13 · Mar 18, 2023

I did in Wyoming 1986. Oct 15 opening day. Snowing, spotted 4 bucks walking in some thick pines. Got ahead of them and above them. Biggest was 3rd, Nice 4 point proly 25 inches wide. Good shooting lane about 10 yds ahead. Shot the 3rd one. 20 inch 3x3. My friend ended up with the bigger one. 165 inch deer.

maddog58 · Mar 18, 2023

Not me but a buddy I was with. We were in Nevada and saw 4 bucks in a line, the first one about 30” and around 190” . Second buck a nice 170” class buck. I tell him shoot the first buck and he blasts away whacking the second buck in line. He started yelling I got the big one while I watched the actual big buck trot away. I told him you just fouled up and shot the little buck.

mickeyelk · Mar 18, 2023

I drew a Books Cliff muzzy deer tag and got two bucks mixed up while there were in the thick brush. I saw a real nice 4 point and a smaller 3 point. It was my last day to hunt and the deer smelled me and started to take off I had one opening and the larger buck was first but when they took off they must of changed positions and when they came into the opening I saw horns and fired. Yes I got the small one. Not the one I expected but didn't taste all that bad. Was my only shot.

feddoc · Mar 18, 2023

Nope, but I know a guy...who did a lung shot on a cow and clipped the head of another cow behind it. This was back in the late 60s; gamewarden let another dude in the group tag it.

Homer · Mar 18, 2023

Yes…..

Tristate · Mar 18, 2023

More than a few times.

The_Coloradoboy · Mar 18, 2023

Yep multiple times but the worst was in 2017… was solo and got on a bachelor group of bucks. Younger, want to be social media famous me, was trying to film the shot through my phone skope.. bucks ended up getting on the move on me and I had to rush things after dicking with the spotter and phone for to long and ended up shooting the young buck he was standing next to.. was so pissed I packed that buck out solo that night and brought my buddy back in two days later and killed him 400 yards from my gut pile…

Flatlander · Mar 18, 2023

I shot this buck in WY moments after my buddy also shot the wrong buck during a hectic couple moments in tall sage.

muleybeast · Mar 18, 2023

Ouch these stories hurt the soul of Monster Muley hunters.

BacDoc · Mar 18, 2023

Looks like a lot of us have had similarly experiences. My last one was a while ago in Colorado. My eyesight has greatly diminished. I‘ve lost count of how many eye surgeries I’ve had. Anyway with a little help spotting, I can still get lucky occasionally. Opening morning my son and I were set up as it got light on one of our spotting spots. A group of bachelor bucks show up with one definite shooter. We had to move about a half mile to get into a shooting position before they got into the cedars. They had no idea we were there and were feeding slowly through some draws with in shooting distance. I’m as deaf as I am blind. My son whispers shoot the last one. I shoot, knock the buck down, and was feeling pretty proud of myself. My son busts my balloon with” you shot the wrong last one dad“. The herd had divided and I’d shot a nice 24” four point instead of a possible Booner. That’s huntin’. ?

littlebull209338 · Mar 18, 2023

My brother-in-law killed two deer with one shot from his 300 Savage. Did not see the deer behind the first deer as it was standing in a small depression.. You could kill three deer in those days so he just used his second license.

feddoc · Mar 18, 2023

BacDoc said:
Looks like a lot of us have had similarly experiences. My last one was a while ago in Colorado. My eyesight has greatly diminished. I‘ve lost count of how many eye surgeries I’ve had. Anyway with a little help spotting, I can still get lucky occasionally. Opening morning my son and I were set up as it got light on one of our spotting spots. A group of bachelor bucks show up with one definite shooter. We had to move about a half mile to get into a shooting position before they got into the cedars. They had no idea we were there and were feeding slowly through some draws with in shooting distance. I’m as deaf as I am blind. My son whispers shoot the last one. I shoot, knock the buck down, and was feeling pretty proud of myself. My son busts my balloon with” you shot the wrong last one dad“. The herd had divided and I’d shot a nice 24” four point instead of a possible Booner. That’s huntin’. ?

Both my boys are handicapped. One is legally blind, but only because his field of vision is so narrow that he fits the legal definition of blind. His visual acuity is not the best, but, ok. He also has nerve damage (born three months premature; he weighed 9lbs at a year old---mama got abused while she was pregnant)

Our first time out shooting, before his mom and I married, I set him up with my 336 Marlin .30/30, talked to him about squeeze, hold, steady, shoot. Got it. I set up 9 targets (in a 3X3 grid pattern) on my chunk of plywood and off we went.

HIs first shot was about 2" off dead center. He completely missed the next two shots. We talked a bit, then walked the 100 yards to the target. Yup, he missed the first target. But, there were holes about 2" off center on three targets, just different ones. He did not have the FOV to see which one to shoot at.

I took them all down except one. His next dozen or so shots were all about 2", or less, off center. Got him a .270 and his group size was a bit less.

He never did see a deer or elk close enough for him to shoot, but he did have some fun.

Lhedrick1 · Mar 18, 2023

Yup. Had a big crazy antelope we hunted 2 years in a row. He ran all day long but he wouldnt let you get off the 2 track about 800 yards away and he stayed within about a 150 yard radius. Consentantly chasing ews and running other bucks off right along side a wind break. He'd bed down and within 30 minutes he was up and running crazy again. We saw glimses of him for two years in a big bowl that you couldnt get close to. Last year he was in the same place doing his usual and he was even bigger yet.....probably a heavy 76"-78" goat which is big for the area.

He bedded down with another billy about 150 yards down hill from a small knob that I knew we could get too. We circled around and an hour later were literally right on top of them.

Hind sight 20/20, I should have known the one that took off like a bat out of hell for no appearent reason was the one we were after. But the one sort of lagging behind him looked bigger in the moment and with him pushing 300 yards and 40 MPH winds, I took the shot.

The goat that ended up on the ground was collecting social security. Rancher guessed 8 years old. He had 7 1/2" bases and horns were all ground down.He only about 12 1/2" tall. So that crazy bastard hopefully makes it through winter and will get another crack at him in October.

Stillwater165 · Mar 18, 2023

Definitely, more than once ! The one I remember the most was many years ago down by Upton. One of those deals, right at last legal light on an overcast day. There was a group of deer above us, five or 6 does and a pair of bucks. The deer were in some real heavy cover milling around back and forth and I was having a real hard time keeping the better buck in the scope. With about 2 min of legal time left on my last day I squeezed the trigger. Well when I got up there I had a narrow racked spindly 3 by 4 laying there. Was using a new at the time muzzleloader so no one really saw what happened.

DaveD · Mar 19, 2023

Saw a guy miss a nice antelope buck this year and his bullet hit a fawn in the hind. Felt bad for him. I personally haven't ever had anything like that happen.

huntandfish · Mar 19, 2023

This thread makes me feel better that i’m not the only one that does this. First time it happened to me i was archery hunting in arizona. It was opening day and I gassed up a bachelor heard of four bucks. Two were small! One was nice and the one i was after was 180 plus. I knew where they were headed so i hustled around to get into position. I didn’t quite make it where I was trying to get and was 60 yards away. and can see the two little bucks. After a few minutes, I see a mature buck I draw my bow look through my peep, and I realize it’s the buck with the big eye gaurds not the one I want. I let back down. And try to remain patient. The deer were right on the edge of cresting, the hill. and we’re like whack-a-mole’s. I went to full draw three or four times on the wrong deer and the last time I was for sure it was the big buck. I let my arrow fly knew it connected and while I was waiting, I called my brother to tell him, I shot a giant. when I walked up and it was the wrong one it hurt, but not as bad as when I did it on a desert bighorn sheep tag. The sheep story goes as it was opening day again, and after spending the morning looking for a my target ram that I hadn’t seen in nine days. we were walking back to the trucks. My friend asked me do you ever see a sheep in this canyon? I said all the time. as I was saying the words, I had looked up and saw two rams skylined across the canyon. I threw up my binoculars and lo and behold. It was the one I was after. They were 500 yards away I got into a position, squeeze the trigger and didn’t have one on the chamber. jacked around in got back on them. Squeeze the trigger right over his back. The two rams took off running, went out of sight for a second and came back over the hill. My group of friends was yelling at me the big ram was back. I threw down my rifle, got back on him as I was squeezing the trigger my brother was saying that’s the wrong one and boom down goes the ram. everybody else thought I’d shot the right one my brother knew I shot the wrong one.

dgfavor · Mar 19, 2023

I almost had my wife shoot a little 2*3 when he came strolling thru the saddle that a nice 4*5 was "scheduled" to come thru. Luckily as I was giving her the last minute "take yer time, easy breaths, whenever yer ready, ...". She said "it's not him". I threw up the binos and sure nuff, it wasn't and he never showed. ?

My wife had drawn a bull tag and we had a couple decent bulls in same area so we were trying to keep things quiet and chill since her tag didn't open till I think 5 days into the general deer season. We had watched this buck for 3 days, figured out where he went every evening, and finally decided we had better go get him...hadn't seen the elk in 2 days. Got ourselves in good position for a chip shot at him coming thru the saddle...and all that came thru was the 2*3 I almost had her shoot. Never saw the 4*5 again. Didn't get an elk either. ?

eelgrass · Mar 19, 2023

I've done it a few times. Once on a CWMU in Utah. There was a nice heavy 4X4 with an inline on one side. He was with a 3X3. A little forked horn that we didn't see spooked and ran down to them, so they took off running too, with the 4X4 in the lead. I found an opening ahead of them and when the first buck showed up I shot.....and dumped the 3X3. The 3X3 passed him in the brush, I guess.

. Only one per customer so I was done.

Tikka · Mar 19, 2023

Does ground shrinkage count as “I shot the wrong one”?

DeerMadness · Mar 19, 2023

No but on the last day of a hunt I went to a new area. In the very first couple minutes I saw a huge bodied buck with a decent 3 point headset. I shot him then a really nice 4 point jumped out from behind a tree. I was bummed but I sure got a lot of freezer space filled up with the one I got. It was the only time I have had my wife with me. She couldn't believe we just walked up to a ridge top in the dark and at the first couple minutes of legal shooting hours I bagged a deer in a new spot. I had a tough time dragging that buck out but I didn't want to cut him up yet as it wasn't even a half mile to our truck.

larrbo · Mar 19, 2023

I was hunting deer in Eastern Oregon several years back. We scouted several areas because the day before the openener and found a very heavy 30+" 4x4 off the edge in a pretty steep canyon. He bedded down at dark and I backed out. I went back before light the next morning and waited for the sunrise. About 30 minutes after it got light a buck got up in the same area I saw the big buck the night before and it began trotting away from me. At the time it looked like the buck i had seen the night before and it looked good trotting away. I pulled the trigger and he went down in some brush. It took about 45 minutes to get down to where the buck lay and wheni saw it I hung my head.....wrong buck. It was decent at just over 24" but I was disappointed that it wasn't the massive buck I had seen. The worst part of this was it took me and my buddy 8 hours to get the buck out of the canyon we later nicknamed " HELLHOLE".

Snoopdogg · Mar 19, 2023

Yup, in Cali we were hunting blacktails. When I was a really sh!tty hunter, I mean a new hunter, I saw a couple forkies hauling ass due to our noise, smell, and overall ignorance. As they stotted through buckbrush, I picked the big-bodied forky and lit his ass up on the hop. Dropped like a sack of sh!t.

I was happy to have the deer, but he had smaller forks and was WAY smaller body-wise, than the one I thought I shot.

Bummer for about a minute, then I got over it since I only had a deer or two under my belt back then.

eelgrass · Mar 19, 2023

The one I remember most involved a friend of mine. He drew an antelope tag for Modoc, Co. California and since I knew the area well and he had never shot a big game animal I offered to go with him.

Opening day and I spotted three bucks bedded down on a nob. One was a decent 14" buck, one was a small buck and one was a Boone and Crockett buck if there ever was one. I figured he was17-18" tall and super heavy. I tried to remain calm so as not to get Jeff too excited.

We made the stalk and got to about 75 yards when they saw us and all 3 stood up. I told Jeff to take him now! I waited and waited but no shot. Then Jeff said, "Which one is he?" What???? "The one with the big tall horns, Jeff! Kill it!" BOOM! He shot the smallest one of the three.

ridgetops · Mar 19, 2023

I have a couple different times when I was younger. That was over 30 years ago.

azhunteraz · Mar 19, 2023

T.A.B.

"Be sure of your target and beyond"

pburton · Mar 19, 2023

Yes, I did this. When I was about 13 my dad bought me a new rifle. It was a Rem 7600 30-06, because the guy I hunted with had the same rifle, but an older model 760. I had my uncle mount a scope on it. That rifle kicked like a mule. To the point that the scope mounts would loosen. One year I was hunting on a patch of private property. I came across a group of 5 groups. There was a big buck in the middle of the group about 100 yards away. I leaned on a tree to get a good rest and let a shot go. The next thing I know the big buck is running away and there is a deer on the ground. I was totally defeated and walked over to that deer. It was a small forked horn, which was legal, but not the buck I thought it was. I told my uncle about this incident and he took the rifle to the range to check it out. The rifle was shooting 3 feet to the right due to the mounts loosening. I made my dad sell the rifle and got a 7 rem mag bolt action, that I still have to this day. And this has not happened again.

BLooDTRaCKeR · Mar 19, 2023

I’ve never shot the wrong one elk hunting. The meat has been delicious from every animal.

EVILNR · Mar 20, 2023

Easing down a logging road one morning and a buck runs across the road about 30-40 yards in front of me. On the other side he went behind a pile of logs/stumps a dozer had pushed up.
I pulled up my 870 and when he cleared that pile I laid him out,
DRT. But at the shot another deer ran out also.
When I walked up on that Doe, she had one 00 Buck pellet right behind the shoulder.
It was not doe season. She did make it to the freezer however.

littlebighorn · Mar 20, 2023

Wyoming antelope my son and I hunted 4 days trying to find a big buck. Finally put an 80" buck to bed. The next morning we snuck in while it was dark and when it got light enough to see the buck stood and I shot him. It was a miniature of the buck we were chasing.
We were redeemed later that day when we caught up to the big buck again and my son shot him.

DBLung · Mar 20, 2023

Late Manti tag. I was after a 340-350 bull that was in a group of 6 other bulls. They were in the tree's so the only way to get a shot was to sneak into them. My brother was watching from the ridge across the canyon about a mile away. He tried to radio me into the correct bull. I was about 45-50 yards from them, when they got up and started moving out. Acting quickly, I shot what I thought was him. Ended up with a 317" bull. The 340" bull was just in front of the one I shot out of sight.

Zeke · Mar 20, 2023

I've heard of it from several guys but these are the hunts that I was actually on and watching it all go down.

I did it once on a bull elk.
Son did it once on a bull elk.
Bro did it once on a ram in Idaho.
Cousin did it once on a ram in Nevada.

These stories are too long and painful to elaborate further

Zeke

SS! · Mar 20, 2023

Zeke said:
I've heard of it from several guys but these are the hunts that I was actually on and watching it all go down.

I did it once on a bull elk.
Son did it once on a bull elk.
Bro did it once on a ram in Idaho.
Cousin did it once on a ram in Nevada.

These stories are too long and painful to elaborate further

Zeke

I could get over the elk ones, but sheep? Ouch.

Zeke · Mar 20, 2023

SS! said:
I could get over the elk ones, but sheep? Ouch.

Yessir,
I got over the elk within a very short time but the sheep thing, not so much and it's still a painful memory even though the first episode dates back 23 years!

Zeke

rmanwill · Mar 20, 2023

There was one hunt that really hurt that I was along for. It was a once in a lifetime moose hunt with a hunting buddy. We had seen numerous bulls over a couple days. We were on a point that we could see a lot of country where we had seen numerous moose prior. We spot a really nice bull with a cow and a calf on a small ridge feeding. We jump on wheelers and drive around the top of several canyons while keeping track of the moose as best as we can. We get over there and hike down into the ridge where the moose were last seen and as we are sneaking into the same area we see a bull moose and a cow and calf about 70- yards away around some thick oak brush. Two of us stay out of sight as our buddy sneaks out from behind the cover and shoots the bull. We walk towards the bull all proud of our selves and high fiving our buddy when he stops and looks at us and say's it's the wrong bull. we all walk up on the bull and WOW, what a quite end to a hunt. Our buddy headed up the hill to get a wheeler while the other two of us broke it down. Our buddy wouldn't even let us take a photo of that bull.

Now that was a big mistake that really hit home and hurt. All three of us know better then to make that mistake, but in the heat of the moment never took a good look at the bull that was right where we know the original bull should have been. That is hunting. Live and learn. It was a great hunt with friends. Just not the end or end memories we wished for!!!

huntandfish · Mar 20, 2023

My friend made a YouTube video of my sheep hunt so I can relive shooting the wrong ram anytime I want.

Shadow · Mar 20, 2023

I’d dare say most every one of us has been there. I once shot the first buck to step clear and he turned out to be a 20” willow horn buck. When I got up to him, the big buck stood and watched me for atleast a full minute at 60 yards. Yeah I’m sure he was laughing. Took all I had not to upgrade.

CHWino_1 · Mar 20, 2023

I was hosting an older guy in CA many years ago. I sent him out to watch a treeline that bucks often came out to feed in late afternoon.

He had to drive 15-20 mins in some other country that certainly held deer and anything was possible. As he was driving, he saw a decent blacktail standing outside of a manzanita thicket.

He shoots him and he jumps into the brush. A moment later the buck runs out of the thicket and he gives him another one. Turns out he shot two bucks of about the same size and quality. Luckily it was a two tag area and he had both tags with him.

Another time I'm hunting with my brother. He sees a buck from the truck and says he's gonna shoot it. I put my binoculars on it and it's pretty much a dink. I'm pretty shocked he wants it. I ask if he's sure...and says yes.

While I'm watching the buck, he shoots. The buck just stays in its bed looking confused. I said you missed! He says bullshit he's down. Obviously I was looking at the wrong deer the whole time.

rmanwill · Mar 20, 2023

CHWino_1 said:
I was hosting an older guy in CA many years ago. I sent him out to watch a treeline that bucks often came out to feed in late afternoon.

He had to drive 15-20 mins in some other country that certainly held deer and anything was possible. As he was driving, he saw a decent blacktail standing outside of a manzanita thicket.

He shoots him and he jumps into the brush. A moment later the buck runs out of the thicket and he gives him another one. Turns out he shot two bucks of about the same size and quality. Luckily it was a two tag area and he had both tags with him.

Another time I'm hunting with my brother. He sees a buck from the truck and says he's gonna shoot it. I put my binoculars on it and it's pretty much a dink. I'm pretty shocked he wants it. I ask if he's sure...and says yes.

While I'm watching the buck, he shoots. The buck just stays in its bed looking confused. I said you missed! He says bullshit he's down. Obviously I was looking at the wrong deer the whole time.

This has happened personally to me or my group more then the original question!!!

wstrntines · Mar 20, 2023

2011 on the henries a friend of a friend shot the wrong buck 150ish. This story is one I’d prefer to not tell. God there were some big deer down there.

HIcountryman · Mar 20, 2023

I was hunting private land and had hunted about 15 days and passed early on a nice 165 ish heavy buck, waiting to see if a drop tined, double beamed buck would show up. All the deer would bed in a small thicket that I wasn't sure was owned by my guy, he had just got this property. I asked him to check it out and he gave me the go ahead, that thicket was his. I was headed over the ridge to the thicket about 3 days left in the season. Came up on a buck walking away from me, view from behind I thought he was this huge spindly buck with broken off front that I had seen several times. Blowing snow and going away I rushed into deciding to shoot him, as he was in better place to haul out than the thicket. Shot quick off a Boulder and he reared up and tumbled down hill. He was a smaller 3x4 I had seen a few times. Oh well

NPHunter · Mar 22, 2023

During my first year of hunting back in '94, I had a cow elk tag, we were driving up to a ridge top to make a drive down the ridge while others set up down below. We drove into a draw and all of a sudden elk just started running out single file across the road in front of us. I got out of the truck and found a stump on the roadside to use as a rest, pulled up and shot at a cow, I blinked as I shot but when I opened my eyes the cow was still in the scope so I shot again. After the dust settled we walked up the hillside to two cow elk laying dead side by side. Luckily my parents also had cow tags and were able to tag one.

NPHunter · Mar 22, 2023

A few years ago I told myself I would not shoot any elk with my bow beside a six point bull. I had killed two six point bulls the previous two years and was letting my hunting partner be the shooter until he filled his tag and then I would be the shooter. We were 3 weeks into the season and I hadn't got to be the shooter yet, I was getting nervous that I might not get to fill my tag. It was Thursday, Sept 23rd, only 3 more days of the season left and I hadn't been able to chase a bull yet.

We got is on a big group of elk and were in them off and on all day, it was just before dark and we ran into a group when we were almost back to the truck. The elk were in a super thick Reprod patch in the bottom of a draw and it was wide open all around that patch. My buddy circled up to the head of the draw while I stayed low and kept the elk bugling. I was making a racket and all of a sudden I saw a spike come out, he was walking out an elk trail looking for me so I ranged him just for fun with no intent on shooting him. A few minutes later a big 5 point walked out on the same trail, I told myself that if he followed the same path I would shoot him. He did and I drew back and made a perfect shot on him, as soon as he bolted from the arrow hitting him the big 300ish 6 point and his group of cows walked out and he stood there bugling at me for about 10 minutes at 50 yards. My bull ran up and died 20 yards or less from my buddy, I called him and told him that the big bull was still there and about 20 minutes later he go a shot on the bull and missed him.

When I walked up on the bull he ended up being a 5x6 but he was not what I was after and I will never let my stress of killing an elk get in the way of my goals again. If I would have stuck to my guns I would have killed my second biggest bull ever. The bull I killed was a nice bull but not what I was after, and I will never forget the feeling of watching that big 6 point walk out right after I shot.

NPHunter · Mar 22, 2023

A couple years back my youngest son had a rifle buck tag, we had been hunting hard and found some bucks that we wanted to kill on about the 7th day of the hunt. They were coming out right at last shooting light and it took two more days for us to get ourselves into a spot for a shot.
My son got setup of a shot and missed the buck right over his back, the deer stood there and I set him up to shoot again, this time he shot right over the second smaller bucks back. Luckily he missed that buck and they ran off, my son broke down a little and was down on himself pretty bad for missing after all of the hard work we put in getting on them and all of the other bucks we passed up earlier in the hunt.
We set back up in the same spot the following night and moved even closer to where the bucks were coming out. We had been sitting there freezing in the wind for several hours and right when we started to get up to leave the bucks ended up walking out at under 50 yards and my son made a perfect shot on the bigger buck. We were both thankful that he didn't shoot the smaller buck the day before.

Foreman4x4 · Mar 26, 2023

Yep, on a OIL moose hunt. Should be kicked right square in the nutz for it.

JPickett · Mar 26, 2023

Shot the wrong bear last year, that kinda pissed me off. I had glassed up 3, had to go around probably about 5 miles to get to a shot. Got there, bear popped up where the one I wanted should have been and I didn’t pull the spotter out to make sure.

feddoc · Mar 26, 2023

NPHunter said:
A couple years back my youngest son had a rifle buck tag, we had been hunting hard and found some bucks that we wanted to kill on about the 7th day of the hunt. They were coming out right at last shooting light and it took two more days for us to get ourselves into a spot for a shot.
My son got setup of a shot and missed the buck right over his back, the deer stood there and I set him up to shoot again, this time he shot right over the second smaller bucks back. Luckily he missed that buck and they ran off, my son broke down a little and was down on himself pretty bad for missing after all of the hard work we put in getting on them and all of the other bucks we passed up earlier in the hunt.
We set back up in the same spot the following night and moved even closer to where the bucks were coming out. We had been sitting there freezing in the wind for several hours and right when we started to get up to leave the bucks ended up walking out at under 50 yards and my son made a perfect shot on the bigger buck. We were both thankful that he didn't shoot the smaller buck the day before.
View attachment 106290

Good on you. Your boy is gonna remember that for a lifetime.

Buckfever34 · Mar 26, 2023

I’ve said I shot the wrong one before! Ground shrinkage is a b*+%h!!!

Mnbearhunter123 · Apr 11, 2023

One of my best friends jumped a WT doe out of thick cattails. After he made a perfect shot, he walked up in it and a 160” buck was laying there. I tell everyone who sees the rack that he thought it was a doe ??.

money · Apr 11, 2023

Tikka said:
Does ground shrinkage count as “I shot the wrong one”?

I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say "they must have switched positions in the draw or in the brush." Or " I could only see the one buck/bull the whole time so when I got in there I shot him and then the "huge" one I originally saw jumped up behind him and ran off and man he was a giant!"

I think there are a ton of people that can't own up to a the fact they they got overly excited or grossly misjudged an animal. It happens to a lot of people, I just wish more people owned up to it. Every time I hear a "shot the wrong one" story I immediately think they are full of crap unless I can tell it was genuinely a mix up. I know it does happen but i've hunted quite a lot and don't feel like it is as likely to happen as people say it does. I have misjudged animals before that ended up dead, but it was 100% on me and I didn't tell people the wrong buck got shot..... To be clear I have seen multiple bucks standing side by side and then the hunter kills the incorrect deer as a mistake. And I have seen deer switch places and get killed as the wrong buck so I know it does happen. But I believe because it does happen people use that to their advantage when they screw up and are too chicken to own it.

Best story I ever heard was from a buddy that I saw driving around town one day years ago with antlers sticking up from the bed of his truck. I could see some extras sticking out so I caught up to him and flagged him down to look at his buck. He had killed a beautiful 160" class buck that had two drop tines and a couple stickers. The guy swore the he saw a giant 200" double dropper buck run into the draw about 250 yards away and 15 seconds later he saw a buck running up the other side of the draw. After a quick look he could see the two drop tines so he let the buck have it, only to find out he had killed the "wrong" double drop tine buck. I immediately had a hard time buying the chances of that story and chalked it up to overexcitement and gross misjudging. How likely was it to have two double drop tines bucks running together and for them to switch like that... no very likely at all if you ask me. I didn't say anything but I wasn't buying it whatsoever. He still killed a cool deer but was so concerned about what people would think that he wasn't willing to say "man I screwed up". I can respect a mistake, but most of the time when I hear those stories I am very skeptical.

Tristate · Apr 11, 2023

Shot a bull cape buffalo a little high one time with a 400 grain solid. Passed all the way through and struck a cow low in the neck that I had no idea was behind him. Most of the energy in the bullet was gone and it was tumbling. It didn't penetrate more than 3 inches into her. Problem was it hit her square on the carotid artery. She bled out in less than 30 yards stone dead. She probably could have taken that round anywhere else and lived. Just dumb luck.

Wyo_Roadhunter · Apr 14, 2023

Not sure if it was technically the wrong one. But 2014 general deer hunt I snuck into a 185"-190" 4 point that was bedded with a small 3x4. All I could see was his forks sticking up above the grass. I waited 3 hours for him to stand up when another buck at noon fed up to me at 30 yards. He was a good 4 point that I had seen scouting but didn't pay much attention to cause I thought he was like 160". Well he turned broadside and I couldn't help it and shot him. Dad who was across the canyon watching the bedded buck didn't know that buck had walked up and heard me yell I got him. He kept on the typical and couldn't see blood but he heard my buck crash so he thought I accidentally had shot the small 3x4 so he he yelled back "YOU SHOT THE WRONG BUCK"!!!! I called him and let him know I had shot the 160". Well to my surprise the 160" buck turned into a 185" buck when I walked up on him haha. So the wrong buck didn't end up being to bad.

On the same note being greedy cost me a big buck in wyoming in 2016. There was 2 bucks hanging in the same area that looked alot alike. One being probably 160-170 the other in the 180's. 5th day of the rifle hunt 3 bucks walked out 400 yards from where I was glassing. I couldn't tell which 4 point it was standing there. About 5 minutes into watching him he turned his head a little and I saw he was the big one. Took about 5 seconds to get my rifle set up and he busted. Never saw him again.....