Mistakes Made

Not everyone is willing to admit to their mistakes, but I am a firm believer that you must make them, own up to them, learn from them and have others learn from them. I try to apply this at my job, at home, and especially in my hunting and outdoor adventures. Very few people, if any, will ever be perfect in the hunting world (some of our favorites will come close) but I know I am far from it.

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Every season comes with new adventures and experiences that will challenge you and make you better. Because the ‘sport’ of hunting will never be the same twice, we as hunters must adapt every time we venture into the field. The more we hunt, the more things change. The weather will always change, the land and terrain will be different, the setups will vary and most importantly the animals will always surprise you making it difficult to do the same thing every time.

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However, it is all of these changing aspects that make this passion of mine beautiful. Each animal will excite your heart in a different way and each adventure will challenge and change you. So with all of that being said let me reveal a truly human side to you and share with you some of my mistakes I have made. I hope you won’t judge me or think I am less of a hunter, instead that you will know I am just a regular girl, not a professional, who just hopes that if one person can learn from my mistakes then I have done my job.

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Premature Draw – oh how I needed to learn patience. In the beginning I wanted to draw as soon as I saw a legal animal, but I’ve since learned that waiting for the shot is much better. I injured my leg with this blunder once. As I sat in my tripod a mature doe walked into view, I drew before she even got into range so of course I had to wait, and hold, hold, hold. I was getting tired but knew if I let down I would scare her away so I set the cam on my left thigh. I was still somehow looking through the peep when she turned broadside so I released and screamed in pain. I never picked the cam off my leg and when I released it pull up not only my leaf suit into the string and cam but the first couple of layers of skin off my leg too! Ouch!!!!! Yep bonehead move, never done that again!

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Peep-citement – unfortunately I have made this mistake twice and honestly I could see it happening again 🙁 after sitting for hours without seeing so much as a single bird, a mature doe steps into range. I am starting to run out of daylight and know I need to hurry (bad thought when bow hunting-never rush it!!!). So I stood, drew, and shot and watched my arrow fly over the top of her back by 2 feet and bury in the ground. Hmm what happened? Well in all of my excitement to ‘hurry up’ I forgot to look through my peep! Really? I felt like such a dork standing there watching her run off. Wow did I really just do that?

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First Time High – now this one I don’t really consider a mistake because my husband and I actually make bets with every new bow hunter that joins us. We bet that their first release on a live animal will hit high on the animal or miss high and 90% of the time we are right. It happened to me on a doe. My very first release ever on a live animal I shot high. It went all the way through except the fletching held on the last exit of her shoulder and she ran off with my arrow. We searched for hours that day and afternoon and again the next day and never found her. For whatever reason though, almost all new bow hunters will shoot high on their first shot and I am included.

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These are just a few mistakes I have made on my bow hunting journey and I know I will make more, but very rarely do I make the same mistake twice. The best part of hunting is that there are no winners and losers in this ‘sport’ we all love. Every experience is worthwhile and every mistake makes us better.