Hunters who brag about never missing

My wife with a nice Wyoming pronghorn. The author with a nice mulie buck

 

It was more than 20 years ago, and a friend and I were hunting mule deer on a ranch in northeastern Wyoming. There were some good bucks on that land, and I shot a dandy mule deer as did my friend.

A few hunters on the ranch were there only for antelope. One was the sort that let his mouth overload his back-side, and he told everyone that he never missed a shot. Not once, not ever. He was Dead-eye Dick.

Such people irritate me almost as much as those who say they always shoot bigger critters than anyone else. Most are obnoxious louts that many people dislike having in a hunting camp. I occasionally hassle them, if for no other reason than they deserve it.

I dislike being around people who brag about shooting game.

 

"Is that a fact?" I asked. "I'm frankly in awe of anyone who can shoot game and never miss. Do you mind if I shoot some photos? It would make a good magazine feature, and later tonight I'll do an interview. For now, I just need some photographs of you in action. OK with you?"

“You bet, kid," he said. "I'll show you how it's done. I pull the trigger, and the 'lope hits the dirt. You'll have to be quick to catch me in action."

"I'll try to keep up with you," I said, knowing that he didn't realize someone was jerking his chain. "I'll do the best I can."

We drove around until we spotted several antelope, and the gent said we could get closer on foot. He said the biggest buck would go 15 inches or a bit more, and that is what he wanted. That and good cutters.

The buck was a dandy but bragging put the hunter in a bad spot.

He and I stepped out of the truck, got a roll of ground between us and the antelope, and I dogged his tracks. We covered a quarter-mile, and he cautiously peeked over the ridge. The antelope were 125 yards away, staring off toward the pickup truck.

He sat down, got his shooting sticks situated, and I was right behind him. He eased the rifle fore-end into the sticks, snuggled up tight to the rifle stock, peered through the scope, and whispered "watch this, kid."

I was watching the buck antelope and shooting with a telephoto lens. The buck pronghorn never moved.

"You missed," I whispered to him.

"Nope," he said. "He'll topple over soon."

"Better shoot again. I can see him through the lens, and he doesn't know where the shot came from. You missed him. Shoot again."

He did, and with the same result. Braggarts are a pain, and I needled him a bit. "Hey, partner, you flat-out missed that antelope. Try it again."

Ragging on the guy was easy, but then, he'd set himself up for it.

 

By now, he's ticked at me, mad at himself for bragging up his ability to shoot, and aimed and fired a third shot. The antelope wheeled, looked our way, and put it in overdrive.

"Missed again, bub," I advised. "They're gone."

"They will pop up on that rise and I'll try again," he said. The rise was 400 yards away, and I knew the antelope would be moving fast by the time it got there.

Up they came, and he shot, and the buck antelope dropped. It was hit in the back end. We jogged over to the animal, and he shot it at close range to mercifully end its misery.

"Must be tough missing those three shots when you've never missed before," I teased. "You had me going there for a bit. You were just putting the shuck on me, weren't you? That last shot ruined most of the steaks, but then, antelope are pretty small critters. Right?"

He wouldn't talk to me, and left camp as soon as we returned. It's what bragging does to people who can't back up their words.

A friend of mine missed two whitetail bucks today. No excuses, he flat missed. But then, I've seen him miss once or twice in the past 25 years, and I've also seen him make some almost unbelievable shots.

A buck came out in front of him at over 200 yards during a drive, and he missed that buck with both shots. It crossed a nearby road, and everyone in his hunting party searched for blood or hair. Both were misses, and he'd made those kinds of shots many times in the past.

On the next drive he spotted another buck, shot once, and missed again. They checked for blood or hair, and it was another clean miss.

"Hey, I just plain missed," he said. "I've got no excuses. For whatever reason, I missed, plain and simple."

I had gone many years without missing a whitetail with a bow, and casually mentioned the fact to a friend. Sure enough, that was the night I missed an easy shot. Bragging is never a good idea.

However, there is a big difference between these two men. One was a loud mouth and braggart, and the other admitted to his misses, just like I did just now. The first one got needled hard because he had bragged himself up, and the other man and I deserved the sympathy we got.

We've all missed deer in the past, and may very well miss again in the future. It's a part of deer hunting, and those who say they never miss have either shot very little game or is a liar ... or, most likely, a combination of the two.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors