I've definitely taken some shots that in hindsight I shouldn't have taken, but I try to never pull the trigger unless I expect to hit my target. We make the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time we pull the trigger. That's all any of us can do. Last year I had a clean miss on a nice buck that was running flat out. He jumped up out of a gully as I came over the crest of the ridge. I had less than a second to make the decision and as I pulled the trigger I knew I was too late. As I raised the rifle, I could see that I wouldn't get the space I needed to make the shot because of the density of the forest. As I pulled the trigger, I knew I didn't have enough space between his nose and my muzzle. I knew I was going to miss as I fired. But the round went downrange all the same because I had rushed it. And then I spent an hour beating the brush to make sure there was no sign of blood or hair. Five minutes after that I headed down the mountain in the same direction I had last seen that buck and a different, much smaller, buck jumped up and stopped. He was quartering away from me left to right and he stopped to look back over his shoulder at me. I dropped him on the spot at 50 yards with my .25-06. Not the hardest shot I have ever made by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn't make up for the sting of missing the other buck, but at least I am reasonably certain that I missed him clean.
I don't have unlimited time in the woods. I might get to go rifle hunting four days in a given year, if I am lucky. So, you bet your ass that if I have a reasonable shot, I am going to take it. Perfect conditions don't exist in the real world. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. I'm not out there blazing away at everything, but I'll shoot at a running buck in heavy brush if I have a rifle that I think can get the bullet there. That may be a "low percentage shot" by the books, but if you practice and train to take moving shots, and you know how to lead and follow through, it is something you can do with a reasonable chance of success. On the other hand, if I see a buck at 300 yards while I have my Winchester 1886 .45-70 with iron sights, you can bet your ass I will try to find a way to stalk up within a hundred yards or less. Stalking is part of hunting skill. It's not all about shooting ability. If I want to demonstrate my shooting ability, I can shoot at paper targets. The only test of hunting ability is meat on the table. And being able to look yourself in the mirror without wanting to puke.
I once watched my Dad drop three does with four shots at ~600 yards (all four were hits, but he shot one of them twice). He was sitting down and using a very accurate Browning Hi-Power Safari in 7mm Rem Magnum. Those were shots I would never have taken, but he'd been carrying that rifle everywhere for the past six months, had spent a lot of time working up the perfect load for it, and was supremely confident in his abilities. I would have taken advantage of terrain to cut that distance at least in half before I took the shot. But, for him, that was the pinnacle of his hunting.
