Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting You ever shot the "wrong" buck?

One of my sons, who has shot several nice bucks over the years, had his sights set (metaphorically) on a nice buck during our early season.

But, which has happened to myself numerous times too, his excitement got the better of him.

So, any, "I shot the wrong buck" campfire stories?


Text exchange between us.

Shot a doe and the pass thru hit the little one behind her enough that I had to do a second shot to finish it off.
Remember that part about being aware of what is behind your target? I thank god every day it was another deer and not a Hunter I failed to see. It was one of those teaching moments you don’t want to forget and have it happen again

Buck he "accidentally shot." It's not THAT small.

Buck he was hunting.

Your gun season starts early

Nope, never have. I consider every legally taken deer to be a precious gift from nature. So in my eyes there is no such thing as the "wrong buck." If I squeeze the trigger then I have made the conscious decision that I wanted that particular deer. Too many of today's hunters are too wrapped up about antlers rather than the simple joys of the hunt.

Yes, I have messed up a couple of times.

I messed up big time in Illinois a few years back. 🤦🏼‍♂️😭
Sczchit happens.

Still a nice buck that your son shot!

'Yepsir' I killed this legal buck but thot he was another larger buck I JUST saw.





There was a nicer buck I saw cross a small opening. I don't know what happened behind the trees/brush but
this guy comes out angling away from me with his left side visible. BOOM, he falls out of sight to his right.

I hunt ON the ground & before I could make 3 steps, NICER buck crosses that opening. OOPS !

ATST I was and am glad I removed thisun from the gene pool. He had long eye guards. His L side was 3 pts which
made him legal but his R side only had 2 pts. Ark. law, 3 pts on 1 side = legal.

A successful hunt, you bet. I'm glad for 3 reasons. I scored and removed an inferior buck.
Nicer buck was left for another optimistic hunt.


Jerry

I remember S.

Yes Stuff happens.


Jerry

I got to cross the upper stretch of the New Fork River in my underwear to get this 16" wide 4x4 mule deer. He was 2nd in line when they entered the brush and a 170 class 4x4 was 1st. They must have switched places in there because the 16" wide was first out. I checked for antlers and shot. Oh well, he ate good. Excitement can get the better half of a guy and it was perfectly fine with me.

I did it once several years back...I had pics of a 150-155" 10 point Whitetail in an area all Summer and Fall with not another buck in the area even close in size just had pics of a few dinks, come rifle season (Late November) I get glimpses of a good racked buck chasin a hot doe back and forth across a clearcut down the mountain from my stand I naturally assumed it was him so when he stopped with an open shot at his shoulder i dropped him (about 100yd shot) .....When I went to retrive him I found a 120" 8 point that I had never laid eyes on 😂........Hb

Shootem all and take the biggest one LOL!

Was following a heavy 8 and a 6pointer as they worked their way across a brushy hillside. That big 8 was leading the entire way.

Found an opening with the thurty thurty and when that buck hit the opening I let him have it. Buck dropped and I watched that heavy 8 point stand there and sniff him then slowly walk off.

-Jake

Oh yes! I shot the wrong buck. It was November 2006.

I had taken a very large buck in 2007, the camp record. There was still a pretty good amount of venison left prior to season. The kids were still at home, so whatever they shot in Yute season went in. I took a decent-size doe Opening Weekend.
It is no exaggeration that I spent a half-hour cramming the last chub of ground venison into the freezer and then carefully checked the door to see that it sealed.

I just could not take another deer that year. In fact, I went out the next Saturday with the idea of "Not-Hunting." That is, going to the stand, fully kitted, and just not taking a shot. Everything was going well. I was enjoying the morning, and then what looked like a really nice buck appeared. You'll laugh when you see the pictures. They already laugh at me here for misjudging racks. From 70 yards away, it really and truly looked bigger. Honest!

It was a big deer, I forget the yield on it, but it was a major chore. I'm not going to spoil the rest. It's here if you want to read it:


The Shaman Backs into a Buck . . .

Getting the buck up to the house was a big enough problem. The big hurdle was that I had to get a new freezer in place before I left the next Friday to pick up the meat from the processor. Sears had a freezer on sale, but they kept blowing me off on delivery. It eventually arrived Friday evening, but they put a dent in it getting it off the truck. I got $60 off, but negotiating took even more time and delayed our departure for the farm.

The rack is still up here in my office as a reminder.

Every one of them, they all shrink when they are laying prone

I shot the wrong buck one time. It was walking and the way the sun was shining the horns were giving off a shadow and made them look way bigger than they were. The shot was a bang flop so I took off to get to the buck and when I got there, I thought "where did my buck go, I know he was way bigger than this"

Yep, the last 2 "mistakes" skylined themselves in my Binoculars and I made my decision more quickly than I normally would. No, I didn't shoot them skylined, and no, it wasn't the end of the world, just had some significant "ground shrinkage" but there's LOTS worse things.

The "wrong" buck cause they were much smaller when I walked up to them?..yep, sure done that a few times.

Did it TWICE when I was a kid. First deer ever was a spike (not legal) second time it was a doe (also not legal). Both times I saw a big buck and got excited then lost sight of them, then when I saw them again it was the wrong deer. I guess when I quit getting excited I'll stop hunting.