Best misses

[brant89]

My first time ever at an F-Class practice shoot, taking my two sighters at 200yd. Target drops and comes back up with no marker. Try again and same thing, then I hear over the radio to check my turret. One full rotation up, missing by 2 feet at 200 yds. I think superseal110 was pretty embarrassed to be seen with me at that point. Haha.

 

[ATH]

I was shooting prone smallbore in college. Almost 20 years later the details escape me, but basically the rifle slipped as I was squeezing somehow and the round went off when I was nowhere near on the intended bull. A zero on a prone target will kill a whole match so I was irate...until I looked at the target...and found the round through the 9-ring of another bull all the way across the target. Whew!!

 

[jibnast]

Mine is a whoops moment. I had just bought a new Kimber 1911 get it clean and take it to the rage run a 100 rounds with no issue. Get back home and clean it chamber a round and when the slide went forward and round goes and hits my new TV. Pistol went back to Kimber and got replaced and a new lesson learned.

 

[Tikkamike]

The miss that Haunts me to this day was about 5 or 6 years ago. A whitetail at less than 100 yards. I yanked the trigger like it was a tailgate latch on a ford and missed it ...like 3 times as it ran off.. in my head it was a 150" + buck.. but like my dad says. the ones we shoot get smaller and the ones that get away get bigger.

 

[ohiohunter]

Some hunting bloopers over the years.

1. I had just finished my morning hunt when I bumped a massive buck. It was close to a 200" buck if not over... for comparison I already have a 214" gross buck on the wall. At the time I was stuck driving a ford taurus. Well after I returned to the car to disrobe and unload I drive out the landowners driveway turn right and look into the rear view mirror just in time to see my bow skidding and spiraling down the road.

2. In Africa I had just shot my red hartebeast, I hit him a little low and we were tracking him when the PH says there he is... I can't see squat in the thickness as I unshouldered the rifle the PH grabs the gun by the freaking trigger and pops off a round. Thankfully I had the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

 

[mtwarych]

First off, a shot was never taken.
About ten years ago I was hunting the spring bear season in MT.
I had a place were I have seen bears before and I went to that spot. I carefully moved into the area and started glassing for bears.
I spotted a bear in a tangle of downfall, the bear looked big but I could not get a real good look at it.

I started the stalk to approach the bear staying down wind at all time, I could not get a good view of the beast so I continued to move trying to get a good look at the shiny jet black bear that I could see moving but just could not get a good look at the bear.

To make a long story short, after stalking very slowly for about four hours, I finally got close enough to realize I had been hunting a black garbage bag for quite a while.

I decided I couldn't afford to have a rug made out of a garbage bag so I didn't shoot.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

I was 17 and my brother was 15. I took him to a friends farm with my dads marlin 336, 35 Remington. The rifle had countless souls to its name so I figured it was good luck. We were hunting the one open food plot in the super thick Georgia hardwoods, when about 20 does come out to graze. We watched them for about 10
Mins when my brother decides to take a shot. Right when he shoulders the rifle the biggest buck I have ever seen (to this day and I'm 27 now and have shot some nice bucks) pops his head out of the wood line 10 yards from my brother. I whisper intensely to look left at 10 yards and he's yelling back at me to shut up and he's trying to concentrate. He looks back at me to tell me again to shut up when he accidentally touches off a round. It landed about 10 feet low from a doe 30 yards from us and the huge buck runs right in front of us. The only thing my little bro said was "ooooohhhh ****." I felt like I missed that day too. I'll never forget it.

 

[yorke-1]

Mine is a whoops moment. I had just bought a new Kimber 1911 get it clean and take it to the rage run a 100 rounds with no issue. Get back home and clean it chamber a round and when the slide went forward and round goes and hits my new TV. Pistol went back to Kimber and got replaced and a new lesson learned.

I had this happen with may beloved Dan Wesson CCBT in 10 mm. The gun wasn't new, probably 1000 rounds through it. Loading it in my home office where my safe is on a Saturday morning at about 5 am, I slide the magazine in, pull the slide back to chamber a round, and drop the slide. The round goes off sending a 180 XTP through my desk and computer and into the floor. My wife, 2 kids, and the dog slept through the whole thing.

The gun went back to Dan Wesson and they replaced all of the internals and polished up the outside. It looked good as new when it came back. I never trusted that gun again and sold it for $700 bucks after it sat in the safe for a year without getting shot. They stopped making those just after I sold mine and I've regretted selling it ever since.

 

[deadlift]

The oops monents are the worst! Atleast missing cause your heads in your butt is laughable after the fact. I had a oops moment in my house, when I launched a 22 rf super colibri into the ceiling... I'd much rather miss a critter and have the bullet splatter safely on the side of a canyon than somewhere with people around.
Chris
Benchmark

 

[mountainman56]

Accidental discharge with a traditional muzzleloader. Pulled the wrong trigger. Was kinda aiming at the deer so no harm done other than severe embarrassment.

A few weeks ago leaving the range with a big grin on my face. 3 shots inside 6" at 1200 yards..........(this is a very big deal for me). On my way out I spot a large feral hog inside 300 yards who actually stands and lets me fire two shots over his back before I realize in my excitement I forgot to dial my scope back to zero.

 

[Texanhunter34]

Thinning the doe heard in south Texas. Had a few out on a road less than 200 yards after shooting one lady i decided to sit still and hope another would pop its head out. Sure enough deer walks out at 50 yards, being rushed thinking it would run off soon I took a quick free hand shot at the neck (obviously feeling my inner Lucas McCain) missed! When it didn't run I decided to take my time only to see two nubs between this young fellas ears. Thank god I missed or would have felt absolutely terrible killing a yearling buck.

 

[Deederswy]

First time hunting deer, watched a few doe pass and a buck popped up between some trees. I was shooting a Winchester 70. As we all know the safety has 3 selections, well I had it in the middle so I couldn't fire but I could operate the bolt. I was so excited to shoot my first deer. Well I squeezed, well probably yanked the trigger and nothing happened! I tried again, nothing. So I thought there was something wrong with the round so I chambered another round, squeezed....nothing! The deer walked off and then I realized what was going on! Heart broken then, hilarious now!

 

[hybridfiat]

1. Out spotlighting with friends with a recently purchased Savage 99 in .243Win, 5 rounds in the rotary mag. Saw a roo, cocked it muzzle up and as the lever reached the last 1/8" it went off, frightening the bejeezus out of all of us. The previous owner had filed the trigger sear down to the point where the rifle was totally unsafe to use.
2. Morning after a big shoot, cleaning the rifles outside on the patio; opened the bolt and the 22 Mag went off narrowly missing my brother and putting a hole in my mate's Holden Torana (car).
I was mortified, brother was pale and shaky, mate was livid.
I'd put the safety on the night before and pulled the trigger, nothing, so someone else got the bunny. I'd left the round in the breach and found out the hard way that the 'safety' had simply delayed the pin fall and it fell when I moved the bolt.
I have not trusted a safety since.
3. Friends had 12ga pumpaction shotgun in the ute (pickup) between the driver and passenger (butt on floor, muzzle up towards the back window). The passenger jumped in and somehow put his finger through the guard and let one off in the cab. Ringing ears for days and a big hole in the back window and cab surround.
4. I was driving the ute one night and as I got out for a smoke the shooter on the back closed the side by side 12ga on 2 shells and it went off. Put a hole in the steel tray, hit the sub-frame and glanced off, and if I'd been just a smidgen quicker I'd have copped a gutful of No4 shot. The pins of the faulty gun were still protruding when he closed it and they set it off.
5. Shooting rats with a shotgun and rat shot. A case failed to go off so mate decided to keep cocking it and firing as he walked back to the ute, he had the hammer shotgun pointing down in a safe direction but very low when it went off and the butt caught him a stunning blow in the goolies. He was writhing on the ground and we were falling about laughing.

All bar No2 and No5 were fixed by a visit to a gunsmith.

 

[Bbear]

Deer season in Indiana back in '05 hunting with an Xtrema 12ga. I had a 160" class buck walk up. I eased the safety off and squeezed...CLICK. Buck jumped about 10' and stood there. In loading that morning I'd eased the bolt down and didn't get it locked in place leaving space between the bolt and the shell. I eased the round out and as quietly as I could put another round in and eased back around the tree. Buck was still standing there wondering what had happened. I took aim and fired. The deer jumped about 20 yards and disappeared.
A limb the size of my thumb that I didn't see got in the way and diverted the shot right between the buck's legs.