Elkaholic, Thanks for sharing your lessons so we all can learn.
Lots of people have commented on the specific details of your hunt, but to me the big picture here is we are all hunters, and are never guaranteed success...
Regardless of the specifics, as long as we are putting forward our best effort, making a mistake is very valuable as long as we learn from it.
I had a similar result as you with a 60 yards shot on a bull a few years ago... And I felt horrible for a few weeks. Until I realized that if I could not accept a lost animal, then I should not be hunting... It's just an unfortunate reality that will happen to all of us if we hunt long enough.
