It’s not something I’m proud of, or even like to admit…but, it happens. It shouldn’t, but it does. I’d practiced the shot dozens of times, it was 148 yards, a chip shot, and I missed. A week prior I was hitting a steel plate at 400 yards. I was stacking bullets on top of each other at 100 yards. That shot was nothing…until it was something.
I know what I did. I know what I did because I lost sleep over it, analyzing my mistake. I was in confined spaces, I wasn’t stable, and I rushed the shot. The sun was going down, and I just wanted to be the first person in my hunting party to tag out. I was overconfident, and I ended up being the last to tag out.
When I teach students shooting skills, I tell them all the time: Every miss is a learning opportunity. If we never miss, then we can’t learn from a mistake. Well, for me, that miss might as well have been the equivalent of learning Organic Chemistry all over again.
I’m happy I missed, because it was a clean miss. I didn’t wound and animal, and it didn’t run off suffering. I’m not happy, because it was an easy shot I took for granted, and shouldn’t have even attempted. I’m better for it, because it bothered me to the point of being angry, and wanting to do better. I’m also better for it because it humbled me, and made me realize that just because the skill is repeatable on paper, it may not be in real life.
Proper Preparation and Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
I may have gone home that night with my head hung low, but it made me take a step back, and think of what I could have done better, and what I WOULD do better, given another opportunity. It was the perfect shot. Broadside. I decided to squat instead of kneel inside the blind, the rifle wasn’t locked into my shoulder, I was resting the barrel on the ledge of the blind, and I rushed and jerked the trigger. I literally did everything wrong. Two nights later, I was presented with a similar shot, and made it count.
We can always be better, not just for ourselves, but out of respect for the animals we hunt. I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from the movie, The Ghost in The Darkness, after I pulled that shot:
Charles Remington: We have an expression in prize fighting. “Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit.” Well my friend, you’ve just been hit. The getting up, is up to you.
Black Dirt Diaries 