Let's Lighten Things Up a Bit.....How Do You Handle it When Your Hunting Buddy Muffs a Shot?

hm1996

hm1996

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Was looking for another old post today and ran across this one. Thought it might be a fun topic to revisit during this year's "denning slump". How do you and your hunting partner handle misses?
 
Clarence, I wrote my reply before reading the original you posted. I laughed loud enough that Suz asked "what is so funny" when I read your ending concerning the coffee can hole.
 
I hunt predators alone for the most part. But occasionally someone joins in and misses or just does something to blow the set. I’m not one to blow up or try to make someone feel bad so I either shrug it off or try to use it as a teaching moment depending on the person and the situation. I do have a couple buddies that can handle some lighthearted ribbing.
 
Same as I handle myself missing. After two misses we felt good about, we break out a target I keep in the truck and check zero. There are always more coyotes.
 
Hunting should be fun. Everyone misses some and joking around while also being supportive is all part of it. We always try to record our shots with our scopes and usually start recording before turning on the caller at each set. Hit or miss, we like to go back and watch the game film to keep improving. Even standing only a few feet away from each other, it's interesting to see how similar or different the viewpoints can be, especially when there are multiple coyotes.
 
If I hunt with anyone it’s my son so you can guess how that goes all the way until either of us kills again. I’m not above sending him a text in the middle of the night just saying “O-fer” or how many times he missed. Trust me, I know better than to tell him I missed.
We try and record everything to go back and watch. I have a couple by myself where I’ve missed and it always ends with “what were you thinking!!!”
 
ChrisLD said:
Honestly it can be tough. My partner had a bad streak of missing last summer. Meanwhile I was on fire. I try to be supportive lol.
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Where's the fun in that!? ;) 🤣
jmeddy said:
Clarence, I wrote my reply before reading the original you posted. I laughed loud enough that Suz asked "what is so funny" when I read your ending concerning the coffee can hole.
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Yeah, I've laughed about that one many times, but I paid for it, Don gave as good as he received:ROFLMAO:, but we both enjoyed the heck out of the give and take; heck that's half the fun of it. He passed last May; a great lifetime friend and I miss him a lot.
 
hunt0168 said:
I hunt predators alone for the most part. But occasionally someone joins in and misses or just does something to blow the set. I’m not one to blow up or try to make someone feel bad so I either shrug it off or try to use it as a teaching moment depending on the person and the situation. I do have a couple buddies that can handle some lighthearted ribbing.
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Agree totally; would never rib a youngster or a newbie. Hunt with someone a while and you get to know whether to rib them or not.

AWS said:
Same as I handle myself missing. After two misses we felt good about, we break out a target I keep in the truck and check zero. There are always more coyotes.
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Absolutely! I was really surprised the day Don didn't want to check his zero. I think he knew he had pulled the shots so no need to check zero that day, we've both checked zeroes many times over the years (after the ribbing diminished:D).

WTJones said:
I find that giggling is perfectly acceptable but personally draw the line at laughing so hard I blow "snot bubbles" erupt from my face is poor form. Most of the time....
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Now that's hilarious!!

Those recorders are real tools. Sure takes the guess out of why the coyote didn't drop.
 
Evidently I'm pretty set in my ways cause I still do the same thing that I did back in 2020. If he misses I run back to the truck, drive off, and leave him setting out in the middle of a section to think about how best to improve his shooting. When he gets back to where the truck WAS he finds the ham sammich and bottle of water I left for him.
 
..The last flub one of my partners and I had was the yotes kept circling further downwind to our left to where I had to move to his 3 o'clock. I told him as soon as they catch our wind I'll bark and count down. Well it's amazing how much LOUDER the PING is of an firing pin on a empty bcg sounds over a .243...and the ribbing started.
He never loaded his gun.
I dropped mine...as he scrambled to figure out what was going on...."his" would run 100 yards and rotated EVERY time I pulled trigger did it again and I missed....on the 3 stop I was ready and as soon as he slowed to stop and turn looking for his mate. I dropped him at 385. The whole time we were laughing about how he forgot to load it.

..my other partner and I called a pair in and they were separated enough to where I couldn't rotate efficiently to see it with how they were acting. I was to stop them and him countdown. Well at the trigger pull mine moved and I missed..I said " missed..this could get sketchy".....only for it to run into a "backyard" 275 yards away and stop...the whole time the neighbor landowners dogs were barking and growling. I pulled the trigger and dropped it.

...had a pair(as well as the wind) giving me fits for 2 months so I changed it up and went there at 2am and gave 1 howl...called them right in and I missed both solo.
 
I didn't rib my GK when the doe popped up 20 yrds away and he was trying to get his scope from 12 power to 3.
Now I was on the ATV 50yds from 4-5 hogs at the feeder, 300BO pistol in hand. 7 shots and they just looked my way (laughing?) and wandered slowly into the brush. Ask if I was angry?
 
I don't really have anyone that hunts with me unless I take a child or something. Most of the times I miss it's because I did something dumb that lead up to the coyote seeing me, smelling me, or whatever then taking off and I throw out a hail marry. Afterwards I just usually tell myself how dumb of a move that was.
 
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