Friday evening I pull up to my place and walk around the back to go in the back door. It's about 5:30 in the evening. I look out at my deer feeder which is 417 yards off my back porch and I see one big, ugly black pig indulging himself in my premium grade deer corn. I've killed two pigs from my back porch to the feeder earlier this year but this time I didn't have my shooting bench set up.
So I'm thinking do I lean against oone of the cedar supports on the porch and whack him, do I set up the shooting bench and whack him or do I have some fun and see if I can sneak up on him and nail him with the 30-30? Thinking that I was a young boy again I decided to sneak up on him and shoot him when I could see the whites of his eyes. I put seven rounds in the old lever gun and off I go.
As I'm bouncing behind trees and trying not make any noise I start to think about what am I going to do with this porker once I stop him from eating my deer corn. The closer I get the more I'm thinking I don't really feel like messing with this stinkin old pig. I get about 50 yards from him when I run out of trees to hide behind. He's munching away and doesn't even know I'm there. I'm thinking I might as well so I put the crosshairs on him, pull the trigger, and watch him haul ass into the woods. I didn't hit a hair on his bloated, flea covered body!!
Is it possible to talk yourself out of a sure hit??? Perhaps I should seek professional help with this? I can tell you guys this because you don't know me. However, I never could tell my hunting buddies this because they would make me sit through 10 showings of Brokeback Mountain without popcorn as penance for my screw up. Anyway, I feel better now. I'll nail him the next time I see him. Thanks for listening.

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Is it possible to talk yourself out of a sure hit???

You bet! It's one of those things that kick in when you really don't want to do something and do it anyhow, usually poorly. But, as you may know, pigs are not famous for leaving good blood trails. You might have hit him and not realized it. Many times they just spin and run making a squeel like they are just scared. Watch for buzzards The important thing is that it is not eating all the deer corn.

(p.s. It has happened to me too )

Well dang! That was going to be buttered popcorn right??!! LOL
YB

I did the same thing this year with a small buck. Really didn't want to have to clean another deer, I had just cleaned one 2 days before and my 2 budies had not got their deer yet. I thought about the shot a long time and went ahead and did it. A clean miss.

YB, you're not making this any easier. I'm still suffering from post traumatic miss syndrom. But to answer your question, of course it was buttered popcorn. The butter makes it easier to eat. LOL!!
kbis, thanks for the thoughtful comments. Texans supporting Texans. We have to stick together in this hit or miss society!!

You got that right :).

Heritage, I'm right there with ya! Done the missing game myself, a time or two. It shore puts a dent in your psyche. Oh well........If theres lead in the air, there's hope.
YB

Oh, for what it's worth, I haven't seen Backdoor Mountain. And I probably won't see the sequel to it..... Oklahomo. LOL

How'd that go again? "Aim little, miss anyway?" We've ALL done it, except maybe Bushy.

Are you kiddin', Sniper??? I only brag that "I'm better then most and not as good as some". Missed my share for no other reason then "I missed, damnit".

I finally found two ways that you are sure to never miss a target.
(remember 40+ years of shooting and now I am sharing my wisdom)

The easiest and number one way to never miss...
don't shoot.



OK, thats effective but it ain't no fun at all!
so the next best way to never miss is:

never identify your target until after you shoot!
This way you can allways claim that you hit just exactly what you wanted to - if someone says to shoot at that plate or the left wing of that butterfly you just tell them that there is no challenge in shooting a target that big and then shoot and claim that you got the thrid leg on the right side (far leg) on that spider. Now what could be more fun than that?

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never identify your target until after you shoot!

When I play pool I do the same thing. I play a "no call game" so even if I dont get the one I want in it still counts

Missing a shot is nothing to be ashamed of though I know we all did it more times then we wish to even think about nevermind talk about!

Dimitri

Guys, thanks for all the words of encouragement. I'm happy to report that I nailed the SOB Sunday night. Most every evening I sit on the back porch with the 223 waiting to see if something interesting comes out. Sunday at about 7:30 I look out at the feeder and there he is standing there like he owns the place. I swapped my varmit loads for the ones I have with Sierra Gamekings and proceed to sneak up on the porker. I get about a 100 yards from him and decide that's close enough. I put the scope on him and naturally I can't see nothing. 16 power in low light don't work too good. So I crank it down to 4 and put it back on him. I'm figuring now who's the dumbass and it can't be me because he's still there and I got the gun. Wrong!! I squeeze the trigger and all I get is a real loud click. When I closed the the bolt I pushed right over the shells and the top one didn't chamber. I'm ready to scream and just charge him and try to kill him with my bare hands. Me and porky have crossed paths at least three different times and this was about all I could stand.
Anyway, I got a round in and drilled him. Of course it was pretty dark by then and all I saw was an orange flash. Once my eyes cleared I saw him laying there. I walked up about 50 more yards and shot him again just because it felt good!! End of story.

Missing is part of shooting. I think Bushy said it right for me as well.

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"I'm better then most and not as good as some"

Any body that says they've never missed has never shot.