Explore the truth about hunting mistakes and the pressure on novice hunters. Learn to embrace failures and grow in your hunting journey.
by Jace Bauserman
As I write this, I’m sitting in a bog in the Scottish Highlands, waiting out a rainstorm. The wind is howling, the weather is foul, and the scenery is breathtaking. Stags are roaring, and clouds surround the hills. It’s amazing.
The best part, though, is that I’m not hunting. I killed my Highland stag the day before. I made a perfect 200-yard shot. It was one of the most amazing stalks I’ve made in some of the most gorgeous countryside I’ve ever seen. Now, I’m pretty sure I’m about to watch one of my best friends send lead at a dream animal. The pressure is off me.
Typing an article on my phone isn’t ideal, especially with a Ziploc bag covering the keypad and my hands. Still, my mind wandered, and I had to write what was going through my head.
I felt joy. I felt relief. I’d tagged out. A month ago, sitting in a hot Wyoming bale blind, I felt disappointed and, frankly, sick to my stomach. I’d just sent an arrow over the back of a 140-plus-inch whitetail. The buck was 52 yards away, and he was on alert. We’d moved the blind earlier that day, and the deer didn’t love its new position. I stopped the buck, held low, and pulled through my hinge. The whitetail ducked the arrow. We know this because we filmed the hunt.
It didn’t matter to me that the buck ducked. I’ve hunted long enough to know that he would. In hindsight, I should have held below the brisket. I didn’t. I let down my cameraman, the company paying for me to be there, and my family.
Here’s the thing, though, and I want all of you reading this to know this. I consider myself a good hunter and a good shot. That’s not cocky; that’s confidence. I work very hard at my craft. I also want you to know that I make mistakes every single year in the woods.
New and novice hunters should know that good hunters, even great hunters, miss. Good hunters and great hunters make mistakes. I hope the company that filmed that hunt shows my miss on Outdoor Television.
Why?
Because it’s real! I missed, and I’m owning it. I feel like too many new and novice hunters follow little-g hunting gods on social media, and they always look perfect. They aren’t!
I’ve been blessed to be in this industry for over two decades. I’ve traveled the globe chasing my hunting dreams. During my tenure in the outdoor industry, I’ve met a lot of amazing people. I’ve met plenty of not-so-amazing people, too.
Hunters miss and make mistakes. Not some hunters. All hunters. When you miss, wound, or make a mental error in the woods, you’re not alone. You’re in good company. The problem is, too many—not all but too many—social media influencers and YouTube sensations don’t show their mistakes. I know several who refuse to show subpar arrow groups or range difficulties, let alone a missed animal. Their egos can’t handle it.
The problem is that too many new and novice hunters only follow other hunters on social media and YouTube. Many hunters devour this content and expect perfection. Then those hunters go afield and make a mistake, miss, or wound an animal. Mentally, they aren’t prepared to handle the lows that ultimately come with hunting. They feel like they’ve failed. I’ve talked to some of these individuals who actually gave up hunting because they felt unworthy.
This past summer, I met a man at a Bass Pro Shops. He recognized me from social media and asked if I minded if he asked a question. I told him to fire away. I expected a question about a gear item or a particular hunting tactic. His question was actually two-part. Both shocked me. The first: Have you ever missed a big-game animal? The second: Are you successful on every hunt you go on?
I laughed. The man didn’t. He was serious. He told me my social media made it look like I never missed and was never unsuccessful. You see, I’m throwing myself under the bus here. I’ve done this in my outdoor writing multiple times, but never on social media. That’s my fault and no one else’s.
I spent a lot of time talking with that man. He opened my eyes to a lot. What made me gasp was that he’d been following me for years on Instagram but had only read one of my outdoor articles. I’ve penned thousands. I’ve written many times about errors I’ve made in the field, shots I blew, etc. I just haven’t posted much about it on social media. So, I’m just as guilty as those I’m scolding. The only difference is I’m not an influencer. I’m an outdoor writer who constantly throws myself under the bus.
What woke me up was that this 25-year-old consumed social media and YouTube. He didn’t read many outdoor articles. He only saw me make perfect shots and succeed in hunts.
Chances are good I will get scolded for this article. I don’t care. I love hunting, its heritage, and the outdoor lifestyle. Too many social media influencers tell the masses they care only about the future of hunting. My question: How can you say that when you’re trying to make new hunters feel like they must be perfect in the field to be good hunters? Why do you not show your misses or your failures?
I’m not writing about any one person or group of people. This is not an attack. However, I hope to change the narrative. If you’re new or a novice hunter, please know that I’ve harvested hundreds of animals. I’ve missed a bunch. I’ve wounded 13 that I didn’t recover. That’s the only number I’ll remember from my hunting career. Those 13 animals haunt me, and sadly, there will be more. They deserved better. However, I prepared as best I could for each of those hunts. But because I’m a flawed human, as we all are, I make mistakes. Hunting is hard. If you hunt, you’ll miss. You’re going to wound some animals. Some days will kill your confidence. The secret is to keep going, learn from your mistakes, and do everything you can to do better next time.
