Worst Whiff???

Toad

Toad

Active member
After reading about how many birds guys have shot on a rise, I wondered if anybody was brave enough to share their worst whiff of the season... Mine was pretty bad, see if you can top this!!!;)

I take my dogs out to the bird farm several times each Fall and purchase several pheasants each time to use for training on their CSA. So on this particular trip, I decided to try to create a water retrieve for my wirehair. I loaded a hen pheasant into the bird launcher, tucked it into the weeds on the edge of the pond, and angled it so it would open towards the water. I bring in the dog downwind of the pond and she does her job just perfect and points right where the bird is....

Well, I walk up... get ready... find some nice, level footing... get set... pull the cord... The bird launches and flies right over the water exatly as planned. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Never cut a feather... Wild birds can surprise you sometimes, but I have no excuses on this one.:laugh: The worst part is that the poor dog (giving me more credit than I deserved) swam out to the middle of the pond after the bird. Then she was just treading water out there, swimming in circles, looking around for the pheasant that never fell. I had to call her back in and do the "walk of shame" back to the truck with the empty launcher... Poor dog.

Fortunately she was able to get in some good (dry land) experience later on other training birds as well as hunting on wild birds at home and out West. I never even came close to dropping any pheasants over water though, so I guess it was a stupid training exercise anyway.:laugh:
 
The very first walk of the day last weekend, nine of us pushed a field of tall crp grass. I was on the far inside of the group and as sometimes happens, it seemed like 'all' the birds were coming up right in front of me. I killed 3 roosters on the first pass, one shot each, and was catching some slack for being a "bird hog" ;)
We turned 90 degrees and started for the next corner. The cover really petered out the further we went that direction. My lab started pushing a runner a couple hundred yards from the end. I was anticipating filling out before 10 a.m. About 50 yards from the road, the dog flushed the rooty. He swung left and came around right along side me at about 30 yards. I missed him twice right in front of the entire group.
It gave 'em all a good "hoo-rah" ...
 
Clean Misses off Perfect Points

One morning in December three of us entered a reliably birdy patch of CRP and took a line along the adjacent field of cane stalks. My dog locked on point twice, roosters flushed just feet away, and I didn't disturb a feather on either bird. Everything was perfect except my shooting which was dismally imperfect.
 
OK here is my bigest blunder of the season (So Far) me and a buddy get out of the truck to hunt this small draw maybe 5 min walk well sure enough I jump a rooster 10 yards in front of me I thought I had him easy I take my time and pull down on him and pull the trigger and nothing happened I holler Sh*# and my buddy who is 30 yards to my right drops the bird at about 60 yards. I pull my bolt back and sure enough there was no shell in the chamber. I still haven't herd the end of that one from my buddy.
 
Wow TXbirdhunter - an even more interesting part of your story is "pulled back the bold action" - unless you had a rifle in your hand (Ha-Ha), haven't hunted with or seen anyone else hunt with a bolt action shotgun in 30-40 yrs! Hat's off to ya! :)
 
Alright, I would much rather gloat on all my great shots, but here is one I will share. I was at a SWA in Colo. and was 14 for 14 on passing doves. In the zone for sure , making shots out of my you know what. Then I proceeded to fire 23 shells before my next bird fell. Can anyone say TINCUP. This is why we all love to hunt.....:cheers:
 
Last weekend was hunting a patch of weeds 3-4 ft high. My 8 mo. old lab (his 2nd hunt ever) was no more than 6 ft in front of me and stopped and started darting into the weeds beside him. I figured he had a skunk cornered with my luck. Up comes a rooster in the 8-10 ft range from me and I miss twice without touching a feather. What a moron!

Made it up to him the next day when we got a double.
 
OK, hen hen Rooster that was the wrong choice of words. I pulled back the action on my auto loader. My bad you know what i meant
 
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We would be here all night if I had to recount all the ones that should never have gotten away.
 
Worst wiff

The worst miss still haunts me today, was several years ago crossing a fescue field at Bilbe Ranch in Missouri. The grass was no more than 8 inches tall and thin stand. My GSP locks on point, I'm not morethan 10 feet from her thinking she is mousing. I bend down and start checking the grass with my foot, to teach her not to mouse, when the rooster jumps out and flys straight away. Startled and off balance, I jumped backwards, sprayed and prayed, 3 shots and not a feather. But the lesson was learned, trust the dog!
 
I have a worst whiff almost everytime i go out! lol and i'll usually hear about it when i get back to the truck
 
Mine hands down was a couple weekends ago.... I pulled up to a field that I just recently got permission to hunt about 1045 am. Drop the tailgate, make a sandwich, water the dog etc. Was probably there 10-15 mins, makin more noise then I should have been while parked 15 yrds from the field corner. So the pup and I head into the corner, sandwich still in hand. Not 3 steps into the grass and a hen gets up, startles me a bit almost drop the sandwich, kinda laugh at myself and keep walking another 5 steps and 5 roosters and a hen get up behind me, now I'm cussing myself for still eating the damn sandwich, drop it on the ground and one rooster comes around my right side and crosses in front of me at no more than 20 yrds. I took 4 shots at him, all when he was well in range. Never cut a feather!

Now it wasn't so bad being by myself because all I could do was look at my dog and laugh. We ended up killing 3 birds out of that field so I made it up to him.
 
Spence-that sounded about like me opening weekend. Our group had parked at the corner of a field, let the dogs out, watered them, drank a coke, talked a bit, ate a candy bar. Finally loaded up the guns, took two steps in the field and all hell broke loose. If there was one bird that jumped, I guarantee there were 60 that jumped, all within range, 75% were roosters. I finally knock mine down after 4 shots to finish the limit for the day.

Thats on top of the point in a brome waterway, rooster flushes, flys over a new wheat field, dead straight away, not a tree within a half mile. Emptied my gun and he just laughed as he kept flying. This all sounds like I'm a terrible shot, but I swear I'm better than average.
 
I've had plenty, but the funniest one I've seen was my father. We were driving home late afternoon when we passed a cornfield which had a little (1/2 acre) low spot at one corner, grown up in grass and weeds. Dad wanted to see whether there might be a pheasant in there, so he got out, loaded his old Rem 11 and stepped in. He hadn't taken three steps when four or five roosters jumped almost from under his feet. Emptied his gun....not a feather. He reloaded, took a dozen steps and another half dozen roosters flushed. Emptied his gun again...not a feather. He reloaded again, walked a few more steps...more roosters...emptied his gun, not a feather. He took another handfull of shells out of his pocket, looked at them, put them back in his pocket, put his empty gun over his shoulder and walked back to the car as another bunch of roosters flushed.

He didn't say a word the rest of the way home. And neither did I.
 
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