Also known as chip shots, anyone who’s bowhunted long enough knows gimme shots are pure delusions. In archery hunting, there are more things that can go wrong during the shot, than can go right. Regardless of how close the deer is, or how unaware they are of you, there is simply no such thing as a gimme shot.
I sat on a south-facing slope among scraggly oaks and cedars one October evening waiting on a buck to hit his feet and descend through the thicket and into range. To my surprise, a beautiful eight point buck obliged, intermittently browsing his way within range.
His rack reached well outside his ears and I knew instantly I would shoot him…but I didn’t stop there.
In fact, the synapses in my brain conspired to create a path where that buck had already been shot, recovered, taxidermied, then hung in a place of reverence above my fireplace at home.
At just over 20 yards, I waited until he passed behind a hickory trunk to draw. He was so dead, he didn’t even know.
The limbs unloading broke the low, lazy early-evening hum as my arrow sailed just under the buck, burying itself into the thin soil and rocks beneath the foliage. I wouldn’t be saddled with a taxidermy bill after all.
Presumptuous? Yes.
Arrogant? Probably a little.
But you see my point, right?
No matter how “easy” the shot seems, it’s not a success until you’ve got hands on that animal…which brings me to my real point, which is a little nuanced, so please hang with me.
When bowhunters talking about “passing” on a deer, I think they typically mean one of two things, one of which is completely acceptable and accurate, the second presumptuous and mildly arrogant.
- Passing on a deer – I could have taken a shot, but for insert reason, I did not.
- Passing on a deer – I could have taken that deer, but for insert reason, I did not.
Did you catch the difference? In the first example, the hunter claims only what they could control, namely, the decision and execution of a shot.
In the second instance, what’s baked in is the presumption that the hunter would have killed and successfully recovered that animal, had they only chosen.
Real bowhunters know better than to make those leaps because, as we’ve established, there are no such things as gimme shots, and lots of weirdness can happen on a track job. Besides, you’re not a governor pardoning a death row inmate at the 11th hour when you decide not to shoot a deer. You’re simply not shooting at him. The inmate’s fate is certain, the deer’s, well, you’ve seen the video.
So, let’s be real about our capabilities as hunters and recognize the fluid nature of arrowing a deer by giving the act the gravity it’s due.
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