Mistakes you have made bowhunting?

[b0bbyg]

Don't carry a push button call in your pocket. 
Had one in the front pocket just after shooting light, I had a cow feeding 15 yards out. Crouched to get a look at how many feet were under the branches that were between us. Confident it was a lone cow I stood up to draw as she was feeding towards a nice open shooting lane.   Heard this horrible squeak sound.        Cow knows something is up and moves through too quickly for a shot.  First time call ever made a noise in my pocket.

Usually have one mouth style call and a squeeze call as backup.  Either squeeze call is gone or will hang from pack in the future, no more pockets for me.

[RadSav]

Getting mayonnaise on anything made of Sims Navcom material.  Wife through a napkin in the back seat after making us some delectable sandwiches.  Landed on my bow, but I thought nothing of it.  Next day my Alpha-Shox dripped off the bow like they were made of bearing grease.

Giving your hunting partner 4 blade broadheads to test night before a turkey hunt.  Sorry buddy!

One of the biggest mistakes I've made multiple times - Forgetting to practice with new rainwear before season.  Along with that would be not cutting off the cords Sitka Gear attaches to their zippers.  Seems even if I practice and have no problems they always catch the string when an animal is the target!!

Not marking your string where the peep sight sits.  Peeps catch on all kinds of stuff.  Doesn't take much to through the sights off.

Not packing extra batteries for your rangefinder.

Seeing a 180 class buck run into a small bush.  Seeing antlers as the animal comes out of the bush and assuming it is the same one that entered.

Thinking that larger bodied muledeer with 25" high antlers can't hide in 12" tall sage brush

[JJD]

I too have wondered about the mule deer in sage brush as well as how a coyote can vanish in a totally flat wheat stubble field. 

[Jonathan_S]

A mistake I continue to make...

I'll be climbing a big hill to a bedding area or mid-day feeding spot.  Trying to be quiet and slow though scrabbling and rattling brush is a noisy pursuit.  The quads start to hurt from the slow, deliberate and controlled steps.

I'll get 80% of the way up the hill and get tired and then I'll convince myself that, "there is nothing up there anyway..." So I'll charge up the rest of the way, eager to rest at the top and glass the other side.  It will be then that I'll see a deer or elk staring me down from 50 yards - just over the peak - and then busting. 

This is a bad habit that one can get away with oftentimes while packing a modern or muzzleloader.  Not so much with the archery tackle. 

[rtspring]

Trying to get to close! I damn near stepped on a 6X6 bull that I had at 40 yards and tried to get closer!! He bedded up and I didnt know it and I literally dang near stepped on him!

Watch behind you when calling solo.

Bulls come in silent and I mean SILENT!

Even though you stick a bull at really close range does not mean he dies!!!  That one will haunt me for a long long time.. 

[Greg Mullins]

My biggest mistake was buying a bow 1st bow at a big box store in fife. Now I only buy and get any work done at a real archery shop.

[oysters00]

being completely new and yet to hunt, this thread is most interesting to me. lots of things to think about and remember. should help keep my list shorter and narrower. keep em coming!

[scotsman]

Walking up to the edge of rimrocks to glass the area below for  Muleys. Duh, Muleys like to bed just below the edge of rimrocks. ❌

[Wapiti4570]

#1  Patience
Tenacity
Aim small, miss small.. Pick a specific point on the animal, not a general area.
Be clear of obstructions. I've missed three bulls due to a branch or twig that I didn't see because I was so focused on the animal.
Check the wind frequently as it will change as the air heats up.
Dozens of other mistakes I've made that you'll find as you go.
Good luck!