MY WORST BOWHUNTING MISTAKES WITH ROD WHITE

The Four Missed Bucks - Part 2

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many outdoorsmen have called Rod White of Sparta, Wisconsin, a bow-hunting phenom. At age 13, White took his first buck with a bow and began to shoot competitively. In 1993, he won a silver medal in the Junior World Championships. He took an international title in the National Outdoor Championships, placed second in the Intermediate Division of the Junior National Championship and became a member of the U.S. Olympic Festival team, placing fifth in the intermediate division -- all before his
17th birthday.

Since then, White won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 and an Olympic bronze medal in 2000 as a member of the U.S. Men's Team, and numerous national championships and world titles as well as participating in ESPN's Great Outdoor Games. White, who doesn't just shoot paper, has taken 17 Pope & Young animals with his bow. Ranked third in the world for his archery prowess, White, will tell you that, "I make mistakes, too."

I got my release strapped back on my arm quickly. As I tried to pull my range finder out of my pack, the buck was closing too fast for me to do anything but shoot. I huddled down between two big rocks. Once the buck was 20 yards from me, he stopped, turned sideways and started walking away from me. I began to make my draw and whistled at the buck, just as I reached full draw.

I had the utmost confidence in my Mathews Ultra Two bow with an ACC 360 and a G5 broadhead and should have had an extremely easy shot. I aimed, released the arrow and shot right over the big buck's back. I didn't know why I missed that shot, but I was ready to kill myself. I should have made that chip shot. Since the buck only ran about 10 yards and stopped, I thought, "If I shot over his back at 20 yards and now he's 10 yards further from me, then if I aim at the same spot I have the first time, I'll hit him dead center." But when I released the arrow this time, the broadhead dug the dirt right under the buck, which didn't seem too disturbed. As the buck walked slowly away from me, I grabbed another arrow and nocked it. When the buck was 50-yards away, I shot again. Although I should have killed the buck, I completely missed him again.

The buck continued to walk off and stopped again at 75 yards where he offered a beautiful shot. However, I missed him once more. I didn't believe that the buck ever knew what I was or what was making the noises he was hearing. I shook my head. I couldn't figure out how I'd missed the biggest buck I'd ever had a chance to take with my bow, not just once but four times. The morale of the story is that regardless of how many medals or championships you ever win in archery, you still can miss a big buck with your bow, regardless of the distance.

TOMORROW: THE I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BUCK - PART 1