Laqbrador66

I've been sober for 8 1/2 months. It really hasn't been that hard until last night. I'm a hunter and love the outdoors. I'm sure some of you are against hunting as is your right but that's another subject.
I took a bad shot at a doe yesterday evening. I pride myself on passing up shots that are questionable. Well I took the shot and wounded the doe instead of killing her. I was unable to find her after 9 hours of tracking. It's a nightmare. I haven't been able to eat or sleep.
I'm 100% responsible for it. After I ave up the chase I wanted to get drunk.
Damn this feels rough.

2ndhandrose

so sorry that happened.

please don't drink over

you tried your best!

mcconnth2017

Hang in there. You cannot control every situation no matter how hard you try. You went above and beyond what most would have done. It ain't worth drinking over.

Laqbrador66

No it won't undo it and yes a lot of so called "hunters" don't give a damn when it happens. A well placed shot is far more humane than their normal deaths. I didn't place it right and that's on me.

Coldfusion

My wife recently had a dispute with a neighbor about deer hunting. She was fuming for days. She doesn't go to AA meetings.

I shared the issue at an AA meeting, and felt better for it. Also, because of working the twelve steps, I am better able to understand those with different views about hunting.

SoberCAH

Thanks a lot for starting this thread, laq...66.

Please don't drink over this.

I've taken an errant shot a time or 2 myself.

We have a farm, but the only thing my wife will let me pursue are bobcats and coyotes, which, incidentally, eat our duck eggs (we have a nice lake/pond) and our wild turkeys.

Here in TN, the weapon of choice for bagging a buck or a doe is the Ford F-150.

I have one and have to traverse the interstate a lot here in TN, and our roads are littered with the carcasses of deer.

Please hang around here with us and don't drink.

It's a life and death matter.

Dee74

Sounds to me like drinking is likely to make you feel worse rather than better.

Don't compound the feelings you're having byadding the guilt and shame of drinking as well Laqbrador66.

D

DriGuy

First, the deer hunting. I spent 45 years in Montana, and I hunted every weekend of the Fall. I don't hunt anymore. I had enough, but you won't hear me complaining about hunting as an outdoor recreation. So with that out of the way, I see you found help from Whatcom County Social Detox. Whatcom County sounded familiar so I looked it up. While I lived in Montana, I kept a sail boat over in Washington State's Bellingham Bay. So with that out of the way:

Hunting does result in some wounded animals, and it's not pretty. I'm sorry about your experience, but you can't change that now. But drinking over it, after tracking it 9 hours? Really? Now I've heard some excuses to drink, but that's a new one. The grief will pass, and you'll be more careful the next time.

I'd give some thought to why a blown shot would bring up the drinking thing. Maybe it's a way to punish yourself. Wreck your sobriety, but it's not going to correct the situation. Spend some time thinking about how you could have done it differently. That's a lot more productive than getting drunk.

As the replies you've gotten so far, it should be obvious that hunting is not the most important thing in a forum like this.

Don't drink. Clean your gun instead, or go re-sight it, whatever. Don't drink over the incident. My gosh, Man. Get a grip, and deal with the incident more productively.

ScottFromWI

I am a deer hunter Laq...and the exact same thing happened to my brother in law this year. We waited and tracked and even tracked again the following day and never found the deer. It's entirely possible that your deer was only wounded slightly and will safely recover. And even if not something in nature will make use of the animal if it passes. Nature has a very good way of taking care of itself.

I can understand why you feel bad, but as others have said it's no reason to drink. In fact, drinking would only make matters worse.

Stayingsassy

The fact that it matters to you, and that it pains you so much shows what kind of person you are. Support that part of you with sobriety. Life just hurts sometimes.

WaterOx

I have respect for hunters because the majority of them are conscientious and respectful. I can tell you're troubled by the idea of the dear suffering and I commend you on that.

It's obvious that the AV has been lying in wait. You'd probably agree that a good hunter never lets its pray know it's being hunted.

In my experience, the AV is the most cunning hunter of them all and it sounds like you're in the cross hairs.

nez

How do think tomorrow would feel if you drink after 8 1/2 months of sobriety? Would drinking change anything about what happened? Would drinking impact your future? If yes, would it be an impact that you would want?

Dropsie

I echo what others have said.

Obviously a totally different situation but I wanted to share something I read recently.

I recently read a very moving article by a man who had killed six people when DUI.

He obviously went to jail for a long time and was totally racked by guilt, suicidal etc. Then one day, many years later, he wasn't any more.

And he now has made another life, acts as an addiction counseler, etc.

All dedicated to those people. He cannot bring them back, but his good works have saved others. He does it for them.

I have also driven DUI like many of us. I know that I could be him and I think he is the bravest person I have heard about in a long time. But to drink over it, that would have compounded the guilt and shame and meant no good came out of this terrible tragedy.

On a tiny scale, you have had a tragedy and feel guilt and shame. You cannot find the deer to help her, but you could dedicate what you do over the holidays sober to help others with 4 or 2 legs to that deer. But drink over it, no way. That would be the real tragedy.

Thanks for sharing.

SnazzyDresser

I bet it's not that easy for the deer you shot either!

columbus

"I took the shot and wounded the doe instead of killing her. I was unable to find her after 9 hours of tracking. It's a nightmare. I haven't been able to eat or sleep."

Don't take a similarly "bad shot" at yourself, eh?

NYCDoglvr

I can only imagine your anguish. If you drink the doe will still be wounded (perhaps dead) and you'll be drunk........ what I've found is nothing ever gets so bad a drink won't make it worse.

rascalwhiteoak

This won't be the only emotionally-conflicting time in your (hopefully lasting) sobriety, Laq. But, it sounds as though it may be the first. Push through, it will get better.

Stayingsassy

This is an aside, but it is actually a good thing you are doing by deer hunting. I don’t hunt personally but I support it, and I am a raging liberal. Deer are completely destroying the American environment because we have unwittingly and sometimes on purpose rid our lands of predators. We need to step in and be the predator. That role has great responsibility to treat the land and animals with respect, and with responsibility comes ethical dilemma. Don’t let it dissuade you from hunting, just work on your craft to be a better and more accurate hunter. Drinking won’t help that. Dig deep, step up, and continue with your sobriety.

SoberCAH

Deer have completely overtaken our garden.

We used to have ~120 rose bushes and now we can't have any.

Stayingsassy

I’m sorry. I don’t know about deer in the west; where I live, but in the northeastern US the numbers are seriously threatening biodiversity, so much that recreational hunting barely makes a dent in the problem.