The Part of Hunting That Haunts You

My buddy Smoke missed a big bull elk last week.

His first shot was high. There was no second shot. The extractor on his rifle failed to grab the empty brass. He worked the bolt to no avail as he watched the bull run by at 100 yards.

Now he’s haunted by that image.

“I can still see him,” Smoke told me, as he wiped away a tear.

Hunt long enough and something similar will happen to you.

We’re haunted by our misses.

Who hasn’t seen the tail end of an elk or deer or pheasant — that earlier offered an easy shot— disappear unmolested over the horizon?

Whether due to mechanical malfunction or simply e...