It has or will happen to anybody that hunts enough! I too have messed up and shot a couple 2 1/2 yr olds by mistake. I dont try to inventory my bucks to the point of identifying them on the fly when a fast paced encounter presents itself. I handle each encounter as if I have never saw the buck before. I judge him on the hoof and decide if he is a shooter or not right then. I have found that if you try to id bucks by a picture from months earlier, its too easy to make these type mistakes, and things change also, like broken main beams,major tines broken, etc. the main thing here is to not bash others for killing young/small bucks, as it can come back to haunt you! Right Wes??

Nope. Any deer that I have ever shot (or shot at, for that matter) was being intentionally targeted to be on the ground. Now whether or not they actually made it there is an other story.. To clarify, if I take the shot, I will be satisfied if the deer is on the ground as a result of my taking that shot. It it turns out to be a 6 pt and I thought he had brows, so be it, I really wouldn't consider it a mistake, b/c I was after him regardless, for other reasons as well.