Lapses in judgementor missed opportunities.

Have you ever had a situation that if you could do it all over again, you would? I had one of those recently. I was looking at a situation so hard from one side, that I completely considered it from the other, and maybe I had a lapse in judgment. More importantly, I disappointed a friend.

I suppose it happens to everybody. Not too long ago a friend of mine was bow hunting. He'd been watching this deer for quite some time and had been poised for the shot, but the perfect shot never presented itself. So instead, he thought that the shot he had was good enough - even though he knew he was too high, and the angle was wrong. He took it anyway.

It was the deer that suffered. The arrow hit it high on the neck and the deer was off. They trailed it for as long as they could, but the blood trail was minimal. Then they lost it.

They found it two months later, during gun season. It was shot with the arrow still hanging out of its neck. Taking the shot was a lapse in jusdgment.

He could have waited for a better opportunity.


When I discovered that Gonzo's anklets were riding high, I didn't think much of it. I thought that they would work themselves down. No harm, no foul. I hindsight, I should have investigated. Had I, then gonzo would have never suffered that leg injury last month from the abrasions.

Missed opportunity. I should have investigated.

I'm sure every one of you can look back and think of a time that, maybe, you should have thought a situation through more thoroughly before you acted. If you had - maybe you would have done something differently.

Working with animals is full of risk. It starts when you pull that first red tail out of the sky and ends only when you release it again. Risk, risk, risk.

The trick is to minimize it as much as possible. Use telemetry. Fly your birds at the right weight. Pay attention to their outward signs. I'll try and do the same.