Tonight I had a mature doe come in to 15 yards on the State Forest ground that I scouted this summer period on the Shade Mountain. She came in and I took the shot at 15 yards perfectly broadside. She was edgy, and when I shot it went just over get back...

I told my wife that the arrow went right where I was looking and she ducked out of the way with being on edge already below I shot. Well the video shows differently the arrow was already to her and her reaction was too late. The video proved that I shot high!

Crap! Oh well I can keep hunting now.

You are an honest man. We hear all the time about "the deer ducked my arrow." My opinion is we use that excuse too often not wanting to admit we shoot high. I missed high so many times it is disgusting, I had a bad habit of raising my head at the shot to see the arrow hit the deer. Whenever I read "the deer ducked my arrow," my first thought is always, I doubt it. In all honesty, of all the shots I ever took, I never saw a deer duck under the arrow. I know it happens, seen it in slow motion videos, but if we shoot at calm deer, I think it is rare. I admire your honesty Shadehaven!

Got try and shoot lower!

Thanks yea, I shoulda picked a low spot rather than right behind the shoulder.

Video doesn't lie? Years ago a trad big name was on video shooting at a caribou. Didn't show impact, but after "tracking" the bull for a LONG distance he recovered it. I played that video over and over, and frame by frame. Last frame showed that arrow about 2 foot over the back of that bull. I figure he grabbed a rifle and shot him at long distance, and "recovered" him with the bow in his hand :>) Nice to hear your honesty.

Did you get to full draw.

I missed a doe tonight a Ten yards!!!!!!!! She and three more just fed off After fifteen mins and almost past shooting light I said out loud " you dummy Ten yards" And spooked one about twenty yards over my left shoulder Now I really feel like a dummy

At least you got the shot off. I got busted on the draw. First issue was she milled straight at me from a long way off and finally at less than 15 she turned a shoulder just a touch so I raised my bow and started to draw. That was as close as it got...

Glad you can be honest with yourself. Gives room for improvement once you can figure out what the issue may be.

-Bones

I feel like I got to full draw. I.think I held longer than normal and thought to much about the shot.

These are great stories guys keep em coming.

Germandogs that cracks me up.

At least you got a shot. I spooked my deer THursday evening. 12-14 yards at eye level. Was walking down trail I came in on. Maybe next time I will be more patient. Good luck on your next opportunity.

I had a doe come from behind me and slowly move down the trail in front of me. She stopped quartering away at about 17 yards. I shot over her.

Right then and there I knew that I would never make that mistake again!

She then circled around, followed the exact same path again and gave me the exact same shot. I poked the second arrow through the exact same hole in the sky. I guess the doe finally got tired of letting me try to kill her and finally left.

My arrows were sticking in the ground not much more than an inch apart.

Ain't it wonderful!

Will we get to see this one on Youtube?

It happens Brian, everybody misses sometimes. Your doing better than me! I haven't even loosed an arrow yet.

More room around them than in them.

Oh I'll try to work at it today

9/10 Broke....No amount of convincing will ever change my mind that quiet trumps speed until its actually fast enough to beat a deer's reaction which is way faster than most realize

Most folks grossly underestimate the reflexes of a deer.

Back in the late 80's I shot a few deer with a compound that was pretty noisy, all most all of them flinched at the shot.

By the same hand my 64" R/D longbow is super quiet although its slower deer rarely react until the arrow is through them.

Lots of folks just don't admit they missed and shot high...I find that's pretty easy to do.

Guess I’m not clear on the OP here - was it a clean miss or a really high hit?

FWIW, I used to swap posts with a guy who wounded a couple dozen deer (badly!) with a #150 recurve crossbow before he realized that he needed to keep his shots under 10 yards; it was so loud that at 15-20 yards, they were jumping out of their skins.

They’re FAST. Got to be, considering that they evolved to be able to dodge the claws of a mountain lion...

I'll upload the YouTube video here this evening. Then you all can see I shot over her

Last evening, about an hour before sunset, I was playing around with my two bladed single bevel carbide sharpener with the wind at my back, trying to see if I could make a single bevel Hill shave hair off of my arm while deer hunting. My hat was off, by bow on the ground. After several varied attempts, I got it. It took the hair off of my fore arm with very little drag, normally I have a file with me, but i grabbed the little carbide thing because I was just in shirt sleeves and could find my file belt sheath. I was pretty proud of myself, I proudly held the head up in the sunlight to check for a bur and there she was 11 feet in front of me, straight down wind, just watching, a doe. she didn't duck, she just walked away. I thought, oh crap, the deer are moving early, so i backed into a corner between to storm dropped trees with my Nifty seat. About ten minutes before sundown, realized that most of the grass in my shooting area was too high and where it was shorter and not directly downwind was mostly blocked by tree branches. So I was preparing to go sit at the edge of the cornfield and face into the wind and where the sun would not be burning out my eye balls. I took one step into the clear and there stood a forky little buck, 15 yards away, he didn't run either. he just stood there snorting at me. After a while there were deer snorting all over the place across the near flooding stream. He left when I did a practice draw on him, he didn't duck or bust, he just left. Almost let go of the arrow, that would have not been a good way to end my season with my new white glassed Sunset Hill longbow. Ain't dur huntin' fun?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b3525EyBrM

Heres teh video you guys! Just finished it.

Good video Brian. Yep, shot high, deer didn't react until arrow was past it. Really like that finish on your bows. Thanks for sharing your hunt.

Thanks! Good ol thunderbird flat!

Maybe so, but you spray it on really well. Keep up the great work. Good luck tweaking the new design. Don't let it get noodly on ya!

You guys are kiling me. Ive only had maybe 3 deer under 15 yards in my life. Archery ancestors give me a 12 yard shot.lol

Great video

Nice video! I been Trad hunting 39 years and deer teach me something new almost everytime I am in the woods!

Excellent

Every deer I have ever missed has been shot over the back , I never missed shooting in front of one.

My last three deer in a row were killed with the second arrow. One, 15, on the ground. I caught my arm on a sharp broken branch, my fingers slipped off the string and I lobbed over it back with about a 16" draw, the buck bolted stopped to admire the sunset and I got a perfect hit, although a lot longer shot than the 15 foot screw up. Three years ago, the elevation was perfect, but the buck spun out of the way, without doing the standard dip, I saw the arrow barely miss along side. He made a mistake and came around to see what spooked him. Then last year, I was changing position and we simply walked into each other. The first arrow skidded down a dead branch, that I was certain that I would miss and almost hit the buck in the tail. The second shot, the buck was rubbing on a sampling looking away. Over the years, I have seen more reactions out of deer when trying to be slow and super careful than when shooting fast. Never say never, but it seems quite often deer have a patience margin, once that is crossed any movement they detect gets a fast reaction.

I enjoyed the video. The quality was excellent as was the lesson.

Good stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huk5lsIu1_U&list=PLR0FGX9w9pPIqEWAUPfNlWO_Sz5JVWnnC&index=30

Jimmy Blackmon video on shooting from elevated postitions

15 years ago, right at sunset..15 yards I thought the doe ducked the arrow, I saw my green nock and light green feathers go over her back as she ducked.she took off thru the palmettos making lots of noise. I nocked another arrow since I thought I did not hit her and there was still 10 minutes of shooting light left. I climbed down to leave and to get my arrow..I went to the spot and no arrow in the dirt?? Thinking it must have hit something and skipped I

Started looking further back..about 10 yards behind my shooting lane there was blood sprayed all over the palmettos?? But I shot over her, I saw her duck the arrow.. I followed the heavy blood trail about 45 yards to a double lunged dead doe. Never found the arrow in the thick stuff.

anything is possible,,,do your best,, and practice alot on the close shots,,

If you shoot split and semi-instinctive from a tree stand, try rolling the bow over flat. Shooting down hill with a vertical bow complicates things. I know the old thing, 'bend at the waste,' We can bend all over the place, but bending sideways in a tree is not ergonomic or natural. Bending just from the waste forward is unnatural if a support foot position cannot be added. 20 feet up and 20 feet out is a 45 degree shot. 20 feet up and 20 yards out is a 15 degree shot. If you shoot instinctive roll the bow over.

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here