Here is a list of my top ways to miss a deer. I hope that this is helpful to the new hunters and seasoned hunters as well:

1. Don’t wait for the deer to come into YOUR effective range. 2. Draw the bow when the deer is looking right at you. 3. Take the shot when the deer is walking straight towards you or directly away from you. 4. Shoot at the whole deer. 5. Pay no attention to the deer’s buddies who are looking right at you when you draw. 6. Don’t come to full draw, anchor, or hold before you release the arrow. 7. Yell gotcha! and start celebrating before you release the arrow! I can give you my personal guarantee that these tactics work. Good luck!

I think I’ve used all at one time or another. Many more weapons besides my recurve! ;-)

This gonna be a long thread

This gonna be a long thread

Me if I loose concentration and aim with the arrow

Ive been caught not seeing the deer sneak in, and then standing up on my stand.

Dont release a arrow with a lit smoke in your mouth, cause it will explode in your face when the string hits it. It will only happen once to you, I know for a fact!

Ha, these are things to do, so wait till the deer sneaks in, then stand up to grab your bow,,

and release the arrow with the lit smoke in your mouth :)

Loudly say "mahwaaa" so it stops a looks right at you.

Focus on those horns. Look at the size of those antlers. >>>---> Ken

1. Always crumple up paper sandwich bags, potato chip bags and candy wrappers before returning them to backpack. 2. Take your time leaving and returning to tree stand to do #1 or #2. Deer don't move this time of the day.

dont aim....dont aim.....dont aim....dont aim

I'm out of shirt tail after yesterday. missed 2 does both at about 16yds, both alert. Light bow heavy arrow. Aimed for heart, not low enough. Aim much lower than that and they won't drop at all. Excuses done, pretty humbling.

Forget to turn off your cell phone ringer.

#4 has always worked well for me.

Thank you for starting this thread Highntree, but I must say, 7 ways to miss a deer is just overthinking the task.

That's why I stick to #4 exclusively...shoot at the whole deer. It allows a hunter to achieve the miss with a mere mindless snapshot!

Good luck to everyone this season, hope you all connect!

Griz and redquebec X2 shurfire miss

Also, there’s the “ trim all limbs from shooting lanes while ignoring all briars” method. You’d think that one good for one time only but you’d be thinking wrong.

Only one two that I’ve ever needed:

1) Practice “instinctively”, then call the range before the shot.

2) Wait for the animal to step into a narrow shooting lane where it’s all good as long as you stay off of those trees…. And then you’re looking at the trees… which you will then hit.

Guaranteed.

Yep #7 got me once on a 10 yard chip shot arrow went 6” over his back never did that again

dont forget to drop your water bottle , a couple arrows and a glove out of your stand as you are preparing to shoot that big ten that's staring a hole thru ya!

Accidentally cut Your bowstring with a broadhead and forget to bring a spare? Or maybe forget, leave the broadheads at home and bring nothing but blunts, judos and field points?

Take a nap.

Drawing when other deer see you got me last year. Made my doe spooky as all get out even though she didn't know where I was, subsequently jumped the string. wah wahhh

Just has to be a really big buck and its likely I'll botch it. Smaller bucks and does I pile em up but I've missed three of the kind of bucks whose pics end up on half of the NY hunters cell phones in the last couple years.

Sitting home because it's too hot, too cold, too windy, you can't kill a deer sitting on your couch.

Using the Bush 3 monster muledeer bucks are sleeping in as "cover" as you sneak up on the Bush you think they are in and then have them all explode out of there at 5 yards

Having your safety vest teather up too high and not being able to bend at the waist!!!! That's how, @#@$$%@@

I have dabbled in many ways but specialize in focusing intently on the deer without every considering the possibility of small branches and twigs along the arrow trajectory.

Having your stick on rest fall off before you get to your stand,that will end your day quick.

How about having a helicopter fly right over as you start to draw. Tends to spook deer and hunter.

I've personally used methods #1 and #4 to successfully miss a deer. Shooting at an extremely alert deer is another great method I have used to miss.

Drop your arrow so that it clatters off a few tree limbs. Works good.

Well, if none of the above work for you, try having your longbow limb hit the log your sitting on as you shoot. It seems to weakly lob an arrow about 11 yards (12 yard shot), and the longbow about 3..........Don't ask.

Everything mentioned above and a bunch more.

Shoot when the deer has all four feet on the ground.

When it's lunch time, hang your bow on a limb and get out your candy bar, just when the biggest buck in the woods walks under your tree and heads straight away. Yea been there, done that.

I am sitting in my office eating and I just read Hexx's post and laughed food all over my desk. I am convinced that mature bucks wait until you're having a snack/coffee break before they parade on by.

Ok, nobody went there yet, so I'll be the first one...

I am watch a great buck walk by me, 15 yards away, while he's nonchalantly watch me wipe my butt. It's a yearly ritual for me.

get in a nice spot, set up yer PacSeat, settle in, & promptly fall asleep. when you snore yourself awake, be amazed at the flashing white tails bounding away-works for me!!!

Sit really still for a really long time. Don’t see squat. Look around very carefully. Don’t see squat. Stand up to stretch. Three deer looking right at you.

I consider this entire thread to be plagiarism. Frisky's already written the book on this topic....just follow everything he says! It even has a chapter devoted to weapon tuning....change oil, buy off-road tires, install industrial-grade "brush bumper", etc.

Same as missing a target - release and immediately drop your bow arm, to better see where the arrow flew.

I forgot to mention this one:

Place your stand at least 30 feet high and then wait for the deer to walk right under it before you shoot.

Text your buddy about the deer you haven’t seen yet. Stop your stalk and see the buck at the same time you see the yellowjackets buzzing in and out of the hole beside your boot. Sit in a tree stand and have two large swamp chestnut oak acorns drop on top of your head and then your groin - deer love the sound of acorns hitting a southern boy in those soft spots - it makes a strange noise.

I like to mentally call my taxidermist as I'm drawing my bow......that ALWAYS helps!!

My other stand across the field from the one I’m sitting in looks better, yep, I move! You can guess what happened.

Oh ya, slam dunk shots!! So easy you just point your bow at it and look for it to fall over and not even aim, not!!!

Look at the antlers! Number 1 way Number 2 - don’t pick a spot shoot at the deer Number 3 stand if you have been sitting in your stand Number 1a - forget to shoot

Forget your tab and try to pull 60 pounds back with bare fingers, squill like a girl because your a mechanic and have cuts all over your fingers, the deer doesn’t spook because he thought that noise he just heard was a estrous bleat, you release and shoot 4 foot over his back.

Forget your tab and try to pull 60 pounds back with bare fingers, squill like a girl because your a mechanic and have cuts all over your fingers, the deer doesn’t spook because he thought that noise he just heard was a estrous bleat, you release and shoot 4 foot over his back.

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