How fast does an arrow have to fly

[Handy]

so even if a deer jumps the string the arrow still gets to the kill zone before the deer has a chance to move/react to cause a possible bad shot?

 This past season I had two bucks that did the so called string jump...both times the arrow fletching skimmed just above the deer. I know many people aim low on purpose because of this but isn't that asking for a possible low missed shot or a gut shot deer?

 Thanks Handy

[flatstick96]

Obviously, how far you are from the deer will affect that number; that said, I have read that a deer can drop a distance roughly equal to their body height (measured from bottom of belly line to top of the back) in about 1/5 of a second.  If that's true, then at 20 yards a deer could jump the string and cleanly avoid an arrow that leaves the bow at over 300 f.p.s.

[Bjorn]

A lot of archers agree that deer and other animals seem to 'duck' not 'jump' the string. Just like you said  "both times the arrow fletching skimmed just above the deer". (The arrow and fletching did not travel just below the deer)
This problem plagues trad guys and compounders alike and their arrows travel way faster than ours.
Arrow speed would have to approach the speed of sound to prevent this reaction. IMO it would be far better to spend our energy making our bows quiet and not worry about getting your arrows to travel at speeds approaching 800 fps!
In my own case I was happy to observe that  
the last hog I missed was the result of poor shooting and not a noisy bow! LOL!!

[8up]

Sound travels at 1100 feet per second so if he is the least bit nervous aim low for the heart and if he ducks you have a good chance at the lungs.

Sound crosses 18.3 yards in 1/20th of a second. So even if your arrows was flying at 180 fps it would take it 6/20th or 3/10th's of a second for the arrow to get the same 18yds. So you just have to hope the deer isn't nervous and that your bow is quiet enough to not alarm them to much.

Hope that helps even if it is just my opinion and math, and either may be wrong  

[Dustin Waters]

Does your bow say remington on the side?
NO?
Its not fast enough to avoid the ducking of arrows.

[Dan Worden]

What if it says Colt?     :p    Sorry Dustin.

But yeah that's it. Sound has a 4:1 advantage over arrow speed and deer reactions are more than fast enough to use that advantage.

[DarkeGreen]

I've found it's more about where you hunt them rather than the speed of a bow or even the noise it makes.

Hunting deer in bedding area or feeding area are the worst. It seems if they are stopped in one area for any lenght of time they become "jumpy".

Catching a big buck on a travel route in thick stuff is the way to go. They appear to be oblivious to things around them while walking in protected areas. If they are walking thru open area in the woods they ofter "jump" at the sound even when they have know knowledge of your presents. I've also noticed if their nose is to the ground they are more likely to jump. A slow walk with head held just above the shoulders often produces no reaction at the shot. Windy days will of course bring success too. It interfears with their ability to hear your bow. Take advantage of the leave crunching under their feet and the noise make by them walking through weeded areas. Any natural noise closer to them than you helps.

[Kip]

I have always liked to shoot a walking deer I said walking not running if they have one or two feet in the air it gives a little more time if they duck  and the noise they are making while walking also helps along with a quite bow.Kip

[JOKER]

I try to aim a little low but not low enough to miss the vitals if they don't react. Like was said befor there are many factors, alertness of the deer, other sounds in the woods, how sound is traveling at the time of the shot, bow/arrow noise,....

However, one thing that many people don't understand is if you are shooting at a deer at 15yds and under the best way to keep them from ducking is to not shoot 6 to 12 inches high to begin with. I have done the calculations useing an arrow speed of 180fps, and supper fast 0.1 sec reaction time for the deer(a human reaction time is 0.2-0.3sec) and assuming reaction as soon as arrow is shot and free fall for the deer for max drop distance. I got the following max drop distance:  10yds = o.94in, 15yds = 4.3in, and 20yds = 10.1in. Of corse after 20yds they have plenty of time to do what they want.

ps. a 280fps bow would be: 10yds = 0in, 15yds = 0.7in, 20yds = 2.3in, and 25yds = 5.5in, 30yds = 9.3in (of course the slowing down of the arrow would effect the numbers for the longer yardage a good bit).

[B.O.D.]

QUIET, is 1000 times more important than speed.
If they don't hear it it doesn't matter if it is going 100fps or 300fps. They will not react to what they can't hear as a threat.
BD  

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have found ( Now this is me, not most ppl )that a quiet bow is way better then a fast bow. Less noise the game can hear the better it is when hunting them with Bow & arrow. You would be better off with a 155fps quite as a Church mouse bow then a 300fps bang from a (can you turn that noise down ) loud bow..IMAO

[Pinecone]

I don't think they make a bow that will propel an arrow faster than the reaction time of a nervous whitetail.  I agree with some of the other posts...a quiet bow, shot selction, etc. are the best ways to avoid the deer ducking blues.

Claudia

[Pinecone]

oops..I mean "selection."  I think I need spell check...

[Orion]

Yep.  I'll take quiet and an unalarmed animal over speed.  A lot of high misses are caused by more than the animal jumping the string, though.  They tend to be arrows that would have hit high if the deer didn't go down to gather its muscles, so the deer turns what likely would have been a bad/high hit into a miss.  There are a lot of reasons that folks shoot high, particularly from tree stands, but that's another topic.

[Naphtali]

Handy:

I didn't notice your thread until I began one of my own on a similar topic.

Guys:
Rather than quiet the bow, or catch the deer unaware, is it feasible to use a noisy bow to deliberately alert the animal at the shot, knowing that its sequence of reaction-bunching-fleeing [unpredictably] will offer a shot at a nearly stationary target in a predictable stance/orientation -- kind of like a flushed pheasant being stationary in the air for a few hundredths of a second??

[Roy from Pa]

Heck not fast at all. I've had deer just stand there and watch as I sailed arrows all around them. Guess they figured if they moved they might run into the next arrow:)

[no]

last time I checked the speed of sound was 770 fps? That being said a quiet bow is very important.  Mike

[James Wrenn]

A deer can move faster than I can see.A quiet bow and a calm deer is your only chance.Speed is not going to do it.jmo

[Stykbo]

I shot over a doe this year because of the "ducking". After that I determined to aim low. I shot another doe and a 6 pt buck. The buck was a 19 yards. I decided I would either just barely graze his chest hairs or if ducked it would get him which it did, He ducked into it. Upon field dressing I found that the arrow just nicked the top of the heart and took out both lungs. He only made it 25 yard. It was my personal best planned shot ever.

[Big Dave]

I always aim low, right under belly right behind front leg and I seldom miss shootin over. Of coarse anything might happen when the deer react but it works 90% of the time for me,ground level or tree stand. My 2 cents  :D    :D    :D