i missed!! should i have aimed low??

[wapiti792]

I mmmmissed Sat night at an alert buck that had me pegged in the tree and turned to go. I have no doubt he ducked at the sound of my bow...shooting a walking deer is something I swore against with my compounds but after missing a couple I tried to grunt to a stop with my longbow, I am going with what Biggie says  

[Ronyag]

I did the same thing at 10 yards but the deer was on the side hill. I miss judged the distance. I usally......... aim low for the heart and make the shot. Not this time, the down hill got me! I struggle with that shot at the 3 d range too. More practice !!!!!!

[Ssamac]

Same happened to me a couple of weeks ago except I was quiet. Perfect shot, matriarch doe ducked down to her knees and the shaft just barely cleared her back. I watched it fly into the timber. I have since quieted down my arrows, since they had a pretty good hiss to them. She either saw it or heard it or both.

Just like you, however, having the shot and making a good one made my day. I was a happy camper even though I missed a nice doe.

Let's keep at it.

Sam

[Guru]

What Biggie said...But like you said, you're not comfortable shooting at a walking deer at that range...so...learn from it and drill the next one Jamie!

[Gaff]

thanks guys!! im actually pretty pleased with myself that i was able to do almost everything right. the buck just did 1 better..

i am possibly gonna consider changing from 5" feathers to as small as i can get away with. my 5"ers seem to hiss. and if can hear it, i know they'er gonna turn inside out when they hear it.

oh, well... chalk it up to experience...

gaff

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Jamie,

Cool learning experience.  Glad you are getting some action over there!    

You  would be suprised with a little practice how proficient you are at moving targets. Good Luck  

[hitman]

I don't believe a lot of what I see on tv. I've seen some terrible hits but they seemed to recover them.

[bucksdown]

i agree total surprise is the best, if you've been hunting with a compound, you may have to change one thing, it's not always possible, and sometimes they may show up anywhere, but after going trad 20 years ago, i found it better to put my stands as close to the trail as i could, the shots are closer, the arrow gets there quicker, them dropping isn't as crucial, and them walking is much simplier. i know shooting a compound, people feel they have a better cahce with the wind, that may be, most of us don't feel comfortable shooting past 25 yard.

[R. W. Mackey]

I agree with the thoughts of not alerting the animal to your presence, ie. shoot him while he is walking, but I still say aim low.  The reason, Deer do not jump your string per say, what happens is the deer hears an un-natural noise and it's inborn instincts say run.  In order for a deer to run from a standing position it must first crouch down for the initial lunge.  The more alerted and louder the noise the more the deer drops to spring forward.  An alerted deer can easily drop a full body width when this happens.  In reality we hit right where we were aiming, the deer just wasn't there when the arrow arived. Remember the speed of sound travels at over 700 fps. and our arrows move at less than 200 on most traditional equipment, the sound will arrive over 3 times faster than our arrows.  Thats plenty of time for a deer to move.
How many times do you hear, Dang, I just shot under that deer, not many.  Aim low, if the deer doesn't move, you still make a great shot.
Just my two cents.  RW

[Fletcher]

Gaff, smaller feathers may not be the answer to the hiss; height and shape have more to do with it.  If you are shooting shields, try trimming the back of the fletch to a parabolic shape.  I think you will find his to quiet the hiss.  A smaller feather may not provide the stabilization you want with broadheads.

[30coupe]

Originally posted by Stone Knife:
But it works on tv      

They also spine a lot of them on TV!

I always aim for the heart anyway. If I hit it, they bleed like crazy, and I love blood trails. They can go farther than a double lung, but heart shot = dead deer. If they duck or I just hit a touch high, I get both lungs! They don't get far without air!

I grunted to stop one once and hit her in the shoulder blade. Now I either shoot them walking or wait for them to stop. I prefer they don't know I'm around. Last year, my stand (actually my son's stand) squeaked and alerted the buck. I can called him back in and double lunged him on a shot aimed at the heart. He did duck, but I was pretty sure he was going to.

Why put on camo, eliminate your scent, climb a tree, and then make noise that lets the deer know where you are?

On the other hand, my son grunted to stop the doe his buck was trailing, then put a Woodsman through a nice 12 point at 8-10 yards. Sometimes it works, I guess. During the rut, bucks get pretty stupid though.

[stykbender]

I pick the spot where the brown meets white at the "armpit" as on public land I have hunted the pressured deer react to ANY noise at all!!
I usually grunt after the miss!