I don't always miss deer but when I do...

[Orion]

Lots of reasons for shooting high, as already pointed out, but another is a different sight picture.  When looking down on a critter, it's profile is smaller than when looking at it broadside from the ground.

For example, lets say a deer is about 18 inches top to bottom and about 12 inches wide.  When viewed from the ground, you see the full 18 inches of height.  When viewed from above you see nearer 12 inches of body width because, in addition to the deer just being narrower from side to side,  you may not see part of the off side of the top of the back or the near underside of the critter.  

So, if from a tree stand you hold just under the front leg, you're in effect holding about 6 inches higher on the deer than if you were standing on the ground.  Now, my numbers may be exaggerated a bit, but the principle holds true.  Just need to lower your point of aim.

Too, the deer appears farther away when viewed from above because the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the angle of the shooter to the deer is longer than the horizontal distance to the deer formed by the base of the right triangle.  So, in reality, the arrow travels a little farther to reach the deer when shot from above than if shot on level ground.  All other things being equal, this would tend to cause a lower hit.  However, the perceived greater distance to the target likely causes the shooter to hold higher, probably overcompensating a bit, resulting in a high shot.

In sum, two factors contribute to overestimating the distance to the critter, which can lead to overshooting. One, the deer appears farther away when viewed at a downward angle, because the distance is actually farther than the level ground distance.  And two, because one sees less of the deer's profile from above, it appears smaller and thus farther away than it actually is.

Bending at the waist doesn't do much for me. I mostly shoot from a sitting position and don't worry about it. In practice, not bending tends to increase one's draw length a little, which in turn increases the draw weight and arrow speed.  However, that difference is so small for most folks as to have a negligible effect at close range. Not enough to worry about IMO.  

However, not bending can also change your vertical alignment/sight picture, which I think can be more of a problem.

In any case, where you hold or your alignment or range estimation, the key to solving the problem is practice. Just need to find the gap and shooting position that works for you.  No one position works for all shooting situations.

[smokin joe]

I'll add something else:
If you fail to pick a spot, ignore the entire animal, and shoot at the "general heart/lung area" you will usually shoot an inch or two over the back of the animal.

The reason for this is psycho/optical. If you are not on a specific spot and ignoring or blotting out the rest of the deer, your subconscious takes over and you shoot at the "edge" of the deer due to the visual contrast between the edge and the background. That edge is the top of the deer's back. You won't understand how you could miss the chest by that much, but in actuality you are only missing the spot that your subconscious chose by an inch or two.

[reddogge]

Originally posted by Jock Whisky:
If I have to bend at the waist I push my hips to the right(I'm right handed). This helps with the bending and also helps keep your center of gravity where it needs to be so you don't feel like you're gonna fall over. Works for me. Maybe it will help you.

This. I borrowed this from some old field archery instructions. Sliding the hips rearward helps the natural bending at the waist. I also bend my forward leg some so it feels like I'm leaning pretty heavily towards the target. I then shoot like normal.

[buckeyebowhunter]

Smokin Joe, I totally understand what you're saying however when using the crawl I'm actually lookin at the tip of my arrow in relation to the deers vitals so that my windage is perfect and that my gap dictates the up and down placement on the target. I guess I'm not truly picking a spot but instead picking a gap and using my secondary vision for windage. I guess there are guys that do the opposite of me when aiming but when i try this i feel like I'm going back to aiming instinctively and as a result feel the target panic creeping back in that i felt when i did try shooting purely instinctive.

[George Vernon]

More years ago than I care to remember I read an article from someone in the medical community who was studying how the eyes and brain worked to process images.

One of the key points is with age and experience we each create something of a library of images that are common to us.  That way when we look at something that contains elements of our frequently used images we can quickly home in on the item or area of interest.

Here’s a couple of examples how this plays out.  I’ve ridden motorcycles for many years and attended/taught motorcycle safety courses.  I suspect the number one cause of motorcycle/car accidents is car drivers pulling into an intersection and hitting the motorcycle.  When interviewed the car driver says they never saw the motorcycle.  In truth, they probably did not since the image at an intersection they were most familiar with was the outline of a car or truck.  So when they stopped and looked both ways they were actually looking for the common outlines that caused danger.  The shape of a motorcycle rider did not register.  Going to constant on headlights helped, but not much.

When I started deer hunting 40 years ago I marveled at how easy it was for some people to see deer in the woods.  When the deer were stationary I could not see them.  Finally asked one of the good deer spotters how they did it.  Easy, he told me.  You have to learn to look for horizonal shapes/lines.  One of the points the eye recognition article made is the patterns our eyes are sensitive to not only come from our own library of shapes, but also the environment we’re experiencing.  In a big woods we are surrounded by trees—strong vertical lines.  So our eyes are drawn to vertical shapes.  It takes some discipline, but telling your eyes to look for horizontal lines works, but is not ‘natural’.

So what does this have to do with shooting high?  Well, one of the elements of an image our eyes are drawn to is lines of high contrast.  This can be dark/light intersections or things like lines created by two different objects.  For example the line created by the deer’s back and what’s behind the deer.

I think it’s possible, when using sights or any of the ‘instinctive’ methods a bit of deer fever can get in the way of consciously processing a scene and allow our eyes to go on ‘autopilot’.  I think in deer hunting that means we are drawn to the line created by the top of the animal.  Even when we are convinced we have picked a spot, at the moment of release we can see the ‘whole’ animal and our eyes will automatically go to the top of the back unless we are firmly in control.

Yes, I understand deer dropping if they hear the arrow/release.  And there are things like how an elevated position can change the appearance.  But the number one thing for me is teaching my eyes it’s okay to look at lines as long as it’s the line made by the bottom of the chest.  I’ve not shot over the top of a deer since.

I suspect all the advice to ‘pick a spot’ that has been around forever, is based on the practical experience if we allow ourselves to see the ‘whole’ animal, even for an instant, our eyes will go to the easiest to see line (top of back) and we will shoot high.  It’s not the only thing impacting high shots, but for me is the biggest.

[olddogrib]

...I prefer Dos Equis (or six to drown my sorrows in)

[buckeyebowhunter]

Dos Equis with Fresh Backstrap    

[FlintNSteel]

Originally posted by bucknut:
 Having multiple anchor points also helps! Tip of nose to back of feather has helped me a good bit.

This is key, IMO.  It's so easy from various up or down angles to not have your head in the same alignment (up and down)to the string as with flat shooting.

[dbd870]

Yep out of a treestand if I mess up it will be high - and I know better. In the heat of the moment things can happen.