Missing Deer by not picking a spot.

[T Folts]

It has happened to me more than I want to admit but I think it is very common on missed or poorly hit deer at close range. That is the first thing I think of when I hear I shot over its back etc.
I know it is true for me. I can remember a perfect shot and the amount of concentration that went into picking a spot vividly. The missed shots are more of a blur to me but I know exactly what happened. In the yard it happens also, marginal shots are lack of picking a spot but there you get a do over, pull your arrow and bear down pick a spot and bam!
Is this a form of target panic or is just what it is? Not picking a spot.

[TexasTrad]

This is true for me too.   If I can let my bow arm settle and really focus on a spot for a second or two, I am much more accurate.

I think not really focusing on a spot is my biggest challenge with accurate hunting shots but there are other factors such as shooting from awkward positions in a tree stand, heavy clothing, getting tired after hunting several days, getting cold and not being able to feel the feather touch my nose because it is numb (this happened recently).

[McDave]

I wouldn't call it target panic; more of a lack of concentration.  Lack of concentration can commonly be caused by either too much or too little stimulation.  For example, if you're out in the country hunting deer, which you don't do every day, and you see a deer, which doesn't happen every day, and the deer walks within range, which definitely doesn't happen every day, you may get over-stimulated and forget to focus on a spot.  On the other hand, if you're shooting targets and have picked a spot on the last ten targets, you might forget to pick a spot on the 11th target, because you're under-stimulated.

[lt-m-grow]

First, I think you are right...and I have thought about it a lot since I moved to Traditional (I started with a compound).

And I have come to the conclusion it is because we don't aim or pretend we don't aim.  I am not starting a gap or instinctive conversation fight here, BUT bear with me.  

When I shot compound, I picked a spot to aim my sights at.  So I picked a spot and focused on keeping my sights there.  Done deal.  So pick a spot, aim, focus on aiming at the spot.

But with traditional you are "supposed to focus"...but focusing at all times is near impossible.  Sure sometimes you are all focus, but other times distracted.  And what is a better distraction than a deer coming in hey?

So lately I have been thinking....the hell with "focus" just aim and then I am forced to aim at something so I pick a spot and then focus on it.  My shooting has never been better!

[TooManyHobbies]

Guilty here too. Twice this season so far, I've shot over a close deer. Within 20 minutes of each other. First I shot AT the deer (I think), second one I picked the spot but forgot to bend at waist, follow through, etc.

[Shadowhnter]

I find A big reason for a miss, is not picking a small spot, but there is another part to the equation to misses. That is follow through. Its very easy to not pick a spot, but its even more easy to lift your head to try and see the hit. Once the head comes up, the arm goes down and to side. Instead, see the hit happen from the same perspective as you release from. In both of these cases, we've likely  practiced it at a target hundreds of times. The notion that it will all just magically transition over to a live deer is a little off base. The fact is, you have to make those attempts and practice the shot on live deer. And No matter how we feel with the rush of adrenaline, to execute both picking the spot, and properly following through the shot. Without real animals to give you the real feelings that come with it, its all but impossible to overcome. It must be experienced, to get better at doing it. Its about how much self disipline you can excersise, and do what you know to do, while under the throes of the moment.

Ive said for years killing deer takes two hurdles to jump that are each complex in nature, that must be overcome. One, get the deer in front of you for a shot opportunity. Two, get the deer dead. Neither come easy, but both are easy to read about and say.

[lefty4]

It works for elk too!

[bear bowman]

I feel I could write a book on how to screw up shooting at animals. I'm still early on my journey but I can miss with the best of them.
It seems that I'm so involved watching the deer and their body language, where my shooting lanes are, where obstructions are and anything else you can throw into that moment that I don't or forget to pick a spot.

[NYRON]

That's funny bear bowman. I did write a book about it...or at least a chapter.

Picking a spot is harder than you might think and takes practice. As you are moving through your day, practice picking a spot on everything you see--street signs, dogs, logs, whatever.

I find that it also takes practice to stay focused on a spot when your under the stress of a real hunting situation.

For some people it helps to use an imaginary object. So instead of picking a spot, imagine there is a button, a coin, or a laser dot right where you want to hit.

I have a chapter in my book titled "Shooting Techniques to Improve Hunting Success" that discusses how to build a shot and make your aiming spot your only point of concentration.

[Mint]

Yep, I missed  a doe this year not picking a spot. Thankfully I made a perfect shot on a doe the following week after beating myself up all week.

[Sam McMichael]

Concentration is key to all of archery. Targets or hunting requires that high degree of concentration on every single shot to be as consistent as we want to be. Yogi's quip about baseball certainly applies to archers - "90% of this game is half mental".

[Tradcat]

I'm 0 for 3 on hogs this year for the same culprit

[Friend]

Not all techniques work for all.

I attempt to pick the smallest spot prior to starting the shot execution and maintain focus throughout the shot execution until the arrow has reached its mark.

If picking the spot is programmed to be the first move, then it should be much more difficult to leave behind. Have shot numerous game that beyond identifying a targeted animal, all I can recall is the spot. Just like the stag in the avatar, I never looked at the animal until he stumbled after the arrow found its mark.

[ChuckC]

I think not picking an actual target spot is the reason for most of our misses.  Don't just pick an area, but a spot.

[Preston Lay]

And not only that chapter in Ron's book. There is a lot of good reading in his book. I highly recommend it.

[bucknut]

Last year I was so focused on watching the bucks head while drawing to see if it was looking at me, that I shot it right in the neck below the jaw. Non Fatal hit. Made me sick! But I shot right where I was looking. Lesson learned the hard way!

[oldrubline]

What Bear Bowman said is very true in my experience!   I wrote a post on my frustrations with shooting style over on that forum. Basically, I did tons of pre-season work locating 2 areas where bucks bed on two different ridges.  We have very few deer in this area. I went the first 3 1/2 weeks seeing not even a doe...then the 8-pt gave me a chance and I picked a spot and shot him cleanly.  After that, I focused on the other bedding area (2 miles off the road in backwood).  One morning, I saw my second deer of the season....a buck standing broad side at 12 yards in full mid morning sun!  I was so intent on making a kill and all my instincts were in over-drive focused on his head and that eye gleaming back at me. I was on the ground and the sun was behind me...got to full draw and sailed an arrow right over his back!!   Never picked a spot!  I wanted to make the shot so badly that I got in my own way and screwed it all up. from then on...every time I heard the rustle of a leaf I began to chant in my head 'pick a spot...pick a spot...".   Looking back, if I close my eyes, I can vividly see my last image of the 8-pt (now in my freezer) as I put all the focus into the spot. Its an image of that spot on his chest. If I picture the lost buck...its the head and gleaming eye with sunlight glowing off his whiskers.   My other post is about the focus it takes to pick those shooting lanes, pick a spot, and make a kill when you may only have a split second to draw and shoot. That was the case for the 8 pt and all my shot sequence with Conscious aiming and conscious mantra out the window...I just snap shot automatically and killed him by shooting through the spot I was focused on.  Seems, when that rare opportunity shows up, I naturally put all my energy into the focus on the buck. Its all I can do to pick a spot...the rest has to run automatically. (which makes me think maybe developing a shot that runs automatically, without having to consciously take energy to run a mantra to expand until the shot goes off, makes more sense for my often very brief shooting opportunities.)

I have really enjoyed Ron's book and he does have a very helpful chapter on this subject!  

Bottom line from my view is that something exists called 'Buck Fever' which seems to be such a strong instinct to make the kill that you skip over the important step of narrowing that focus to a spot...

My 2 (or maybe 5) cents...

Dan

[RiverRat5]

On a hunting trip out west a few years ago I shot a running rabbit at ten yards, then missed an antelope at 20. Later that day I shot a squirrel in the head at 20 back at camp.   My dad asked "what is wrong with you?". You can make that shot on the squirrel but miss the antelope?  I always look at the smallest thing and aim at it, say the squirrel s eye. I have found on big game, I struggle....unless it's a fawn (jk). Something we all work through. Good luck.

[Nantahala Nut]

I think a little visualization could help. Whatever the bull on your target looks like, envision that on the deer. Also try to see the arrows flight in your minds eye. This is something you should do when you practice as well.
I am a golf pro by trade and visualizing the shot you want to hit is something I always try to instill in students. Visualization helps your mind tell your body what to do on a subconscious level. It focuses your mind and also promotes confidence.

There is also a saying from a famous golf pro. "Take dead aim" - Harvey Penick. What he meant was don't just pick a target, pick a blade of grass. Essentially it translates to aim small, miss small.

I am lucky that the skills of a golf pro translate well to traditional archery. Form and consistency are my bread and butter.

[BlacktailBowhunter]

The blur for me is adrenaline for sure.

I missed twice last Saturday.  Once high then once low. Sunday I talked myself into picking a spot and I had my cam Corder rolling. The arrow was on target but the buck ducked the string when I slow motion the video back.

I think picking a spot is critical but I am also convinced that due to slow arrow speed I'm shortening my shots to 10 yards and aiming in the lower part of the vitals.