The shot that wasn't

[acedoc]

I have decided to save up for a big game hunt or safari in either Africa or USA , bowhunting opportunities being few and nil in my land. with that aspect in mind i have been practising at 22 meters every day and have a crude hog trace out in front of my target. if i do my job and Diana wills then i can keep 4 out of 6 shafts in the vitals. the point is that i regularly miss and mostly give the paper hog a headshot. the last practice was most memorable with the arrows tracing an outline of the hog nd none landing.
Most of us will concede that wild animals do move more than paper and occasional miffed shots are going to occur. I wanted to start a thread on the same so that newbies are motivated to honing the equipment to the max (including the shooter)

So gentlemen , kindly share info about your missed or inadvertent shots on game animals. I for one am curious as to what would have happened to a headshot hog with a 55 lb recurve , 560 grain arrow and a razor sharp zwickey eskilite.

[GCook]

You need to do something to change your lack of consistency.   Get a coach or find an experienced person to shoot with you.  If those aren't available post   a video of you shooting and maybe someone here can pick your form apart and tell you what is wrong.  For now practice a lot closer until you get consistent at 5 yards or 7 yards.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Charlie Lamb]

Find the distance (close) that you can't miss then add 5 yards to that. Once you can't miss from that distance add 5 yards and repeat. Just keep it up until you are hitting consistently at 30 yards or if less, then that is your effective distance.

I can't remember all of my misses. A head shot on a pig will more than likely not turn out well.

[acedoc]

You need to do something to change your lack of consistency.   Get a coach or find an experienced person to shoot with you.  If those aren't available post   a video of you shooting and maybe someone here can pick your form apart and tell you what is wrong.  For now practice a lot closer until you get consistent at 5 yards or 7 yards.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

Thanks for your input. Despite being a culture with rich history of archery there are no coaches around for our kind of stuff. I will post the video and wait for your inputs.
As rightly said i know a headshot hog is not going to end well (probably for the shooter and the wallet in any kind of paid setups) i am concerned with the ethical part of the sport. I don't aim to draw a bead on anything living till i can perforate the vitals consistently at 20 yds. Recurves, it seems ARE more demanding of the shooter being perfect in his form. I have shot a bit at long ranges and found that if the attention and discipline waver you can make all kinds of stupid mistakes even with a sandbagged rifle and scope, let alone a trad bow.
Keep them coming gents!

[Terry Green]

Here is you a story about a head shot hog.... You might wanna consider some backup.

It starts with Sunny Hill's post.... And there were several of us there when it  Ended....

http://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=53483.520

[supernaut]

Mr. Green, that was an awesome story on that hog and thanks for sharing the link to the thread!

[Bisch]

I didn’t read all the replies above, but I will tell you that I can’t remember the last time I shot at a live critter at 23 meters (25yds). I’ve killed hundreds of critters in my life, and maybe only one or two at that distance when I was younger. Most all the critters I have shot are in the 10-17yd range (9-16.5 meters). Even all the African critters!!!!!

Move in closer where you can have a greater accuracy!!!!!

Bisch

[Aaron Proffitt 2]

Here is you a story about a head shot hog.... You might wanna consider some backup.

It starts with Sunny Hill's post.... And there were several of us there when it  Ended....

http://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=53483.520

Wow ! That was a story ! Loved Robert's philosophy on who should be the first to put hands on deer. Great read !

[acedoc]

I didn’t read all the replies above, but I will tell you that I can’t remember the last time I shot at a live critter at 23 meters (25yds). I’ve killed hundreds of critters in my life, and maybe only one or two at that distance when I was younger. Most all the critters I have shot are in the 10-17yd range (9-16.5 meters). Even all the African critters!!!!!

Move in closer where you can have a greater accuracy!!!!!

Bisch

Now that is an eye opener!  I will take your advice seriously.

[acedoc]

read J Kidwells book, a ton of threads pertaining to proper form and had wifey record me in slo mo. it turns out that i had a plethora of ills
1) collapse at full draw
2) plucking the string with my ring finger
3) torquing the bow hand
4) not picking a spot
5) loosing the arrow too soon

i have been sticking to the 22 meter range and practicing daily. it has been a bit of a grind but keeping myself focused on the positive while letting the negatives go has been working. this was the result today.
Unable to post pics hence attaching links to my Instagram photos
https://www.instagram.com/acedoc2/p/BwV2NVilofS/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=f5rukyblmcii

https://www.instagram.com/acedoc2/p/BwV1-s3FIHZ/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1u5bhei0rakzb

This is still a work in progress and by no means an end I deem adequate.

[stevem]

As mentioned above, limit your shots at game to the distance you can shoot well.  Per your original post, I suspect it might be 20 yards or less. 

[blacktailbob]

I stuck a hog in the head once.
I had a sow( maybe 100-125 lbs ) come by my tree stand with about a 30 lb piglet. As I drew on her and released at about 10 yds the piglet must have come up to nurse or something and the arrow passed through the sow and stuck the baby right in front of the ear. Never saw the piglet and my arrow again.

A friend once shot a big pig straight on in the forehead with a 270. Pig fell over and didn't move. He walked up to his pig, put rifle down and grabbed his knife. Pig gets up and runs off. End of that story.

NO, I wouldn't want to head shoot a pig.

[acedoc]

Neither would I unless using a center fire 30 or above.
The intent of this thread is to talk about missed or muffed up shots. I put the hog headshot because that is where i am shooting my paper hog.
Also Howard Hill mentions a boar being headshot at close range in the Catalina islands as an extremis measure. The outcome that time was better than above instances.