Help, I suck.

[TooManyHobbies]

Went to one of my properties a mile from the house. Wind was light SW. Was sitting on my fold up stool 19 yards from a well used trail. It's been a while since I've seen deer here, but the situation was perfect. Got in at 4:23pm. At 4:55, I notice movement from the SW. Perfect, wind in my face. Only takes a second to see antlers..that's all I saw at first. The sun was making them shine as he came my way. I thought, "Nice buck". As he gets closer, I thought, "Damn, real nice buck". And my heart gets pounding pretty good. He comes to the stream, which runs by me on my left at 10' or so. Jumps the stream, takes a few steps past the trees blocking my view...and stops, broadside at 19 yards. Draw, anchor, aim, release....arrow goes 10 inches to the left, right past his chest and THWAP into a dead log. He turns and hauls butt, branches breaking and mud flying. Stops 40-50 yards out and snorts his head off.
    I know he didn't see me or smell me. But, I scared the hell out of him. Big 8 pt, with tall rack.
    Don't know what went wrong, so when I get home, I shoot 6 shots from 19 yards. Three of my shots go left 10". If I cant the bow to 2:00 (which I did at deer), arrow usually hits within 3" of focus point. WTH? How do I fix whatever is wrong? While practicing over the summer, I would occasionally hit left, but not often. I'm thinking maybe I didn't follow through and plucked the string.
    0/2 with the longbow.

[Roger Norris]

Have you practiced from your stool?

[Looper]

It's hard to tell without seeing you shoot. Post a video if you can.

In the mean time, assuming your arrows are tuned to your bow, make sure the arrow is directly under your eye at anchor. If your anchor point places the arrow to the right of your eye, you'll hit left.

There are other things that can cause that, but you'll get a thousand different suggestions and none of them may be right. Posting a video of you shooting from the side and from above and behind will get you much better coaching.

Good luck.

[YORNOC]

Could be a million things unfortunately. I'm sure you'll get a lot of tips here.
 The biggest I can think of is hand/wrist torque on the bow. Only one possibility, but a potential one. If excited and you grip the bow too tight, upon your release the bow can turn in the direction of the hand pressure.
That can cause the occasional far left shot like that.
Plenty more ideas to come I'm sure. Good luck.
Follow through and plucking will absolutely cause trouble as you said.

[marshall brown]

Sounds like alignment to me. Check out Terry's alignment post.

[JimB]

Listen,shooting at home and shooting at game are drastically different.I think the biggest cause of misses on game is not picking a spot and aiming on it.The brain is scrambled,the heart is racing,it looks like there is no chance of missing and you don't or can't focus as intently as on the range,in a calm state.Combat defense instructors teach that once the heart rate reaches a certain level,tunnel vision kicks in and motor skills suffer.It is a wonder we ever kill deer.The good news is,the deer is well,probably not too badly spooked and you get to hunt some more.When the time comes again,put away any thoughts of the outcome and focus on THAT spot and making the shot.It is why I think,we shouldn't think of shots on game like,"if you can hit a pie plate".There are some individuals who are very experienced,cool calm and collected who can shoot at game exactly as they shoot targets on the range.Most people can't.Don't beat yourself up over something thst most of us have already done.Just know that shooting at whitetail deer is nothing like shooting at the range.Just focus.You will get it done.Don't miss the fact that you had a tremendous experience.It is truly all good.

[YORNOC]

Yup, that sounds good.  

[Red4arm]

We all suck somedays, I've missed my share too. I never miss to foam, but deer plenty. Heck I can shoot golf balls out of the air most days, but I've missed deer at 5 yards. That's what gets the blood pumping. If it was a sure thing,  it wouldn't be exciting.

[Doc Nock]

Looking to see where the arrow hit undoes a lot of shots on game...

Follow thru and don't move a thing till the arrow hits.....hardest thing to do on live game going...in my opinion!

[GANDGOLF]

JimB x2    At least you did'nt wound him.You're psyche wouldn't give you rest.\\Experience/. Figure it out and may GOD bless..  

[KentuckyTJ]

Are you right handed and were you wearing a face mask?

[ishiwannabe]

Dude, you got stiickbow close to a mature buck...from the GROUND. That doesn't sound like ya messed up too much. And a clean miss too....way better than a bad hit.
As for the issue...I think it may be a form issue. May need a blank bale eyes closed exercise to tweak the muscle memory. Sounds silly, but works wonders...atleast for me and a few of my friends.
Good luck.

[Friend]

I too, absorb from time to time.

[finkm1]

I feel your pain. I missed a spikehorn last night, right over his back. But a small maple sapling gave its life to stop my arrow.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Go shoot as many small game animals as you can. I put this one down to "the fever!" It happens to me with ducks all the time(not shooting those with a bow though). I have found that the last thoughts running through my conscious mind before I make a shot usually have the biggest influence on the shot. If I tell myself right before I draw, "Pick your spot, take your time!" things go a whole lot better. On the other hand, if I am over excited and impatient things head south really fast.

Someone on here has a tagline that reads "back tension BEFORE backstraps!" I would guess your form is breaking down in your excitement to kill the animal.

[xtrema312]

Like TJ said, what hand are your.  Makes a big difference.

[Gordon Jabben]

Just curious, what broadhead you were using.  I can tune by arrows to shoot a wide broadhead and do fine at targets but on game, I must short draw or something and my accuracy goes out the window.  Try a 3 to 1 broadhead like a Howard Hill broadhead and see if you can't start killing some deer.  I know they work well for me when my form is less than perfect.

[Shawn Leonard]

Sounds like a few things, lack of concentration(pick a hair not the heart or lungs), not consistent release(ie. plucking,hand not coming straight back)and not following through. Practice,practice,practice. Best of luck! Shawn

[TooManyHobbies]

Have you practiced from your stool?  

Yes, but when I saw the buck, I stood up with plenty of time to get ready.

   

Are you right handed and were you wearing a face mask?  

Yes, both. And no, I don't practice much w/the mask.    :mad:  

Thanks for the responses. BTW, my first miss this season was a 6pt at 14 yds, from a stand. Shot over his back.

[Pokerdaddy]

I sucked Saturday morning, also. This is a great thread and the responses are very reassuring.  I missed a spikehorn right over his back from 12 yards. I've really been beating myself up over it. Thanks all for chiming in here...really helping alot of us regain our confidence.