Struggling/thoughts

[Bow Bum]

I've killed 2 deer this year so far (1st 2 with a recurve). One gut shot which I recovered, and one liver shot which I did not recover. I know what happened with the gut shot, but not really with the liver shot. When I shot I was confident of the shot, the release felt good, I feel that I had good concentration, but the arrow hit high and back.

What I'm struggling with is the fact that I cannot decipher where I went wrong on the shot. If I don't know what I did wrong, I don't know what to work on. I'm really struggling with how am I to know that when I shoot, the arrow will go where I look? With my old method of shooting arrows, a miss, or poor hit could always be tied to something done wrong.

I've practiced alot, tuned my arrows, etc... Its a little hard to accept this result after the work put into it. My confidence is low right now. I'm not quite willing to go back to the old way. Right now I feel I should move from 20 yards max to 15, which feels like quite the handicap, even for trad shooting.

Is the lack of absolute consistency something that you need to accept as a trad hunter? Perhaps there are some people that cannot hunt trad, just like not all people can run marathons?

Anyway, It feels like I'm at a turning point. I've tested the waters before and always enjoyed trad, but now that the rubber has met the road I'm not sure I can keep up. I mean I want to, but don't want to fool myself. Kinda like the time I started training for a marathon and found out that my body would not take it, I'm just a 5K kinda guy.

[Stumpkiller]

The natural tendency is to look at the deer and shoot.  That's middle deer and that's to far back.  Focus on where the arrow will EXIT and think vitals just above the rear edge of the foreleg.  "Pick a spot" is a tired expression but PICK A DIME SIZED SPOT AND MAKE THAT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE for the moment of release.  

Practice, practice, practice.  Stumps, squirrels, rabbits, the first clump of grass you can see come daylight from your stand, etc.  I carry five broadheads and two blunts and I shoot those two blunts very often.  At least four times a day when out hunting.

Shoot one arrow per target.  That is what counts.  Only the first shot.

[Matthew Bolton]

I understand where you are coming from. The best way I have found to get over the lack of confidence is to shoot just like Stumpkiller said. As for shooting at deer keep it within 20 and aim for the fur that protrudes from the "elbow" It always gives me a small spot to focus on. Good luck and don't give up on it.

[Looper]

"Is the lack of absolute consistency something that you need to accept as a trad hunter?"

Absolutely not. If you can't hit your within a few inches of your spot with your first arrow, in my opinion, you have no business hunting.

That being said, are you totally missing your spot, or are the deer moving on you? If you are shooting while a deer is looking at you, it may not be your performance that is causing the misses. Or if the distance is too long.

How do you perform on small game? I'd suggest sticking to small game for a while to determine if it is indeed your shooting, or if it's just your shot choices.

[Bjorn]

I have a hog set up in the yard-hogs are what I hunt the most often. Shoot like you would on the hunt-if you hunt from a stand set one up in the yard of shoot from a window or garage roof.
I hunt from the ground so that 's what I focus on. Shoot one arrow at a time -with some time in between.

[huntnmuleys]

when i first switched, the big thing i was doing wrong was bending my bow arm at different angles, thereby lengthening and shortening my draw length from shot to shot.  maybe your doing something similar??

[xtrema312]

Are these cold shots?

[landman]

Don't beat yourself up over this kind of thing and don't listen to the criticism.   It happens to everyone regardless of whether or not they will admit it, and if it hasn't happened to them yet, one day it will.

It doesn't matter if you're hunting with a trad bow, a compound or a rifle, sometimes bad or accidental shots occur.   And, if a bad shot isn't enough to be concerned about you can just as easily put an arrow into a deer just perfectly and it will run off and die without you being able to recover it.    I've done that several times and I'm not the least bit concerned about it.

The suggestion that you stick to small game doesn't make any sense either.   They are just as important in the scheme of things as the large stuff and wounding one of them is as critical as wounding a deer.

Take a deep breath, find a comfortable range for your skill level and work on your shooting.   Don't quit hunting.

[Sixby]

Sounds like string jumping to me because of your shot placement. Deer react so quick you can't even see it. The move they make to jump is down and if they are going to turn back in the direction that they came from it gives you a high and back hit which is what you are describing. You might need to quiten the bow down or just get lucky. LOL
Sometimes you can do everything right and stuff just happens.
It could also be that you could be taking the shot when the deer is slightly alert,. Same thing happens. Taking the shot at exactly the right time is extremely important.

God bless you, Steve

[rastaman]

Take the short shots.  Yes limit yourself to 15 yards if that is what it takes to give yourself total confidence. i practice out to 30 yards, but almost 100% of my shots are under 15 yards.
Look at some of RC's posts on here.  i would wager that his average shot is around 10 to 12 yards. Find your comfort range and stick with it.
Make the first shot count in your practice sessions as Bjorn said above cause that is the only one that counts when you are hunting.  
Good luck to you sir!

[GRINCH]

When you practice only shoot one shot at a time,like what bjorn and Rastaman said it's the only that counts.

[BRITTMAN]

Also want to add that if you are hunting out of a tree stand pratice shooting from a elevated position , a 8 foot ladder in the back yard shooting down hill is all thats needed . Im not a great shot at all but I do take alot of deer with my bow . I also like to keep my shots at 15 yards if I can so dont worrie about that . If I can convince a deer to climb my tree I will shoot him even closer     , I like them CLOSE enough to hear them chewing acorns . Folks hunt diffrent but this is whats its all about for me .


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[stujay]

I couldn't agree more with with landman. However, another's comment "Can't hit within a few inches of your spot with your first arrow, you have no business hunting." It's inherent that we strive and look for consistency but to carry it as far as that writer did is silly at best. Confidence can't be under estimated so focus on the positive and work on the rest, and good huntin.

[Looper]

Silly? How is that silly? I'm not saying that people don't miss. We all do. And I'm not saying you need to put every arrow into one hole, but do you mean to tell me that you think it's okay for someone to hunt when they can't hit what they aim at with reasonable certainty? There absolutely is a certain amount of accuracy needed to hunt. I think being able to keep your arrows on a pie plate at your maximum hunting distance is a long accepted measurement of acceptable hunting accuracy. To be able to do that, you need to be able to "hit within a few inches of your spot." Period. A pie plate is only 9" in diameter.

As to hunting small game, I've shot who knows how many dozens of squirrels over the last 30 years. When using a broadhead, I can count the number I've hit and not killed on one hand. The same thing goes for rabbits. The overwhelming majority of the time a hit is a kill.

[AkDan]

Definalty a turning point in  your bowhunting careeer.

Is the lack of absolute consistency something that you need to accept as a trad hunter

I agree, absolutely not.  Are you not consistent?  

Break things down.  If its not you, its not you.  If it is you'll hit the smoking gun in time.   If its deer jumping which it likely can be, there is no good answer, not all deer react to the same set of rules as the last.  

Is 15 yards a hinderance?   Well it is only if you let it.  My last animal was at 5 steps.   Heck 90% of my animals are under 10 yards.  So I guess the next question would be what would you  define as success which would lead into a hole nother cano worms we dont want to delve into right now.  If killing is how you define yourself as successful (again I am not asking for an answer as much as getting you to think about this), than you'll have to learn to be a better hunter to get within 15 yards instead of 20, or 20yards  instead of 25, or 30 instead of 50...  You get my point I'm sure.  

Definatly admireable that you are concerned enough to fix this if it happens to a problem that you can fix...but realize you may not be able too.   Only you can answer that question.  None of us seen what happened on those two deer.    

When you get back on your feet and you're ready to chase tundra wookies (bou), holler.  That'll really ruin your idea of being a good hunter lol.   But it's a heckuva lot of fun and every once in awhile one gets close enough to keep you coming back for more.

[McDave]

What I'm struggling with is the fact that I cannot decipher where I went wrong on the shot.

I'm not sure what you mean by that.  Do you mean that you shoot with nail-driving accuracy when you practice at your preferred hunting distances, but can't seem to make the transition from practice shots to hunting shots?  That's what most of the previous comments seem to assume, and if that is the case, their advice seems on-point to me.

On the other hand, if you shoot practice shots where you miss and don't know why, then more practice or hunting small game isn't going to help.  What you need is to attend a class like Rod Jenkins' class, or to find a personal coach.  Several times I have been in the situation of missing and not knowing why, and had people like Rod point out something I was doing that I was unaware of, and when I changed whatever it was, that solved the problem.  Once you become aware of why you're missing, it becomes relatively easy to solve the problem.  Doesn't mean that some new problem isn't going to crop up, but at least you're aware of how to solve the old problem.

[YORNOC]

If shooting instinctive and not getting consistancy, try gap or point of aim.
Use what works. Practice like hell.

[straitera]

Tough call. Agree w/others trad ain't for everyone. Much appreciate your ethical concern. We'll support you either way. Suggest small game practice & shorter kill shots on larger game until you can extend when confident.

[Stumpkiller]

Yeah, but putting them all in a pie plate is not "hitting within a few inches of your spot" if your are focusing on a dime sized spot.  A 9" pie plate is 64 square inches!  LOTS of room.      

   

Bow Bum - it's good you are discouraged.  Shows you care.  Start at closer distances and move back gradually.  You don't want to tire yourself out being frustrated at 25 yards.  Poor practice just reenforces poor shooting.  Shoot from 7 to 10 yards for a while just concentrating on form and a consistant anchor.  

Out on the lawn with a plastic milk jug and blunts is a great practice.  A milk jug is about the size of a whitetail deer's vitals.

[Bill Carlsen]

I have two thoughts. One is, if you don't already do it do more practice shooting from a tree stand. The sight picture is different than when on the ground. And do this with some practice broadheads.

Second, deer will often move at the sound of the shot. There may be nothing at all wrong with your shooting. Last year my wife, Laura, who is dead nuts on under 20 yards, shot a buck and the arrow took him in front of the left hip and exited in the middle of the rib cage on the other side. He was perfectly broadside when she shot so the angle of the wound (Entrance to exit) indicated the deer moved even though she did not notice it in "real time". The deer, in my mind at least, had veered to its right at the sound of the shot so it hit a bit back and exited  the rib cage on the opposite side. I cannot think of another explanation as to how a broadside shot turns into such a quartering away shot.