What do I do about deer jumping the string?

[Oldskool2]

Hi All, I am new to bowhunting and I need some tips. Here is my dilemna- I am shooting a Samick Sage 55#@ 30in. recurve. I have outfitted the bow with a fast flight string, beaver balls and felt pads on the string grooves as well as tuning the brace height for optimal smoothness and quiet performance. I am pretty confident my bow is as quiet as it can be but recently I have missed shots at does jumping the string at only 20 yards. I have been aimimng for the center of the lung heart region about 4" above the shoulder and am beginning to think i should aim lower but am concerned that the deer wont move and I will have a poor shot. I assume the speed of sound is faster than my arrow (420 grains total) and I am just wondering what other guys have learned in respect to hunting these incredibly agile fast creatures. Thanks in advance for any tips!!

[BOHO]

thats very light for your poundage. if you go to a 550-600 grain arrow that will quieten your bow considerably. I usually shoot for the knuckle just behind the elbow knowing our deer will always drop at the shot. good luck.

[threeunder]

Agree with BOHO...one of the easiest things you can do to quieten your bow down is shoot a heavier arrow.
Good luck!

[BernieH]

You could try a heavier arrow as mentioned. That will most likely change your sight picture. Not a real good thing to do during hunting season...

Just aim lower. I've hunted some places where the deer were so spooky I had to aim at their knee to connect. Yes, the knee. Most places though just aim about an inch or two above the bottom of their chest.

[soap creek]

x3 on the heavier arrows quieting your bow. Also I usually aim at the bottom 1/3 of the kill zone. Its a good idea to shoot when the deer are relaxed and not alert as well.

[Cory Mattson]

I have hunted with stickbows since the mid 70s and used recurves up until 1992 - when I switched to Flatbows and Longbows the first thing I noticed was that deer did not move until they were hit - and I could stop compensating for the "duck" aim I quit aaimiing low. I do not shoot at deer that have picked me out - only unalarmed - slow walk ok - head scuffling for acorns great. Not sure how many deer but I can't remember harvesting less than 4 in a season and the high number was 14 for one season and not a single deer ducked. For recurves deer did not duck breezy afternoons and during the rut. I see the heavy arrow comments and I agree 100% with that. I do think most hunters can get recurves close to longbow quiet - but for me - I use longbows only for whitetails - keeping recurves for moose, caribou, bears, hogs, muleys, elk since none of them react half as much as whitetails.
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[Bob B.]

Oldskool2

Well, the speed of sound is dependant on the temperature, but still you need to be in the 700 miles per hour area and then some to beat it, but you still have to deal with the pressure wave and sonic boom from eclipsing it.  That is likely louder than your bow ... plus no way any arrow is that fast!  

Ok, seriously, that is a light arrow combo and may be a little hard on your bow as you are around 7.6 grains per pound of draw.  Upping your arrow weight is easier on your bow, and will quiet it as well. Your point of aim with even 100 more grains would be negligible.  

Shooting at alert deer makes it hard to connect.  Most guys aim low to get a heart or lung shot if they hit and a clean miss if they do not.  If you make no changes in your set up, I would recommend to aim lower.  If you miss ... heck you missed before, so no harm.  If they are jumping the string, they will move into your arrow.

Good luck and post a pic when you get one!

Bob.

I always aim at the center of the lower third of the chest. If the deer does not move it is a heart shot. If the deer moves, it is a center lung shot.

Bisch

[Eric S]

Heavier arrow would definitely help but dont think would do it during the season. I personally never had much luck with beaver fur keeping noise down as much as some other silencer materials. They do look better than some of the others though.

[KSdan]

Couple of things:

1) It is pretty hard to shoot at alert deer.  I usually wait until they are moving and relaxed.  

2) I am not sure where you are aiming, but the lower one third (just 1" or so above the elbow), directly up the leg bone on a true broadside deer, is the spot. (though I really like them walking; as the leg comes back I draw on the elbow and release as the leg is furthest back)  

3) You may be just shooting high- as that is really easy to do if you start "zone shooting", that is shooting at the entire shoulder instead of a small spot.  

4) Finally, in all honesty, I can not hardly recall a deer that jumped the string on me.  Now it may happen so fast I have not recognized it, but it has not been an issue.  And I am sure my bow is not all that quiet.    

Hang in there. It will come together.

Dan

[Benjy]

I would go ahead and change to the heavier arrow. What you are doing now is not working so why not change it? I intentionally hunt with heavier arrows. My "range" arrows are 580 grains and my hunting arrows are 650. At hunting ranges the difference is only an inch or so.

As said above, if the deer is looking at you and you turn an arrow loose, you are rolling the dice.

[Oldskool2]

great tips guys!!  I will have to look into a heavier arrow. The arrows I am shooting are 30.5" long and have a weight of 9.3 per inch, I have a 125 grain broadhead with 50grain gold tip insert weights on them so that would be actually about 460 right? i dont know how much the screw in inserts or nocks weigh but I guess about 15 grains combined so maybe I am closer to 475. what is the formula for arrow weight per inch that I should be looking for? as for the deer being alert both of these deer were completely relaxed and had no idea I was there. Im sure there were nerves involved as well, I am a newby and its quite possible I just shot high but I did realize both deer bolted as soon as I loosed the arrow. Thanks again for all the comments!!!

[AWPForester]

First off, your arrow is on the light side.  Screw a 200 grain head on it and be done.  More than likely with it being carbon it won't affect the tuning.  Carbons tend to shoot any weigh you put on them once they have proper trim.  Being you are probaly shooting a 31 or 32 inch shaft for your 30 inch draw, you will be fine.  Try it and see.

Second thing, type Rick Barbee into your search engine and buy one of his ultra cam skinny strings.  It will absolutely quieten your bow to a hush.  An sbd is a good one too but you gotta wait a while on them they are so busy.  I like the ultra cam beter than the D10 SBD uses because it is quieter and doesn't seem to strech as much in my expierence, plus it has all the performance the D10 has.  Both are great strings, and both will do far more than shooting a telephone pole to quieten your bow if it is tuned correctly.

I will say this, we all have an opinion, and they are all relative.  But, shooting an excessively heavy arrow is not the answer to ever question about bow noise.  The most imporant thing you can do to quieten any trad bow, ecspecially a recurve, besides proper brace height, is the string material, not arrow weight.

I have had a bunch of them and with the D97 strings and fat strings of other ff material, and the beloved B50, that were loud even when tuned with any arrow because of the string material.  Put a quality skinny string on it and take appropiate measures for proper tuning and they are different bows.  Quiet to the bone, regardless of 8 or 11 gpp.  You can't tell the difference.

So just saying arrow weight is the answer when it is really the least most important factor is wrong.  Change your sring to one of the above or some other quality skinny string, shott a moderate arrow and be done with it.  God Bless

[Oldskool2]

Originally posted by Eric S:
Heavier arrow would definitely help but dont think would do it during the season. I personally never had much luck with beaver fur keeping noise down as much as some other silencer materials. They do look better than some of the others though.

what materials do you like for silencers?

[Oldskool2]

Originally posted by AWPForester:
First off, your arrow is on the light side.  Screw a 200 grain head on it and be done.  More than likely with it being carbon it won't affect the tuning.  Carbons tend to shoot any weigh you put on them once they have proper trim.  Being you are probaly shooting a 31 or 32 inch shaft for your 30 inch draw, you will be fine.  Try it and see.

Second thing, type Rick Barbee into your search engine and buy one of his ultra cam skinny strings.  It will absolutely quieten your bow to a hush.  An sbd is a good one too but you gotta wait a while on them they are so busy.  I like the ultra cam beter than the D10 SBD uses because it is quieter and doesn't seem to strech as much in my expierence, plus it has all the performance the D10 has.  Both are great strings, and both will do far more than shooting a telephone pole to quieten your bow if it is tuned correctly.

I will say this, we all have an opinion, and they are all relative.  But, shooting an excessively heavy arrow is not the answer to ever question about bow noise.  The most imporant thing you can do to quieten any trad bow, ecspecially a recurve, besides proper brace height, is the string material, not arrow weight.

I have had a bunch of them and with the D97 strings and fat strings of other ff material, and the beloved B50, that were loud even when tuned with any arrow because of the string material.  Put a quality skinny string on it and take appropiate measures for proper tuning and they are different bows.  Quiet to the bone, regardless of 8 or 11 gpp.  You can't tell the difference.

So just saying arrow weight is the answer when it is really the least most important factor is wrong.  Change your sring to one of the above or some other quality skinny string, shott a moderate arrow and be done with it.  God Bless

Good stuff, I will definitely have to try the ultra cam string!!  Thanks!!

[swampthing]

Sounds like you may be Overdrawing. That combined with faulty release make even  a Hill bow loud.
Arrows smacking off the side of the riser upon the loose is not going to be favorably tuned out by messing with arrow weight. Once I figured that out 8-9gpp all the way baby.

[Flying Dogg]

Quote from Cory:  
 
I do not shoot at deer that have picked me out - only unalarmed - slow walk ok

This is the single most important thing that I have learned over the years.

[toddster]

Keep the deer as calm as possible and do not get deteched.

[jonsimoneau]

I too have never had much trouble with deer jumping the string. It could be due to the fact that I hunt the large bodied deer of the midwest. I have seen deer in Texas that look like the miniature version of the real thing!  I bet those deer really jump the string!

[Vesty]

I have never had a deer jump the string. There is no movement until the arrow has penetrated the body and by then it's all over. My combination of a straight limbed longbow( Northern Mist Whisper)and 620gn. Douglas fir shafts is so silent, it's erie.