Frustrated

[TTTHunter]

This is my first season that I am using trad equipment.  I've been shooting really good at my targets with my longbow, but have missed a doe opening weekend at 24 yards, so I tell myself the next time I get a shot I will keep it under 20 yards even though I can hit pretty good out to 25 yards.  Then last night I miss a nice 2 1/2 year old 8 point, about 14 inch spread at 14 yards          I am going to keep trying, I am not giving up.  Have not even thought about getting my compound out.
  Has anyone else had this kind of luck when they took up hunting with trad equipment? Any true or made up stories are very welcome, it will make me feel better.    
Thanks
Tim

[Charlie Lamb]

Tim... sometimes that first one seems almost impossible to get. It will happen for you and then it will get a "little" easier... if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing.    

[longbowman]

TTTHUNTER,  When I first started bowhunting, (before there were compounds), I usually required 3 close encounters before things came together.  It always seemed like the first two just got the jitters out and when the 3rd came around I was calm enough to make it happen.  There have since been many years in a row where one arrow was shot and the deer went home with me.  Then suddenly a clean miss on a gimme shot!  I think it's Gods way of letting us know that we shouldn't get too cocky!

[JC]

Tim, there's not many targets/3d/stumps etc that I dont' hit. I feel very comfortable on rabbits out to 30 yards or so. I think I missed one deer out of the last 12 or so and that was with a deflection.

That said, we all miss and make bad shots. If you haven't, you simply haven't hunted enough. Last year I missed a 100# hog at 15 yards not once, but twice...then the 3rd shot deflected! I felt stupid, was angry with myself and my boneheaded performance. Again last year, I was rushing to do a follow up shot on an animal that already had a buddies arrow in it and missed right under it clean as a whistle. Luckily, another fine archer was there and finished it off later on. It happens. But it can also be worse: This year, I hit a bear too high and lost it after a very sparse blood trail. I felt a whole lot worse....I think I'd take the miss for sure over a bad hit.

Shooting at targets is a whole different game than shooting at live critters, at least in my opinion. The only way to really get proficient at shooting live game is to take shots at live game. I find if/when I miss, I have neglected to pick THE spot (as bro Ray Hammond would say). 3d and stumpin helps, but it sure doesn't gaurantee a good shot on game. Keep at the practice and then pick THE spot...eventually, you will settle into a good groove. Remember, pick THE spot!

[James Wrenn]

When I first started bowhunting I had a hard time with deer.I was shooting at the whole deer. :)The trick that brought be around was turning deer into targets in my mind.When a deer walks in it is just a 3d target.I look for where the rings are and shot it just like the targets in my yard.In my mind it is no longer a breathing animal just a foam one set out to shoot.  Sounds silly I know but it does work for me and the jitters went away.

Hogs are a differant story.They never stop moving and changing directions and positions.With them you just got to get an arrow to them the first chance you get.Sometimes this means canes or vines grabbing your broadhead and you will have some mishaps.That is just the way of things and you do your best or you will take few home.You can't kill them if you are not shooting and always waiting for that perfect shot that seldom happens in the swamps    jmo

[dragonheart]

Pick a hair, as small a spot as you can see and burn it with concentration.  Only think about that spot.  Visualize at night before you go to sleep your fletching going right through that spot with perfect precision.  I missed opening weekend at a doe, pick a spot!  And make sure your bow limb clears the freakin tree!  If you connect on an animal with the trad equipment you will not be thinking about the whell bow.  Keep trying.  Allow the shot to happen, all you do is concentrate/aim at the spot.  

Jeff

[Jerry Jeffer]

I have hunted many years, taken many deer, and have had my share of misses. Like JC, I have made some shots worse then a miss. Some times I am in awe of the wild beast. I can't help looking at the whole animal and not picking a spot. I'm not saying you did that. It is what causes me to miss.

[southernarcher]

Ok here you go!Yesterday evening I am hunting the same WMA I killed the hog on last week.I have a legal buck(4on one side or 12"spread)This buck was a 6 point about 14"woth some good height.I had a nock fail on my cedar.The buck got to 10yrds broadside of my ground set,with his head behind a tree,as I started drawing the arrow falls off.The nock just came off?After giving me about 10 minutes of broadside opportunities within 10yrds I finally got another arrow on the stringwhen he passed behind a large gum tree.When he came out from behind the tree,he had moved out to 20yrds and it had gotten dark enough to blend all the small branches in,so I didn't feel good about the 2 broadside shots he gave me at 20yrds.But,he never knew I was there,so we'll meet again.This would have been my first deer with my longbow(first trad deer)

[Nook]

It took me five years and many misses to harvest my first traditional deer.  I complained to my PBS mentor JohnV after my first miss that I could have taken that deer easily with my compound.  John just looked at me and said "Jeff if all you want to do is kill a deer then by all means go back to your compound."  That was over 15 years ago and about 25 deer later. Today I can proudly say I embrace the Challenge that is Traditional Archery.  It's made me a better hunter and each kill is a hard won trophy.  Keep at it. It will come.  Jeff

[Flesner]

It happens to veterans, too!!
I had 4 shots under 10 yds last year. Shot over every dang one of 'em. And I been at this for years.

I had a lot of work and family drama going on at the time, and it was causing me to lose focus when the chips were down. Only critter I killed all year was one lonely squirrel.

But hey, it was one of the best seasons of my life. Got 4 shots off and had several other close encounters with no shot opportunities. All from the ground. Can't ask for more than that.    
Huntin' is more fun than killin' anyway.

[Dustin Waters]

when i first started I missed more deer than i care to admit, then one time I picked a spot on a doe and double lunged her for my first one.  I realized then that when i started i was seeing the whole deer as an outline and not seein a small spot.  That is why I was missing since then im three for three.  next time you get one close dont react.  Tell yourself to slow down and find that spot in the pocket and then react to that focus.

[lt-m-grow]

Great advice here.  Just reread the many post for support.  You will get it.  I know you will.

Also since you are clearly a "former" compound shooter (as am I) -- quit thinking that compound shooters don't miss the "easy" shots.  They do!  So get rid of that thought all together.  BTW: They miss for not following the same advice as above.  We all must pick the spot and focus, regardless of the weapon.  Think rifle guys too - yup they miss.  So think just about your weapon and not about other devices.  One less thing to mess with your head.

I know.  Easier said than done right.  So how about a little story that sometimes I use when doubts creeps in....

Just because I switched to trad. my hunting buddies didn't.  So of course I didn't abandon my buddies and we still hunt together.

Now both of these guys are very good shots and have killed many deer.  They have both bowhunted for many years too. Yet last year both of them stuggled.   Several missed shots altogether and unfortunately several poor hits which resulted in unrecovered deer.  Both needed a pep talk.  In the end, one of the guys that stuggled the most, shot a monster (170s) whitetail from the same stand he had missed several others from.  The other guy shot a 150s class buck.  And all of the shots where under 20 yards.  

Pick the spot and it will be done.  Oh and also smile while you shoot.   No kidding.  It does wonders for my head on my worst shooting days.   Turns things right around.

[Cabal]

This is my first year out with trad equipment as well. So far I've had 7 close encounters, 4 misses, and 1 that hit too high and failed to penetrate and had the deer run off and blow at me for 30 minutes. It sucks but I feel better for stickin with it. In fact I'm going out tonight to try for it again    Keep at it, seems that this is just the way the game is played.

[Glenn Carl]

Tim, I changed over from a wheelie bow last year. I had been shooting a recurve for as long as I can remember but had only hunted with it one season 16 years ago. I did take a deer with it that year but was not smart enough to realize what I had accomplished and picked up a new high tech compound the next year. I went to Canada last year and shoot a really nice Black Bear and then came home and took a nice 8 point buck with my compound. The night I cut that deer up I realized that I was not having fun hunting any more. I got that old PSE Raven recurve off the shelf and started practicing the next day and that night I found this web site. Two weeks later I was standing in a creek bottom watching 3 does work there way over to me and I started shaking so bad I thought for sure they would see me from 50 yards away. After about a half an hour the lead doe was standing 13 yards away from me looking straight at me and wondering why that stupid looking tree stump was shaking when the wind wasn’t blowing a lick. We had that little stand off for about 2 minutes when a coyote howls from back in the timber behind her. She immediately turned broadside stretched her front foot out in front of her and looked back at the timber. All I remember after that is seeing my arrow sailing over her back about a foot high and three white tails running back to the timber. It took me twenty minutes to calm down after it was all over but I found the fun in hunting again. I missed another deer about a week after that at about 15 yards off the ground and did not get another shoot opportunity the rest of the year. After looking back at the end of the season tough’s two encounters meant more to me than the bear or the buck that I harvested. I have practiced 4-5 times a week since returning to traditional hunting and can shoot pretty confidently out to 20 yards but it would not surprise me much if I mess the first one up this year. See you’re not the only one that has missed, but keep trying you will get one. Good luck and shoot straight.    Glenn

[Stone Knife]

Last season was my first, i missed more deer at close yardage then i have ever seen in previous seasons. I finally settled down and started picking a spot then i was able to harvest my first trad deer, the deer was small but the moment was big! Believe me it is all worth it when it comes together for the first time. Hang in there and let all your practice sessions and instincts take over you will succeed.

[Recurve50LBS]

Your story sounds simmilar to my Traditional Bow Hunting adventures. Seems every year I get several shots at deer only to miss. On two occasions I had the pleasure of missing in front of my young son. One time he tells me while patting my shoulder,"Thats OK Dad, you'll get another chance." He was 8 years old then he's now 10. I don't get discouraged though because I (am) getting shots at deer. A lot of other folks who hunt deer can go a long time before they get a chance to even draw their bow. Consider your self lucky to be hunting in the right spots. Eventually you and I will connect with deer. Keep the faith. By the way this is my 5th year hunting with Traditional equipment. I hope that your wait to connect is shorter than mine.Just remember to go out, enjoy Mother Nature and have fun.Another pointer I can tell you is to maybe wait until the deer is a bit closer to you, say 10 yards or closer. When that happens let me know how you made out.

[ChuckC]

Tim, I feel that the number one cause of misses, outside of deflected arrows maybe, is that the hunter neglected to pick a spot.  It is Sooooo easy to do that when everything is happening.  

Learn to pick a spot and then shoot for that spot and you will miss fewer deer.
Chuckc

[kadbow]

PICK A SPOT!!!!!!!! That is all you need to think about.

[rxhntr]

I picked up trad equipment last year after the regular season. I shot as many tournaments as I could. I was always good with the compound at connecting because I forced myself to always pick a spot. I found myself shooting at rabits and even at a close range of 20 to 25 yds I could not hit one. I score well at tournaments, but I could not connect with a live animal. Finally I connected with a ground squirrel at about 35 yds. Confidence was now built. Finally August 16th and I was in my stand deer hunting. Here in CA you do not get very many shots-especially on public land. When a nice fork-horn blacktail came through at 16 yds, I was determined. I have to say that I have never followed an easier blood trail. What a wallop a 610gr arrow packs. Although not my biggest deer with a bow, This was my best. Hang in there, you will connect. I kept missing those darn rabbits because I was shooting at the whole rabbit. Get focus--get determination--calm down and pick a spot----it will happen and you will never be more satisfied. Good Hunting--Ben

[mcgroundstalker]

I think it's hard to pick a spot or a hair on a deer at over ten or maybe fifteen yards. We can't help but see the whole deer and shoot over the back almost every time. Might be better to "imagine" a spot like a coin or as stated above "the ten ring" and shoot for that.

Some guys imagine the arrows flight as they come to anchor. This helps set your bow arm and sends the arrow where ya want it to go.

I've been at this Trad Stuff for eight years and have yet to bag a deer. Many, many, many close ones but no cigar. Whatever..... Having Too Much Fun!!!

... mike ...    ...