I was thinking about this the other day and wanted to bounce this off a few of your noggins! I know this has happend to the best, not to mention some of the mear mortal archers we have on here on TradGang so stick with me on this one!
Here the scenairo, your sitting in your favorite treestand and along comes a nice big fat juicy doe. She stops broadside at 15yds and turns her head away from you giving you a perfect shot opportunity. You pick a spot, draw, anchor, and shoot. Dang it :knothead:
Because you know what went wrong on the first shot and correct it for the next.Same way if you flub a shot at a 3d target and shoot it again the arrow is always in a better place the second shot.
I think it is due to more focus. When you have time to think about the shot, almost always, you want to overthink and make sure all is perfect. On the second shot you let your practice and instinct take the shot not your mind... :archer:
because God wanted it that way. everything happens for a reason, even though we rarely know why :)
QuoteOriginally posted by bornagainbowhunter:
I think it is due to more focus. When you have time to think about the shot, almost always, you want to overthink and make sure all is perfect. On the second shot you let your practice and instinct take the shot not your mind... :archer:
x2- We think too much when shooting at game. Just let it flow and shoot. Your practice will come out.
less time to think about the second shot
Same. Your second shot becomes a true instinctive shot because your conscious gets out of the way and your subconscious takes over. I lived this exact thing on a nice 5x5 bull this year.
Back in 78 i took my first deer in central Wis. It was a warm day and had borrowed my dads Pearson to wander the woods with. i walked up on what i thought were two does. i cut drive on one and kkwack my arrow hit a dead tree 4 feet left of my intented doe. they both held and i'm thinking you dumb deer you're going to stand there till i kill you.I shot again and the second arrow slid right into the first. the deer held and i simialer thought of killing one. this time however i picked a spot 4 feet to right of my doe {who turned out to be a bttun buck) my HH tipped 2117 blew right throygh him and they bllod trail was on. my dad and i recoved him 2 hrs later.
Any way my point is if the intended quarry is unaware of your preditary intent they may stand there for quite a while.
You said it,"you got out of your own way", No thought process involved. I all ways find that when i dont think and just let it happen i am a much better shot. To bad i cant turn off that mush between my ears all the time.
You got the fear and nervousness out of the way! :thumbsup:
Well, even though you said it, you didn't "pick a spot" on the first shot. If you really did, then you just blew the shot; either pushed the bow on release, or didn't allow for the downhill angle. Been there.
I agree w/ George (and others).....
Momentary lapse of focus.
I shot (at) this deer at 12-13yds, this past fall. When it came back (bad mistake....lol), I made good on the second attempt. This was how I found her....about 80yds from the POI. Second attempt was also at the 12-13yd range. ONLY explanation I can give on the first shot (complete WHIFF!) is......a momentary lack of focus. I never touched her with the 1st arrow.
(http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m314/SBGobblers/tradgang%20photos/DSC01668.jpg)
I have done this 3 times in 15 years. That is why I use a bow quiver.
I have done that a couple times,first miss was I didn`t pick a spot,
I've only done it once, but hate to say I ran out of arrows. Was using a 4 arrow Bear snap-on quiver w/3 arrows. Hap
Thanks guys for your imput! Funny as I have done this a few times and yes I was glad to have a quiver on my bow! Sometimes I think you can look to long at your target (deer, bear, elk) and that can create problems. You know, you get ahead of yourself!! Wow that deer is going to look good on the back of my truck going back to camp or dang that buck would make an awsome mount vs just taking care of business, concentrating on putting an arrow in the boiler room!
Funny story on mine.....
I couldn't figure out how to hang my AM quiver without it being in the way. So, I'd hooked the strap to the belt on my LW handclimber upper (with the cover off and the nocks exposed). After the whiff, I went to get another arrow...and realized I'd swung the upper seat around to the side (to allow me to get closer to the tree, while standing). It was on the FAR side. So, I had to swing the seat around to even reach another arrow.
Guess it was meant to be.