Can't seem to hunt from the ground very well .. last night I missed a doe , last year did the same. When I hunt out of a tree stand I always hit them where I'm looking. I pratice from the ground but just can't to seem to make it work. Any ideas or suggestions. I have a few locations that I have no tree's to climb into ... help!
Steve can you honestly say that you are picking a spot and staying focused on that spot all the way through your shot?
It sounds like you are trying to see the hit before it happens.(IMHO)
Just something to think about.
If you're getting shots, you've already done the hardest part, the rest is all mental.
I know that you can do it!
God bless,Mudd
Keep shootin'
You just need more time on the ground and re read Mudd's suggestions too.
what mudd said .... the problem's solution is clearly within your grasp.
Ain't it great! Agree as above, you;re getting shots more than some. If you;re practiced & setup correctly..., chillax, zone in, pick a spot ("+"), breathe through your eyelids, let it slip off your fingers. Take pix.
Yep ... I seems to be doing just what's suggested .. and it works for me in a tree. Maybe it's being eye to eye with a deer vs up in a tree that is breaking my focues? Anyway .. I'll keep trying .. or climb a tree :)
I vote for "Keep trying".
The excitement level is the difference for me between the ground and tree plus I don't bounce well any more...lol
You can do this Steve!!!!!
It's been a few years since I've connected but the last one is still as fresh in my mind as it was the day it happened.
God bless,Mudd
2 years ago I chose not to hunt a stand at all that year. My goal was to take a deer on the ground with my bow. Natural ground blind, nothing fancy. In the first 2 weeks I missed 3 deer, one which was a really nice buck at 20 yards. I was disappointed in my self knowing that I could have made that shot as I have thousands of times before throughout the years of practice. I was frustrated beyond belief knowing I could go home and place those arrows right where I wanted. It was then when my father cut the bottom half of an old Thunderhead Broadhead sticker that said "Stay Calm Pick a Spot" This was a saying my father always told me but hunting on my own I seemed to forget the basics. --Side note: he has the same sticker on his bow too as a friendly reminder :) --
So, I placed the sticker on my bow and just went back to doing exactly what I have been since the first time I picked up Archery. October 17, 2009 it was getting real late and I had already seen a lot of deer in the area. Set up on the edge of a bean field on a small woodlot with a creek to the north and a cornfield to the west and east I head a snap and along the edge of this field came a deer. As it got closer he stopped rubbed on a tree and proceeded to walk by me. I saw his one antler was a spike but, at 5 ft you don't ask questions and you just shoot. After 50 yards he piled up and on a very warm October evening I shot my first deer on the ground with my bow. It is an experience like none other when you are that close. It can be done and it feels very special when you succeed. You will succeed you have deer around you, in range and getting shots, all you have to do now is your part :) . Don't give in you can and you will get it done. Just remember to "Stay Calm, Pick a Spot"
Hope this helps and happy hunting.
(http://i52.tinypic.com/20f2fbl.jpg)
--Jarad
Steve-get a 3-d deer target and shoot the heck out of it,shoot it from every conceiveable distance and angle.Soon it will become automatic like your treestand shots.---Bone
I have to agree with what was said above.... With me, whether it be in the field or practice... when I missed I DID NOT see the arrow fly... Which means I didnt pick a spot and stay on it.
99% of the time that is why I miss. When you see a young kid shoot a bow instinctivly he or she just does it. As we get older we over think stuff
QuoteOriginally posted by BONE:
Steve-get a 3-d deer target and shoot the heck out of it,shoot it from every conceiveable distance and angle.Soon it will become automatic like your treestand shots.---Bone
I vote for this idea. I keep two U-Stuff It 3-D deer targets hung in a woodlot behind the house (NOT in a mowed & trimmed shooting alley) and work them over from every angle. You'd be surprised how similar the real thing looks.
How long are you holding? I observe instinctive shooters who zip off target shots but then turn into molasses when a deer arrives. If you haven't practiced a 45 second hold don't try it on an animal. Never works. Practice fast and slow, and also with the bow held up before the draw as well as swing-arm raise & shoot and Push-pull methods. They are all useful in ground hunting.
When picking a spot on an animal I want my arrow to hit when I'm ground blind hunting, I have to "concentrate" on that spot.
Under pressure we usually revert back to the muscle memory that is most deeply engrained (in your case, shooting from a treestand). In sports, this is when we go into reaction/auto-pilot mode - like during a game, you don't think, you just do. I think it will take some more reps shooting from ground to re-learn your instinctive trajectory judgement. Would be curious to know if you are missing high or low? Or left or right?
Wow, you must be doing something right to even get multiple shots at deer while hunting from the ground. That is a challenge just in itself!
I'm with the ones who said wear out a 3D deer target from the ground at home.
I disagree! A target, is just that a Target!
Animals are alive and moving, reacting to their enviroment!
Hunt and shoot at small game, an animals that are in season. This is the best practice to learn to control your emotions, the timing of the shot, and all the anxieties that we bowhunters face in the woods!
The best advice, from someone who has stumbled, fumbled and succeeded! It's a struggle, but OH it's a good struggle!
You will! :thumbsup: