but i was wrong. spent the last week in Ohio chasing whitetails. hunting at a buddies place that i venture off to most years. anyway, for some reason most of the bucks were hanging out where he was hunting, but i did have this nice 8 point come in twice. first time, i couldnt get him to stop, but the second i hit pay dirt..... almost.
tried to stop him in one shooting lane but he wasnt having it, but he ended up circling my tree and going to a small pond i was very close too. 12 yard shot, slightly quartering away. now i know about whitetails and string jumping, and honestly i usually account for that but this deer was not only not alert, but had his head down drinking. seemed like a slam dunk. and it was! i slam dunked the pond after he ducked and i shot right over him!
better luck next year...
LOL- 2 points for you then!
I feel your pain--did the same thing the other day on a nice doe. The arrow skidded over her back when she dropped down. A Great miss!
I never accounted for string jumping when taking deer. There was a time I missed a doe and she simply walked up to the arrow and sniffed it. This gave me a second chance at a shot. I guess it depends on how quiet the bow is and the amount of pressure they deal with. There is virtually no pressure where I hunt. My recurve is louder than my longbow but a buck I shot a couple weeks ago with the recurve didn't hear it coming.
At least you got a clean miss. I caught a doe in the shoulder on Sunday morning. I shot low but forward...coupled with her ducking no vitals were hit. I'm pretty confident she'll live to fight another day, but it's a crappy feeling.
Those Whities are crazy
I'm with you. I hunted Ill with some family this fall for wily whities. I was on the ground and had a doe at 18 yards. I drew and reached my anchor undetected, but I had to stop her in a small lane. When I released she was looking at me and standing broadside. When my 600 grain arrow arrived she had swapped ends! Clean miss. They have hair pin triggers!!!
I had the exact opposite happen to me in Idaho this year. I stopped a nice buck by grunting at him! He was looking directly at me and I purposly shot low and the darn deer just stood there looking at me as my arrow passed about 5 inches below him. Then he goes and sniffs the arrow and trots away! Sometimes you just can't win!