Ok, got a question. Shot right over the back of another one yesterday with my recurve. I upgraded this summer and got a better, faster bow. Bob Lee Bicentennial. Its quiet too, got it tuned right. Shot at a big doe yesterday and she jumped string on me. This heifer got so low her chest hit the ground. I aimed where the white part of her hide turned brown right behind the shoulder, perfect broadside shot, her head was behind her and she was eating. Estimated it at 20 yards, stepped it off at 20 on the nose. Couldn't have been a prettier shot, arrow went right where I was looking, release was quiet, sailed just over her back.
Felt like it was in slow motion.
Anyway, do y'all actually aim under the deer to compensate for this? What if she doesn't drop??
You're in Mississippi. MS does are nervous. Shoot bucks or hunt out of state - lol.
I hunted in Issaquena county off and on for years. One thing I noticed was that bucks walked around without a care in the world and the does were wired for 220 all the time.
But, you really can't get a bow that is fast enough to counter it. Hold low in the vitals, hunt low in the tree, quieten bow as much as possible and they will still beat you sometimes.
I try to shoot bottom 1/3.The last 4 or 5 deer I have shot did not move till they were hit.I am in Tx and in some areas of Tx the deer are wired and duck and dive at the sound of a bow.If I were hunting an area that the deer are known to jump string, I would try shooting lower.I shot over a great looking 8 point earlier this season,deer never moved till the arrow hit the ground.Than it ran to the bottom of my tree and walked off behind me,where I had no shot.
Let them get 10 yds or less aim low get a spine shot.20 yds is the distance i have the worst trouble with.
Joe... I feel your pain bro! Same exact thing happened to me earlier this year and I got it on video. If you put your youtube player settings on HD and put the speed at .25 you can see her drop a full body width right before the arrow reaches her. She was 21 yards... bottom line is I should have aimed lower.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyF2ynf33F0
That is bow hunting!! I had the same thing earlier this year. Had a doe at 10 yards. Aimed center right behind the should, she completely ducked the arrow. The next night I had another doe in same exact spot, aimed at the bottom of here chest let the arrow fly and it sailed right under her nicking the bottom of her chest. She never flinched until that arrow went by. Bottom line is you can't out guess them and if you aim under them, you might just shoot under them too.
QuoteMS does are nervous.
That's putting it lightly!
Don't know the right answer. I try for really close shots, and wait until I think they are relaxed (as relaxed as they get around here anyway).
Might try baiting them with Prozac? :bigsmyl:
I might try that Prozac thing, good idea!!
That grunt tuned that deer in. Once that happens any sound is going to make them drop. Once they are wired you might as well aim for there knees.
Lesson I learned long ago is the less the deer know about you the better off you are especially on pressuered animals.
I try to make my shots when deer are calm and feeding or slowly walking. I also set up my stands so my only shots are close. I'm a firm believer that if the deer is alert they can duck out of the way of any arrow from any bow.
I feel your pain....
Did your string hit your sleeve?? May be a quiet bow, but if you have sting slap, they'll duck it!!
Happened to me on a nice 7 pointer earlier. He was 15 yards and I aimed lower third and released. My shot was a tad higher than I wanted but he ducked it. I had it on video. You can see it plain as day. 20 minutes later, I drilled a doe on the same trail. :) That is how it works sometimes.
Two weeks ago had the same thing happen only it was a 140 class buck. Came by at 21 yards, head down eating acorns but I hit high and back. Thought I pluck the string, but when I got home and checked the video he ducked and scooted forward. Waited 8 hours to track him but never found him, still looking though. :pray:
A low hit is better than a high hit 90% of the time, and a miss is a miss! If they jump your string more often than not, you may need to aim just under them. It's hard to think about when your in the moment though. Good luck, and keep 'em sharp.
Don't laugh at this but I have been shooting arrows at nervous southern deer for almost 4 decades, here goes look at a spot just under the deer in line where want the arrow to go maybe 4" under to allow for the 8 to 12" drop deer are capable of you will start killing them and if deer dosnt drop you have a clean miss good luck
200 f.p.s. is about 138 miles per hour. Sound travels at 755 miles per hour. Getting a faster bow is a good idea only as long as it's real pretty and you really like it. It's not exactly news but getting a quiet bow is a really good idea.
Had a friend who shot a Black Widow and had a nice buck jump the string on him. He went out and bought the fastest compound he could find...sights, release....the whole works. Went to an apple orchard and had a 15 yard shot at a buck feeding and looking away. The buck jumped the string and he shot right over it. It's not the speed of the arrow as much as it is experience in knowing when to shoot, how to aim, learning the deer's body language, etc. Aim even lower. If the deer does not drop it will be a clean miss. If it does it's going to go down.
Ive had 2 bucks duck or twist this year one I knuckled from twisting and the other I hit high behind the front shoulder. The last one I got a picture of 5 days later and you can see the arrow mark just under the spine and behind the front shoulder. The ball joint buck was killed in the rifle season in fine shape chasing does. Since I hunt out of a ground blind I had my son shoot my bow from it and I listened to hear how much noise it made, I could hardly hear the string but the arrow was sure buzzing I changed my flecthing and killed a nice buck last week and I hit him right where I was looking.
I feel your pain, shot at two does and both jumped the string. I had a nice buck come by and i hit a small twig and the arrow went right under him and shaved hair. If he had jhumped the string i would have gotten him.
Tim on the subject you bring up, if you get in a SAFE position near the arrow's flight path, I believe most people will notice that wood arrows are quieter than carbon and especially so than aluminum. The advantage in quietness of parabolics over shields is evident as well.
I have shot at five deer this season and none have reacted to any substantial degree. Four out of five are in my freezer. The one that isn't I only wish he had reacted. He was an 8 point in the low to mid 130" range. I just flubbed the shot.
All that being said I have had seasons where they all reacted and I am using the same setup. Why it has been that way is anyone's guess.
Perhaps our deer aren't as wired but I have only aimed below the deer on the ones that I knew would react. I do aim for the heart and many times that's where the arrow goes.
In no way am I an expert but it has worked for me for years.
Chris
Low and Tight!
Sometimes deer jump the string and sometimes they don't. It's a pretty safe bet they will when they're alarmed/alert. On the other hand, I know from experience, mine and a lot of fellas I've hunted with, that we don't always shoot where we think we did. There's a real tendency to shoot high from a tree, and most times we we attribute a bad hit or miss to the deer jumping the string when it's our own shooting that's the culprit.