do you shoot at nervous or edgy game? i shot at a doe yesterday. she had been spooked once by a farmer coming into the corn field to get his tractor. i had a perfect blind made inside the corn stalks. she came out and never knew i was around....but she was so intent on watching the entrance of the field, where the farmer had came in earlier and spooked the deer. well at 20 yards i shoot at her and she pretty much does the splits and the arrow clears her back!! i couldnt believe how quick she reacted. you guys have any stories of animals dodging your arrow? or any advice?

I never shoot at spooked deer. They are way faster than my arrows.
 I have a friend that shot a spooked doe with his wheel bow at 15yards. He hit the deer but on the opposite side than he was aiming for. The doe spun so fast we didn't realize it until we found her. He was lucky the arrow actually hit a vital area.

wow!! thats quick. i guess i thought too much of my bows speed. i knew she was edgy from the farmer being out there earlier..but i thought since she was so focused on the field entrance that i had a chance. she seriously dropped about a foot and a half by the time my arrow was loosed.

I had a doe under my stand last night that was so edgy that she would bolt when an acorn fell! I decided against evn trying it. She never stood still long enough to change my mind.

Did it look anything like this?  Their reaction time is amazing when they are on edge.


 Matrix Deer

From the Oct/Nov, 1993 Traditiional Bowhunter Magazine:

If we are shooting an arrow at 180 feet per second (fps), a deer at 10 yards looking at us when we release the string can duck 3 inches.  At 15 yards that deer can duck 8 inches.

If the deer is not looking at us but only hears the string release the arrow, the above "ducking" numbers are 2 inches and 6 inches.

A deer's reaction time is 3 times faster than a human's.

Bill

that video looks just like what the doe did last night!

mich. bill- that is some good facts to know...so i wonder if you can ever get a bow quiet enough to shorten the reaction even more?

That's the thing - even if they aren't alert, they still move.  The one I killed opening night wasn't alert and she didn't seem to hear me, but she took a half step which turned my beautiful broadside target into a crappy quartering to.

Instead of lungs, I got liver and far-side ham and that was from a measly 15 yards or so.  They move.