Tell me about a time you DIDN'T pick a spot...

huntmaster80 · October 12, 2011, 09:55:00 AM

I think you read my post!! so ya, a doe at about 10 yards

hayslope · October 12, 2011, 09:59:00 AM

Not enough space here for that........besides....I gotta get back to work....I'd be here the rest of the day typing if I truly bared my soul!!!

Tim · October 12, 2011, 11:38:00 AM

If you're shooting instinctively and not consciously aiming the arrow point you have to be extremely specific in picking a spot to hit.

I consciously pick a spot, tell myself that's the spot and shoot. When I make a good shot I can still mentally remember exactly what I was looking at. It's easier said then done and comes with time.

tecum-tha · October 12, 2011, 12:54:00 PM

@Roger Norris:
Seriously. The last 10 min before legal shooting times ends the deer move the most. And most of the times you can really only see the silhouette of the deer. This is pretty much the same as black bear hunting on brown/almost black forest floor in low light conditions. If you trained on a silhouette in low light conditions, the shot is not a problem.

huskyarcher · October 12, 2011, 02:17:00 PM

This year i was sitting in my good friends stand with specific instructions to shoot the first doe that came in. I arrogantly grinned and when to the stand. 3 arrows later i was sitting in the tree, arrowless with 8 does in the baitpile, my friend is a soon to be trad. convert, but right now shoots wheels, he said "i thought you could shoot that stick?" i laughed threw him a milk jug (we were in his yard) and said throw it. I DRILLED it. He stopped laughing.

BUT i didnt pick a spot on those does i just shot.

durp · October 12, 2011, 03:42:00 PM

im sure glad im not the only one that misses the close shots...been a demon of mine for a long long long time now...this year was a broad side bull at nine yards...owell maybe next year ill learn...probly NOT!!!

Dave Thaxton · October 12, 2011, 03:45:00 PM

Last year, opening day of firearms season I was sitting in a whiteoak on an escape route. Had a BIG nanny come slipping by... moving away from all of the excitement behind her. She stopped broadside at 8 yds, head behind a tree with vitals fully exposed, completely relaxed. Shot right over her back...that's what I get for thinking about an EASY chip shot!!

joe skipp · October 12, 2011, 08:03:00 PM

One time back in the mid 70's when I was 12' up in a tree (before I fell out). Never bowhunted from a tree stand before and found myself looking at the whole animal instead of concentrating on the vitals.

Missed this small buck 3 times at 20 yds. Shooting high every time. I was rattled...after the fall I decided, it's the ground for me. Arrowed this buck four nights later chasing a doe from the ground.

Friend · October 12, 2011, 08:23:00 PM

When I look into a turkeys eyes.

briarsdad · October 13, 2011, 06:45:00 AM

The time I didn't pick a spot was October 2nd this year. I started hunting this year with a longbow for the first time and was hunting my land right behind the house when the best 8 point I have seen in a few years came right down the logging road 6 yards in front of my tree. I was so confident that I couldn't miss I didn't focus on a spot and shot right under him shaving white hair right below his front shoulder. I call it catch and release bowhunting when I do stuff like that.

centaur · October 13, 2011, 07:28:00 AM

Which time do you want to hear about? The time when I put a great stalk on a huge mulie buck, only to blow the 10 yard shot, the time when I shot a big 6 point elk right in the antlers (still have the shaved piece of antler), or the several whitetails that I have shot over, under and around?