Moment of truth poll!

[LongStick64]

My question is besides  body posture isn't possible the animal may know we are there in some capacity and not react to it visually yet

[straitera]

"2 mo, 1 wk & 4 days." B here 4 u know it Joe! Might get on them again one day myself. My #1 favorite. Best luck.

[LimBender]

I wouldn't draw on an animal that was on to me, but once the draw sequence starts, I'm not looking at the head.  For deer, reaction time to the sound of the shot is going to be a lot slower if they are not in alert posture - you  don't want those legs loaded up and ready for action at the shot.

[BWD]

Originally posted by RC:
If critters around my house find out your there...they aint.RC

You have pretty much killed out the gene pool of critters that...don't ain't.  

[lt-m-grow]

This is an interesting question and after pondering some thought the answer obvious. 66-100 %.  And likely close to 90-100%.

Now I mainly shoot whitetails, so maybe that is the reason.

So I am wondering whether this is a question of big game versus small game and on small game you can get away with more.    ??

e.g.   Rabbits, squirrels, pheasant - mostly spooked. ???  Deer need to be  undetected.  ??

I don't know.  Don't think I would hit a lot of spooked squirrels that is for sure.

[JimB]

I guess that depends on the animal.The ground squirrels here will duck arrows at much over 15 yds.I'm convinced they are reacting to the sight of the arrow,not the sound.I assume raptors have them jumpy.

[OBXarcher]

Deer here run at the hint of danger. Never had the opportunity at one that was alarmed.

[Crash]

I am wondering if I misunderstood the question.  I have had deer come well into range, never know I'm there, but still not get a shot.  Had several encounters last year, wrong angle, behind the tree, limbs blocking vitals, just a variety of things that prevented a clean shot.  I don't usually get busted in a tree, even though I am hunting public land.

[buckeye_hunter]

Ok, Let me give an example of why I posted this.

Last year while in a tree stand, I had a doe walk 360 degrees around me without smelling me. The thermals were perfect and rising while she was below me. At one point she was directly below me. Eventually, as she was walking around me(and just as she was entering the broadside shooting lane I had ready), she "saw" something in the tress she didn't like. That would be me. She looked up at me for several seconds and then looked straight ahead and walked that direction. I couldn't tell if she was nervous or not. She stopped feeding and just walked away. I let her go figuring she would bolt at the sound of my string and arrow. I anticipated it would have led to a bad shot.

I assumed at the time, I had made the right decision. After some months I began doubting my decision. I starteed wondering how many of you out there only shoot when you are undetected by the animal. That is what led to the poll I posted.

From the results that I see in this poll, half of you shoot undetected most of the time. Interesting data. It would reinforce my decision to not shoot at those times.

My other post had a few good videos by Buff showing him shooting at aware animals with good results though..... Those videos would suggest the opposite. Maybe it should go by the general rule and not the exceptions to that rule/philosophy?

[Bonebuster]

IMHO, you were right by not shooting...chances are too high that the deer would have been moving by the time the arrow got to her, and then arrow placement is only a matter of chance.

My big game kills are limited to a couple hogs, but dozens of deer. From what I have seen, hogs tear out and pretty much run till they can`t run anymore. Deer (providing they are NOT alerted) will often get some space between them and the disturbance and then stop to watch their backtrail.

Its hard to beat the feeling of knowing your deer is down within sight.