I personally don't take a pratice shot, infact I do most of my praticing on the ground. I will take a few from a stand before the season but that's it. Now as far as a pratice arrow goes? Go for it. It won'tmake one bit of difference to the deer you are hunting.

Scent on the arrow? give me a break. You mean to tell me that none of you have ever had a deer walk right under you and never smell you? Yes they have a great sense of smell but lets not get carried away here. Sometimes they can be down right stupid. I had a doe under my stand last gun season that just would not go away. That standis a built platform and is only 12 feet off of the ground! She was eating right under me and I could hear her chewing!I highly doubt an arrow stuck in the ground or a stump will break the deal. Do you guys have any idea how much scent you leave on the gound, the branches you touch on the way to your stand and how much you leave on the tree, steps etc.. in the actual act of climbing into it? So if you shoot at a deer and miss, your hunt is all over because there is an arrow out there with your scent on it?

I think sometimes people get carried away trying to appear to be super hunters and they slowlyslip past into the extreme and don't realize it. Hey nobody here needs to impress anyone, just do your thing. If you want to shoot a pratice arrow do it. It just may let you know that something is not right with your set up. If you don't then you don't. It doesn't make you a better or worse hunter just a different hunter. I don't because I will probably miss what I'm aiming at and send myself into the "think tank"for the rest of the day.