Don't get frustrated and don't give up. Your "friends" are idiots. I bow hunted 3 years to get my first deer. I was lucky that it was an old 8 point buck. An hour earlier I shot a twig to keep the arrow from dropping a beautiful 13 point buck. The year before that, I missed 3 deer mostly due to what I attribute to putting pressure on myself to be successful with a bow. The first year (before I found this forum), I didn't have a deer come close enough to any of my stands to even get a shot. I still hunt with shotgun and black powder, but bow hunting is the most challenging and has the greatest rewards when that first deer drops. Keep the faith and keep persuing that first silent kill.