I would have let down just because it is habbit I guess.

I completley understand what you are saying and would tend to agree with your thinking. I have missed deer on more than one occasion and if you are shooting a quiet bow then they uaually don't even give it a second thought. Deer hear things falling from the trees every day of their lives. To have an arrowhit the groundten feet or so behind them wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary for deer.They willusually jump a little and take a few hops, look around, and go back to what they were doing.

I know around here, this time of year, bigpine cones are falling left and right and they make a heck of a racket as they tumble down the branches and hit the ground.