I am hunting forthe first year w/ a long time friend of mine on some public land and he's never killed a deer w/ his bow but this year he had his first shot on a doe and shot her in the arse. He said that she was standing still at about 25 yards away and as soon as he saw brown in his peep he let it fly, he doesn't even remember seeing his pin. Needless to say the doe trotted off w/ his arrow flopping in her rear. My question to the board is, What do I do or suggest to him????? He feels bad, and I don't know if it is my place to tell him what to do or what I would even tell him if I did say something. Please help.

Tell him to concentrate on the crease behind the front shoulder. Bad hits are going to happen from time to time, but that one sounds like he had "doe fever". More practice is one thing I would recommend.

Did you try and recover the deer?? The femoral artery can drop a deer as fast as anything else........as bad a shot as it was there is still hope......she may even bed down due to the pain of having her hams pierced.......maybe allowing for a follow up stalk.


Can he shoot??...........if he is a dead eye shot and just freaked out then all you can tell him is he needs to control himself better. If he can't shoot worth a darn to begin with then he should not be shooting at 25 yards.

Only you and him know the answers to the above............and only you guys can decide if he is a capable hunter with a bow at this time. Maybe he just spazzed out.........and maybe he is a spaz.......you decide and be honest with him before he cripples a half dozen deer this year.

What was the recovery effort like?........obviously you guys didn't find her.

Yeah I would have to agree. Sounds like a serious case of doe fever. I wouldnt come down on him too hard just remind him to concentrate on that one sweet spot and follow through on the release. And yes practice, practice, practice.

I've practice shot w/ him a few times and he's pretty accurate up to 30 yards, I know it was a case of major doe fever. He said he tried to find blood and couldn't, he followed the trail she went down and couldn't find her either, I was out of townand haven't been down to the site myself since. I'm thinking that he should do some practicing on a deer target instead of just spots, maybe then it won't seem so odd to shoot at a deer.

Good idea............do you know if he practiced with his broadheads to make sure they are flying straight?? Could be part of the problem.

No matter what happened.........he needs to get better then hitting the hams........that is like a 2 foot miss. Work with him and get him focused.

Simply put, it happens to a lot of people. I made a non lethal (did not find anyway)shot on a doe this weekend when she jumped string on me. Not a thing I could do. First shot with my crossbow that the deer went over 50 yards. When I shoot at a doe anymore, my heart rate barely raises until I know the arrow has hit her. Coyotes gotta eat too.

I'm definately with Atlas Man on this ,you know what he can do with a bow ,but has he shot it since he put the broadhead's on ? Excellent question ,.......just check it to be sure . Fever I'm sure happen's all the time espeacially when he hasn't taken a deer with his bow ,but he need's to take a couple deep breath's in and out to control his breathing and the excitement within him,it work's .

nubo

YES THIS IS IT

Tell him the truth .25yards is my max with 200lb xbow.who does this guy think he is Robinhood