Well so far this archery season has been a hard one on me. Well so far i have shot at 2 deer, a painful amount of turkeys, and 1 hog.

The first deer i shot at, a little 6 point was about 35 yds away. I have been practicing this shot for a while.. I get the little buck to stop(already drawn) and i realease. And he ducked! if he would have ducked he would be a dead buck. the arrow flew right over his back.. Not by much but enough to miss. And this was when i was hunting on the ground. I think the reason why he ducked was because i grunted with my mouth which made him look my way. Then i shot.. Now i just whistle.. Seems to work better. Well theres one miss.

Well the second deer i shot at was 30 yds.. And i was in a tree stand this time. 24 feet up.. Well since this was the first time i had ever shot at a tree stand i had no idea what would happen. So she came in. I released. It sailed over her back about 6 inches. I was using my 30 yard pin and everything.

Yesterday i was in my bros stand. I stood up to look at the deer and wouldnt ya know.. 2 hogs were behind me about 100 yds.. I watched them.. They headed away from me going down a tree line. So i figured they were gone.. I guess they circled back. 20 ydswalking in there trail. Whistled got it to stop. Released and my arrow flew over him about 6 inches. Wow after i shot i never been so scared in my life. Even though i was in a tree stand i was still scared. It sounded like a growl or snarl or whatever.. I dont think he was glad since i shot at him. I do know one thing. After deer season they are gonna meet up with a 130 gr. 270 bullet. Man i wish i would have got him though. I squeezed the trigger on my realease each time..

Well turkeys.. We just wont talk about them!

My cousins stand is up 24 feet or something like that. And he said to aim at the bottom of their belly like 4 inches low from the lungs. and it hits them right there in the lungs..
Any Suggestions Appreciated!!!!

StealthArcher-0
Game-about 13!


Edited by - StealthArcher on 10/28/2002 21:34:26

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Bend at the waist...don't drop your bow arm! it will cause you to shoot high every time

Yep - Bend at the waist, you will not have to aim low. You need to practice it. I'd go as far as to suggest that you hunt no more than 10 ft up until you do. If you do not, you will not have confidence in your shot, and you simply must have confidence to consistently hit where you want. Hey, look at the bright side, you missed...No bad wounding, lost deer, and you learned your lesson.

I'd also check that 30 yd pin on the range, with a hunting broadhead again.

Good luck the rest of the season

Its very addictive, Don't you just love the rush?

Switch to a pendulumn sight and don't worry about the angle. (if you mostly tree stand hunt)

After each morning hunt I pick out a leaf of something on the ground at differant distances and take a shot at it. I'm always with 1" of my target using the pendulumn sight.- out to 30 yards that is. Never tried over that and wouldn't personally shoot past that anyway because the deer I'm after are to wired up and there's not telling which way there gonna jump when I shoot.
I hunt 14- 25 foot up, but usually at 22'.

StealthArcher,
Don't give up, you are seeing why so many guys love to bow hunt instead of gun hunt. It’s the challenge. I agree with DaveC every time you are done hunting from you stands, take a practice shot. This will give you the practice need as well as build you confidence in you stand shooting. And when you take that first one with you bow, you will be very pleased.

Side Note: DaveC what brand of pendulum sight are you using and is it load when you release?

I think you need to practice more and make sure you are sighted in. You missing them all "over the back" could just mean you pins are off.

Never ceases to amaze me the number of people that have never practiced from a treestand and then go hunt from one. Then they come one here asking why they missed or wounded a deer. My favorite question related to this subject is "Will I hit high or low from a treestand?". My answer? Go figure it out for yourself. If you don't want to be proficient with your weapons before you go to kill an animal you supposedly respect, stay home and leave it to those of us who care enough to be prepared.

Rant over

I agree with Thundergut. There is absolutely no excuse for shooting at an animal you are not completely confident in hitting. StealthArcher said it was the first time he had shot a bow from an elevated stand and had NO IDEA what his arrow would do. SHAME. Stay out of the woods until you know exactly what you can and cant do. Live animals should not be used as experimental targets. Sorry about being so harsh SA but you broke the golden rule of archery. I can appreciate the fact that you have to learn sometime and fortunately you learned your lesson without wounding any game. Practice until you dont even have to think about the shot, it just happens. Good luck!