FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

I was in my ground blind and a deer passed in front of me at 3 YARDS. It stopped and i had a pure broadside shot. I drew back and settled my 20 yard (firtst pin) pin on him. That's when it occurred to me. Where the heck do i aim on this deer!!!!!!

That is not the time to wonder what to do. I kept thinking, should i aim high or low? how much? All this while the deer was standing 3 yards in front of me.
Anyway... i decided to aim a bit high. I let go of the arrow and... well, i spined him. He went straight down with no use of his back legs. He was trying to crawl away and i put another arrow in him. I hate that.

So. Just FYI. practice at those really short distances. I really never thought i'd have one at that range, especially with my blind set up, but hindsight being what it is, i should have

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

Why would you think you needed to aim high if you were level with him? If you had a 10 yard pin it would be above your 20 and if you had a five yard pin it would be above your 10. So aiming high doesn't make any sense to me. I would have put the 20 on him and let him have it.

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

In other words, practices at short distances, or at leastknow that 3 yards is less than 20 yards.;)

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

Right or wrong, this was my thought process. The arrow on it's rest sits well below my sight. So, if say i was going to shoot at something say 1 foot away from me my arrow would impact well belowmy sight. At three yards i figured my arrow would still be "climbing" up to my sight level.

This was my thought process but as i said rightor wrong i should have practiced that shot so i would know what to expectnot guess

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

So JB and IAhuntr,
Are you saying that you would aim lower on the deer?

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

I would have put the pin at center mass right behind the shoulder, that way if the arrow went a little high or a little low you would still be in the vitals. Your point is a good one however. Too often we worry about being able to split hairs at 40 plus yards when in reality we would be better served practicing shots at ten yards and less. Both deer I shot this year were at five or six yards. This was complicated by the fact I was in a treestand and was shooting at a very steep angle. I managed to make both shots (one being much better then the other) and got both deer. However I wish they were shots I had practiced more.

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

Center mass is probably what i should have done. You are right. I just wonder what the actual correction is

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

I love watching guys at 3D shoots put their shots in the dirt below the 3 yard squirrel target. Everyone assumes it's a slam dunk.:D:D:D

At 3 yards I actually set my sight for 60 yards. It's the archers paradox of the arrow coming up to meet your sight plane. At 3 yards it's still coming up and hasn't crossed the plane of your 20 yard pin.

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

Thanks KA. Given that info then aiming slightly higher was the correct thing to do. Apparently though, i over corrected since i spined him

RE: FYI..Practice at very short distances
 

I don't thinkanyone wouldneed a sight at 3 yards.:D