elkhuntinut

This has to be the hardest thing to type as the vision is still fresh in my mind. This by far has been a good season for me as before yesterday I have seen 21 bucks between NY & PA...Then yesterday in PA my opportunity presented itself. With 4-5 inches of fresh fallen snow and the wind out of the south, I ventured to my "Ole' Faithful" stand. At 7:30 I was looking at how much snow was hangin' on the trees (as I was sitting down) when I caught a glimpse behind me. There he was, walking from my left to my right, the one we call the Big 9. I stand and turn and wouldn't you know it, he is in a spot that because of limb off my tree, I can't shoot....he continues on his pace, I wait, he walks into the opening, I estimate a heavy 30, shoot and over his back I go...A CLEAN MISS !!!! Now I have my rangefinder around my neck & shoulder, but I thought I knew the yardage...how did I over shoot ??? Well I range it, and it's 24.8 according to the Nikon. IT DOESN"T END HERE..

Around 10am I climb down, head home, tell my story and plan to be back at 3pm. I make it back in and around 5pm here comes a small non-legal PA deer...he disappears. It is now 5:10pm and I am thinking, I will be leaving here in 5 minutes...and that in 30 seconds it can all change....and it did !!! He comes that same buck, down the same trail !!! This time, I know the yardage, I draw and as I am drawing, he looks my way, so I am holding at 1/2 draw and he decides all is ok...I draw, anchor, and he is slightly quartering away looking back at me as he caught something....I steady and as I release, he does a quick out-a-here and I watch as the arrow lands right high in rear quarter.....we tracked the deer this morning well over a half mile, he never bed, he actually went to chasin' as in the open field he did sort of a figure eight with a few runs in there (of course there were other tracks)..and the blood became a spec every 20-25 yards.

I am disgusted with myself at this point,I have practiced alot, got some help with my release from those at the GTG this summer, I have done my homework, got some good pictures of these deer,and to top it off, I have the one I have been chasing injured. Stupidity of not using my rangefinder first actually made me laugh, but to end my season like this, has me frustrated.

I have shot alot of animals with a bow, including an antelope and a few elk. At this point I question what more can I do ?? What should I do different ?? I almost feel like shooting a doe or small legal buck the first opportunity I get to rebuild my confidence cause it's in the dumper right now...

Your thoughts ??? Thanks

Bbearfax

Sounds like terget panic to me, I am starting to develop a touch of it these days myself.

elkhuntinut

The first was a case of bad yardage for sure, the second opportunityI felt totally relaxed and comfortable and didn't punch the trigger as I had in the passed. He caught something he didn't like and the arrow released he turned to git.

I almost think I took to long to shoot the second time, but then again I have always been one to not rush a shot..regardless.

How do you cure target panic if that could be an issue ?

KodiakArcher

If you're going to shoot at wary deer, make sure you know that they're going to "jump" the string and compensate accordingly; in this case by aiming in the low and forward portion of the kill zone. Why do they call it "jumping the string" when they actually duck?

elkhuntinut

Good question ??

Bbearfax

The last time I had a problem with TP I started shoot at very close rang into a target, with my eyes shut. I was trying to see the arrow impact and had to re train my actions to not look till I hear the impact of the arrow.

loogout1

The first situation.. well thats just a screw up. If you ranged it, scenario #2 probably wouldn't have happened. But it did and that was just circumstance. Deer being deer, wired tight. No worries, he'll live. It sucks wounding them cause we try to be as ethical as possible but it does happen. Lessons learned and dont beat yourself up about. I wouldn't worry about the target panic just yet, it was one shot and the deer moved, not you.

OHbowhntr

Rob,
I think you need to relax, don't sweat it too much, and do some shooting, focusing on good follow through, making sure you are totally relaxed. Make sure everything is tight, and that you're still hitting where you thought you were. And hell if you really get the itch, sneak on over west about an hour or so and whack a doe or two, to get yourself re-aquainted with the kill. Don't let these things get you down, learn from them if you can figure out what went wrong.

Any chance the second shot hit something??? I know you shoot better than a hind quarter on a 30yds shot, hell I'm even a "little" better than that!!! I have a feeling it's a follow through issue, have you been shooting a good bit or have you slacked off as season is in, and free moment end up spent in a stand??? I know by this time of year, I'm having follow through issues if I'm hunting a lot, unfortunately, I'm not getting out as much as I'd like, so I'm probably shooting MORE than I have in years past, which is helping me stay focused on my follow through.

elkhuntinut

On the days I don't hunt because of work, in between the am & pm hunts, I get in the back yard and shoot at 20 yards to just work on the form and release. The shoot on scenario #2 was WIDE open, no branhes....heck I could of thrown a bow (if I could throw that far) and never hit a branch or small tree...

I do think that harvesting any deer at this point will help build confidence. To note, I have passed on alot of legal bucks both in PA and in NY and haven't shot a deer since Oct 24, 2003...( I still have the tag on the mount)......I have shot 3 elk within that same time frame so who knows.

gri22ly

If you know where his core area is, he will be sticking close to it now. You still have a chance at him.