MILLERTIME10

I have had a question burning in my mind for a while. I have heard that once you get out so far (30+ yards) that the deer will not jump the string. I have also heard from some people that 20 yards is the perfect reaction distance for a whitetail to hear the bow and react to the shot. With these two statements, it makes sense that a longer shot would result in less reaction from a deer.

For all of you that have shot deer at further distances, what has been your experience? I have yet to shoot a deer past 25 yards and cannot put this to my own test.

Thanks for your time,

Trent

mohunter82

i personally dont believe in them hearing the string persay. i believe it is the arrow and BH itself.

But for the most part for your original question. for this instance. the speed of sound would still travel at a constant speed. therefore you would think that the sound would reach the deer at the same time. so why would they not jump it this time.

In a dry air situation at approx. 70 degrees the speed of sound is around 340 fps. so the sound of your string is almost gauranteed to beat the arrow. at least under 20 yards. the thing is that at 30 yards you get more "objects" in the way to slow it down. so the arrow has a possibility of reaching the deer before the sound of the string.

kickin_buck

Interesting question and I cannot say I have ever put a bunch of thought into it. I will say that after reading your post, I thought back over the years and tried to figure out how many deer have jumped my string and at what distances they were.

I could only remember 3 cases of a deer jumping my string. In the cases I remember, the only thing in common was that the deer was alert/uneasy before the shot. The shot distances were (best I can remember) 15ish yards, 25ish yards, and 35ish yards. It has always been my belief that if a deer is not alert, you are shooting a fairly quiet bow, and at a decent speed, there is little chance of them jumping the string to begin with.

blindluck

i believe most deer duck because of the sudden movement of a bow going off...i try to shoot deer when they are lookin away or when they cant see me with their peripheral vision...call me crazy but my theory is if sound travels at 300 fps and a bow is shootin that or better, then at 20 yards the arrow will hit the deer before it hears it...jus aim at the heart-that way if he ducks you still have a double lung and if he doesnt duck you get a perfect heart shot

mfd1027

I've tried to apply scientific reasoning on our Ga. lease but the dang deer just don't want to pay attention to that class. lol They absolutely will jump the string at distances beyond 30 yds. where I hunt. I'm so used to holding low to compensate that most of my misses are caused by them not dropping like they're supposed to.

Dan

Kid

I believe that most of the time the deer are not purposely "ducking the arrow" but rather dropping down as they gather their legs under them to turn and run. It stands to reason that Kickin_Buck is on the right track with an alert Deer being more prone to "jumping the string". I tend to believe they are reacting to the sight or sound of a bow being released than an arrow flying at them. One last thought, the speed of sound is about 1125 fps, so the sound reaches them long before an arrow does!

northms

I've had one "jump the string" almost last year. I killed a doe out at 42 yards last year and when I shot she dropped down a slight bit and I hit her high. Regardless she didn't go but 80 yds but it definitely affected the shot placement. The conditions for that shot were perfect and I wouldn't usually take a shot that far.

WKP Todd

Being film producers, and watching lot's of shots on-camera in slow-motion, I can assure you - every whitetail drops upon the release of an arrow. The sound of your bow, arrow, and sight of the arrow are all factors in why a whitetail moves.

Last year, I killed a buck at about 12 yards. He didn't have a clue we were there, and he dropped about 2" by the time the arrow reached him. The year before, I shot the "Tall Brow 8" on video, he dropped about 6" before the arrow got to him at only 25 yards.

The problem with bowhunting, is that regardless of how good you are - a whitetail moves at any shot. You can't beat the senses of a whitetail. The farther the shot, the greater the chance you take at hitting a whitetail in a spot you weren't aiming at, because the target moved before the arrow got there.

For that reason, I try to limit my shots to 30 yards. Beyond that is a crap-shoot! Are you feeling lucky?

nchawkeye

Guess I'll never know...I'm an OF and just don't shoot past 25 yards...I still believe it ain't how far you shoot them but how close...

I also believe that they jump the string because they are already skiddish...

burniegoeasily

I have been hunting these critters for over 25 years. I have never had one jump a string on a compound. Even out to 50+ yards. I have had two jump the string with a recurve (once in the 80s and one two seasons ago), and both were at close distances. Around 10 yards. Never had one jump the string with a longbow. I guess that is due to how quiet a long bow is.