yote_slayer

This is my 3rd tear hunting with a bow. the past 2 years i had an OLD PSE that i couldnt even hit the target with... but i never saw deer while bowhunting anyway. THis year i have a martin cheetah.. it kinda old but a lot better than my last bow. i can shoot pretty good groups out to 35 yards when shooting at a target. This year was the first time ever shooting at a deer with a bow. Haloween morning i missed a monster at 15 yards. 160 class dark-horned monster. i called him "big nasty" November 10th, i missed a small doe. twice. once at 15 yards, once at 25. November 28th i missed again. a 110-115 class 8 pt. every time i shoot right over their backs. i think i just get excited and put the pin in the kill zone. out of a tree stand i need to aim low at closer ranges. any tips on how i can calm down before the shot?

cwanty03

man its a bad feelin aint it?! just need to relax and think through the situation as much as possible. dont get to caught up in the rush

SouthDakotaHunter

Your right, that is a lot of misses....

Practice, practice and more practice. Make sure your shooting with same clothes/gear/etc on as when your hunting and make sure you have a good anchor point (also don't look at horns and pick an EXACT spot/hair on the animal your aiming for).... Maybe get a 3D deer decoy to give you a more realistic target to practice with. At this point I wouldn't blame you if you almost expect to miss when you shoot - which is not where you want to be. You need to get to the point where you expect to have a perfect shot every time you release and get that confidence back...

treboryerf

If you know your bow is on and that you are just getting buck fever you need to take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly,also when you get a deer in for a shot you need to focus and concentrate on one spot,you need to focus on this one spot while drawing your bow and when you come to your anchor point you should still be focused on that one spot,at this point you should not be seeing anything else but that spot and you should hold that concentration through the shot and follow through.You should get you a 3-d deer and practice this pick a spot drill in your backyard,one shot one kill.You should have tunnel vision when shooting at a deer.

DeerandbearhoG

Deer tend to "jump the string" or duck the arrow. try aiming at the heart( top of the lower 1/3 of the vitals) instead of the center of the lungs, if it ducks down, you still hit the lungs, if not the heart/lung gets hit. also do you practice at ground level? I always hit a little higher at elevated levels than I do at ground level.

yote_slayer

yeah i practice at ground level. i have practiced out of my stand a few times and i always shoot higher. about a foot higher at 15 yards.

nchawkeye

There is your problem...Your form is changing when you are above the target...You need to work on bending at the waist and making sure your anchor point isn't changing...

If you are using the proper form, you won't shoot higher...

Also, practice with your broadheads, they can shoot higher or lower than field points...Are you using a peep???

cwanty03

can you explain exactly what bending of the waist is? more or less what is the other tendency happening when your not bending your waist?? little confused

rogerstv

While standing hold the bow like you are shooting a horizontal shot. Then aim the bow at a spot on the ground about ten feet in front of where you are standing. But, instead of moving just your arms to aim the bow move the entire upper 1/2 of your body thus bending at your waist.

nchawkeye

Many bow hunters simply drop their bow arm to shoot when up in a tree stand, I used to do so myself...There are many reasons for this but I think a major reason is that some don't wear a safety harness and want to feel the trunk of the tree when they shoot...

When you simply drop your arm and don't bend at the waist then you also have a tendency not to bend your neck and get your nose down on the string at full draw...In effect, this is raising the rear sight which makes you shoot high...I cringe when I hear of guys having to shoot under a deer to hit it, many think the deer is jumping the string when it's actually their form that is making the shot go high...

It's best to have 2-3 rear points of references...I shoot fingers and do not use a peep...I find that I shoot best without a face mask because I use the corner of my mouth as an anchor...I also make sure the string is touching the side of my nose and I line up the pin within 2 nocks that are on my bow string...By using a full body harness I can bend at the waist to line up with the deer and don't shoot high...

As far as jumping the string, only shoot at relaxed deer...Too many less experienced deer hunters shoot at deer that are already suspicious and are ready to bolt at the slightest noise...
They aren't really jumping the string, they are simply crouching to get that first leap...