bowboy89

Well I just got a PSE.Vendetta X-Force and it shoots real quick

Mojotex

May I offer that "jumping the string" is sort of a mis-speak to me. The deer are not "jumping", but rather squatting to load their legs muscles for flight. You can demonstrate this yourself. Stand straight and tall, with legs absolutely straight. Try to jump say 6" up? Cannot do it without what? First bending your knees to load your legs.

In my now going on 50+ years of archery hunting deer, I can count on one hand the number that I could possibly say did not flinch, drop, twirl, etc. before the arrow hit home. And I have had about an equal number missed that got out of the way before the arrow could strike .... including a 27 yard broad side shot at so called "relaxed" deer when I was using a bow that supposedly IMO'd at 300+ fps. She had time to completely wheel 90 deg. and haul tail. She had her head down and was munching on clover when I released! Go figure.

What I think you may be dealing with are: (1) A noisy bow. Have someone stand 30 yards or so off to the side and listen for any unusual rattles, metallic sounds or loud slaps when you fire. If that is the case, try to mitigate by making sure everything is where it should be and is tight. If you are not using vibration suppression stuff, try that. (2) You are simply aiming too low. While I will never take the aim point out of the killing zone, i do aim low ... especially on broadside shots. I put the pin abut 1/3 up from the bottom ... no higher.

As far as speed? I have killed hump-teen deer with my original 1962 vintage recurve. It was a 45# pull, 60" laminated limb bow ... cedar arrows, 6" helical feathers, and 150 gr. broad heads. What would it do fps-wise? I have no clue. Maybe 150 ?? I killed deer and feral hogs cleanly out to 40-45 yards. No more :jumping the string" issues than with my SQ2. Sure, velocity = less arrow drop/linear foot of flight traveled. But I don't think that is the issue here.

Now form may be? You may be pulling off the target, anxious to see if and where you hit. Easy trap in which to fall. Try this if you don't already do it. As you release, keep your self very quiet, and head still, loose grip ... eyes watching the arrow's flight all the way to the target. Then think about watching where the deer ran off to. I find that this helps me "follow" the arrow.

Good luck. And show us the pics.

Whitetailaddict13

first off, scent elimination is somewhat of a gimmick, sure it helps but you will NEVER completely beat a mature whitetails nose. There is nothing that can be done about deer jumping the string other then, try to aim for the lower third of the deer, and try to get shots at non-alert deer. and keep your shots close! But the closer you are, the higher your likely to shoot, if you are prepared for this though, they dont have an aweful lot of time to adjust to a 20 yard shoot. Keep em close, aim a hair low, youll kill a few.

Whitetailaddict13

[QUOTE=Mojotex;3979296]May I offer that "jumping the string" is sort of a mis-speak to me. The deer are not "jumping", but rather squatting to load their legs muscles for flight. You can demonstrate this yourself. Stand straight and tall, with legs absolutely straight. Try to jump say 6" up? Cannot do it without what? First bending your knees to load your legs.

QUOTE]

yeah i think everybody and their brother is on the same page with that.. Jumping the string is just the term used... Just saying!

furgitter

Most deer I shoot dont duck the string, and my bow is pretty loud. If all four feet are planted firmly on the ground, the deer is half way to ducking. If the deer is at a slow walk, and close, you stand a better chance of them not ducking, because only two feet are solidly on the ground. I also see that when deer have there head down as in eating mode, they tend not to duck also.
I also agree with aiming at the lower 1/3 always..... Ya never know, animals are more predictable than people, but we are still dealing with probability. Good luck buddy.

halfbakedi420

aim at the bottom 3rd? where is jesus when ya need him?
you should have a spot picked out that you are aiming at. a white spot, swirl, tick, some mud....something!!!!! not just shoot at it while its runnin by aiming at the bottom half...er third...of the deer.

furgitter

Running deer dont duck, now I see why you say you are half baked. Yes, to be more clear, that spot on a non running deer, should be in the lower 1/3 in the vitals.

Nomercy448

Here's what I feel every time I hear about deer "jumping the string" or "ducking an arrow"...

About 10% of the time (being gracious and saying 10%), a deer HONESTLY moves at the shot. In that case, it's still pretty dang rare that a deer inside 30yrds can react fast enough to dodge a 300fps arrow. If you're shooting slower, then you have to recognize that, and realize your ToF is very important. I personally want a FAST bow, and a QUIET bow.

The other 90% of the time, it's usually a poorly placed arrow. Misses are misses, buck fever is real, and both misses and fevers happen to the best of us. Getting excited and forgetting your anchor point, or sight picture, or creeping a little on your bow as a deer walks around, shooting the wrong sight pin, forgetting to set the arrow in your rest (buddy of mine sent one flying off the side of his riser once)... whatever it is.... All of this can cause you to miss in the heat of the moment. The hard part is being honest with yourself about it and correcting it for the future.

I also agree with some of the others that if a deer is on alert, or in a position where they can move in any direction (all four feet planted), it's better to wait. I never release an arrow at a deer with his head up and looking my direction.

Deer might be incredibly reactive animals, but they're not super-animals. Release an arrow at a relaxed deer and they might not even run off. Most of the deer I've killed in the last few years haven't ran. They trot off a few steps and look around, then lie down and die, never any wiser to what just happened.

But, it's all part of hunting. Sometimes, $hit happens....

Arkansasmountainman

speed doesnt always kill!! I will take a quiet bow over a speed bow! When you find the happy medium, thats when deer start falling, my personell bow shoots 240 fps, but is super silent when it goes off

Nomercy448

That's assuming a fast bow can't be quiet. I shoot a Bowtech Destroyer at 315fps that's quieter than my Oregon bow at 210fps, quieter than my wife's Mathews Jewel at 224fps, quieter than my Mathews Monster at 285fps, and quieter than my buddies Diamond Outlaw at 275fps. Speed doesn't always mean loud.

If you're shooting an arrow that is too light for your bow (increases vibration) just to get extra speed, then yes, your bow is going to be louder than it would be with a heavier arrow (which would be slower), but it's not that difficult to quiet down a bow that's shooting 6grn+ per pound of draw.

My Destroyer has NOTHING on it to dampen sound. At 20yrds, you hear the arrow zipping to the target, not the bow (Yes, I have stood beside the target while someone else shot to listen to how loud my bow is).