Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Some of you may remember my post about 5 weeks ago about not being able to pull my bow back one morning....... and having 5 separate shot opportunities......I blamed it on my new diet.

Well since then I' ve shot a ton at 70 lbs. and last week I dropped it to 67 lbs just for sure. Well tonight " MY WORST NIGHTMARE JUST HAPPENED" !

I decided to hunt a new food plot stand I put up this summer. I got a new doe decoy and had' d had a chance to use it yet. So I set out and was set-up by 2:00. Conditions were cold (about 25degrees and 30 MPH wind...COOOOLD) I didn' t see a thing until 4:30. I saw 3 nice does approching the food plot at about 65 yards. They all stepped in and saw the decoyabout 40 yards from them. They all started to the decoy. The biggest doe stayed back 15 yards from the decoy and about 30 yards from me. Two of the does walked right up to the decoy in my shooting lane. I went to draw my bow..............I COULDN' T PULL THE " DFJKFJD" THING BACK! I tried and tried!!!!! They were there for almost 10 minutes and I couldn' t pull my bow. Two off the deer left and one stayed about 10 yards from the decoy. I just watched and tried to warm my hands. The doe just stared at my decoy. All of a sudden a BURST OF ADRENILINE shot through my body. Something wasn' t right....the doe wasn' t looking at my decoy, it was looking PAST MY DECOY! I slowly turned my head and out of the corner of my eye saw a huge buck comming at 20 yards right towards my tree. I have a photo of a huge (12" tines) 8 point from my deer cam. I figured here he was. No!!!! He was a 14 point with double split brow tines and 22" to 24" spread!!!!!!!!! He stopped and started walking around my tree at 12 to 15 yards broadside looking at my decoy the whole time. I tryed and tryed to pull my bow but I couldn' t. I prayed to GOD! He stopped 6 yards from the decoy in the food plot and about 12 yards from me. He smelled the Tinks #69 I had on the decoy' s tail.....he backed up about 2 yards.......I tried again to pull my bow...no use!! He took two fast steps forward and planted his rack into the side of the decoy sending it flying. He took off about 10 yards turned and looked for 20 seconds....I tried to pull again fand the HUGE BUCK WALKED AWAY!!!!!!


It was the worst day of my life!!!! When I got home I tried to pull my bow and I could!! I had warmed up. That wicked windchill got me! I' ve got to change something!!!

Last year I shot a 12 pointer grossed 154 net 148. This buck was easily going to gross 180 and I let him get away!!! " FROIUJKL"


THANKS FOR LISTENING!

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Hehehe, sorry pal. I do know what your feeling tho. It happened to me one year also. Only my freeze was just on a doe. I spent about 2 hours in the minus 20s when in walks this nice doe. I drew back on her when she went behind a tree, but she held up and I had to let down. When I went to draw again, no dice. What a helpless feeling. No matter how hard you try, it just isn' t there. Keep your chin up, there will be others.:D

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

i had two does in front of me i pulled back released missed,nocked another arrow cannot pull my bow back,to nervous,took a deep breath relaxed tryed again,i pulled back and got my first deer with a bow. that sucks in your case.good luck next time .

go deep hunt hard.;)

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

After saying THOUSANDS of swear words, and swearing I' m quitting bowhunting, I calmed down alittle. Funny thing was, I kept myself very calm and in control during the whole ordeal. The other funny thing was, I knew I was cold but just alittle.

I' m already thinking about a new set-up. I want the fastest, highest KE, 60 lb. set-up there is.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Giddy-up to that last statement. There is no bravado in pulling tons of weight. Its easy to shoot over 70# in the summer, hard as heck when you' re teeth are chattering.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Sounds like a Bowtech Patriot Dually is going to be ordered :D

I know the feeling about not being able to draw when you are cold;)

Now days I draw my bow every 30 minutes or so on cold days;)

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

You obviously aren' t dressing right. TWO:... you need to move or do isometric exercises or pull the bow every half hour or something. AND.... you may still be pulling to much weight. When you' re warm and feeling normal try holding your bow straight out in front of you towards the target at arms length. Draw the bow without having to point it at the sky. Keep it pointed at the target. If you can' t.... you ain' t as tough as you thought you were and should drop the weigh a few more pounds. Just really bad planning on this one.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Ouch!

I pull 58lbs - 65% let off - its all I can handle when its cold.

My Oneida is a Smooooooth drawing bow - that the best thing you can say about it - no hard cams...etc.

You need to look at other options - not being able to draw on a deer - is NOT AN OPTION.

good luck.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I think that it is very important to practise drawing from an elevated platform. I do most of my practise from a sturdy metal folding chair. The muscles that are used to draw are different than those that are used to draw on the ground. I would suggest practising like that and you may find that you need to turn that bow down a good bit until you build up. On the other hand sounds like you had a great hunt, many go through many seasons and do not have such a fine animal within bow range. Maybe you should think about what you did right and realize that except for being overbowed that was a fine effort.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

You should have had a camcorder!

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Man that sucks. I dont see why you need to pull so much weight though. Even if it wasnt that cold I just dont think 70 is necesary. I only pull like 58 and it does just fine. why kill yourself?

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I' m convinced 75% of the people bowhunting today are overbowed. Sure, you can shoot all summer in the backyard and never have trouble getting the bow back. But sitting in the cold all bundled up is bound to reduce your muscles flexiblity quite a bit. In addition, a lot of guys hunt from a climbing treestand, many of which leave your arms feeling rubbery from the climb. With the efficiency of today' s bows, there is no reason anyone has to shoot over 60 lbs. for anything they might hunt in the U.S.. Heck, with bows like the Patriot or Pro 40 Dually, 50 lbs. @ 29" is plenty for anything in the U.S..

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

You should also be concerned with potentially hurting yourself. It' s a good thing you didn' t tear something when that buck stepped out and your adrenaline started flowing.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

OOooo Man does that suck! I feel for ya bud!

I had that happen to me about 8 years ago on a bear. Everyone told me I was too exited but I new that wasn' t it. What I found was my coveralls were too small and my elbow couldn' t be raised while in the seated possition.

I hope you get another wack at em he sounds like a beauty!;)

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Hey, it could have been a lot worse.

Just think, you could have shot the doe which probably would have spooked the buck and you never would have even seen him!

That must have been one hell of a buck.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I' ve been there myself and it' s a sick feeling.Now i crank the bow out so it feels almost too easy to pull back--it' s more fun to be able to draw back for SURE at the moment of truth than to have all i can handle and hope i' m in a good position so i can get the bow drawn--after a couple times of not being able to draw i had no confidence left.Now i know i can pull it back in any position and i feel alot better about what might happen.I' ll never go thru that again!

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I' ll say it again.....SISSY!!!!!;)

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Will your current bow not go down to 60 lbs??? That' s all you need for Whitetails. Turn that thing down and quit worrying about pulling as much wait as you can stand. I' ve been able to draw 70 lbs since I started shooting a bow and have never hunted with more than 61 lbs. You don' t need it. Your arrow will just be stuck a little farther in the ground. I' d rather shoot slower than not at all. Turn that thing down.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

i guess I don' t understand......I have been so cold in the stand that my quads were making my kneecaps jump up and down, my body jerked uncontrollably, and I couldn' t stop my head from shaking. And yet when a deer walks in, I am still able to make a smooth draw. And I shoot 72 lbs. It' s not like rigor mortis sets in.
Or maybe I' m Superman:D.
Maybe subconsciously you don' t really want to shoot a deer anymore.
Brian

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Sounds more like buck fever/target panic than anything else. WIth all that excitement and adrenline, cold be damned, you should be able to draw a bow that you shoot, regularly, in warm weather. Sounds like you just choked for one reason or another.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

dude ...you only need 50-60 lbs. crank that bad boy down or get a new bow.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Ok, THAT' S IT!!! I' ve had it. I' m doing some experiments.

I was in the same situation Wed in 9 deg wx, but I was warm. I am convinced CONVINCED it is not muscular but that it is the cold limbs take more energy to bend. I swear that bow was pulling at least 10 lbs harder.

I' m going to measure my Altitude now, and then put it outside where it is 4 degrees. Then I will measure it again. I' ll post back in an hour. :D:D

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

Dude, turn your bow down. 50# will even kill a deer - my friend' s 14 year old got his first deer last year - at 25 yards and 50# broke the shoulder of a doe after going through both lungs. The deer was down in 25 yards.

It' s about testosterone for the most part I believe anyway. Think about it: at that yardage, a fast high pound bow goes through a deer a little faster than a weaker bow. Ok, so? So turn it down and kill deer.

I' m one to talk shooting a Hoyt cranked to 70 and a 75# recurve. BUT, I' m a big guy and cold doesn' t bother me like some people.

That' s why I said it' s about balls - show what you' re made of with a rack, not big pounds.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I have to agree with some others here that is isn' t the cold[:' (] I Shoot 63# and have been so cold in late december/early january that I couldn' t feel my fingers anymore and was still able to draw easily. It MAY have been a little tougher than usual but never the less I was easily able to draw. Once the adrenaline hits you should be able to pull without any problem. I have no suggestions as to what the problem may be but try cranking it wayyyy down and see what happens. My guess is that it isn' t the cold. Draw every 30 minutes or so and try flexing while you' re sitting there to keep the muscles warmed a little.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I feel your pain I' ve been there myself.Two years ago this happened to me and again this year.The first time it happened I was trying to draw on a doe that was right under my stand.I guess I was aiming the bow at so much of a downward angle that I just couldn' t draw it.Than this year I had a small buck walk up to me and I tried to draw but couldn' t.I tried about four times to draw.When the deer walked away I climbed out of my stand and pretty much cussed all the way back to camp.Than I cranked my bow down a turn took a couple practice shots and went back out.In my case I haveta say it was a lack of preporation that made this happen.I never shot my bow enough this year.I took a few shots and was hitting good so i thought i was good to go.Also shooting on the ground or in a stand are way different.When I shoot on the ground my stance is wider than when i shoot from my stand.I think the leverage theory comes into play.
The first year I went bow hunting,I got in my stand looked around and made a practice draw at a strange angle and pulled a muscle in my neck.Ouch that hurt for about 2 weeks.Look at it this way this is opening weekend for rifle season go out there and get some revenge on that deer!!!

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

OK, I' m back with my results.

I test two bows, an ' 02 Martin Altitude with Magnum limbs and an ' 02 Martin Mv2 with Elite limbs.

At 69 degrees, the Altitude measured 64# and the Mv2 measured 56#.
I put them both outside for one hour at 7 degrees and then tested them again.

As soon as I pulled back the first one I knew the answer...

The Altitude measured 64# and the Mv2 measured 56#. No change whatsoever. [:o]
Boy was I wrong.

I could have sworn it pulled harder. And I must have been a bit cold. It must be the body' s defense mechanism shutting down circulation to the extremeties when it thinks it is too cold, to keep the body' s core temp up.

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

If it isn' t the COLD..... he must be a WIMP![&:][:o];)

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm#limits

Excerpted from the above link-

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I used to shoot 76 pounds. When I went to purchase my last bow I said, " SELF... you ain' t as tough as you think you are or used to be" . I dropped down to 67 pounds and it' s like pulling a kids bow compared to my old PSE. It was a wise choice. The next bow will probably be a 50-60 range rating cause I " ain' t" gettin' any younger.[:o]

RE: Absolutle disaster tonight. Nothing worse.
 

I appreicate all the input.........I cranked my bow down to 57 lbs today and struggled to pull it back. I also got some 100 grain fixed thunderheads. I know I strained or pulled some muscles. I DID hunt tonight, just in case that bad boy came by again. Gun season starts saturday. It was a good night Had 6 does and one 4 pointer comes into the decoy. Could have shot each one. I pulled my bow back every half an hour. It was colder than yesterday.

I' m amazed how great that decoy works! Second time out with it and had in two trips had 11 deer inside of 15 yards.

This winter I' ll have to set-up a new rig and figure out a new training routine. ( I thought 4000 shots at 70.5 lbs this past year would have been enough!!) I' ll have to figure something else out!


Thanks for all the input!!