BuddyBo

I shoot a Ten Point at 313fps. I haven't killed a deer with it as yet and have hunted with it two years. I have lost three deer though and am thinking they may be jumping the string since I usually shot at them at 30 yards where my corn pile is. I hunt in NC where baiting is legal. What do you think? Do I need to move the bait to 25 or 20 yards? I pratice a lot and the cb is sighted in correctly. It's got me sick from losing three deer. I'd rather not have shot at all and makes me want to lose the CB.

squirrelkilla23

how much do you want for itlosing three deer isnt good at all. i havent had a deer jump the string but i have never shot at one

deerslayer223

If i was you i'd just change my aim point a little. Heres the rule of thumb i follow. If its nerveous and 20yd or closer i just hold on the heart if it ducks the string ill still catch the lungs. From 21-30 if its really nerveous ill hold right on the bottom line of the deer directly below the heart if he ducks i still catch lungs. I dont shoot past 30yd so i can't tell you how to aim past 30. It took me 2 times or trial and error by missing with them ducking for me to figure out where to aim. It doesn't matter how fast or how quiet you're crossbow is if they are nervous they are going to duck. So just aim a little lower and good luck!

lemoyne

I use the same bow at the same speed; with bait at about the same distance.My exact distance if you measue from the stand is 27.5 but if you measure at ground [the ground is flat] it is 25yd.The distance you should be shooting is the ground or horizontal distance shooting out of a stand has to be shot the same as a hill side shot;I would never put the bait past 25 horizontal yards because of the drop point in the arc.
#1 rule I always follow:
never shoot at a deer that is looking at you.
They will jump the string if they see you shoot the speed of light is a lot more than the speed of sound.
Try shooting out of the stand as practice so you know you are shooting the distance right; chech your group that way to make sure you don't have a wind plane problem.

Big Guy01

I have shot lots of deer with my Xcalibur and only had one jump string. Most of my deer are taken at 20-30 yds.They never knew what hit them. The one that jumped was 52 yds. I know my bolt drops 12" at that distance and aimed accordingly higher. The dang deer ducked down(jumped string) and the boltgrazed it over the back enough to break off one blade from a 4 blade muzzy. Blood trail only lasted about 50 yds. If I had held right on the body the deer would have dropped enough to center it. I think at that distance the deer saw the arrow and had time to react.

Tree climber

you said lost three deer.did you hit and wound and lose , or did they jump the string and you miss?

anyway, I would say move you pile to 20 yards.also pratice from a tree at the same height.pratice with broadheads on, some time this is a problem with planeing??

I shoot a Barnett quad 400 (now) with spitfire 100 gr. mechanical broadheads and have taken a bunch with it; 4 last year.never had on move till the arrow was sticking in the dirt on the other side.I hold my shots to 30 yards or less amd wait for a good broadside shot.

hope you get it worked out.pratice ; pratice ; pratice the way you hunt all things exact is the main thing.

moxie1884

BuddyBo,,,,,, I've only shot at two bucks with my crossbow in three years. The first was a clean miss because I did not pay attention as to where the limbs on my crossbow were. The second was a kill. In both cases, I saw the bolt burried into the ground well before the buck responded. The buck last year was hit and the bolt burried in the ground about the same time I heard the string stop.

Aluminum bolts out of my Barnett Quad 300, fly at 337.5 FPS through my chronograph. I know my carbon bolts fly faster, just haven't put them through my chronograph yet. That's over 100 yards per second for speed. Depending on the distance the deer is from you, it will take just a fraction of a second for your bolt to hit the deer.

Tree Climber made a good suggestion of practicing with broad heads. G5 makes a PRE-SEASON MONTEC for practice. I used them last fall for practice to know where things were hitting and it gave me good insight as to where me and my Quad 300 stood. The attached address will show you. My stand was 18 feet up and the decoy was 22 feet out from the base of the tree. This was an approximate 8 to 10 yard shot using carbon bolts with a 125 grain pre-season Montec out of a Barnett Quad 300.

http://users.rcn.com/moxie1884/PA020001.JPG