xbowbarry

We all have had deer "jump string" before but the incident I had the other evening showed just how quick a deer is.
I had a doe almost perfectly broadside to me, if anything angled to me slightly at about 16 yards. She was content and showed no sign of being spooky. I leveled the crosshairs right in the crease behind her front leg and sent the bolt on it's way.
I knew something was wrong by both the sound and by the way she ran off. Luckily she did not go far BUT... when we examined her we found that my shot hit her back in the flank and came out behind the opposite shoulder. Video confirmed that she nearly turned nearly 90 degrees away from me before the bolt struck.
I use an old Excal Exocet that shoots about 280-285 fps. If that deer had been 6-8 yards farther away from me I probably would have hit her right in the tail end.
I was testing a Slick Trick head for the first time, yes I practiced with it to make sure it flew where I wanted it to.
I was pleased with it's performance as it was a pass thru and it burried in the ground after going thru the deer. To my amazement the blades were still sharp enough to cut you after all that.
People say "Oh,deer can't jump string at that distance my bow is too fast."
All I can say is Bull S_ _ _!

xbowbarry

smokepolehall

yup, those deer are very quick to react, just ask awshucks and his 2 last year jumpimg the exomax!sometimes even tho we think a deer is relaxed and make our shot. they are not, some minute scent or noise they hear or the arrow vanes/feathers giving off the sound

awshucks

I'll repeat the story even though it still makes me sick a year later. I was shooting an Emax chronied at 328 fps w/ my setup. At a UFFDA hunt in Mo. on 1600 acres. 1st jumper was a spike the owner wanted culled at 32 yds. I was being filmed at the time. I held mid chest and the arrow sailed over his back, cameraman thought I hit the one behind it in the leg. There were 4 deer total strung out when I took the shot. I didn't see the one come in behind my targeted deer and later review showed as did the recovered arrow a clean miss. This was on a Sat eve.

Next am, I whacked a turkey at 30 yds. That eve I was in same blind as am and had a nice doe at 30 yds sniffing the turkey feathers. I held about 2" up from the bottom of her brisket behind front leg. She got under the arrow w/ ease.

Needless to say I was distraught. The common explanation others have given me is even though they appeared relaxed, being on a preserve and near blinds, they are more alert than they appear.

I'd of bet some real $ on 30 yds being a sure thing at 330 fps. I got by light, learned a good lesson w/o dinging either of the deer up.

smokepolehall

ok i will tell off on myself to all, as awshucks already know some of it and DNK knows all of it. i took a shot several weeks ago on a Doe. i used the phoenix and the peep. mind y'all my eyes are not great anymore. i thought i hit her in the shoulder and i saw her go down to her knee. i searched for hrs. no arrow no blood no Doe! so i am up in the same tree and it has rained several times since that shot. well i find the arrow nock just barely above ground. it had to of been covered in leaves. no blood on feathers or shaft of BH. she ducked the shot at 20 yds area and she was broadside. its hard to fully comprehend has fast they can and will move [&o]

ranger56528

The click of a trigger,drawing back of a arrow(any unfamilier sound[])can make a deer drop a 3rd of its body hight in less the a blink of a eyeso I too am a beliver in the string jump theory somewhat but then again there is the angle of deer to stand that also plays a big roll in the shot too(as we all know[&o])...

Cossack

I'm beginning to think that they can SEE the arrow coming, esp if it's coming from the side or a bit forward of side. I know their eyesight is much, much better than I previously thought, esp of moving things. I've been experimenting with using a deer tail to catch their attention if they look like they will pass out of range. (I hang it over a neaby branch, with a string running to my stand, lower it on the ground until the deer presents then raise it about 3 feet and twitch it). On several occasions, deer that were 50+ yards away saw the tail when I moved it and came to investigate it. On one occasion the line of sight was through relatively thick brush and at some 70 yards, yet the deer honed right in on that slight movement. I'm thinking it may be best to let them pass just past broadside, if possible, and come in forward from the just past the last rib to avoid jump.