Whitehair

A few of you might remember (prolly not thought) I lost a buck I had shot with my recurve, it was my first deer with a bow. Im pretty sure it is still alive (The arrow slid above his lungs, under his spine i think)because i saw him (What im quite sure was him) last winter. Since then, i havent been able to even string my 'curve...but i miss the bow and the whole trad shooting experience. Am i just being stupid? Has anybody had this happen? (I hope not, cuz its a killer)

PS- I know it wasnt the bow that messed up, just cant do it...

Thanks
-Matt


-Matt

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Guss

Confidence is funny like that. I missed the first deer I ever tock a shoot at. It was a Doe at 35 yards. I watched her for 20 min befor she gave me a shoot, by the time she did I was so wired up that I couldnt keep the gun steady. I missed her at 35yds, looked for 3 days with out a trace of hair or blood, clean miss (with a gun). That year I passed on a spike that I wanted to take but my confidence was not there. The next bow season I passed up another spike with my compound, that same fall a big 9pt came in to 70 yards, head on, and I droped him were he stud. Since then my confidence has been un shakable.

Confidence can be lost in a matter of seconds but takes for ever to come back. I would say get as good as you can be and get out in the woods. If it feels right shoot if not pass on that deer, and remember some day it will come back.

Good luck and dont let it get ya down, we all faulter now and then from perfection. Get back out there.

KILL

LBR

I don't think it's stupid at all--we should all have a great deal of care and concern, and want to make that "perfect" shot. However, we are human and will make mistakes--just do the best you can to avoid them. Pick your bow up and practice, practice, practice. If you hunt from a blind, practice from a blind. If you hunt from a tree-stand, practice from a treestand. Use a 3-D target and don't worry about the scoring rings, shoot for a kill. Don't just look at where you want the arrow to enter, consider the angle and shoot for where you want it to exit.

You can't worry about what "might" happen--you might hit a deer in your vehicle, but you won't let that stop you from driving. Do the best you can and you can hunt with a clear concience.

Chad

Arthur P

Honestly, I don't know anyone that's hunted for more than a few years that's never lost an animal. For anyone with the slightest bit of compassion in their makeup, it's a sickening feeling, knowing you've hit an animal and not being able to recover it. I've had it happen several times over the many years I've been hunting, both with a bow and a gun, and it never gets any easier. I've never forgetten those bad experiences, but that makes me take extra care to try and make sure it never happens again.

All you can do is your best and, even then, stuff happens. There is an element of luck to hunting and sometimes it's bad luck that comes out on top. All the skill in the world can't overcome a dose of bad luck. All you can do is accept the fact that nothing goes exactly as planned each and every time - especially when an animal isn't exactly cooperating and decides to move at the exact moment you've released the arrow or pulled the trigger - and keep at it, or quit.

One thing to keep in mind: THAT shot on THAT deer is ancient history. It's over and done with and nothing will ever erase it. Whatever the circumstances that caused your arrow to hit high - whether you actually shot high or whether the deer ducked down - do not let that shot mess you up on the next one. It's the arrow on your bowstring and the animal in front of you RIGHT NOW that's important. That's all that should be on your mind. Don't let yourself get in the frame of mind that "I can't do it" because, if you do, you won't be able to do it.

Like Guss said, it's all about confidence. I shoot with a guy who, as we're coming up to the standing bear target on the course, always starts talking about how he can't hit a standing bear target and, wonder of wonders, he always misses it. He's really a decent shot on all the other targets but he's gotten himself so psyched into the idea he can't hit that particular target that he really can't do it. Confidence is 90% of hitting what you shoot at with any weapon, but that's especially true with recurves and longbows.

Now, going back to what LBR said about ignoring the scoring rings on your practice 3D target and shooting for a kill. That is vitally important. IMO, the scoring rings on 3D targets have trained a whole generation of bowhunters to shoot much higher than they really should. I hates it!

Instead of practicing and getting accustomed to hitting in the middle of the body, the IBO 10 ring, you should practice aiming to hit about 1/3 up from the bottom of the body. Our old 2D targets back in the 80's had actual heart shots. If you wanted the big points you had to aim low in the kill to get it. And, if you missed a few inches low, you got a 5. Any time we just wanted to wimp out and take a solid 8 on the score card, we'd aim for the middle of the kill zone. then, if we missed a few inches low, we might get lucky and get that 10. So, what IBO calls a 10, we called a 'safe' shot in those days. But it's not at all where you want to aim on a real animal.

If you really want to add some realism to your target, look at a diagram of a deer's internal organs and mark out where the heart is supposed to be on your practice target. Practice aiming for the heart. If you hit a few inches high from that spot, you'll centerpunch the lungs. If you hit a few inches low, it'll be a minor flesh wound or a clean miss.

An old precept from athletics is "You play exactly the same way you practice." It's just as true for hunting. You get a shot picture ingrained into your subconscious when you shoot hundreds and hundreds of practice arrows and when you get into the woods and take that shot on a live deer, the subconscious can take over. You want to train your subconscious mind to pick the right aim point because it can, and often does, override your conscious mind.

recurver67

Losing a wounded animal is always a major set back. I don't think you can give up the sport you love because of it though.It just builds determination not to have a repeat.

BobCo19-65

That's a piece of excellent advise. Try to block the ringsout of you mind entirely. Remember the best area to hit is just behind the fold of the leg (total broadside) and 2/3rds down the body, not 1/2.

FWIW, I really don't believe in the gray area above the lungs and under the spine although there are those who swear by it.I'm sure that is a whole nother topic though. Youmay be very surprizedby howlow the spine actually is from the top of the deer.IMO, you may have hit just above the spine.

Oh, and don't put the bow down because of this! If it disturbs you enough not to hunt the rest of the season, then that's your call and it is understandable, but use this time and determination to practice. Hey, you don't even have to hunt if you don't want to, but don't put the bow down for good because of it. Everyone makes mistakes.

LBR

There's at least two places you can get a deer target with the vitals outlined instead of scoring rings. McKenzie makes one, and Tab Hinton (hintontargets.com). I like Tab's targets myself.

Chad