So i finally struck first blood for the 2014 season this afternoon. After watching spikes and 4 pointers running does all morning into the standing cornfield i decided to fill the freezer with some doe meat. After a string of events, she finally came in and fed at 20yds. I settled the pin tight to the front leg on that soft pocket. Squeezed the release and let an arrow fly. When i saw the arrow hit i was excited, but not as much as i initially shouldve been. The arrow looked to hit high, not out of the killzone, just higher than anticipated/wanted. She exits stage right, stumbles at the woodline, and only makes it another 40yds into the woods. I was shooting the Dead Ringer Rampage 3 blades, and was less than impressed, not because of performance or durability...or even flight. Mainly because of a distinct and easily audible (both to me and apparently the deer) hissing sound they make in flight. I got a complete pass through, all blades deployed, and the head is in need of only a sharpening, but i will not be using them again due to their noise in flight. I just wanted to show how much this doe ducked in the time it took an arrow traveling 305fps to travel 20 yds, much of which i think is on the sound given off by the arrow/broadhead (note these arrows are silent with field tips and other BH's ive used). The yellow line is the reference line in regards to what height her back was just before the shot, and the height at impact. The red line is where i aimed vs. point of impact. The red circles at the ends of the lines indicate where i aimed and actual impact. As you can see, the arrow was on course for the entry i aimed for, but the drop caused the higher than wanted impact. Nothing ground breaking here, we all know how (scarily) quick deer can react to an arrow being released i just thought id share my experience. Maybe someone who didnt know, or hadn't seen it, could use it in the future. Food for thought, hold low and let them drop into the shot! Good luck out there! ***Update: I am just about finished editing the video, and wanted to show the duck. I edited it to have a lag in it so you can actually see the drop vs. where the arrow would have hit if she stood still (the second pic) Video will be posted tonight!***
I've missed 2 shooter bucks in the last month... I am only shooting 55lbs and both arrows went over their backs. I assume you have practiced with your dead ringer broadheads and have heard them "hiss" before?? Great example though... I aimed too high on both of my bucks. Will not be happening again. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
wow that doe could be killer and limbo! and man is she skinny! is that just the angle that makes her look thin?
Was wondering the same, we're they not making noise when you practiced with them? If not, wonder if the broadhead opened early causing all the noise.
I've been reading a bunch in this lately & basically even with a "speed" bow @ 300+ FPS the speed of sound is 1100 & change FPS. The author basically said if your inside of 20 yards it's not that big of a deal but outside can be detrimental. Obviously how alert the deer is also has a large amount to do with it. Two weeks ago I shot a decent 8 pointer @ about 27 yards & he ducked enough that I only got a single lung hit & ended up not finding him. That led me to do a bunch of research on the subject. In my 10 years prior I had never had that happen to me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Experienced this for the first time on a big mature doe in a food plot the other night. She was 30 yards and slightly alert from the trail camera in the food plot. She was feeding when I shot. I am shooting about 315 fps and that doe ducked my arrow.
I tried some Steel Force Phatheads a few years back. They sung all the way to the target. Never hunted with them.
This is what I mentioned in your thread on the two misses. I was surprised that not more guys were mentioning this. I almost bet that is what happened on your two misses.
To answer some of the questions... -Yes, I knew about the hissing from summer practice, but didn't think it was too bad (first mistake) -I went back to my previous heads (rage hypodermics) bc now that I see how bad the problem is, it is unacceptable for me. -I've never seen it that bad before. I've noticed a small flinch, mostly as a reaction to impact. - She only weighed 90lbs, but for FL that's about average, I killed a doe last year that was 125# and our club president said she was the biggest doe ever killed (and she was pregnant) if that tells ya anything haha I'm just glad it didn't cost me the deer. Took out the top third of the exit lung and the very top of the entry side lung. She only went 70yds, no blood until I was 10yds away from her, but I would blame that on the high entry/exit not the head She also had an injury of some sort to her knee. I noticed her humping along and was curious about it. When I skinned her out her left knee was the size of a softball. I'm guessing maybe she broke it and it healed? Not sure what, but something happened
Glad it worked out for the best. This is a good example of making a good shot, but not getting good results. I've seen Bill Winke show examples of this on Midwest Whitetail. One of the reason I aim for the heart, if they drop, I still have the lungs.
That's exactly what I do as well. I put the pin on that soft pocket just behind the "arm pit" so if they do this I still hit lungs.
I still have a hard time doing this. I do not use a range finder and although I usually know the distances to common objects where I am sitting, deer have a habit of coming in from somewhere other than where you have planned. Since I often do not know the exact range and I am using my best guess (which is sometimes off), I usually hold center mass on the chest area. That way, if I am shooting for 20 yards and it is actually 24 yards and I hit low, I am still on the deer. Holding for a heart shot with the same yardages would put the arrow low off of the deer. This is all assuming that the deer doesn't drop and just stands there. I have had deer drop and I miss high so a low hold would have worked then. But I have also had deer not drop and I have shaved hair off of their brisket with a low shot. Overall, I miss more deer high than low so I have been trying to force myself to aim lower.
Wait. How do we know u didn't just shoot high. Are we assuming u made a perfect shot here? I doubt she dropped that much under twenty yards
Years ago I had it happen a couple times. (back in the slow bow days, could easily see the deer squat and arrow flight) Thats one of the reasons I like to aim low, heart area. Then if they squat, you are still good to go. Glad you got her.
Had same thing happen to me Weekend before last. She was at about 23 yrds. Her belly hit the ground and arrow went just over her back. Really disappointing. At least it was a clean miss for me. Hate the thought of wounding a deer
