3-d targets from an elevated stand would be great practice. I have heard many times from other hunters and am guilty of it myself, in the excitement you forgot to pick an exact spot and aim. Very easy to do on a live animal in the heat of the moment. Don't think hit the vitals think hit that spot...I know I already mentioned that but imo a very important piece to the puzzle.
... Ponder scares any Vikings fan the moment he puts on a jersey. I was suggesting we put in the new guy by the second quarter last night. Couldn't be any worse! The only person on the field scared by Ponder is himself. That is one QB that is terrified to get hit.
For one pat yourself on the back that you're setting yourself up right on these nice bucks! Sounds to me also that you might have a touch of target panic possibly. One other thing that I've seen new bow hunters do is when they put their pin on the deer they do just that put the whole pin on the deer. Concentrate and put the tip of that pin on that hair you're aiming at and follow through. Best of luck fixing whatever it is.
Hope you get another chance as I feel you will connect. Take your time and make sure your squeezing the trigger on your release not punching it so fast and hard its throwing your shot off. Good luck
Went and scheduled a 1-2 hour meeting with the local pro shop to go everything including my form, shooting technique, equipment, etc checked out. Thanks again for all of your advice... I will not let this little speed bump stop me from enjoying such an amazing sport!
No one knows what you are doing wrong other than shooting where the deer isn't. LOL But FWIW... Here are some top reasons to miss slam dunks. 1. Not using a peep sight. Your sight picture changes as the bow string is moved away from your eye. Bending at the waste keeps the sight picture constant. Get a peep if you don't have one and make sure you are aiming through it. 2. Not settling the pin. Many people punch the trigger. You must stop the pin... hold it on THE spot... release... keep holding. 3. Trying to watch the arrow. BAD...BAD habit. Once you release... keep the pin on the spot and don't stop aiming until the arrows hits. You will not likely see the arrow in most cases at close range. You said you saw the arrow go over the deer? You shouldn't be able to know this IMO. 4. Using the wrong sight pin... believe it or not. 5. Assuming a bow is flatter shooting than it is. Many bows sighted in at 25 yards... are quite a few inches off at 5 yards. You need to know where your arrow hits. Remember the arrows begins it's path 3-4 inches below your line of sight, travels to or through it... then drops back to the target. Know the arc... at all ranges... you may be surprised what you discover. 6. Broad-heads not hitting the same as field tips. Make sure you know where a broad-head hits. I took my nephew once and he missed a deer. He missed by 18 inches. He never knew broad-heads would fly so differently. Hope this helps... and hang in there... we've all missed and will all miss again.
I think your nervous because you are afraid that you are going to lose the bet to me and Fitz. Just put up the signature now and admit defeat and your pressure will go away and you will probably shoot the next buck that comes in Seriously though good luck figuring it out.
What comes to mind for me is you said you are shooting from a box blind with 3 foot walls. You might be torqueing the bow to avoid shooting the rail of the blind. So you might be pulling up on the bow before the release and causing you to shot high over the bucks back. Sounds like your in a great spot, so maybe set a hang on stand in the closest tree and use that stand for bow hunting. A lot of rifle stands aren't sett up well for bow hunters.
Buy a Hind Sight, you can't get away with torqueing your bow with one. Start at squirrels and stuff too. You need to get into the predator mindset. I'm not much of a target shooter... but I'm a pretty good killer. :P
Scheduled for Tuesday at 5pm.... Not getting into the stand until then. I seriously appreciate all of the advice you guys have given me. As a noob bow hunter this forum has helped me so much! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Jumping the shoot I would assume. Just slow down relax and take your time. If you can hit your target then its something in the field such as buck fever.
This what I was wondering too. I am assuming you have a rangefinder with Angle compensation. Keep us posted on what the bow shop says. Also, practice from a stand set to the same height you hunt as much as you can like others said. And as they said, try to re-create the shot and go through all the same motions you did when you missed the other deer. HANG IN THERE BRO! It will get better!
I agree you should practice the shot. I found that from my ground blind I found that under 10 yards I have to use my 40 yard pin to hit where I want to hit so I'd take a target out and just shoot the shot. I kn ow it sounds weird but I have had a shot opportunity like this once and missed the shot so just to find out what was going on I shot the shot over and over till I found out what I needed to do.
Once you get the pro advice then it's up to you to start practicing as close to the situation you put yourself in while in stand. Hopefully you can find a 3D course or at least a target to set up and perhaps get elevated in a similar situation. Shooting at something without dots is the only way you can learn to pick that spot and hold that pin steady.
