Is over the should go pro footage really that deceiving or has Todd completely lost his nerve? The buck at "38" yards looked really close to the same distance as the buck at "22" on the go pro.
Well he's definitely lost his nerve - but it's all deceiving. Depends on exactly how high it's mounted over your head and what the downward angle is. You've gotta admire the guy for knowing his limits. He's not comfortable shooting them at 40-ish, so he's not going to do it. IMO more bowhunters need to practice restraint in shot distance - whether it's 40, 50 or beyond.
Amen Justin! I think there are way, way too many guys that would take that shot no matter what their confidence level is. Worse yet, their confidence far exceeds their capabilities. That's why we all get sick to our stomach each Fall with posts asking about trying to find wounded deer. Mistakes can and do happen. We can never eliminate all possibilities for failure, but we do have control over taking only the highest percentage shots we are capable of. Also, I watched that show last evening and thought it looked every bit of 38 yards.
IMO. The first buck at 38 yards escaped with his life because of time, or lack thereof. The tribulations of trying to get good camera footage. I would imagine that distance to the scrape with the camera setup on it was pre-ranged? Had Todd prepared for the shot prior to the buck entering the green path or if the buck would have loitered at the scrape, the deer would have been dead. Says me! :p The buck at 22 yards survived for the same reason. Flucking around with the camera. Anyone know a good sport psychologist? Harvest or not this was a great encounter and content!
He isn't comfortable at 38 yards. At least not that day. Really has nothing to do with nerves. Neither am I unless I have shot way more than usual that season. I have passed Booners at that range in hopes of a better chance another day. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it does not, but it seldom ends in losing a wounded deer. I applaud anyone for having the balls to pass up what may be a makeable shot, but is not a comfortable shot. I wish more guys could leave their ego in the truck and hunt to their actual abilities.
I was thinking about the Turd Ferguson episode and how the time Matt Miller got busted it looks like the deer is like 40 yards out and I think it said the deer was at 20 or 25 yards when the deer got a whiff of them or saw them and turned around. And on other hunts on his plot behind the house one episode he plugged a doe and the shot looks way longer than he said it was. Crazy how deceptive the distances look from those over the shoulder cams. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Thanks for watching our stuff Brian. The over the shoulder can be deceptive for distance. Keep in mind a GoPro is set up with a lens to optimize field of view, not distance or depth perception. I shot Turd Ferguson at about 10 yards. And Nacho Libre was at about 8 yards several years ago. Both shots probably looked further than that when you look at the over the shoulder footage. That doe behind my house was about 32 yards. That’s just how it ends up, cameras can be quite deceiving at times depending on the angle and lens. There are also times where I have seen people take shots filmed with the big camera that looked much closer than they really were.
