First, this is not directed at anyone here. I have seen this scenerio play out more often in recent years, on multiple forums. At least that is my observation. Arrow deflections... It seems this is happening at an alarming rate this year. Anyone else think so? Any guesses why? Here are mine. - First and obvious reason, the hunter just didn't see the branch. This could easily happen in the heat of the moment, and while focusing hard on the "target". - Trying to "squeeze" a shot in where they know they probably shouldn't. - Hunters pushing the limits with the better equipment available these days. The farther you shoot, the more likely you will hit something before your target. - "Mobile" hunting. I think the term is ghey, but thats not the point here. The point is, hunters setting up that day without the chance, or effort, to trim shooting lanes. This is the most common reason I have heard people give. - Excuse/cover up for taking a poor angled shot. I sincerely hope this doesn't happen often, but I worry it does. I understand arrow deflections are a part of bowhunting. I am a little concerned with how often it is happening. I have never experienced an arrow deflection, but I'm sure it will happen to me now that I post this.
I've had it happen. Off-hand, I attribute this to one thing more often than not...........(and there's a technical term for it which escapes me)......the difference between sight line and the actual line of flight (parallax? - I dunno). When it's happened to me, it's been on REALLY short shots, where the line of sight was clean/clear. I'll also admit (and bolster this) that my DB blind has a hole in it....lol.
I have never had a deflected arrow hit anything, luckily, but have had one this year on a cow elk earlier in the season, it was a spot and stalk type situation and i ranged her at 40, and shot pretty quick because she was looking at me, I did whack a brushy limb about 10 yards from her and it shot my arrow straight down into the ground. I must say though I honesly was so caught up in the moment I didnt even notice the limb untill I hit it, I think it can happen pretty easily in a spot and stalk type of a situation.
One you forgot: - Not fully understanding and being familiar with their equipment. Too often I've seen rifle hunters make the transition to bowhunting and not become fully familiar with the new gear before taking to the field. They hit the mark just fine in the yard but fail to understand the flight path of their new equipment and practice in realistic situations.
I believe the most common causes are people trying to push shots where they shouldn't be, and honestly not seeing some of the smaller twigs. I personally try to inspect every one of my shooting lanes with my binos from the stand, just to be sure. I can't tell you how many times I've looked with my naked eye at a spot I thought I could shoot, only to discover a couple well-placed twigs that I couldn't see. With the leaves on the ground and the forest colors all blending together now things have a tendency to run together. Put a nice buck in front of you as light is fading, and there's limbs that you'd swear grew in between the time you shot and when your arrow went zinging off into the woods.
I've had it happen to me once a few years ago. Deer came in and circled around me with plenty of shooting light left. I had picked a spot ahead of the deer waiting for him to move into it. As he did I tried to stop him and then I released and around 5 yards before impact it glanced off a small piece of underbrush and hit him a little forward. In my case it was just a small finger sized limb that I hadn't spotted when I looked and when I tried to stop the buck he walked a couple of steps farther before I took the shot. Just a simple mistake on my part.
guess if i hear a guy/girl having a deflection i feel bad for him/her cause i've been there. no way for me to know how/why his/her arrow went off, just take them for their word and i leave it at that. for me... my two were me trying to push an arrow in. 100% shouldnt have taken the shot both times, and hopefully i've learned. no one to blame but me
Its been a while since I've had a deflection on a deer. Most were because my eye line was clear, but the arrow path wasnt. I got real lucky on a few of them where they were bad shots that still turned into dead deer. I missed a real nice buck once just because I flat out didnt see the limbs. I've never been one to trim much in the way of shooting lanes. I'll snap some branches here & there.
