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Shoot from Elevated posistion

Good point.... tend to forget that the exit wound is where you get the blood.

I've had a couple shots where I would have had to shoot 80 degrees to even get close.
Literally straight down.

I had to lean out over my stand and "dangle" from my harness, but decided to pass on the shot of a nice 8pt because I didn't think I'd recover him. SUCKED!!
 
I understand what yall are both talking about. Still, I am VERY confused after reading those posts. I would imagine some less experience bowhunters, might be confused. I think I know what yall are trying to say. But just for the sake of clarity...
my experiences have been my best teacher...here goes:

ONE-I don't care how relaxed, or how close your deer is, when the MOST quiet of ALL bow strings is released, even the "deafest" deer in the woods has at least a little reaction. Sure there may be the occasional exception, like heavy background noise or the deer being distracted. But I can't remember a time when I have not seen a deer drop at least a little before my arrow got there. Even when I shot in excess of 300 fps at CLOSE (5 yard) range.

TWO-The BEST way to find out where to shoot your deer at ANY given distance is to practice under actual hunting conditions, full dress rehersal, stand, pack, broadhead, safety belt, tree stand and all, from a height approximate to the height you'll be hunting in the woods. Preferably at 3-d targets at VARYING distances from straight down to your maximum distance. IT IS NOT THE SAME FROM A TREESTAND as it is from flat ground.

THREE-for my money and time in the woods, I am AIMING LOW EVERY TIME I KILL A DEER. Yes, I may want my arrow entry point to be a little higher, but that is not where I am aiming. Out of MANY bow kills over the last 25 years, I can probably count the number of "12 ring bullseyes" on two hands. That percentage is MUCH less than 10 percent of my overall bow kills. Deer rarely hold perfectly still upon arrow release. RARELY!

FOUR-The BEST advice I or ANYONE for that matter could give about taking a bow shot on a deer, is to FIRST picture the path of the arrow pryor to your release. Imagine entry exits PRYOR to your release. Imagine vitals affected PRYOR to the arrow release. Avoid shoulder entries and exits. And to dispell a "myth". Muzzy (and any other broadhead) is NOT "bad to the bone". Broadheads and bones do NOT mix well. Shoot vital organs...NOT BONES. Big bones like humerus (front leg) and ball joints, and femurs (rear leg) WILL STOP ARROWS.

FIVE-Generally speaking,

The higher I am, the lower I aim.

The less "relaxed" a deer body language, the lower I aim.

The closer the shot, the lower I aim.

At the longer distances, the noise of the bow seems to affect deer reaction less. Also, my arrow tends to fly truer to ground flight characteristics as I approach the 25 yard shot distance. Therefore, at longer distances, I USUALLY do NOT need to hold as low.

My set up is a fairly flat shooter to about 23 yards. from the ground. From my 25 foot stand, make that about 26 yards flat.

TWO examples: A deer feeding toward me on a calm, quiet day. It has "floppy" ears. It is munching and popping acorns. I am 25 feet up on a mid-winter leafless flat. The deer has no idea I am near. It gives me a slightly quartering away shot at 15 yards. I visualize the path of the arrow through both lungs exiting just behind the off side shoulder. I put my top pin about 5 inches up from the bottom of the deers chest, well behind the shoulder. At the shot, the deer drops a couple inches before arrow entry. SLAM DUNK DEAD!

NEXT example: Same deer, same scenario, but...the deer is 30 yards away. Now, I put my 25 yard pin near the deers, back and "box" the vitals with my 35 yard pin. Basically I am aiming RIGHT at and not below the vitals of the animal. WHY? Because the deers vitals are presented to me at a MUCH flatter angle. Simply put, I am looking at a "flatter" target. Experience has taught me that at this distance, the deer will not react as much to the sound. I theorize it is more "muffled". Though I still will aim low, I will not aim as low as I would at the 15 yard shot. Also I know at this distance, my arrow will not shoot as high as it would have at 15 yards.

Hope this helps!

102
 
LOL, different verbage makes it easy to read. I agree.
I especially like #4 about picturing the path of the arrow.

Too many people just see the shoulder and go back an inch and let her rip. Not thinking the whole time where the arrow will go from there. Back, up, down, front etc. I like that one!

I do agree with the fact that ALL deer will make a small movement when shot at no matter what. Some more than others for sure. Personally i have had more deer Jump -vs- duck in my hunting. BUT I was using a bow that was VERY loud. There is a difference between a deer being cautious and hearing a snap and a deer that KNOWS its being shot at and is scared. It's the difference between a shot 2 feet above/below the deer and a shot 2" above/below.

9x's outta 10 I'll shoot a tad high only because of my experience.
Way I see it:
If you shoot low and the deer jumps you hit a leg. If it Ducks you're dead on.
If you shoot high and it jumps your dead on if it ducks your hitting spine/top lung OR not wounding the deer.

Just my opinion and experience
 
Like 102 , sometimes you have to aim a little lower than you actually envision the arrow path through the deer .
When in doubt , aim low .
 
I have MANY, MANY home made videos of deer reacting to the bow shot. EVERY time they react, they drop FIRST. RARELY, in fact, only once, can I honestly say that I know I had a deer jump up out of the way of an arrow. WEIRDLY enough, it was a CLOSE shot. But I aimed lower than usual and the deer had dropped and was gone before my brain realized it was leaving. I actually saw the arrow go UNDER the deer as she jumped. But that was ONCE out of MANY MANY kills.

102
 
102 said:
I understand what yall are both talking about. Still, I am VERY confused after reading those posts. I would imagine some less experience bowhunters, might be confused. I think I know what yall are trying to say. But just for the sake of clarity...
my experiences have been my best teacher...here goes:

ONE-I don't care how relaxed, or how close your deer is, when the MOST quiet of ALL bow strings is released, even the "deafest" deer in the woods has at least a little reaction. Sure there may be the occasional exception, like heavy background noise or the deer being distracted. But I can't remember a time when I have not seen a deer drop at least a little before my arrow got there. Even when I shot in excess of 300 fps at CLOSE (5 yard) range.

TWO-The BEST way to find out where to shoot your deer at ANY given distance is to practice under actual hunting conditions, full dress rehersal, stand, pack, broadhead, safety belt, tree stand and all, from a height approximate to the height you'll be hunting in the woods. Preferably at 3-d targets at VARYING distances from straight down to your maximum distance. IT IS NOT THE SAME FROM A TREESTAND as it is from flat ground.

THREE-for my money and time in the woods, I am AIMING LOW EVERY TIME I KILL A DEER. Yes, I may want my arrow entry point to be a little higher, but that is not where I am aiming. Out of MANY bow kills over the last 25 years, I can probably count the number of "12 ring bullseyes" on two hands. That percentage is MUCH less than 10 percent of my overall bow kills. Deer rarely hold perfectly still upon arrow release. RARELY!

FOUR-The BEST advice I or ANYONE for that matter could give about taking a bow shot on a deer, is to FIRST picture the path of the arrow pryor to your release. Imagine entry exits PRYOR to your release. Imagine vitals affected PRYOR to the arrow release. Avoid shoulder entries and exits. And to dispell a "myth". Muzzy (and any other broadhead) is NOT "bad to the bone". Broadheads and bones do NOT mix well. Shoot vital organs...NOT BONES. Big bones like humerus (front leg) and ball joints, and femurs (rear leg) WILL STOP ARROWS.

FIVE-Generally speaking,

The higher I am, the lower I aim.

The less "relaxed" a deer body language, the lower I aim.

The closer the shot, the lower I aim.

At the longer distances, the noise of the bow seems to affect deer reaction less. Also, my arrow tends to fly truer to ground flight characteristics as I approach the 25 yard shot distance. Therefore, at longer distances, I USUALLY do NOT need to hold as low.

My set up is a fairly flat shooter to about 23 yards. from the ground. From my 25 foot stand, make that about 26 yards flat.

TWO examples: A deer feeding toward me on a calm, quiet day. It has "floppy" ears. It is munching and popping acorns. I am 25 feet up on a mid-winter leafless flat. The deer has no idea I am near. It gives me a slightly quartering away shot at 15 yards. I visualize the path of the arrow through both lungs exiting just behind the off side shoulder. I put my top pin about 5 inches up from the bottom of the deers chest, well behind the shoulder. At the shot, the deer drops a couple inches before arrow entry. SLAM DUNK DEAD!

NEXT example: Same deer, same scenario, but...the deer is 30 yards away. Now, I put my 25 yard pin near the deers, back and "box" the vitals with my 35 yard pin. Basically I am aiming RIGHT at and not below the vitals of the animal. WHY? Because the deers vitals are presented to me at a MUCH flatter angle. Simply put, I am looking at a "flatter" target. Experience has taught me that at this distance, the deer will not react as much to the sound. I theorize it is more "muffled". Though I still will aim low, I will not aim as low as I would at the 15 yard shot. Also I know at this distance, my arrow will not shoot as high as it would have at 15 yards.

Hope this helps!

102
Click to expand...

Great post...alot of information in here that I can use. I have heard about people aiming low on the shot. The best part of this post is the visualization part.
 
For years, when I first started bowhunting, I knew very few hunters around this area who had much experience with bow killed deer. I learned from mine and my hunting buddies experiences. I took loads of good notes, and later, video.

I used to write, in marker, on my bow, pick a spot, AIM LOW!

102
 
I wonder how many guys actually write on their Limbs or somewhere little hints.
Never thought of that.

Mine would say "breath, where's the arrow going to go?"

I love this forum, lots of good info. Sounds like I've been doing it a little backwards for a while. I'll take this all in consideration and see how it pays off.
 
Later in my bowhunting experience, I started using the acronym, SCAPAS. I wrote this on duct tape and put it on the inside/back of of my riser. So I would see it every time I came to full draw. It reminded me to S tay C alm A nd P ick A S pot. Hey, it helped.

102
 
Yeah Radar...but how do you pronounce SCAPAH?
And, the guys I hunt with might give me a hard time about picking hairs.

102
 
102 said:
Yeah Radar...but how do you pronounce SCAPAH?
And, the guys I hunt with might give me a hard time about picking hairs.

102
Click to expand...

Don't care how to pronounce SCAPAH , but I can put some venison in the freezer .Thats all that matters to me. ;)
 
Aim small, miss small!

I always try to teach that MOST bowhunters miss (when they do) because they shoot at the whole deer, or an area, rather than picking a particular TINY spot, like a muscle ripple or a tuft of hair. I once killed a deer that had a wart about the size of a silver dollar in the perfect spot for a lethal shot. It was one of the few times I hit exactly where I wanted to hit. Even though I aimed lower. Picking a hair does get the point across. I've said it MANY times.

102
 

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