Your hard shot scenario...

[Velocity kills]

Seems to be there is alot of talk about hunting accuracy and acceptable distance. Many answere have came in. Alot about practicing from a stand at different shot scenarios. Lets share some.
Mine- It was near dark, and i was 20 feet up a big white pine.6 does came down a trail stopped before my opening , 30 yrds out. The lead doe backed up and came down a small trail almost under my tree. As the deer was almost under my stand I drew for a spine shot. BUSTED..3/4 draw 5 yards from the tree. She looked at me as I finished the draw. Nervously she crouched down on her front legs preparing to bolt. Slowly I leand out from the stand and placed the arrow on the inside of her shoulder and out the bottom. She ran 50 yrds and piled up. 143 lbs dressed. Not the picture perfect scenario..thats was comfort and confidence does.

 

[DoeTag]

I personally have a hard time taking deer under 20yards, it not the steep angle or anything like that, it is mental. I am affraid the deer will hear/see me too easily, it just seems too close. I know it sounds silly but 20-30yds is my comfort zone. I am more relaxed and feel more concealed.

 

[Radar]

I do allot of roving practice to practice hard shots from different shooting angles , shooting trough small holes in the limbs and from awkward shooting positions.
I was pulling a stand from a swamp in Mi. on my last bowhunt before moving to Tn. 19 years ago . The stand was located on a slight oak ridge within the swamp .
It had started to sprinkle rain , so got down early before it got dark . As I walked through the tall grass on the outer edge of the swamp and neared the Alfalfa field , I noticed a decent buck feeding about 40 yards out .
Still standing in chest high grass , I kneeled down and dropped the stand off my back , knocked an arrow ,drew back while still crouched down , then slowly stood up to clear the deep grass , settled the pin on the buck's chest and released.
I watched the deer go across the field and end over end , then the pouring rain came as I quickly made my way across the field towards the spot where the deer went down .
I felt like Fred Bear . It was a fitting end for my last hunt in Mi.

 

[Velocity kills]

 

[Radar]

That was one example , but when I think of the deer I have killed over the years , there were very few real easy shots.
Shooting live animals is much different than foam targets .

 

[Velocity kills]

When I was young I was always told to not shoot a poundage that you stuggle to pull. The cold Vermont days will make it hard to draw. Young and FULL of ALL the knowledge I blew the advice off. Fall morning,20 degrees, in the hardwoods, a small doe came up 20 yards out. Not a CLUE I was there..Despite the fact that I was moving all around Trying to draw the bow. Finally I got it back and missed. I was being tought a lesson. Learned fast too.

 

[UTGrad]

I can draw 67# comfortably on the ground, calm, in the backyard. I hope I can draw on the first deer I try to kill with a bow.

 

[Radar]

I can draw 67# comfortably on the ground, calm, in the backyard. I hope I can draw on the first deer I try to kill with a bow.

There is a test to simulate drawing a bow from an awkward position to see if you are over bowed .
Sit on the ground with your feet straight out in front of you , then draw straight back without raising your bow arm . If you can't draw back without raising your bow arm from this position , you are over bowed and unlikely to be able to draw down at a deer under hunting type conditions in cold weather .
This is not a test to simulate a real life hunting situation , but compromising your form enough to simulate reduced strength under cold hunting conditions or awkward shooting positions .
Standing in the backyard in the summertime while shooting at ground level with perfect shooting form is much different than shooting from a treestand on a cold morning with no warmup shot at a live animal that is always moving .

 

[fourwheeler431]

I do something similar to what Radar is talking about but, I use a folding chair with my legs together and my bow straight out in front of me. This seems to work for me as I've never had a problem drawing back when it's cold.

 

[eddie c]

the other mistake some folks make is to quit practicing after the season starts. their muscles get weak along with losing their shooting form.

one of my mistakes is thinking too much at the time of the shot. instead of just 'making it happen', I think myself into a miss or not taking the shot at all. that cost me a lot of shots my whole bowhunting career, even with the compound. I became aware of this in the spring of '08 in south Texas while hunting those rabbits with my longbow. this past fall I went into season with the mindset Make It Happen and got a 5 pt and a doe with my longbow.

 

[UTGrad]

I can draw 67# comfortably on the ground, calm, in the backyard. I hope I can draw on the first deer I try to kill with a bow.

There is a test to simulate drawing a bow from an awkward position to see if you are over bowed .
Sit on the ground with your feet straight out in front of you , then draw straight back without raising your bow arm . If you can't draw back without raising your bow arm from this position , you are over bowed and unlikely to be able to draw down at a deer under hunting type conditions in cold weather .
This is not a test to simulate a real life hunting situation , but compromising your form enough to simulate reduced strength under cold hunting conditions or awkward shooting positions .
Standing in the backyard in the summertime while shooting at ground level with perfect shooting form is much different than shooting from a treestand on a cold morning with no warmup shot at a live animal that is always moving .

Uh oh....I don't think I can do that.