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You didn't kill that deer cause why?

1

1simplemann

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
967
Being a successful deer hunter is an accumilation of learning from your mistakes. I've been showing my partner the ropes for a few years now. He's learned a ton and starting to kill them pretty regular. However hunting is process and I'm still learning myself. If you put enough factors in your favor, eventually your going to be successful. I started thinking about the reasons why we don't get them. Here are some. Hopefully you can add to the list.

Saw you walk in.
Smelled you walk in.
Heard you walk in.
Got to the tree too late.
Smelled you in the tree.
Smelled your ground scent.
Heard you set Up.
Saw you set up.
Too high in tree.
Too low in tree.
Silhouetted in tree.
Not enough cover.
Heard you move.
Tree stand creaked.
Heard you draw.
Couldn't see the deer coming.
Not ready.
Not paying attention.
Asleep.
Missed.
Estimated distance wrong.
Wrong pin.
Pin's off.
Too far for shot.
Too close for a shot.
Wrong tree.
Didn't hunt.
Couldn't get him stopped.
Dropped your bow. (This happened to me last year. I hung my bow on an inferior branch. I bumped it as I was reaching for it. Down it went. a 150" WAS coming in!)


Anyway there's my list. Maybe you guys can add to it. I'm sure I can think of more. However however if you can eliminate all of those factors the surely anyone can kill a deer with a bow!
 
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Was not mentally ready for the situation. The adrenaline rush was real. Arms started to shake uncontrollably and had no strength to pull back bow that you routinely practice with. Instead of trying to calm down, l death gripped the release to pull back and prematurely fired the arrow at ground. So add...

All practice and planning left brain when I got punched in face at moment of fight.
 
Rushed/punched the shot, picked a bad tree with little cover, moved when other deer were in sight that I wasn't aware of, deer coming from the opposite direction I anticipated. Those are just from this season.

I've definitely felt better about myself this season as there has rarely been a hunt that I didn't have deer in range. Also over half of my hunts have had shooter bucks within sight and shooter bucks in range on 4 separate hunts. I'm slowly figuring it out, just have to fine tune a little. Big stretch from last season when I had deer in range about 30% of my hunts and just lucked into a buck
 
2020 - Had a buck sneak up on me because of wet ground. I was texting a buddy at the time to look up and he was at 30 yards. I was in my climber and not in a good position he picked me out at 25 yards and turned and walked away. Wasn't expecting him that early in the afternoon hunt but I should always be prepared. Not saying I would have killed that buck but I do believe that if I was in a saddle in that situation my odds would have significantly increased

2021 - shot a doe at probably 5 yards. I put the arrow exactly where I wanted to but because she was so close and 1/4 away I hit her too far back. In my mind I was thinking of an arrow placement at around 25 yards and not 5. I did not think about where my arrow would exit. Tracked her a few hundred yards. Ran out of blood and I had to suffer the mental game on that one. Very easy shot but did not take the time to think through the process of my arrow exiting her body

I could go on and on about others but those are the two most recent mistakes I've made when a great opportunity has presented itself
 
Not being prepared: left arrows or bullets at home, left safety on, scope out of adjustment. Not practicing enough.
Not enough pre-scouting. Too much time on gear and not enough time on hunting.
Buck fever.
 
Fawns. I will get a bigger one later. Never happened. So far.
Cantilevered bow. Not thinking
Arm of the bow hit the tree
Hit a branch.
Had one in front of me ready to shoot and the one behind blows at me. Never saw that one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
1simplemann said:
Being a successful deer hunter is an accumilation of learning rom your mistakes. I've been showing my partner the ropes for a few years now. He's learned a ton and starting to kill them pretty regular. However hunting is process and I'm still learning myself. If you put enough factors in your favor, eventually your going to be successfull. I started thinking about the reasons why we don't get them. Here are some. Hopefully you can add to the list.

Saw you walk in.
Smelled you walk in.
Heard you walk in.
Got to the tree too late.
Smelled you in the tree.
Smelled your ground scent.
Heard you set Up.
Saw you set up.
Too high in tree.
Too low in tree.
Silhouetted in tree.
Not enough cover.
Heard you move.
Tree stand creaked.
Heard you draw.
Couldn't see the deer coming.
Not ready.
Not paying attention.
Asleep.
Missed.
Estimated distance wrong.
Wrong pin.
Pin's off.
Too far for shot.
Too close for a shot.
Wrong tree.
Didn't hunt.
Couldn't get him stopped.
Dropped your bow. (This happened to me last year. I hung my bow on an inferior branch. I bumped it as was reaching for it. Down it went. a 150" WAS coming in!)


Anyway there's my list. Maybe you guys can add to it. I'm sure I can think of more. However however if you can eliminate all of those factors the surely anyone can kill a deer with a bow!
Click to expand...
(D) All of the above
 
Ontariofarmer said:
Fawns. I will get a bigger one later. Never happened. So far.
Cantilevered bow. Not thinking
Arm of the bow hit the tree
Hit a branch.
Had one in front of me ready to shoot and the one behind blows at me. Never saw that one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

Carelessness setting up the bow at base of tree, and funky homebrew . Got into my tree 30 minutes before shooting light. Pulled up my bow up, and had it too close to lower step, got tangled in an aider. After making a ton of noise trying to free it up, Went down, back up, all the nervousness and drinking weird beer night before, had 2 go down and take care of business. After 3rd climb, I’m all set but it’s now sunrise. 5 minutes later I hear a grunt and deer moving fast thought it was rut activity. Didn’t think it was downwind, but milkweed showed it was. The deer were running in a parade with 2 bucks and the doe behind, so wrong order for rut! . I figured it out. I’m nearly certain I was set up perfect, but they heard the 3 climbs, swung downwind to scent check, and caught a horrifying whiff. Literally blew the spot out. Left a cam behind, took a good week to see anything, and I think another guy killed the shooter. Nothing better than a blown hunt where you learn multiple lessons.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’m running 20 trail cams, 9 of them cellular, on 125 acres to get better data on what the deers do all season, and I still can’t put a pattern on the buck of interest, this is his core ground. We’ve got young kids and I can’t get out like I used to, I’m playing the odds with each hunt, and they’re still in his favor.
 
Awe.

Had a few deer coming within 10 yards of me this year but never even thought about grabbing the bow. Just the experience of watching a deer walk by unaware or a fawn (sorry @Nutterbuster) playing in a stream blowing bubbles and sneezing from it. Even had "the buck" I was going after within range and instead watching him find a girlfriend and chase her all over the woods.

Up until this year, I simply harvested deer. This year, I hunted multiple weekends, saw and experienced nature and took home twice the usual venison.
 
Those are some good ones. Impatient was a good one! I'm guilty. However, I've had all day to think of more.

Waited too long for perfect shot that never came. ( Shoot at the 1st good opportunity. Don't wait!)
No clear shot.
Didn't clear that extra shooting lane.
Never practiced drawing at potential shots.
Loose bark on tree made noise as I drew.
Hit elbow on tree as I drew.
Arrow fell off rest.
Accidently hit trigger. (someone said this one already)
Buck Fever
Poor shot placement.
Not enought penetration.
Peep twisted.
D loop broke.
Rest broken.
Snow or rain in peep.
Frozen dirt or mud in cam.
Too cold. Couldn't get drawn back.
Over bowed. Couldn't get drawn back during a hunting situation.
Feet got caught up in the cables of the treestand. ( Not any more! LOL)
Doe zigged when I wanted her to zag.
Doe spooked taking the buck w/ her. ( Usually happens when paying attention to the buck and forgetting about the doe or does.)
Coyote spooked deer.
Dogs chasing deer.
Cat spooked deer.
For the urban hunters, jogger spooked deer
dog walker spooked deer
Other hunters walking around.
Hunting a tree too much.
Hunting an area too much.
Getting down too early.
Got the tree too late.
Buck comes in before legal time.
Buck comes in after legal time.
Deer comes in while climbing tree.
Didn't pull up bow 1st while getting ready. IE (Bow on the ground while getting ready) My fastest kill is 3 minutes after I climbed the tree.
Deer on the wrong side of the property line.
Called too loud.
Too agressive of a call. (aka-Snort wheeze)
Never shot their BH's.
Never tuned bow.
Not enough practice.
Didn't pre range all your potential shots.
Forgot rangefinder.
Rangefinder not working. (This happened to me once. I had 13 opportunities from noon till 3PM at a 145" 9pt chasing does.. All greater than 30yds but less than 50yds. I don't shoot past 30yd unless I know the exact range. Multiple reasons why I didn't get that buck. IE wrong tree! I still should have gotten it done that day. Great day though. Saw 16 bucks total, 3 shooters. never went more than 15 minutes without seeing a deer.

That's about all that I can think of. Most have either happened to me or a hunting buddy or I have heard about happening to others. With all these things we have to worry about, it's a wonder that we ever get a deer!
 
This year...

Doe stops in front of my tree at 11 yards behind a tight cluster of 4 - 2" diameter trees which of course are covering the vitals. I'm as cool and calm as a cat taking a nap thinking I'll be in this tree for less than 45 minutes, make a kill and be home on the couch by 11:00am. I'm waiting for her to take two more steps and then she'll have no cover to hide behind on my entire strong side, laughing in my head the whole time at how dead she is and doesn't even know it. And then HE showed up...

She whipped her head around looking past my tree so I turned my head slowly to see what alerted her. When I peeked through the evergreen tree branches covering my six, not 10 yards away was a stud of a buck just glaring at her. I knew what his intentions were by his body language and right away thought "aw crap, he's about to run her off" so I switched my focus to her and decided to take the shot before she bolted. He was off limits because I already shot a buck this year so I was strictly doe hunting. In my head I had it all worked out, put an arrow through her shoulder take out the heart and plumbing and the offside leg/shoulder, no sweat. What I didn't take into account was the small tree that grew so close to mine that it was literally touching the opposite side of where I was hanging, and it had a thin branch that grew upwards. Well when I leaned forward to aim my upper bow limb came to rest against it without me knowing until I squeezed the release trigger... :oops:

It was as if I fired a dud! I didn't feel the bow go off or even hear it go off and the arrow traveled in what looked like slow motion. When the arrow hit her it stopped!! That's when everything went full speed again and she took off faster and harder than any deer I've ever put an arrow in. As I watched 28" out of a 29" arrow waving goodbye to me with every bound she took it confirmed something went horribly wrong. Reenacting the shot sequence is when I realized that my bow limb was resting on that tree limb and said tree limb absorbed all of the bows energy instead of transferring it to the arrow.

I beat myself up to this day for not waiting longer and see how that scenario played out. Maybe she takes a few steps, maybe she only bolts 10 to 30 yards, maybe she runs away and comes back later and I get another shot opportunity.

So double down on PATIENCE
And keep your bow clear of obstructions...
 
Drawing too early. There is a fine line between drawing before he takes the last two steps you need and drawing too early and being stuck at full draw when you don’t have a shot and he seems to have a sixth sense telling him not to take another step.
 
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