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Time to admit what happened...

Bow hunting can be the most frustrating thing in the world. This year I was 5/5 on deer, last year I was 1/5 with some truly awful shots.

2019 season I practiced more than I ever had before. What I think was happening was that I was getting "target panic" only when a live deer was in front of me. Didn't care when I was shooting targets, when a deer walked out I would get fired up and yank the shot.

I started practicing with a hinge release in the off season and it seems to have solved the issue for me based on the 2020 season.

One thing to consider: if the only thing you changed is heavy arrows, and if all the misses were high, your arrow will be moving considerably slower, which gives the deer much more time to duck. Fractions of a second make a big difference when you are talking about a whitetail's ability to get out of the way of an arrow. The only reason I still shoot a relatively light arrow (~440 grains) is because I want less time to elapse before my arrow gets to the deer. This may not be your issue, but I would be surprised if it is not a contributor. Doesn't matter how much momentum you have if the deer is out of the way when your arrow gets there.
 
I think you gotta just keep at it. Shoot and shoot and shoot more.
i would take a break from all the you tube instruction and big guns try to back up and focus back on basics.
Even trying to get better at deer hunting i think people are trying to hard to mimic someone else's way of doing things. Rarely this will work. Mimicing someones wsys are tactics are a recipe for a disappointing season.
i got caught up in alot of that hoopla snd took a few years to learn i gotta take bits and pieces of information and see if it will adapt into a way you develop doing.
remember anyone can say they are an expert you will find not many can back it up.
i had the miss problem back in 2017-18. Missed 4 different slammers. Was ready to hang it up. But then i thought what did i change ? why did i change it ?
Did it need changing?
well no it diddnt. I git a tip from some youtube dude and did it. That did not work out real well as soon as i went back to a way i did things before i smoked one.
develop a system snd habit that is comfortable for youit also builds tremendous confidence
 
Personally, I think you’re experience a form of target panic. You could try getting in the tree to practice and buying a 3D full size deer target and shoot it from different angles out of your setup in the woods. Your brain is anticipating what is gonna happen when the arrow releases. You need to retrain it and rebuild confidence. Same thing happens to duck hunters and all manner of people who get to where they have more opportunities at animals as you clearly seem to be
 
If it is indeed target panic, I’ve found that a consistent shot sequence (hammered in through practice) helps me in the moment of truth. I missed my first dozen (yes, 12) or so deer with a bow—wasn’t even cutting hair—despite being able to consistently hit a softball-size target on the range at 20 yards. It came together for me in 2018 for whatever reason, and I’ve killed 5 great bucks since then with my only miss being on a coyote this year because I got too amped up and didn’t follow my sequence.
By “shot sequence,” I mean running through your mental checklist to confirm that everything is right.
Mine goes like this: “Get to full draw. Check sleeve to ensure clearance. Anchor knuckle by ear. Tip of nose on string. Ensure bubble is level. Confirm using correct pin. Aim. Finger on trigger. Breathe. Pull through.”
That seems like a ton, but it takes maybe 2-3 seconds and ensures I don’t make a dumb mistake like using the wrong pin or shooting without anchoring (been there, done that). I also remind myself while hunting that I’m not “killing” the animal by punching the trigger; rather, I’m going to execute a great shot, and everything after that will work itself out. I guess it’s easier for me to “make a shot” than to “kill the animal,” so that’s what I focus on. Find your “thing” that works for you, and practice it until you’re blue in the face. Then, remember it when that deer comes walking in, and it’ll all work out.
Good luck, buddy! I’m looking forward to your success story update next fall.
 
One thing to consider: if the only thing you changed is heavy arrows, and if all the misses were high, your arrow will be moving considerably slower, which gives the deer much more time to duck. Fractions of a second make a big difference when you are talking about a whitetail's ability to get out of the way of an arrow. The only reason I still shoot a relatively light arrow (~440 grains) is because I want less time to elapse before my arrow gets to the deer. This may not be your issue, but I would be surprised if it is not a contributor. Doesn't matter how much momentum you have if the deer is out of the way when your arrow gets there.


Exactly.

I'd be curious what the arrow speed was pre RF and what it is now.

The other elephant in the room is target panic/ buck fever. 3rd axis, not bending at the waist, lots of things can affect your shot but none as severe or as common as seeing fur behind your pin and hammering the trigger.

Do you have a clear memory of your shot process on the misses or was it just a blur and you went into auto pilot?
 
I did not read any of the responses but I am sure you are not picking a spot and following through. Sorry sounds like clssic buck fever. Getting the pin on the deer and shooting at the whole deer. Happens to the best of us, we sometimes fail to concentrate!! We all should actually aim at a very small spot, like the size of a ping pong ball. I actually for the last 30 years have two small notes on my bows. One on upper limb facing me says PIck A Spot, the second just below my grip says Follow Thru I really believe these cause me to slow down and relax and allow me to follow my own advise!! Shawn
 
Okay it's time to admit it. Been putting it off since the season ended back in December.

I missed six times this year and made two really bad hits. All with my bow.

I have a range set up in my basement and backyard. Most days rain or shine throughout the year I shoot. I love to shoot. I shoot short-range and long-range.

I have followed a lot of school of nock lessons and learned a lot from the ranch fairy this past year.

I love this hobby and I spend so much time tinkering with gear adjusting gear and just plain shooting.

I love the whole sport, not just the hunting.

And I have never had that many misses!

Some of these were absolute chip shots. Small doe coming in right at 15 yards under my ladder stand completely unaware. Total flinger over-the-shoulder. Reload, shoot again, complete miss again

I did connect with my largest bow buck to date, but it was a total gut shot and if I hadn't had a ranch fairy special loaded I'm not sure I would have recovered him. Had to give him 12 hrs + and the coyotes ate him before I got back to him.

This was my first year actually hunting with heavy ranch fairy arrows. Things were shooting good at targets. All of my tuning went well. I was very happy with arrow flight.

Previous years I tend to be pretty solid on the One-Shot kill. Last year I made a perfect heart shot on my largest buck up until that point.

I have never missed completely so many times.

Any thoughts as to where I should start? Something is amiss. Either I'm experiencing way more Buck Fever than I ever thought I had, or something is really off with my form/equipment.

I did accidentally dry fired bow last summer, and had to rebuild it. I do feel like it makes a little more noise than it used to. Seems like maybe the cam has a little rattle.

Could that much extra noise be causing all of these dear to jump me that bad? Maybe that in combination with a much heavier Arrow this year?

On nights when I missed I would come back to the range in my yard and fire a perfect shot at equal distance into a target. It was a frustrating season.
This is just my opinion but are you picking a spot or shooting at the hole deer. Remember aim small miss small. I put a small piece of tape on my bow that has the word PASS on it which means PICK A Spot Stupid if I don't do that then I pass.
 
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First year in a saddle?

I think it’s a form issue, dropping your bow arm if you’re hitting high.

And side question, what about the gut shot required a heavy arrow?


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Do you concentrate on where you are aiming? Until I started doing that I missed a lot. I think I aimed at the whole deer and missed completely. Now I say to myself just above the elbow and I burn a hole in that spot on the deer. Works for me!
 
How B long have you U been hunting with a C bow? How many deer K have you killed with a bow before this year? At least your getting some shots. You HAVE TO practice the way you hunt. You can't get the same muscle memory if your not practicing the way you hunt, honestly right down to the clothes your F going to wear. E It'll sound something V like this, " I would E have killed the biggest R buck of my life but my string got caught on my face mask". If you've been at it awhile you probably have your form ironed out. Same with shooting out of an elevated position,(not a saddle). If your going to hunt out of a saddle, practice out of a saddle. Get up in the trees with your saddle and shoot a bunch of arrows and then let us know if your still having trouble. Good luck.
 
I'll be the contrarian.

I once missed somewhere between 4-6 deer in a row...with a rifle. Why? Who knows. Gun was sighted in, and I'm usually a good shot. These were all does (with the exception of one buck i refuse to talk about), and I kill does like fat kids kill bad guys in Call of Duty.

Since then I've killed 20-something deer with bows, crossbows, muzzle loaders, rifles, and Chevy Blazers. I've missed maybe 4.

Sometimes you just miss. You get on a bad streak. Maybe it's your Chakra out of alignment or your chi is off-balanced. Maybe you're a scorpio and the horoscope said you'd encounter heartbreak this fall. Who knows? Who cares? Go kill some deer.
 
And side question, what about the gut shot required a heavy arrow?

I'm convinced the heavy arrow with cut on contact blade zipped right through the guts causing the buck to hardly even realize anything happened. He just kind of hunched walked 30 yds and laid back down in the bed he got out of.

I think hitting a deer like that with a "twizzler flapper" would have sent him on the run.

I think the general consensus is correct. I've got more Deer Fever than I think. Been hunting quite successfully with a bow for 15 + years but only recently really getting into it as a hobby, putting a lot more thought into everything, working more on set up, arrow tuning and everything.

Got too much pressure on myself I guess.

Going back to work on the process with my hinge release. I heart shot the buck last year with that release. Shouldn't have switched.

Got too big for my britches and nature dun taught me a lesson!
 
No secret about my thoughts on the extremely heavy arrow fad.Absolute over kill.However I don think they are what was causing your misses high unless you have your closest pin set way too far and that is unlikely.I feel like your misses are probably form related with you more than likely not bending at the waist.Also could be a confidence issue Sometimes when you catch a bad break it can be hard to get over it making it easy to talk yourself into missing before it happens
 
I'm convinced the heavy arrow with cut on contact blade zipped right through the guts causing the buck to hardly even realize anything happened. He just kind of hunched walked 30 yds and laid back down in the bed he got out of.

I think hitting a deer like that with a "twizzler flapper" would have sent him on the run.

I think the general consensus is correct. I've got more Deer Fever than I think. Been hunting quite successfully with a bow for 15 + years but only recently really getting into it as a hobby, putting a lot more thought into everything, working more on set up, arrow tuning and everything.

Got too much pressure on myself I guess.

Going back to work on the process with my hinge release. I heart shot the buck last year with that release. Shouldn't have switched.

Got too big for my britches and nature dun taught me a lesson!

Twizzler Flapper? Is that a Fairy saying?

27B32A96-30E2-488D-A751-B9C3047970CC.jpeg

Don't underestimate the effectiveness of the Twizzler Flapper.
 
torqueing bow? Grip too tight? check your string indexing. Consistent anchoring. Make sure your peep isnt moving.
 
I'm convinced the heavy arrow with cut on contact blade zipped right through the guts causing the buck to hardly even realize anything happened. He just kind of hunched walked 30 yds and laid back down in the bed he got out of.

I think hitting a deer like that with a "twizzler flapper" would have sent him on the run.

I think the general consensus is correct. I've got more Deer Fever than I think. Been hunting quite successfully with a bow for 15 + years but only recently really getting into it as a hobby, putting a lot more thought into everything, working more on set up, arrow tuning and everything.

Got too much pressure on myself I guess.

Going back to work on the process with my hinge release. I heart shot the buck last year with that release. Shouldn't have switched.

Got too big for my britches and nature dun taught me a lesson!
I believe most of us hunt because of that squirt of adrenaline we get when the moment of truth approaches. For me, that's where its at. When I stop getting that little quickening of the heartbeat, the shortness of breath . . . it might be time to find a new past time. Working through it is the key. As others have said above, consistent practice and a solid sequence to follow is the best way to get by it successfully. But embrace it, it's where the thrill of hunting is at.
 
Shoot as many 3D tournaments as you can find. High pressure competition will help build confidence and repetition will make everything seem more natural at “game time”.

If you’ve lost confidence in your set up from the dry fire or heavy arrows then it’s time to switch things up. Confidence is everything.


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