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Biggest Buck of my Life

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TK161BOONER said:
Did he have issues with the deer dropping? Not all deer drop during a shot.
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Nope. He said it moved after releasing the shot.

“I let the arrow go right above shoulder and the buck steps back a huge step and hits the scrape. The arrow hits way to far forward.”

The error the movement caused was amplified by the distance.
 
Here is a rather good post about what can occur:

boyne bowhunter said:
I have to admit I've taken some 40yd shots in my past and even connected on a few. But that was before I considered the time it takes an arrow to cover that distance. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the ethics police or trying to say what you should or shouldn't do. I also agree everything is situational but for me personally I see too much risk in long distance archery shots. I limit myself to 30 yds these days (and that's probably longer than I would like).

Just for clarities sake I'll back up my stance with some hard numbers (I know, I've posted these before but I think its worth repeating). Let's say you're shooting a smoking 400fps arrow at a deer standing 40yds (120 ft) away. It will take 0.3 seconds for the arrow to cover that distance. That sounds like (and feels like it when shooting) an incredibly short time. The problem is, in reality, its not. Forget about jumping the string, standing vs walking, alert or not . . . just consider it in terms of how much something can move in that amount of time. If you're walking at the very leisurely pace of 2mph (approx. 3 ft/sec) in 0.3 seconds you will travel 0.9 ft.

In other words if, if your target even moves leisurely the softball size group you're aiming at has moved almost a full foot by the time your arrow gets there. And that's at 400fps. In the same situation with my measly slow 260 fps compound my softball has moved better than 16inches. For me its just too much delay to impact and too much that can possibly change.
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I do feel bad for OP because he/she trained hard to be accurate at this range, has a history of successes at this range, and executed the shot accurately so far as we know.

I still think there's an educational opportunity to be had in why it didn't work out this time and it's what @boyne bowhunter has written about.

Folks are going to do what they're going to do, just want to promote informed decisions.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
Not talking about anyone's shooting skills. So if some dum*ss thinks it's a good idea to shoot at deer at 100 yards because he can hit a soup can at that distance do you consider that ethical too?
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The thing about ethics is it differs with the individual, and that honestly shouldn't matter. . . You can only check yourself and impose those ethical restrictions on yourself otherwise they'd be made into laws. This really isn't to call you out in anyway, at all. It's more just to point out we are all different, as long as we are all doing legal, no one can say we are doing it wrong..... I can say this, with my compound I won't take shots past 35-40, but my xbow, I killed all my archery deer at or beyond 50, I felt perfectly fine doing that. I also don't hold anyone else to my standard.....
 
Well all I can say is that someone is responsible for those stories on the news of a deer running around with an arrow sticking out of it from somewhere it shouldn't be and it certainly isn't me. In other words we are all assuming all hunter's have ethics to begin with. Far from the truth imo.
 
I have a good friend in Texas who has been chasing a 150”to 160” all season, the buck came into him for the first time last week at 10 yards and he passed it because it was raining, that’s his decision and I’m not gonna tear him apart for that, but most guys would have taken that shot.
All I’m saying if you can’t or don’t feel comfortable shooting beyond 30 yards at a animal that your decision, but don’t roast a guy who does.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
Well all I can say is that someone is responsible for those stories on the news of a deer running around with an arrow sticking out of it from somewhere it shouldn't be and it certainly isn't me. In other words we are all assuming all hunter's have ethics to begin with. Far from the truth imo.
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You who I bet does have umbrella, Koreans. Koreans are a trustworthy and generous people!


Err make that ethics nor umbrella....
 
TK161BOONER said:
I’ve killed several buck and doe with a bow from 57-67 yrds and never lost one.
More deer are lost at 20 yard or closer.
If you feel comfortable shooting those distances don let some guy who isn’t discourage you.
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More may be lost at 20 because that's where most ethical bowhunters will shoot. I'm all for not letting folks tell me what I can or cannot do, but how does it look to the non hunting public if we brag about shooting long distance and losing one now and then? It may only be one lost to you but that deer can be suffering somewhere for somebody's lack of judgement. JMO. I can hit a pop can @ 50 but would not attempt to shoot an animal past 25. Fred Bear once said "It's not how far you can shoot but how close you can get"
 
ThePennsylvanian said:
The thing about ethics is it differs with the individual, and that honestly shouldn't matter. . . You can only check yourself and impose those ethical restrictions on yourself otherwise they'd be made into laws. This really isn't to call you out in anyway, at all. It's more just to point out we are all different, as long as we are all doing legal, no one can say we are doing it wrong..... I can say this, with my compound I won't take shots past 35-40, but my xbow, I killed all my archery deer at or beyond 50, I felt perfectly fine doing that. I also don't hold anyone else to my standard.....
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Really ethics in the traditional sense isn't solely individualistic.

But you are right that there is no governance of how far someone can shoot at an animal with stick and string, at least that I'm aware of.

I do, however, think we can and should speak up when poor decisions are made. Just because an act isn't illegal, does not make it good or ethical.

We've all seen things that are in poor form or bad taste (not just in hunting). If we let it slide, it does nothing to build a better culture or community.

Does it move the bar? In many instances no. But sometimes yes.

In this particular discussion, I'm not particularly critical of the decision to take a 50yd archery shot in so much as I have no idea if OP was aware of how much a deer can move over the course of 50yds of arrow flight.

If OP had that knowledge, and accepted that risk, then intrinsically OP accepted the outcome, in which case don't come looking for sympathy.

If OP was not aware, well, this discussion offers an opportunity to consider some data and digest various points of view in determining his or her way ahead. That's a good thing imo.
 
TK161BOONER said:
All I’m saying if you can’t or don’t feel comfortable shooting beyond 30 yards at a animal that your decision, but don’t roast a guy who does.
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Dude's username is LongRange101 :grin: I know, tough pill to swallow, but painfully ironic, no?

I agree, roasting isn't really beneficial.

And, I don't think a 50yard shot is necessarily that outrageous. Seems pretty common out west. Heck, look at the distances folks are shooting rifles at game these days.

Still, when the effect is wounded game and serious disappointment, seems worth identifying the causes and recalibrating.

I think in this case, based on information that's been presented, it seems likely that the error between poa and poi had something to do with the distance of the shot.
 
Plebe said:
Dude's username is LongRange101 :grin: I know, tough pill to swallow, but painfully ironic, no?

I agree, roasting isn't really beneficial.

And, I don't think a 50yard shot is necessarily that outrageous. Seems pretty common out west. Heck, look at the distances folks are shooting rifles at game these days.

Still, when the effect is wounded game and serious disappointment, seems worth identifying the causes and recalibrating.

I think in this case, based on information that's been presented, it seems likely that the error between poa and poi had something to do with the distance of the shot.
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It does seem common out west which is odd. I’m not sure why they get approval to shoot long range.
 
Plebe said:
Really ethics in the traditional sense isn't solely individualistic.

But you are right that there is no governance of how far someone can shoot at an animal with stick and string, at least that I'm aware of.

I do, however, think we can and should speak up when poor decisions are made. Just because an act isn't illegal, does not make it good or ethical.

We've all seen things that are in poor form or bad taste (not just in hunting). If we let it slide, it does nothing to build a better culture or community.

Does it move the bar? In many instances no. But sometimes yes.

In this particular discussion, I'm not particularly critical of the decision to take a 50yd archery shot in so much as I have no idea if OP was aware of how much a deer can move over the course of 50yds of arrow flight.

If OP had that knowledge, and accepted that risk, then intrinsically OP accepted the outcome, in which case don't come looking for sympathy.

If OP was not aware, well, this discussion offers an opportunity to consider some data and digest various points of view in determining his or her way ahead. That's a good thing imo.
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I don't totally agree, however I'm ok with that, I'm not here to change anyone's way of thinking. However, I do agree with the sympathy seeking. I don't feel anyone should be sympathy seeking on loosing a deer, because if risk wasn't assumed, there would 0% chance of lost deer. I've lost deer for a number of various reason, 100% of them were avoidable and my fault. However, I also don't go looking to others to sympathize with me, I learn adapt and make adjustments to hopefully not let it happen again.
 
No need to argue. I'm at fault. Yes I've made the shot more than one time, its not a fluke to make it. This was a rushed shot and though I can make the shot, I was impatient and made a bad call. Its hard but you will always learn and this is just my first non lethal hit with a bow, on a trophy buck as well. Its a hard pill to swallow, but I swallowed it and will grow and learn from that. Season is not over and I'm confident I will find another worthy buck.
 
Plebe said:
Really ethics in the traditional sense isn't solely individualistic.

But you are right that there is no governance of how far someone can shoot at an animal with stick and string, at least that I'm aware of.

I do, however, think we can and should speak up when poor decisions are made. Just because an act isn't illegal, does not make it good or ethical.

We've all seen things that are in poor form or bad taste (not just in hunting). If we let it slide, it does nothing to build a better culture or community.

Does it move the bar? In many instances no. But sometimes yes.

In this particular discussion, I'm not particularly critical of the decision to take a 50yd archery shot in so much as I have no idea if OP was aware of how much a deer can move over the course of 50yds of arrow flight.

If OP had that knowledge, and accepted that risk, then intrinsically OP accepted the outcome, in which case don't come looking for sympathy.

If OP was not aware, well, this discussion offers an opportunity to consider some data and digest various points of view in determining his or her way ahead. That's a good thing imo.
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Not looking for sympathy, I have no regret in the actions I took. I will learn from my mistakes. This is just a story of a failure and the circumstances around that failure. I don't need anyone else's approval, pity, etc. I'm not here for that BS. I'm here to layout a lesson learned for someone else to maybe read and think before they react to a situation.
 
For everyone talking about shot distance, the distance was not the issue, my decision was the issue. I'm not going to tell anyone at what distance to harvest an animal at. People wound deer with rifles at sub 100 yards. Bad decisions have bad outcomes. Not your average bow hunter, I train hard and prepare all year for bow season. I run 20-25 miles a week, lift 5 days a week, shot 1000s of arrows a year. I'm ready to commit to my shot. My capabilities can be curbed by bad decisions just like everyone else.
 
Plebe said:
I don't know what OP is looking for, empathy or solutions to a problem. Your response really offers neither.

-Those who say don't shoot so far, that's at least in the way of solutions to a problem. I'll include drop data for informational purposes as it's something to consider with every shot.

-Defending the shot with your perfect record is hardly empathetic. Dude just wounded one.

Nobody has mentioned working on that squeaky tree stand. First thing I'd do.

Anyway, here's the study graphic:


View attachment 77473
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Yes the platform when wet has a noise issue i realized. I have since coated it in material to prevent this. It is similar to truck bed liner.
 
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