I need some help!!!!

[reggiehayes]

Sorry in advance for the rant but I am in some kind of slump, in fact I hate even admitting how bad it is. I have been on several hunts this year and I haven't recovered a thing. I know practice is the first recomendation and there is no thing as too much practice but I have put my time in this year and am probably shooting better at the target than I ever have. But i will practice more. I have killed animals with my bow for the last ten years so i don't think my nerves are the problem. I missed a good buck in October, wounded two hogs this weekend and shot a doe to high this morning. I feel horrible, not because of my ego but because I have three animals out there that probably suffered a horrible death all because of a bad shot. I don't know if I have developed a bad habit or what during crunch time but something is wrong. All the animals were right behind the shoulder but to high. I would like to hear from any of you to let me know if you have ever been in a slump and what you did to get out of it. Sorry for the long version.

[rocky]

I lowered poundage and started shooting a "lava slow" bow at 272 fps.
Of course I shoot a fast bow, but shoot lower poundage.
I've noticed that with the speeds we are capable of now, we err more.
Form flaws are magnified with speed, and hunting situations open the door for form flaws.

[reggiehayes]

Thanks Rocky your probably right on the form I guess I just need to take more time off from work and work on the form in real life situations. Thanks

[MQ32Shooter]

Are you shooting elevated now and not before when you were shooting good?

[reggiehayes]

Are you shooting elevated now and not before when you were shooting good?

I thought of that so yesterday I had them lift me up with a tractor and shot at the target and it was still dead on.

[rocky]

If it's any consolation, in the last few years, I've noticed an increase in stories like these, and also wonder what to contribute it to.
I know it's shot placement, but why are there so many?

[kcyoung76]

practice the same as you hunt,sitting,same clothes.etc. if your draw length is to long,you could be creeping.i had to lower my draw length by 1/2 inch

[Uvaldebowhunter]

I was shootin high on animals for a while but when i put a target out i hit it dead on every time. What my friend found when he was in the stand with me one time is that when I'd shoot i would jerk my hand up when i shot. So now i focus on that and i have been hitting animals dead on

[keep]

You may still be dead on but the animal is moving. It's possible if you are starting on the top third to begin with.

[xman59]

dont answer lets stay away from any bashing but consider the head your using,, could it be the cause and is it the one you had previous success with?, did you go to lighter arrows for more speed and are you getting pass throughs,,, if you hitting high, you may being trying to hard to see the shot and causeing it through form .. hold the bow on target a little longer

[reggiehayes]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Keep- I don't think the animals are jumping the string, it is hard for me to tell with out having the hunts on video.

xman59- I am using different heads this year, not much different but different. I wish I could blame the head but I have the shot the practice points and they are spot on. I think you could be right on trying to see the shot I am not so sure I am not looking up after I release.

[oktx]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Keep- I don't think the animals are jumping the string, it is hard for me to tell with out having the hunts on video.

xman59- I am using different heads this year, not much different but different. I wish I could blame the head but I have the shot the practice points and they are spot on. I think you could be right on trying to see the shot I am not so sure I am not looking up after I release.

Not all practice points fly the same as the real thing. You better shoot a real one.

[Keith]

Two suggestions
1) "Pick a spot", and I am talking about try to pick out a single hair when you are aiming at the animal. They don't have perfect circles to aim at like your bulls eye target does.
2) "Aim low" At one time I had 53 bow shots on video and every animal either ducked or they did not move before the arrow got there. Some dropped 12" or more, some only an inch or two. NONE raised up at the shot. You might even sight your bow in to hit dead on, to 3" low. Instead of sighting in where you have a few arrows missing the bulls eye in each direction, make you highest arrow at the bulls eye and your lowest arrow maybe 3" low.

[az2tx]

I have found over the years is if someone is making bad shots on animals but does great on targets, 9 times out of 10 they are getting excited and grabbing their bow

[canny]

I've been having a similar problem with hitting high, luckily this year when the arrow went high I missed the deer so no wounded animals, but last year was different I lost 2 due to high shots. I took a piece of masking tape and taped it on the back of my riser and wrote on it AIM LOW so that when I draw my bow thats the last thing I see before I settle in to release.