Jumped the string... AGAIN!

[Limbwalker]

Okay, this is getting old really quick.

Just took the second shot so far this season, at a spike buck at 15 yards, only to have him drop so hard the sound of his chest hitting the ground made me think the arrow hit him!

I was watching him run off and had already started the "go down, go down" voice in my head when to my surprise, he stopped, turned around and started walking back toward my blind! I was absolutely gobsmacked. Checked him out over and over in my binocs, and sure enough - clean miss. He dropped before the arrow got there. I honestly thought I had spined him at first, as he dropped like a rock. Then he got up and ran off.

UGH. This traditional bowhunting can really, really make you want to eat your hat some years.

Guess I've had it coming, as the past 3 years have been really good with the recurve. So I was due.

Gonna keep tryin. Got some doe permits coming, so I'm going to try to fill the freezer with the recurve this year. But one more of these jumped strings, and I may be tempted to get out the 6.5 Swede and let it eat!

[Loreva13]

lol Man that bites! Better luck next time around.

[Bisch]

Yeah, I had a great year in 2008! I killed my 2 best bucks ever a month apart in the same season! I had a few guys say stuff like "Enjoy it while you can cause it will turn on you.".

Well, it did and I went through a down cycle for a while.

It's crazy how things plie up on you at times!

Keep after them and it will happen!

Bisch

[trad"Doc"53]

LOL! I know first hand that ducking the arrow stuff! Where I get to go for my weekend hunt, the deer are so pressured they blast off at the sound of an acorn hitting the ground or the sight of hand corn. After last year I'm going to shoot for their knee and they will fall right into the arrow, I hope!

[RickBarbee]

John, I know you know your stuff, but sometimes the simplest things can be overlooked,

SO

here's a question for you:

Have you checked your arrow configuration?

Here's my example:

Once upon a time, I had deer ducking & causing me to miss when I shot.
I thought it was bow noise, and did everything thinkable to quiet it down.
Deer still were ducking.

Then one day it dawned on me, that it might be the arrows.
Sure enough it was, because when I did everything thinkable to quiet the arrows,
the deer stopped ducking.

Maybe so, and maybe no, but it's worth a looksee.

Rick

[caughtandhobble]

John, I know you know your stuff, but sometimes the simplest things can be overlooked,

SO

here's a question for you:

Have you checked your arrow configuration?

Here's my example:

Once upon a time, I had deer ducking & causing me to miss when I shot.
I thought it was bow noise, and did everything thinkable to quiet it down.
Deer still were ducking.

Then one day it dawned on me, that it might be the arrows.
Sure enough it was, because when I did everything thinkable to quiet the arrows,
the deer stopped ducking.

Maybe so, and maybe no, but it's worth a looksee.

Rick

Yes sir, lot of helical equals a lot of noise

[Loreva13]

John, I know you know your stuff, but sometimes the simplest things can be overlooked,

SO

here's a question for you:

Have you checked your arrow configuration?

Here's my example:

Once upon a time, I had deer ducking & causing me to miss when I shot.
I thought it was bow noise, and did everything thinkable to quiet it down.
Deer still were ducking.

Then one day it dawned on me, that it might be the arrows.
Sure enough it was, because when I did everything thinkable to quiet the arrows,
the deer stopped ducking.

Maybe so, and maybe no, but it's worth a looksee.

Rick

Learn something new everyday. Thanks for sharing Rick.

[Limbwalker]

Rick that's where I'm going next. Thing is, I've killed three consecutive deer with these same arrows in the past two years. But yes, 4" shields with plenty of helical. I'm sure they make some noise in the air. I may put on a Bear Weather rest and try vanes. Can't hurt.

That spike yesterday was pretty cautious. I had just checked the trail cam before I got in the blind, and I could tell he could smell where I was standing. I actually aimed a tad low - like the bottom 1/3 of his chest, but he hit the ground so hard he lost his footing and fell on his side! Never seen a deer do that before, so I thought I had spined him at first...

Bisch, I was due! ha, ha. I know it's just a matter of time. I've been killing big critters with longbows and recurves for over 20 years now, and it does seem like you go through cycles.

It seems like just when you think "Hey, I think I've finally figured this out!" that it catches up with you. After three very successful seasons, I am guilty of thinking like that.

Not anymore!

[Bisch]

It seems like just when you think "Hey, I think I've finally figured this out!" that it catches up with you. After three very successful seasons, I am guilty of thinking like that.

Not anymore!

This is soooooooo 100% right on it ain't even funny! You get a little bit of big-head and start thinking you got it all figured out, and reality slaps you HARD right across the kisser!

Bisch

[jerp]

It's odd how it varies from deer to deer. Some of the videos posted on here show a huge buck standing there like a concrete statue - not even flinching until the arrow passes through. Others pancake themselves on the ground at the slightest noise - ain't no figurin' - it may just be that you have some of those infamous "ninja bucks" roaming your place!

[RickBarbee]

Rick that's where I'm going next. Thing is, I've killed three consecutive deer with these same arrows in the past two years. But yes, 4" shields with plenty of helical. I'm sure they make some noise in the air. I may put on a Bear Weather rest and try vanes. Can't hurt.

John, I hear ya about it being the same arrows as what you were successful with before.

Thing is, deer will change behavior on you according to what they are being exposed to. Two years before I had the problem with them ducking, I was hunting the place alone. The next year the ranch put 5 more hunters on the place, and the deer got shot at a lot. That next year they jumped, ducked, and ran at every little sound they heard. My bow was quite, but they were ducking the arrows. Got the arrows quiet, and problem solved.

I've also sat & watched deer being dive bombed by birds, and watched the birds driving them crazy. My opinion is - a lot of the time when/if the deer hear the arrow coming, they think it is a bird or something about to harass them.

One of the reason I like to shoot vanes is because they are WAY quieter than feathers. The other reasons are their durability, and ease of cleaning up for next time.

Rick

[Limbwalker]

Rick, I'm the only one hunting this 80 ac. farm, and there's another 100 ac. on either side that doesn't get hunted at all. Add to that this spike last night was only 18 mo. old, and there's no way he knew the sound of an arrow.

But I'm going to try vanes next.

I do think this spike probably thought the sound was a bird or raccoon or squirrel or something. He actually FELL DOWN he dropped so fast!

[splitfinger]

Sorry for your pain. At least you are seeing deer. I've hunted a lot this year and have yet to see a deer. Go with the flow. A clean miss is always better than a bad hit.

You might try 4 x 4" Parabolic on 90 Degrees with a slight helical. I have shot them before and a buddy was standing behind a tree, listening to different arrows and he said that he could not hear this set up at all. Just a thought.

Best of luck to ya.

Doug Key

[Limbwalker]

Yea, I'll take a clean miss anytime. Found my arrow yesterday afternoon. Clean as a whistle, except for the mud on the broadhead. Sharpened 'er up and back in the quiver...

Doug, I may try that 4x4 parabolics. I hunted with 4-fletch for many years just so I didn't have to look down and see what direction I knocked an arrow (hunted on the ground in NM). But I think I may try vanes first. Only problem with vanes is I have to use a rest, and I'm pretty accustomed to the sight picture I have now off the shelf. But I've used a Bear rest off and on for over 30 years too...

Decisions, decisions...

Yes, I'm very thankful for seeing deer. I have a great place to bowhunt just 5 min. from the house. I'd feel guilty if I hadn't spent 30 of the last 35 years working my butt off on public lands and hunting E. Texas through the late 70's and 80's when we'd sit all weekend hoping to just SEE a deer, much less get a shot. So, in a way, I feel like I've paid my dues and just enjoy the convenience of this place now. Wife is much happier to have me just down the road, and home in time for supper too.

[Ron]

Sometimes it just happens. I tried to beat them at that once last year and took a low shot at a small buck. I was shooting a ILF recurve that was really fast.
I aimed low at the hair line so that when he ducked I could double lung him. He didn't duck fast enough and I grazed him right under the arm pit. A very small cut and he lives to this day. You just never know.