String jumping deer. What do you do?

[CC Hurl]

I have had a problem shooting over the back of deer in the past, but let me tell you I felt like Elmer Fud Friday night. Had a six point 25 yards out took the shot. Right over its back. Gave me a second shot at about 25 yards,guess what? You guessed it. Right over its back.

I know aiming low is the solution most of the time, but I would like to read some of your solutions or ideas.

Things still worked out for me as on sunday evening an 8 point came out around 6:15 PM gave me a 35 yard shot. I stuck him. He went about 30 yards and went down.

I have to say my confidence went in the tank Friday and back up again Sunday.

Them there animals are quick.

Good luck and don't forget that safty harness.

CC HURL

[camdu7]

Are the deer really ducking the string? If that is the case you should try to quiet down the bow or wait till the deer is calm. However, if you are shooting high from your trestand it may be due to you dropping your bow arm. When you shoot from an elevated position you should bend at the waste and not drop your bow arm to shot at a downward angle.

Take some practice shots and see if that is whats happining.

[deerhuntr8]

I was going to say the same thing. You need a quieter bow.

[harvey lee]

Ditto.Maybe you could check all your bolt ons to the bow and check your quiver for noise.Maybe take the quiver off the bow and shoot it to see if it makes less noise.You could also add string silencers to your string and maybe some LimbSavers to your bow and quiver.Something is making the noise to scare the deer.

[CC Hurl]

I shoot from a sitting position. Could i still be making the same mistake as far as not bending. The deer was spooked as i needed to give it a little whistle to stop him.

I was aiming at middle of vitals also. Do you guys usually shoot low once the deer is at a further distance?

Please ignore my spelling. I like spell check but don,t see it here.

HURL

[irvingdog]

Stop whistling, and quiet that bow.

[Neiko]

CC, how old is your bow? I noticed a huge difference when I upgraded from my old bow to a newer one.I also noticed my bow shoots flatter because of the faster speed. I am shooting close to 300fps which compared to my old one was like 240 or something like that. My pins use to distance between them but now I they are as close as I can get them.

[CC Hurl]

I just baught a new one two years ago. PSE cant remember the model off hand. At work so i cant go look. I payed around 350.00 for it. Not sure what me fps is on it. Never checked. One thing i did was turn down draw wait last winter to about 65 lbs. Was at 70 lbs. I have not cranked it back up so maybe that might help.

I get the feeling I may have just had a spooked deer on my hand. Spooked first from whistle then second time from arrow going over back.

Like i said in the first post i hit the 8 point at 35 yards and things went real good.

I will check a few things and go from there.

Thanks

CC

[harvey lee]

If your bow is only 2-3 years old I cannot believe the draw weight has anything to do with your noise.If you cannot figure out where it is coming from then take it to a pro shop and have them look at it.

[fivebucks]

I would much rather take a shot at a walking deer than alert it with a whistle just to take a standing shot. I feel that with the whistle the deer is on alert and is more prone to jumping the string, even a quite one. That's my thoughts anyhow.

[harvey lee]

I have whistled or made a noise to stop a deer many times if needed.If your are already drawn back and ready for the shot then a little noise will stall the deer for a shot ,but it would be best if your already drawn so there is no movement at all other than the release.

I have used this trick many times.I have a hard time hitting a moving target well.

Sometimes it is also good advice to just let them go if the shot is iffy.

[fishinNhuntin]

All good probabilities everyone! It was either in the Bowhunting October Whitetails or Bowhunting October Whitetails II (Gene and Barry Wenzel and Rick Blase) hunting videos that talked about this very thing. Their "research" showed that close deer, less than 18 yards, and deer that are farther out than 30 yards were NOT affected by the shot of the bow. It was the deer in that 18-30 yard range that were. They showed deer dropping a whole body depth in a fraction of a second because their first action is down. I absolutely love these videos but they were from I believe the late 80' or early 90's. Not to mention they were all exceptional shots with a RECURVE bow and not a compound. With bows topping 300 fps these days, I feel there is no way a deer should "jump" the string unless you are shooting an older compound or a recurve.

Having said this I would follow a lot of the suggestions the others mentioned above: (By the way, I I don't mean to sound matter-of-fact so please don't be offended by what I suggest)

1. I have missed deer by bending in the arm and not in the waist....Keep your shooting arm perpendicular to your upper body ALWAYS. If you're sitting down as you say I can't imagine how you can shoot this way at close in shots?

2. Quiet your bow. Take it to an archery shop and have them give you ideas on how to do this. (Remember, just adding Limbsaver products all over you bow helps but can reduce your speed)

3. Practice from sitting positions a lot if those are the shots you are going to be taking most of the time.

4. Shoot for the lower third of the animal. Period. A shot a little high...double lungs, a shot a little low....clean miss. Best thing for the animal. The only reason I can see to aim for the middle of the deer is if you aren't sure of the distance. Not a good scenario. Remember not to aim at an area but a specific spot on the deer. "Point of the shoulder" I hear a lot of guys say they shoot at.

5. Nervous deer? Try to figure out why they are, or were. Did you hunt with the wind in your favor? Don't hunt that spot unless it is or move your stand. Were they pushed by someone? "Baah" at em....it works. Be drawn and ready to shoot because they'll stop for only a second or two.

Fishin'

[BuckRuttinFool]

very good post fishin......you wrote exactly what I was thinking.

[B mac]

Last weekend, I took a 35 yard shot at a 130" 8 pt. He was standing directly broadside with his head in the dirt eating. I shoot a bowtech tribute at about 255 fps. The second I pulled the trigger on my release he dropped like a rock. I watched my arrow and thought to myself, "I hope it hits the spine". It hit the very top of the back and I saw it hit the dirt behind him. I ranged my tree from the spot he was standing and it was 34.5 yards. While practicing, I can hit a 3" circle from 35. I also aimed a tad bit low. I barely scraped him and found a little blood and fat on the arrow and only two vanes. Weird deal...but they definitely do hear the bow and drop like a rock sometimes. Many other times, I've smoked them and they never move. Tough to know when to plan for it....but I always aim low 100% of the time.

[FarByondDrivn]

All good advice guys! I would throw in one more thing that maybe wasn't addressed. I never like to shoot at a deer that is looking at me. I like to wait until they look directly away or are feeding. Quieting your bow will help as well as aiming a little lower. Isn't it amazing how fast the whitetail's reactions are that they can load up their body and move that quickly!

[CC Hurl]

Great addvise from everyone. I will use it in my future hunts. Thanks and safe hunting.

CC HURL

[DooWap]

When shooting out of a treestand you have to remember to aim lower than normal. The reason for this is physics. The flight of an arrow has two independent componants, vertical and horizontal. You have to be judging distance from the foot of the tree, not from your eye to the deer. If you think of the foot of the tree, your stand and the deer forming a right triangle you can use trigonometry to explain this.

[Ron Burgundy]

Pull the .44 off your hip and blast away!

[rms]

DW, Why do you aim lower? From your eye to the deer is the longest leg of the triangle (hypotenuse). Is there something I'm not accounting for?

[bigbucks]

Seriously, maybe I've just been lucky, I've shot over 20 deer with my bow & missed my share too, but I don't honestly remember a deer ducking or jumping the string. I've shot them anywhere from 5-35 yards. I can only remember shooting one deer that was looking at me, but at 7 yards it's tough to move. This just is a non issue in my experience, so I'm surprised at the amount of discussion. I know of a few guys that had that happen once or twice on shots over 40 yards, but not often.

Yes I realize I probably just cursed myself.