Feel like throwing up...

[Atfulldraw]

you should have aimed lower!



Sorry.

That's outside of my comfort range for a whitetail.

I learned that by doing it wrong a few times....

[Quackerbox]

At least he will live. 43 yards is a long poke at a whitetail....

Agreed.

But he wont go anywhere. Wife did the same at 20 when she didnt move her single pin down from 30. That was 3 years ago and the deer lived on our place till 2 weeks ago. He even got killed at the same feeder

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[HoustonHunter94]

Whiskey helps. Sorry you weren’t able to close the deal. Those big bucks seem to have a sixth sense and are hard to kill. Still have some time.


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[mdnabors]

My biggest buck to date was standing at 43yds when I zipped one through his heart. I aim dead on the heart for a potential drop and he only dropped slightly. Sliced right through top of the heart and ran 50 yards. A lot can happen at that distance on an edgy deer, but if you are confident in your ability aiming lower at the heart gives you room if they drop. Has worked well for me many times. Good luck and get back after him!

[Thetoe]

You got the second best possible outcome... you get to hunt him another day!

[Roger_Roger]

Found this on some site about deer jumping the string.
When a deer jumps the string it is really dropping down so that it can flex its muscles and push against the ground to move.
Therefore, the deer is freefalling due to gravity until it either hits the ground or pushes off in some direction.
There are three conditions that the deer can be in whenthe shot is fired.
1. The deer is looking at the shooter and is on high alert and sees the bow and arrow move and reacts within about 1/10 of a second.
2. The deer is not looking at the shooter, is on high alert, and moves when it hears the bow fire.
3. The deer is not looking at the shooter and is relaxed and does not react to the bow firing.

Let's examine the first two cases more closely.
The following table shows how far the deer would drop in inches before the arrow arrived if it had a 1/10 second response time after either seeing the arrow move or hearing the bow fire.

Range Visual+Response Sound + Response
5 3.9 inches 3.14 inches
10 6.6 4.7
15 10 6.5
20 14 8.6
25 19 11
30 24 14
35 31 17
40 38 20
45 45 24
50 54 28


Notice that at 50 yards, the deer will hit the ground or have already pushed off by the time the arrow arrives.
If you are lucky, he has pushed himself back up into the path of the arrow.
Even at 30 yards, if the deer is looking at you, he could move out of the arrow path.

[Thumper]

He gone!

Afraid he's right, at least during shooting time.


Was his head up or down when you fired your arrow?

[Hart8]

Can't kill em if you don't shoot at 'em!
Good luck at another opportunity!

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[Bretto22]

Afraid he's right, at least during shooting time.


Was his head up or down when you fired your arrow?

It was up but he wasn’t looking at me, he knew something wasn’t right and on his last few steps bf the shot he was stomping his feet back down.

[Bretto22]

I know it was a long shot, with that being said I’ve shot deer farther then that with my bow. No doubt I felt confident in my ability, it just didn’t work out for me this time!! Write it up as a failed opportunity in my book and keep on grinding!! In the end I’m still doing what I love to do and if I never see him again so be it, there’s plenty more in the woods!!

[RiverRat1]

Well this Morning it happened. Been after an East Texas bruiser for 2 years. Never saw him in person and never a daylight pic of him. This Mornin out of no where here he comes. He knew something wasn’t right and was easing around me but presented me a 43yd shot. I settle my pin and release, his belly nearly hits the ground and I watch my arrow deflect right off the top of his back. My stomach is in knots and I still feel like I could throw up at any moment. Back to the old saying I guess that’s why they call it hunting and not killing!! Guess I’m fixn just go ahead and mix one up and celebrate seeing him instead of killing him!!

Was there blood on the arrow? hair?

This is why the "I can shoot a deer out to "x" yards" threads get so heated. Deer move. Doesn't matter how good of a shot you are.

Sorry this happened to you. All you can do is learn from it.

[Bretto22]

you should have aimed lower!



Sorry.

That's outside of my comfort range for a whitetail.

I learned that by doing it wrong a few times....

Lmao!! Good call, just an inch lower would have spined him and prob pancaked him!!

[JLivi1224]

Whiskey helps. Sorry you weren’t able to close the deal. Those big bucks seem to have a sixth sense and are hard to kill. Still have some time.


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They 100% do.

[Clark]

We’ve all been there, it’s a lousy feeling.
Not judging, but 43 is twice as far as I’ll shoot at a buck.

[LoneStarTx]

I know the feeling. You'll still be beating yourself up for it 10 years from now if you never see him again.