unbelieveable first shot buck

[noodle one]

  Every year ,a month before bow season I pick up my bow and start shooting. I need to do this because if I don't , there would be no need for me to head into the woods when the season comes in. every day I practice shooting from 10 yards out 30 yards. I need to do this so that I can condition my muscles and to help me concentrate on what I am doing and to get the confidence I need to make a good shot. I have to do this.

  Last night , a friend of mine stopped in to see how things were going. As we were talking , he cell started buzzing. It was another friend of his who said he just in from hunting and at he got a nice 8 point. My friend asked him if he was home, and he answered ,yes. My friend said he would be there in a little bit. He asked If I wanted ride along to see it. I said sure ,why not. When we got there he took us out back to his shed to show us the buck. A really nice buck. I could see that he make a good hit. He said that the buck, only ran 30 yards after the hit and dropped. I asked if he had seen any other deer. He told me that today was his first day bow hunting and this was the first deer he saw and it was the first arrow that he had shot out of his bow this year. I asked, don't you practice any. He told me that shooting a bow was like riding a bicycle, once you learn , you never forget.

  On the way home I asked my friend, if his bubby was B S ing about not practicing shooting. He told me that he has never seen him practice and he has known him a long time.He also said that his friend dozes this every year. Unbelieveable , I could never go out hunting, without practicing.

I would never have the confidence.

[fasteddie]

I agree with you Noodle . I practice outside during the summer months and in the basement in the winter . I practice shooting at different distances in the back yard from a treestand . I wouldn't bowhunt without practicing . You friend's buddy lives an enchanted life .

[knehrke]

My first shot of the year, usually sometime in August, is often within 1/2" of where I'm aiming...then it goes down from there.

Certainly possible to be a one shot wonder  , but not the norm. Maybe the guy's like the Michael Jordan of bow hunting? I've had my sights need to be re-tuned, all kinds of stuff to check up on before sticking the big one. A lot of it has to do with muscle memory. The new bows are incredibly easy to shoot, but you need to be able to draw, aim, and fire without thinking about anything except that hair you want to hit. Kudos to this guy if he can do it year in and year out with one shot, but a big part of the pleasure for me is in the preparation.

[Doc]

I have heard this claim before that some people don't need to practice. And usually that means that somebody eventually will get that call for help in tracking his rump-shot deer. I hesitate to say that it is impossible to be gifted to that extent in archery, but I have to say that I am always skeptical (to put it in "friendly" terms ..... lol). I think I would put such thoughts definitely in the category of over confidence.

Doc

[Cabin Fever]

That does bug me! I feel you owe it to yourself and to the animal to practice at least some before picking up the bow and going hunting. At least a few arrows, just to verify! I want to have 100% confidence in myself and my equipment before hunting.

[nyantler]

If your shooting a bow you never know when that sucker will fall out of tune.. if nothing else you need to shoot it because of that. Its not about the ability to shoot the bow.. if the bow isn't properly in tune it won't shoot correctly. The more gadgets you have on your bow the more you need to check it.

[fasteddie]

A loose stabilizer , bumped sight or rest , etc can affect a bow . There is soo much that can go wrong when getting the bow out after a year in storage . The guy is just plain lucky !