How did I miss this !?!?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

 

On the mechanical side of things I spent some time target shooting with my newly blunted broadhead and discovered that I was shooting pretty consistently low with it compared to my field points. This should be corrected now. My new training regimen is just to shoot twice with the boradhead each day. One in the morning and one in the evening. This way I have to get it right on the first try. So far so good.

 

  

had you been practicing with your broadheads on prior to the season?

[Hookhunter20]

Happens to us all. I practiced everyday for 4 months either on the ground or out of a tree. When my chance came on a big 10 Sunday I punched him low and off he went, not a drop of blood. I think as many pointed out dropping the arm to peak is a big issue for many of us. We get so caught up in the moment and immediately want to see the deer dash off with blood spilling showing us how good of a shot we put on it. Next oppurtunity keeping calm and focused on the one hair and your form should deliver that perfect shot, it's something I know I have to work on as well lol.

[Nivk]

had you been practicing with your broadheads on prior to the season?

 

A little bit but clearly not as much as I should have. I didn't want to blunt them & I was shredding my target bag. I went out and got a nice block so I can focus on practicing with my broadheads for the rest of the season.

[Five Seasons]

real world can be so different than practice. I'd recommend you steady your breath and really focus on your peep before releasing and not dropping your arm. Your instinct is to drop right away so you can watch the action, but you need to hold it.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Make sure you anchor correctly and bend at the waist

[genesee_mohican]

Pick one hair on the deer and treat it like it's the gold medal shot in the olympics.

 

Lots of good advice on here. I like one as well as any.

[beachpeaz]

This was already said....many times.....but to reiterate before you start overthinking, getting frustrated, losing confidence and worst yet buying new equipment, do NOT drop your bow arm at release.  Sounds simple, but we all do it.  I caught myself doing it a couple weeks ago.  I started shooting low so I was checking my sight, my peep, etc and everything checked out.  Realized I wasn't watching the shot hit the target before I lowered my bow.  That split second was causing low shots.  SOOOOOOO common!!!  Shooting from a tree stand, at a close range target will amplify that even more.  Watch your arrow hit your target from the same shooting position where you let it go.

[Five Seasons]

If you golf, dropping your bowhand is very similar to lifting your head to early.

if you play baseball or football it's very similar to taking your eye off the ball

if you play basketball it's almost exactly the same as your followthrough

 

archery is a sport and your technique is critical.

[beachpeaz]

If you golf, dropping your bowhand is very similar to lifting your head to early.

if you play baseball or football it's very similar to taking your eye off the ball

if you play basketball it's almost exactly the same as your followthrough

 

archery is a sport and your technique is critical.

 

Wow, a golf reference. There is a first for everything in this forum.  lol.

[Core]

I was out in my stand this morning when a doe comes strolling by. She was just over 15 yards away at the far egde of my field of view. I could tell she was heading into some brush rather than continuing into the the open area directly to my left, so I turned and drew on her. She paused just before going into the bushes giving me a perfect broadside view and I took the shoot. Pfft... Nothing.

Fortunately she wasn't injured. The arrow passed under her and between her legs. I don't even think she noticed. The shot was in line with where I was aiming but obviously way low.

I'm so frustrated that I missed this. I have been waiting for the chance to redeem myself from a poor performance last year. And after practicing for months from all positions in the stand and from the ground I was feeling pretty optimistic about taking my first deer with a bow. But now I'm questioning whether I should even be doing this if I can't connect on a shot like this. I rarely ever miss low. I just can't believe I missed such a large target from that distance.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk

All I can say is I know how you feel. I missed what I consider to be an easy shot (24 yard broadside on a non-moving deer that was not alarmed at all). I won't belabor that, as I have in my other thread (this is your thread!), but I'm writing this to let you know you're not alone. You put in practice time, money, time away from family even and then you fail. It's crushing. But, then as the hours go on you start wanting redemption. And that's why you'll go back out because if you quit even years from now when hunting season starts up and you know others are taking deer you'll remember when you quit having failed. The only way past that feeling is to keep going until you get a deer to make up for Saturday.

 

If you want to meditate listen to progressive trance music. Tons of it on youtube and I'm not kidding.

 

I also use mechanical broadheads from Walmart. I think they lack the tuning issues that conventional introduce.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Core

[jjb4900]

If you want to meditate listen to progressive trance music. Tons of it on youtube and I'm not kidding.

 

no thanks, I'll stick with the Scotch.....

[jjb4900]

If you want to meditate listen to progressive trance music. Tons of it on youtube and I'm not kidding.

 

no thanks, I'll stick with the Scotch.....

[chas0218]

You dropped your bow arm and peaked.

 

It happens many times a year, trust me............................BTDT

 

This^^ I have a bad habit of this when practicing lots of shots. I start to get tired and begin hitting 4" or 5" low.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

This^^ I have a bad habit of this when practicing lots of shots. I start to get tired and begin hitting 4" or 5" low.

Starting at about mid September and  at this point of the year, my practice sessions are one arrow. Odds are that is all we are going to get .

[chas0218]

Starting at about mid September and  at this point of the year, my practice sessions are one arrow. Odds are that is all we are going to get .

Yeah I usually only shoot 1 group a night at 40 yards. 

[Five Seasons]

Yeah I usually only shoot 1 group a night at 40 yards. 

 

I'd like to recommend you have at least 2, but preferably 3 targets. Mine are at 15, 20 and 30. But it's important to practice for all shots, even if it's just an arrow at each.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I'd like to recommend you have at least 2, but preferably 3 targets. Mine are at 15, 20 and 30. But it's important to practice for all shots, even if it's just an arrow at each.

why? if his form is good at 40 and the equipment is functioning well at 40, what would 15 and 20 tell him?

[Five Seasons]

why? if his form is good at 40 and the equipment is functioning well at 40, what would 15 and 20 tell him?

 

that is other pins are also functioning correctly. To practice the shots (hopefully from a practice stand) and understand the angles at those heights.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I only use one pin. When I did shoot more I used index marks to assure nothing moved. I would hope at this point it is a confidence shot we are talking about.

[Five Seasons]

I wont drag it on. practice makes perfect and practice how you play. even more so if you have 1 pin i'd think you'd practice after different yardage.

 

at the end of the day it's not hurting anything and I'm a little surprised to hear you poo poo practice.

[Nivk]

I would thinking judging distance accurately is just as important as shot form.

 

I do like the idea of only shooting once for each practice session though. The human brain is really good at correcting for mistaken perceptions. There was a study on basketball players where they had them wear prism glasses that shifted their perception of where the net was by a few feet & after a couple shots they were able to make baskets as normal.

 

I would imagine we can correct for pins being off in the same way when taking many shots. But if we can hit the target on the first try that means both the gear and our form is good.

[philoshop]

Shooting targets at known ranges reinforces proper form, assuming the shooter has proper form to begin with. Range estimation and shot control under stress are different.

Range estimation comes pretty easily if you walk around during the summer and shoot a couple thousand judo points at leaves and such. Shot control under stress requires shooting frequently under stressful conditions. Stalking and killing a few dozen woodchucks with my bow every summer used to help me with that.

 

I like the golf analogy, though I'm not a golfer. I see where it might be similar in many ways.  Another analogy would be playing a musical instrument well. I've watched a number of talented musicians fail miserably when they stepped from the practice cubicle to the stage.

Practice and experience. There are no shortcuts.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I wont drag it on. practice makes perfect and practice how you play. even more so if you have 1 pin i'd think you'd practice after different yardage.

 

at the end of the day it's not hurting anything and I'm a little surprised to hear you poo poo practice.

I am not down on practice by any means. To the contrary, I am in favor of a lot of it. My response is in the frame of being IN the season and shooting so much that they begin to pull the shots low. Practicing poor form or becoming accustom to having follow up shots to get it right is what I am not a fan of. Develop a regime of getting that fist and only shot spot on. full concentration and focus and, ideally, vary the distances inside your effective range.

[Five Seasons]

I am not down on practice by any means. To the contrary, I am in favor of a lot of it. My response is in the frame of being IN the season and shooting so much that they begin to pull the shots low. Practicing poor form or becoming accustom to having follow up shots to get it right is what I am not a fan of. Develop a regime of getting that fist and only shot spot on. full concentration and focus and, ideally, vary the distances inside your effective range.

 

that's fair. once in season i significantly decrease number of arrows flung. I do believe however that too many guys stop shooting all together and I've never understood that.