Tough season jitters

[Hookhunter20]

Well after about a month straight of hunting with no shot opportunities today I was finally graced with the opportunity to take a shot at not one but two does within five minutes of each other. My friends and father call me the doe master for a reason, I may get buck fever but does never get past me... until today. I made a terrible shot at 22 yards on the first doe very high no vitals hit. The way I was shaking you would think I had a 12 point standing in front of me. The second a clean miss hair trimming at 18 yards. I think the first high hit got me inside my own head and I subconsciously tried to compensate unnecessarily. I am thankful for the clean miss on the second as there is nothing more that I hate than putting a bad non lethal hit on an animal.  Any one else experience these almost newbie to hunting jitters when finally presented with a shot during a tough season? As many times as I run that shot over in my head and think of all the times I've hit similar and tougher shots I can't believe I could blow it twice in five minutes. 

[nyslowhand]

Been there, done that. Easy to get overly excited when you haven't been seeing much or none within shooting range AND then one pops up in front of you. What works for me is to take a deep breath, focus on the deer's body position, shooting lanes & yardage, never looking again at the body size (or rack) and only paying attention to where the shot is to be placed. If by now your shooting form isn't 2nd nature, need to think about that also.Hopefully a lesson learned, don't keep running the scenario over in your mind and kicking yourself for screwing up! If those misses haunt you and you start doubting your ability, time to stay home or take up golf. Good luck!!

[wooly]

High hit unrecovered =  .50 credits

Hair cut no blood = .25 credits

Doe masters score this hunt = .75 deer taken

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wocka, wocka, wocka....

[growalot]

No not jitters but more than once over the years I have gone to draw my bow and I can't budge the string ..I mean not even a little bit...nothing ,zip,not happening...Really I try to shoot at least one arrow a day or at least 3 times a week during season to keep the shoulder good..I have no clue what happens.

[First-light]

I've gone through it all. Best way to shoot a deer with the bow when it all happens in a matter of seconds. No time to think about anything. At the age of 53 I'm finding my eyes are starting to be a problem. I have glasses for distance. There are progressives and I really don't like them in the stand. Don't move your head but stain your eyes the edge of the lens is blurry. I'm thinking about laser surgery very soon. 

[wolc123]

Over 35 years of bow-hunting, I had 4 bad hits on deer but never a miss and more clean kills than I can remember.  I will never forget those bad hits and I have taken extremely strong measures to make sure they don't happen again.  I am certain that one of those four survived, because a friend killed him with a gun a month later and the shoulder was all healed.   Two of the others were also struck in the shoulder blade and most likely recovered also.   The fourth, a spike buck, was hit too far back, and I am certain did not make it, but I never found him in many hours of searching.

Strong measure #1:  On the four years that I had a bad hit, I ended my season that year on the low note.   I tried to learn from my mistake and do better the following year.   I was not certain at the time of any of the bad hits, if the deer would survive and I did not feel that I deserved to kill (or try to kill) more than one deer in a given season.   I certainly would not have taken that shot five minutes after the bad hit.  

Strong measure #2:  I stopped using a grunt call or rattling to bring bucks into shooting range during archery season.  When you do that, it causes them to go into a state of "high alert", and that is when "string-jump" becomes an issue.   A deer at 18 yards, that is in high alert, can move more than a foot (usually straight down), between the time your arrow leaves your bow and the time it strikes.  This is the likely cause of your first "high hit" although it was something else that put her in "high alert" (see next paragraph).       

Strong measure #3: I stopped hunting with a vertical bow after the crossbow became legal.  The biggest advantage there is the elimination of the need to draw with a deer in close.  That first doe you hit high probably caught a glimpse of your draw and went into "high alert".  That made it easy for her to drop her vitals below your strike after she heard your bow release.  She was tuned in and listening for a noise like that,  A whitetail has an amazing reaction time, as you just found out the hard way.   The second doe probably did not see your draw, so your overcompensation resulted in the low hit.

The crossbow comes with a few disadvantages, the biggest one (hopefully temporary), is that it can only be used over the last two weeks (starting today). It is tougher to get off a second shot.  You have to be aware of the limb position after release, and they can be front-heavy.   The do have a couple other huge advantages however, the first being that they can and should be fired from a rest.  Also, they can be used with telescopic sights that put the target and the sight in focus at the same time.

If I was in your shoes, I would drive over to a store and pick up a good, reasonably priced entry level crossbow package (The Centerpoint sniper 370 and Barnett recruit come to mind).  Spend an hour or so sighting it in and get back out there.     

       

[Timeless]

So how's the tracking going on that first doe?

[biggamefish]

Could be target panic which is no good. Sometimes hard to get rid of. Just talk yourself through the shot.

[stubby68]

No bashing just asking and commenting.Have you looked for the first doe? Why shoot at a second doe in 5 minutes not knowing if the first one was down for good? Some times it is tuff to find one after a hit. Not a good idea to double that in 5 minutes expecially knowing that the first one was a bad high hit. 

                     Even with a gun I would not recommend shooting at 2 different deer that quick unless you know the first one is down for the count.

                      Put in a good effort on looking for the first on you know you hit. Take a breath and get back out there. Having not had any opportunities  this season you rushed your shots. It happens don't let it get in your head too much it will screw up more of your shot this season if it does. Look hard for the one you hit take a breather to nite and get at it in the am.

[glittergoat]

I've had a couple of bad shot placements in my hunting career and the deer still died from an arterial wound. Sometimes its good to get down and looking at the amount of blood trail you have. I've had two bad shot placements in my life and the deer still bled out rather quickly.

As far as jitters - yeah, it happens on years when I am not seeing many deer. It allows yourself to build pressure and making it too "high stakes." Seeing a lot f deer allows you to normalize the interaction and have multiple draw opportunities. Otherwise, its easy to build up the expectation and then the jitters come. It always helps me to think about the mechanics of the shot.

[The_Field_Ager]

I get stone cold killer-like. Same if I ever get into a street fight, which used to be a lot for some reason. I don't get the jitters. Not much help, I know, but I turn into a hunting computer machine. It was the same for my first ever deer. I should have been in special forces.

[Hookhunter20]

From the stand I watched her run stop and stand for about 3 minutes and then run through a neighbors yard well over 400 yards away (hunting Westchester). She was acting ok but I tracked to where I last saw her with no blood and was pretty confident that besides being hit she was fine, that and the house she ran towards is less than receptive towards hunters. I searched in the direction the second doe ran with two friends for about 300 yards just to make sure she was missed clean as well.