Jumping The String?

trky chsr · Post by **trky chsr** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 11:27 pm

I am contemplating getting a crossbow but a friend of mine has a Exomax and he says his sounds like a rifle going off. I know thats an exageration but has anyone had deer jump the string at the shot?

Woody Williams · Post by **Woody Williams** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 8:57 am

trky chsr wrote:I am contemplating getting a crossbow but a friend of mine has a Exomax and he says his sounds like a rifle going off. I know thats an exageration but has anyone had deer jump the string at the shot?

NO...

rtcdir · Post by **rtcdir** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:23 pm

I have heard of that but never experianced it. I have even taken a few long shots 40 and 47 yards where a deer would have a fraction of a second to respond to string noise and it just wasn't a problem. Can't say it ain't happened to others but not me, thankfully.

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:59 pm

Yes,
I have had one "jump the string" actually ducking enough for the arrow to pass harmlessly over his back. However that was with an older Vixen shooting heavy arrows at only 250-260 fps., and the shot was 32 yards. I watched the buck actually drop through the scope, and was able to see the arrow miss (thankfully a clean miss!). With the arrow speed up to 300 fps (exocet) I shot under a doe at similar range by using the crosshair (20 yard sight-in) instead of the 30 yard mark and she never moved as the arrow sailed under her (again a complete miss). It seems to me that arrow speeds around 300 fps and deer at 30 yards or less should be a perfect combination.
And the crossbow is very loud compared to traditional bows. I've shot at many deer with a traditional bow (longbow) and never had a problem (even other deer standing nearby to the one I shot have ignored the disturbance!), but with a crossbow all the deer nearby react. Sometimes they only jump and run a few yards then return to what they were doing, but they react! I have actually missed the first shot with a longbow and had the deer stay in place while the arrow sailed over it's back.

hatchet jack · Post by **hatchet jack** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 2:21 pm

had it happen 2 weeks ago,big nervice doe,actually i was shooting a little high,about 30 yards shot , my fault. she only went about 30 ft. & stopped but she knew where it come from,couldnt get it cocked without her seeing me.

hatchet jack

GREYWOLF · Post by **GREYWOLF** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 5:35 pm

not under 30 yards ,

chris4570 · Post by **chris4570** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 7:12 pm

At 12 and 7 yards they won't jump until the arrow has buried itself into the ground on the other side of them

.

trky chsr · Post by **trky chsr** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:59 pm

Thanks for the replies. I was just curious. I've shot a compound for 20 yrs and I have had them jump several times.

Deer Dave · Post by **Deer Dave** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:12 am

YES, I had a doe at 28 yds. jump the string and I hit her between the backbone and above the lungs.....high in the shoulder...I never retrieved that deer.

RULE of thumb...any 20 yd shot or less...aim for lungs...any 20+ yd shot ALWAYS aim for the heart, AS the noise of the xbow going off will alert any deer and they will have a chance to duck with the longer shots.

Dave

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:49 am

I could not find it, but there was a story wrote by BillT from this site about string jump.

It basicly stated that at less then 30 yards there would not be enough time for a deer to react from the sound of the string before the arrow gets there. With after 30 yards, there is alittle more time for the deer to react before the arrow gets there.

what alot of people do not realize is that the arrow will make more noise down range then the noise of the bow going off, espically if your shooting feathers. When I first got the chance to witness this (standing behind a cement wall down range), I was shocked.

At less then 30 yards you will not need to worry about string jump. At farther distances 30-40, if the deer is NOT tense or looking at you, again you wil not have to worry. I personally would not shoot beyond 40 yards and that the situation would have to be almost perfect to shot beyond 35 yards.

Hope this helps.

Woody Williams · Post by **Woody Williams** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:48 pm

Tom wrote:I could not find it, but there was a story wrote by BillT from this site about string jump.
Hope this helps.

http://www.horizontalbowhunter.com/news/news.asp?ID=22

Scroll down to STRING JUMP SOLUTIONS......

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:54 pm

I have many bucks successfully drop safely bellow a carefully placed lung shot......distanced from 20 to 27 yards....
I shoot an exomag and hunt 40 to50 days seasonally in the hamilton vicinity..... its happened with both xarbon and aluminum arrows....

Seems to happen alot in the brighter daylight hrs , and calmer,silent situations with deer slowly moving out in open edge surroundings....

I now give an audible ggrrrruunnnnttt which seems to "plant them in there tracks" , but only for a second or two...... once in this short concentration period they seem frozen in their posture while they scour for the source of the grunt or bawl............Big Foot

wolfe · Post by **wolfe** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:49 pm

I recently had a deer string jump my arrow at 20 yds.
I have a exo max and at 20 yds can consistintly group 1-2 inches from a kneeling position.
I had a perfect side shot at 20 and expected a clean pass though the center of lungs, instead due to the jump the arrow hit high behind the sholder coming out low behind the belly then re entered the upper leg and exited out the hind quarter.
Obviously the deer was recovered.

Had another what I thought was a perfect side shot at 30 yds previous to this and the deer was not recovered.

The fact of string jumping has been a huge learning expieriance and has changed the distances and conditions I will shoot at.

W

Woody Williams · Post by **Woody Williams** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:10 pm

"The fact of string jumping has been a huge learning expieriance and has changed the distances and conditions I will shoot at. "

Constructive criticism...

So... you're not going to shoot at them at 20 yards??

My guess is you tried to watch your arrow and shot high to begin with.

NO deer alive can duck an Exomax that far at 20 yards..

wolfe · Post by **wolfe** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 6:16 pm

Here is a more complete description of the shot.

Even if I had hit high due to my error it would not explain the angle the arrow twice penetrated the deer at, I shot when the deer was looking at me broadside and level with no obstacles yet the arrow angled sharply down and backwards.
I also believe a deer will jump at the movement of the shot if facing you not only at the sound giving it a split second more time.
In the future I will shoot low for the heart as many people have since recommended and try waiting for the deer to glance away when I release hopefully giving me that split second gain.

On the deer I did not recover I found some cut hairs and a slightest blood trail, the tiny droplets could be counted on 2 hands which after following for two hours with a buddy disappeared.
In this case the possibility of deflection while it existed was small, after the experience with the 20 yd deer, the jump seemed more likely as this deer was looking my way too.

I have since read up a lot on string jumping deer and was surprised I was not more knowledgeable about it as for many it seems common knowledge with many having seen it slow motion on video.

I just hope to bring a little more awareness about it so hunters can factor it in to their shot, I know I will.

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Jumping The String?

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