OK, I Missed But Why

[racking up points]

You said you shoot 4-5" groups at 40 yds ? (That is a 2.5" variance on center)

Ok, that 35 yard shot was it an estimate or did you spot it with a range finder ? Reason I ask is if that 35 yd (105ft) measurement was at the base of your stand and you climb 20ft your actual shooting distance to target is approximately 106.9 ft. ( Pythagorean theorem)
Mark

Sparkey, your math is right but the physics behind your post is incorrect. The hypotenuse of a right triangle will always be longer than the legs that make it up, but gravity only cares about the linear travel away from the tree, the angle makes zero difference in terms of how far the arrow travels and thus how you should aim. We should always envision how far away a deer is from the base of our tree, not judge our distances to the target on how far away it looks to our eyes. The benefit of angle/range compensating rangefinders is that they do this for you.

[hankenhunter]

Are you following through on your shots? Lifting your eyes up from the scope too soon would be enough to throw the shot off.
Hank

[Billagroom]

Compound bows don't shoot as well as an Excalibur. With a rest my Equinox will Shoot less than a 1" group at 40 yards. Jumping the string is just a term They actually squat down just before they jump.

[hunter with MS]

you could have peeked over the scope causing a low shot when I catch myself peeking I go high. You could have punched or jerked the trigger . Just my thoughts happens to everyone

[Buszone]

yep it happens for all kinda reasons? I had a big 140 plus last year ranged at 18 yds. from my tree I was 22' up and all ready had his back straps in the skillet Took my shot and at about 20 feet from the deer my arrow took a hard hard left turn seems I had a perfect centering shot on a 1/2" grape vine! never saw it as I was so focused on the small spot. Heck the buck didn't even move until he saw me pulling another arrow off the quiver..

[nchunterkw]

I think you used the 30yd sight (or 20) and not 35. Reason being:

Hard Rest - my experience is this is causes the arrow to go high, not low.

Deer "Jumping" the string - As stated above, deer do not jump the string. They squat down at the sound to spring load their legs so they can run away. This results in a high miss not low.

Physics associated with angled shot - As Derrick stated above, the hypotenuse of the triangle is longer, but gravity acts only on the horizontal distance to the target. This horizontal distance is shorter than the line of sight measurement. This will also result in a high shot, not low.

With multi-reticle scopes this is very easy to do. I've done it myself.

[WNYBILL]

Thanks for the replies. I re-enacted the shot and everything was right, hit dead center in 3 inch bull with both the Spitfire and the field point. Doesn't appear that the hard rest had any effect, because I tried it both ways. HOWEVER, it was suggested that resting the bow on the wooden rail of tree house amplified the noise and caused the huge reaction from the deer.

I really started this thread to see how many times you experienced guys have had a deer "duck the string", I agree they don't jump.

Thanks.

Bill

[newbie]

Glad i dont live there i would starve deer are too fast for me.

Never had a deer jump or duck...... But ive missed lota shots

[frisky]

I missed a shot in 2007 and the latest was a month ago. A very bad habit i developed and thought I broke. I do 3 things at the SAME time. I jerked the trigger, droped the front of the bow, and CLOSED my eyes. I hope no else developes this.

[GRUNDY]

You miss when you fail to follow through the shot. This would include peeking, punching, jerking, or any other odd shooting flaw people can exhibit when experiencing any sort of target panic associated with shooting or buck fever.

Possible unseen limbs or obstructions in the flight path are my best excuse to fall back on. Otherwise I just have to blame myself