I have a problem

[kt]

you see, last year the last two deer i shot at with the bow were never recovered due to sub par hit. today, i saw 45 deer, i cant bring myself to let one fly beyond 15 yrds for fear of wounding another. had six oppurtunities tonight. how do i over come this? awsome night though, who could compain about seeing that many deer?

[LoneWolf]

KT, I'm sure you have been practising(sp) , so I won't even talk about that. I guess only you will know when the shot feels right, and when to take it. Personally, I admire you for holding out, and waiting for a good shot. Too many bowhunters think they are deadly at far to much distance. Don't beat yourself up over last year, but continue to learn from it as you are doing. Myself, I rarely will take a shot much over 25 yards. Just me, but I like it up close and personal.
Now, if you really need more help, I would be glad to come and hunt with you. (45 deer in a day... My God:D )

[fabsroman]

KT,

This is just a mental thing. If you have practiced plenty and know how far you can shoot consistantly, you should be okay. Of course, you need to know the distance to the deer before letting go of the string.

If you are having a problem judging distance out in the field, either buy a range finder (I have one mounted on my bow), mark off some landmarks (e.g., trees, rocks), or practice your ranging techniques. If you buy a range finder, keep in mind that the range from the top of a tree stand will be a little greater than the range from the bottom of the tree to the target. Essentially, whenever you are shooting at an angle, whether it is up or down, the range that gravity will be acting on the arrow is based upon a level line running from where you are shooting from to the target.

Think of it like this, if a deer is standing 50 yards directly underneath you, you wouldn't use the 50 yard pin, but the dead on pin.

As far as losing game is concerned, it happens to all of us. I know I have wounded plenty of birds that I felt comfortable about when I pulled the trigger. For one reason or another, they just didn't fall. If I were to worry about that all the time, I would never go hunting. The way I relieve my conscience is by practicing and making my shooting skills better so that I will be as prepared as possible the next time I am out in the field.

[AK NIMROD]

hang in there KT i know what you are going through. this year i'm shooting the best i ever have. This year i have killed 2 ducks and 4 ptarmigan with my bow, most of them were at 30 yards, all my misses on small game have been well within the kill zone of a big game animal...but i missed 3 shots at caribou at 30 yards or less. i feel my problem comes from not picking a small spot to aim at and / or looseing concentration.
if using sights, get a range finder and set max. spots to shoot . set max distance 5 yards less that your max distance your comfortable with. no shame in waiting for closer shots.
another option as a back up is, if legal in PA see if there is any one using dogs for tracking wounded game near by. before i head to WI to hunt whitetails i'm going to NY to learn how to train a dog for this. and i will be training my dog or getting another dog for that purpose then i plan on providing this service to other hunters. NY has "DEER SEARCH" that does that there as well as other states , i beleive. none of us like to wound game but it is good to have a backup plan went sight tracking fails. this is not to suggestion using a tracking dog should take the place of practice or using good judgement in shot selection. bad hits sometimes happen. good luck this season- pat

[Virginiashadow]

kt--on opening day last year I shot a doe at 10 yards from a pretty steep angle...the shot felt great but it ended up sticking to far forward into the shoulder. Myself and 2 other accomplished trackers tracked for 2 hours and couldnt find the deer.....5 days later I shot a buck at 34 yards, I was scared to take that shot but I had practiced it 1000 times and instinct took over.

Don't worry about it, let those arrows fly if you have a good shot! By the way, on opening day yesterday, I stalked a deer on the ground and had what I thought was a good 20 yard broadside shot...turns out it was about 25 yards....all I got was some white hair! :)

vashadow

[kt]

thanks to all, tuesday i am gonna hang a stand where they come out of the woods, hopefully up a tree i wont get sniffed out so easily, worst part of the story is that any given day the fieild is gonna get bull dozed into an old folks home so i am trying to make it count, check off another win for urban sprawl
kt

[Rustywreck]

everyone goes through the second guessing themselves stage after a non-recovered deer.
the only solution I have found is take the next good shot opportunity that presents itself.
the wost part is getting the negative thoughts out of your head when you do take the next shot. If, at the moment of the release, you are second guessing your yardage estimation, shot placement, etc, you may mess up again (you can think yourself into making a bad shot).
The next time a deer comes into range try to envision the arrow hitting an exact spot and let it fly.