Shot my bow first time

RatherBHuntin · January 21, 2005, 12:07:03 PM

Awww, anytime Antler 3. Think your shaking now, just wait till that buck is 20 yards away from you and you come to full draw.

Antler3 · January 21, 2005, 12:33:52 PM

Oh man !! I can just imagine... Can't wait to experience that though :D 12 Gauge knows what that feels like :) I'm amazed at his knowledge thus far. I plan to buy a tree stand within the next month or so, am leaning toward the ladder stand with the double bench. I have never hunted from a stand much at all and was thinking I didn't want to be very high, but everyone thinks higher is better. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

12 gauge · January 21, 2005, 01:08:42 PM

well it sounds to me like you are doing great!

The shaking is either from your shooting too much and your arms are getting tired, or you are holding the draw for too long.

As far as stands the higher is the better, you can see farther distances and the higher you go up the more your scent will be farther off the ground for any animal (deer) to wind you. Though going higher is a risk because if you fall, well it will definatley be fatal and for a tree the higher you go up the skinnier the trunk will be.

My stand is 15 feet off the ground, i figured throw on some scent eliminator, dress up real good and camoflauged and sit real still i will be able to get a nice shot! Seeing a nice buck or any deer for that matter is a real trick! You get nervous and excited at the same time and so many things go through your mind! all the things i have thought about ever since the season started are "rewinding" in my mind, i remember thinking "Oh man! here they are here they are! i am gonna kill it i am gonna get it!"

Don't let your excitement over come you, i know it is a nice feeling and a very exciting feeling but if you let all this over come you, you will miss..Drawing back on a deer for me i think "Oh shoot! I am actually drawing back on it!" and i also think how far is it, can i hit the vitals in this position, can i actually be calm enough to pull it off?

Well to give you a heads up tip i want you to control that excitement and all those thoughts, keep you mind to a minimum and instead think about the range of how far it is and think about hitting that vital area! I know it is difficult, trust me it is very hard! but with experience, you will manage to pull it off!

I normally wait for the deer to get at least 5-10 yards away from me and the longest shot i've ever made was a 35 yard shot, i was hunting at my dad's friend's house and he owns 60 acres of land (almost all wooded) i was sitting on a permanent stand my father and brother had built years ago, but it was still standing and all, the way the stand is positioned i am in a bottom where the ridge goes up in front of me and levels out to a graveyard that my father's friend's family is buried in (it is a family graveyard..) and behind me i have a knoll (if you don't know what a knoll is pm me and i will try to explain it) any way i had a doe come up behind me one evening and i had my bow and arrow. Well she came up behind me and kept feeding behind me, i was waiting for her to come on either side of me so i can get a shot, i was sitting on a bucket because i had nothing else to sit on besides the floor of the stand which was a board, and i kept hearing her feed around, and walk and so on and so on and she would never come to where i could see her.

Anyway i sat there waiting for about 10-15 minutes and it started to get a little dark, well the sound of her eating and moving started to fade so i turned around real slow with the bucket and there she was and what looked to me like 30 yards away from me on top of another ridge (it wasn't real high on the end behind me..) and she was standing in front of a tree and she was almost out of my sight because i have thick stuff all around her, so i picked my shot, drew back put the pin on her (i thought it was 30 yards...) and released and i watched in horror as the arrow went under her and struck the tree! :o

She ran off and was gone unharmed, well i went back to the graveyard to meet my brother and later that night we went back to look for my arrow. We found no blood, no hair or any other sign, i was very discouraged to find out, but a miss is better than a wounded deer!

Well anyway, be sure to know your yardage, practice like i said, walk down the street and guess a yardage and pace it off! your pacing is not going to be right on the money like i said for 10 yards i pace off 13-14 steps. Try doing that, or bring a range finder, don't wait till you see a deer and range it then, pick out a few trees or logs or whatever and range them, then when the deer steps on that area you know the yardage and if the deer steps in between two ranged areas you know it is between the yardages.

Either that or pace it off on foot! But i'd perfer the range finder. I wish you good luck and if you need any more help you can pm me, email me, or write in this post and i will answer. Also check out the website i made, there's all kinds of info there, and i added a new page. "Archery Help".

Well good luck on your practicing and god bless! :D

Antler3 · January 22, 2005, 03:54:44 AM

Good to hear from you 12 gauge , and thanks a bunch for sharing your story. I did enjoy that, and also helps me to learn. I can't say thanks, enough, for all the tips you have given me. I am beginning to realize that misjudging distances in just the slightest amounts like 5 yards makes the difference in a hit or miss. Sooo, need to learn how to do that. I think at this point that will be the hardest part of it for me. I do like your idea of marking off distances with trees and logs before you get in your stand. One question...do you go from the base of the tree out to an object to measure it ? ( base of tree your stand is in ) Ha ha LOL.... That was a silly question cause you can't walk on air ha ha . Just feeling a little goofy sorry. I guess I answered my own question. But with a range finder would the base of the tree work or be better to climb up..... :D :D :D Oh and tell your MOM, Happy Birthday !!!!

12 gauge · January 22, 2005, 07:58:17 AM

Will do antler!

Lol yeah, it would help to start of at the base of the tree..if you start from your stand the deer will laugh at you!

Another good trick is when you learn to guess yardages from the ground, to look directly eye level with a tree in your stand and guess the yardage there, you will notice it isn't much different if they are eye level but if you are looking at a slope then it will seem longer than it is, also when you are guessing a yardage on a hill or at the bottom of one...

Here's a few sites that will help you for your yardage problem..

http://www.azod.com/archery/Archive/2004/Articles/CalculateYourYardageDontGuess.htm
http://www.bowzone.ca/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=245

hope they help a little and your welcome for all this information! If you need more, don't hesitate to ask!

JSBiskup · January 22, 2005, 08:14:43 AM

Just my two cents... A targets yardage is always measured in the horizontal plane. Makes no difference whether shooting up hill or down.
Which pin would you us to shoot 4 to 5 yrds? The answer may surprise you.

John.

12 gauge · January 22, 2005, 10:36:01 AM

Yep JS,

what i meant was it will look different, in other words be harder and confusing to judge the yardage, i forgot to word it right...

For 4-5 yards i use my top pin right on the target and i hit the area where i aim...that's me...

JSBiskup · January 22, 2005, 07:53:37 PM

I hear ya... I find it much harder to judge distance on the open prairie than in the bush, and that's on flat ground. Throw in a few hills and valleys... well, you get the point.

At 4 to 5 yrds. I split the difference between my 40 and 50 yrd. pins. I shot a badger last fall at 6 feet away, nearly step on her in the grass, and used my 50 yrd. pin.

12 gauge · January 23, 2005, 02:23:48 AM

i use my 20 yard pin up close. I just put the pin right where i want it and i hit...

I am a stand hunter so i am pretty used to angled shots. The only time i went stalking is on the elk hunt..

other wise i am a stand hunter..

God bless :D

Antler3 · January 24, 2005, 03:44:29 PM

Okay I need to know what the 4 or 5 yard shot is ....why would you use the 40 or 50 yard pin ???? Seems like you would shoot right over the top of it. Got a new bow today :D is a PSE 55# 27 in. Is alot nicer than the old wooden one I had to start. Think this one will be better. Got some carbon arrows, with field tips for now....the guy at the bow shop where I bought my bow is trying to sell me the retractable broadheads for it and I don't know enough about it yet to decide....What do you seasoned hunters use ? This bow has the fiber optic sights and only has three sight pins. He put a kisser button on for me and adjusted the bows draw to me, so everything is lined up better. I would appreciate any info. you might have for broadheads. Oh one more thing I got that I really like better is my quick release. It is a tornado, is leather and buckles on my wrist. Is alot quieter than the hand held one I had. :D

12 gauge · January 24, 2005, 07:29:00 PM

Broadheads...

Check out my website on the information on the types of broadheads and their pros and cons..

It is listed under "Archery Help" that should do it for ya!

I think it is the last entry i made so just scroll down. It has the types of broadheads and what they are about...

Good luck!

(PS: Website link is in my profile...in case you didn't notice..)

Antler3 · January 25, 2005, 03:52:41 AM

Thanks 12 Gauge, I enjoyed your site very much. The information helped me alot. Armed with this info. I wouldn't mind trying the retractable blades , but think I would want some fixed blades also. The retractable blades, Only being shot once, would be like rifle amo. one bullet one shot. Will have to weigh the difference in price and see what would be the better. :D

12 gauge · January 25, 2005, 04:23:28 AM

Glad you enjoyed the site! I put some elbow grease into it

I have steelforce broadheads, the fixed blades..

Here's mine (but not my photo...)

this is what i use, this is the steelforce fixed broadheads, stainless steel and light weight, i have 100 grain..

People are different! I like these, but if you want retractable those are good too. The way i look at it, as long as it brings down game and gives you a good clean shot, then it is worth shooting...

Good luck!

Here's the attachment of the steelforce..

V

Antler3 · January 25, 2005, 05:31:00 AM

The guy at the bow shop sold me 75 grain field points to practice with. How much of a difference do you think it will make in the broadhead if I got the 100 grain. Maybe I should buy 75 grain broadheads so they'll fly the same or does it make a difference ?? I have my new bow pretty close on, will practice more today, may have to move sights a little more right. I tend to shoot everything to the right. I may need more practice with my form as am finding out there is alot to consider when lining one up.....lots of fun !! :D

12 gauge · January 25, 2005, 07:17:58 AM

Grainage does matter, it is the weight of the broadhead, i shoot 100 grain field tips so i need to use 100 grain broadheads that way i can be sure my bow shoots right with the field tips then i know it will shoot the same with the broadhead because it is the same weight.

It will make a slight increase, yes. For me personally i think it is a little cold to be shooting for me, but it might be warm to you. Practice as much as you can! trust me it took 3 years of shooting my bow to get me to know as much as i do now! it is going to take a while, but in the end it is worth it!

Just when your shooting remember, concentration. When i shoot it helps me if i repeat the following words in my mind that my dad told me to say while shooting..

"The arrow will go where it needs to go" what this means is after the shot the arrow will go where you aim at, saying this in your mind helps prevent you from jerking down the bow after the shot and messing with your shot, and another thing you could do to help make better and cleaner shots without moving the bow is like i said before, shoot with both eyes open..

I wish you good luck shooting and good luck next season!