Aiming low??
Whitetail Deer
Was watching an episode of Midwest outdoors and heard them talking about aiming low. They said anything over 25 yards with an alert deer you need to aim low to account for the deer dropping after hearing your bow fire. Going to the extent of aiming mid leg at 45 to 50 yards. I've been around bow hunters all my life but never heard this. Was just curious on your guys's thoughts on this and if you do it.
I can't make myself do this. Having said that, the only deer I have ever missed were old knot heads that belly flopped and I shot over them. I have never had a whitetail buck drop at the shot. One antelope buck did, and I spined him. My shots are generally closer than 30 yd. though.
Its a common theory . The real question is how quiet is your bow and how fast. It sucks when it happens , but we can say don't shoot a alert deer. I have past up shots like that and took others. You might get lucky doing it , but its a gamble.
I'm not a really good shot (just average) but the part of deer hunting I've learned well is "reading body language" and behavior of a deer whether he's by himself or with others. I usually lknow what he's likely to do and draw at the appropriate time. If a deer knows I'm there or alert at longer distance I won't shoot.
Sorry but it has been proven that deer are less likely to jump the string(duck) at distances beyond 40 yards. Makes no sense to me. I have killed some awfully skittish deer in the south and I only aim low on the ones 25 yards and in if they seem jumpy. Beyond that I hold low as in heart shot. Shawn
Or hunters could limit themselves to closed, high percentage shots. I'm sick of archers taking long shots. Trying to guess where to aim at a deer based on where it may or may not be after reacting to your shot is totally unacceptable.
I actually watched a YouTube video today of Midwest whitetail with this scenario. Not sure if it was the same episode. (Guy cLaimed he was using 25 pin and held high at 30? Went on about ducking string). Anyway at least he was honest about it.
I personally can't imagine aiming to miss low as described. That said I've yet had does duck string so bad I must have missed a foot high. Deer are crazy animals.
I agree with above statements about a quiet bow. Ive realized I can't beat the speed of sound so I might as well do something about the sound. Defiant was the quietest Bow i shot. I've done as much as I can to quiet the bow itself as well as shoot a heavier arrow to quiet things down even more. Night and day over my last bear. I only time will tell but I believe a quiet bow will make a tremendous difference.
I aim a little low on all animals under 40, even "close shots."
Not like below the bone low, but tight to it. If they stand still, they'll still die, but if they do drop, then I've got some room to work with.
If you're taking shots past 45 and they jump the string, you're going to be hitting them in the guts or the ham anyways and usually miss all together. A 60 yard shot, if the animal jumps the string, they can be in the next county by the time the arrow gets there.
Personally, I'd rather have a 45-50 yard shot than a 30-35, but the shot I want is 10-20.
Most often, the "aim low" idea I have heard and seen on a few hunting videos or experienced in the field, the hunter was hunting from a tree stand and shooting at deer less than 25 yards away.
Aiming low, "at the heart" so if the deer does drop to spring away at the sound of the bow, that arrow may penetrate the lung area 12 inches plus, above the heart.
My best, Paul
I'll go along with the aim low almost all the time, but it's placing the pin on top of the elbow. As already mentioned, it gives a lot of room for error.
Agree with practice at all ranges so one knows where the arrow shoots is paramount. Even when I shot multiple pins, if a deer was 35yds I would use the 40yd pin and place it on top of the elbow....never had an issue.
For me it is about a consistent aiming point. Take out the guess work and things get easier.
I have ended up spine shooting numerous deer at 20 yards or less due to them dropping at the shot. They have dropped in their tracks but often require a second shot. My experience tells me its the close shots you need to aim a bit low on. Although I have seen deer drop below the arrow on longer shots (say 25 and out) more seem to NOT drop on the shots longer than 25 yards, and are generally less sensitive to the sound of the bow.
I don't aim any lower than a heart shot. If the drop, you still have lungs. Deer don't seem to drop much after 30 yds. or so. Maybe the wind muffles the bow noise a bit?
I have a video of a hog ducking at the shot of my 9 year old sons slow bow. He aimed perfect, hit a little high but impact looked like a for sure dead hog but we never found him. Aim low!
Whitetail sure seem wired to recoil at sudden loud sounds, like a bow going off. There's plenty of slow-motion video out there to illustrate this point. I don't aim low, but center my shot into the lower 1/3 of the forward kill zone.
BTW, a fast bow helps a little, but isn't the total solution, since the arrow still travels WAY slower than the speed of sound, which is 1125 fps. Increasing arrow speed from 200 fps to 300 fps still gives the deer time to "duck". At 30 yards he'll have 0.22 seconds to recoil upon hearing the shot from a 300 fps bow. From a 200 fps bow, he has 0.37 seconds to duck at that range.
