Good Article Deer Jumping the String
Whitetail Deer
Very interesting article on deer jumping the string.
I have witnessed first hand that a deer will react to the arrow noise as well as the bow.
I am not sure if this has ever happened to me....but I have seen it happen to hunters that have videoed hunts....the hunter appears to have made a great shot (archery)....and just like that the deer moves and it's a miss.
A deer's reaction time is measured in the tenths of a second. It's really quite extraordinary. I shot a relaxed exactly broadside buck at 30 yards. When I recovered him-eventually-the arrow was center body at the liver and exited the opposite ham. I shot at a somewhat alert doe at 40 yards. I watched her simply move out of the way. At the time I was shooting a Hoyt Supertec. My setup launched my arrow at around 270 fps. Do the math.
When DEER drop to jump the string or more accurately to react to the sound of the noise, can they drop faster than gravity will allow them to fall naturally
Read somewhere that an arrow would have to leave the bow at over 700 ft/sec to hit POA on a deer at 20 yards.
That makes absolutely no sense because no arrow goes 700 ft./s and a lot of deer killed when the arrow hits exactly where the guy was aiming
Bottom line is you need a quiet bow since they most likely hear the sound of the bow at the shot. Coues deer even have faster reactions times and smaller.
“When DEER drop to jump the string or more accurately to react to the sound of the noise, can they drop faster than gravity will allow them to fall naturally”
YES…. Using the same muscles which are involved when beating your head violently against the wall.
Literally.
TEST: Hold a small object in your hand, palm downward. Drop it. Catch it before it hits the floor. If you cannot do this, see your Doctor today.
One MORE reason not to take long shots as advertised by manufacturers and folks who think they can shoot just great at long distances.
Wild game, can and will move either deliberately or just as a matter of bad timing as the arrow is released.
There are of course while rare those opportunities where they stayed still, the arrow went under or over them and they walk closer, for a second shot. So, if you miss don't always panic sometimes it brings up another unexpected opportunity. Quiet bow, you get that opportunity more often.
“Read somewhere that an arrow would have to leave the bow at over 700 ft/sec to hit POA on a deer at 20 yards.”
Two possibilities: Either whoever wrote the piece you read failed Physics, or something important got left out. If you have a rifle barrel parallel to the ground, even the fastest bullet will drop below line of bore immediately — maybe so little that it’s difficult to measure, but it’s going to accelerate that bullet straight down as soon as the barrel is no longer supporting it.
My theory and experience is that the smaller the deer or antilopes are, the higher the probability is that they will jump the string. There are 2 reasons: animal size with its proporcional effective kill size. Smaller preyed on animals have more potential prey animals and are therefor more scittish. For examples a list from low probability of string jumping to high probability: moose, caribou, eland - elk, red deer, kudu, wildebeest, fallow deer - mule deer, nyala - normal white tailed deer, cebra (yes they are quick!), impala - coues and most mexican white tailed deer, axis deer, reed buck, chamois- Tiny ten, brocket deer. With that said sheep and goats usually do not often jump the strings. Many years ago I read an article by Chuck Adams about him hunting duikers in South Africa and missing them all the time at lower distances like 20 yards due to string jumping. He then started to shoot and killing them at 50 to 60 yards. They just weren't alarmed by the bow noise at that distance. Once I shot at a javelina at 28 yards perfectly broadside. When the arrow arrived it had turned already 90° and the arrow had shaved his belly hairs on the side. Why I know: I had it on film and the arrow with Snyper broadhead stuck in a log behind the animal with hair in the broadhead blades and absolutely no blood on broadhead and shaft.
corax I don't think that dropping an object from your hand and catching it is the same thing as dropping your body. Which muscle groups would you use to fall faster than gravity pulls or pushes your body downward? If you are standing your muscles have nothing to push from or pull from so it seems to me that gravity is the only force to move you downward. JMHO
This is why I shoot a very quiet longbow. It's been years since I had a deer react to the shot unless they were looking at me and I won't take that shot.
@priley — I was not joking when I said it’s the same muscle groups that you usr when beating your head against the wall.
If you bend at the waist until your back is parallel to the floor, you can still pound your head on a table by using your abs and hip flexors.
Or if you like baseball, think of a batter dodging a high, inside heater. Those guys don’t wait around for gravity to get their brains out of the way of that ball….
corax- again not the same thing as a deer dropping at the shot. When a deer is standing gravity is the only force holding him on the ground. I don't know if its sight or sound that causes him to drop or jump the string but I'm pretty sure whatever the trigger is gravity is the force that lowers the body. Again JMHO
Not saying muscles INSTEAD of Gravity. It’s Both And.
You can duck without pulling your feet up off of the ground, and so can they.
and not only are the muscles pulling down while other muscles are pushing up, you are levering off of positions too. To attempt to simplify, I can pull my head down to the earth faster than gravity alone. But gravity is pretty dang fast at 32 ft/s/s of acceleration.
Wasn't going to bring it up and was kinda hoping Barry might but would assume Mr. Wensel is busy hunting, but anyhow in one of the Wensel videos (sorry don't remember which one) they had a segment showing how deer jump string dropping in slow motion video and explained the yardage stickbow arrow speed was fast enough to beat their reaction... Of course, it depends on the arrow speed and the deer, but I think the range was under 18 yards because somehow in my head I always wanted to shoot at them under 18 yards...8^)
You guys remind me of the coffeehouse waitress who told Neil deGrasse Tyson that the whipped cream in hid drink had sunk to the bottom…
Once I started videoing my shots a small Arkansas whitetail I really noticed the movement. Helped my confidence since I would make a “bad” shot or miss and think it was me. It was in the sense that I needed to aim a lot lower! Coues deer and pronghorn also are very jumpy.
Not sure if the deer having head up or down makes that much difference. Some say head up takes a fraction longer to duck than a deer with its head down.
I do agree there is something to the animal being far enough away they don’t react so much to the sound.
The much bigger Midwest whitetail are a lot less skittish though. Same with moose and elk
“Some say head up takes a fraction longer to duck than a deer with its head down.”
Equal and opposite reaction. If their head snaps Up, that forces the shoulders downward, which helps load the forelegs for pushing off and away from the threat.
Happened to me about a week ago. Buck picked me up cruising for does but still came by my stand at 10 yards and I picked a spot and my recurve is pretty quiet and i saw him running off and the hit looked high and the arrow was parallel to the ground instead of at a 45 degree angle. He had jumped the string and turned his body.
@Mint — Just curious: was the arrow flopping, or do you think/did you back-strapped him?
