I sat in my hunting saddle on the brisk November 4 morning as a featherlight wind blew my scent over the river from a tree that overlooked a funnel between the bedding areas.
It was the perfect scenario for a whitetail rut, but my heart wasn’t in this hunt. The day before, I was in a hurry to make some money, and that’s what I was wondering about.
This buck came to the base of my tree, smelled my dirt and got scared. He ran in front of me and stopped in my shooting lane less than 20 yards away. It was the perfect opportunity to shoot from the side, but my instincts told me I had to hurry up with my shot.
This is not reality. He gave me plenty of time to install the bow pin, but I was still in a hurry.
The shot hit very high. The arrow passed through the flesh above the spine. That’s what I felt after reviewing the video of the shot (see below), and what a dog tracker who had seen all kinds of whitetail shots told me after reviewing the same footage.
We took my dog Gus deer tracking, hoping that I had somehow gotten lucky. NO. Gus’s body language told me we weren’t tracking a dead deer. We found a few drops of shadowy red blood, but other than that there was nothing to follow up on.
At this point there were two options: change focus and get back into the tree, or let it ruin a tri-state hunting trip on a routine I look forward to all year. I returned to the tree, but honestly it took me a while to refocus.
I don’t get up immediately after a bad shot, even in a situation where I’m sure the deer probably survived. Many years ago I had a terrible panic attack while using a bow I had been working strenuous on.
By shooting thousands of arrows and focusing on my mental approach to archery, I have managed to get many good shots at deer over the last five seasons. It hurts when training fails and a bad shot occurs.
But one of the rules I follow when it comes to bowhunting is that your last shot – good or bad – doesn’t matter. The only dart that matters is the next one. To reap positive results, a focused approach is required at every opportunity.
I returned to this way of thinking a few days later, and on the morning of November 14, I was given another chance. My setup was 200 feet from a stout protective cover that serves as a great place to sleep. This is a place that made me good money in 2020 and 2021.
My tree here has a view of a perennial scratch in the funnel. There were three fresh scratches in the week leading up to the hunt.
A forkbuck came and smelled the licking branch above the main scrape a few minutes before first featherlight. About an hour later the doe did the same.
At 10 a.m., just as the wind was about to change and force me out of the tree, a nice buck flew out of the leaf litter. My first thought was, “He’s heading straight for that scratch.” The bull did exactly the same, running up to smell the licking branch 15 meters in front of me.
I drew the bow as it approached, and as it stopped, I placed the pin in the vitals above the front leg. From that point on, my attention moved from the pin to the area I wanted to hit. This is where the arrow reached its target when it went through the buck. He ran 20 meters, stopped and fell.
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The seconds before the shot
The process of finishing the shot – those seconds between when we know we are ready to catch the animal and when we release the arrow or bullet – is often overlooked.
The reality is that those few seconds are the most crucial part of the equation. What’s the point of mounting a deer if you can’t consistently finish the job with a quick, immaculate kill?
Not every hunting situation is ideal. I understand that. Sometimes accidents and, unfortunately, injured animals happen, but we should do everything we can to avoid them.
When I look back at two shots that turned out so differently, here are a few factors that stand out. Maybe they’ll facilitate you on your next hunt.
It’s very mental
My ability to overcome target panic many years ago was largely due to the understanding that archery is more of a mental endeavor than a physical one. What I mean by this is that when bowhunting you should not let autopilot take over.
Think about shooting in your backyard. You are probably following a procedure that takes almost exactly the same amount of time for each shot before the arrow is released.
What happens in a hunting situation when you are backing up, time has passed, and the opportunity to shoot has not presented itself? So often your mind screams at you, “Send an arrow!” That internal clock that screams at us that we don’t have time leads to hurried shots.
Do everything in your power to stay present in the moment of truth. I talk to myself, giving orders that I must follow. “You’ll get a chance. Keep it in your opening. Focus on the leg. Let the pin float in the air.”
I couldn’t do it on November 3, and I did much better on the November 14 shot. This is tough to achieve with so much adrenaline. But I promise that if you work at it and focus on the task at hand, you will consistently see better shots.
Draw more deer
There is a risk of drawing your bow on a deer you do not intend to shoot.
They may catch you and expose you, but you can usually tell by a deer’s body language whether you can get away with it or not. Don’t try this if they are on high alert.
I went back and placed a pin on about eight deer that I had no intention of shooting this year in the 10 days between shooting opportunities.
This is not a cure-all. You know you’re not pulling the trigger, so it’s a different feeling than the moment of truth. However, watching the pin sit exactly where you want it and knowing that you can hit the shot won’t hurt your confidence.
