Whitetail reflexes (traditional archery)

[okie archer]

I have only killed 4 deer with trad archery. It's been awhile so I'm trying again this year. I have already missed two does. This morning I literally watched a doe duck at the sound of the shot. I watched the arrow fly about 4" over her back as she ducked to launch. I'm hunting out of a ground blind. She was relaxed when I shot. Shot was 17ish yards.
Thinking about aiming 9"-10" low to compensate for the lightning fast reflexes but then maybe the next one won't duck.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Just curious: How quiet is your bow (and your arrows)? I do think aiming a little low is reasonable, given how fast their reflexes are, but your specifics make me wonder if you could quiet your setup down a bit.

 

[pabearhunter]

Was the doe relaxed by eating or looking away at something ?

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I’ve been wondering the same thing. These Midwest guys make shooting whitetail with an arrow look easy but they always duck way farther than I’d like to “intentionally” aim at.

 

[okie archer]

Was the doe relaxed by eating or looking away at something ?

Relaxed head down eating.

 

[okie archer]

Just curious: How quiet is your bow (and your arrows)? I do think aiming a little low is reasonable, given how fast their reflexes are, but your specifics make me wonder if you could quiet your setup down a bit.

I shoot a black widow. I have limb silencers as well as 4 string silencers.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I shoot a black widow. I have limb silencers as well as 4 string silencers.

In that case, I'd say you likely just have to write it off as the reality of whitetails and their reactions. They won't do it everytime, but they will sometimes. I'd say aim a bit on the low side, but don't shoot under the deer and just accept that they'll beat you sometimes.
I shot my first deer with a longbow, at 6 yards. He didn't jump the string, but he reacted so fast that his shoulder cut the back third of the arrow off before it got in him. The front 2/3 went out the other side.

 

[Northwoods]

When a deer has its head down their eyes roll up allowing them to continue looking around. They are not looking at the ground.

 

[3855WIN]

Aim for the bottom of the chest cavity. In the Deep South, I’ve had whitetails jump the string a bunch. Never had that problem in Kansas.
I’ve known hunters who purposely sighted in their bow low so that they wouldn’t have to remember to aim low.

 

[matthausarchery]

What arrow weight are you shooting? My experience is that once you get above 10 grains per pound you can really quiet your bow down. Further brace height tuning will find the sweet spot based on noise alone. You mught also try adjusting your tiller slightly if shooting 3 under to bring the bow back in balance. Bow string material can make a huge difference as well depending on the bow. The bow string hitting your sleeve or an improperly spined arrow slapping the shelf can also make a racket.

When tuning and setting up my bows I like to have a bystander judge noise or even use a decible meter on my phone. Noise=wasted energy

You can really get these black widows and toelkes tuned to whisper quiet levels. You may not be launching arrows at 180+fps. But you will have a silent arrow slinger.

My current setup shoots a 730grain arrow at 144fps at 50#. 15 yards and in I do not compensate for jumping the string. Beyond that I err on the lower 3rd of the chest cavity.

 

[thebestusernamesaretaken]

First time that happened to me, I was in shock. I shoot a somewhat fast and very quiet bow; but those things can drop 12 inches at 25-30 yards away. I've even seen them spin completely 180 degrees around at 35-40 yards away (hit that one - just on the other side). I don't think that you can make a bow fast or quiet enough to avoid string jumping on a alert deer. I think that you need to use situational tactics to account for the potential that it would happen.

I try to shoot without them knowing anything is amiss at all, and try to take the shot when they are preoccupied. It would be rare that I would make a noise to stop a deer. I do sometimes and I know that a lot of folks seem to do it all the time. But, I want to make a nice natural unexpected shot. I like a little wind to cover some noise as well. I do aim a bit lower especially when its cold out and the bow may be a little creaky or slow. That may be in all in my head but that's what I do. I think the shot is better from an elevated position because of the angle - you aim for the exit wound so, you can aim in the middle but angle downward which would give you a larger margin for error. If the deer have been hunted on public land they are more skittish and prone to dropping.

 

[INMT]

Some good info if you like listening to podcasts:

Anticipating The Jump

Podcast Episode · Live Wild with Remi Warren · 07/20/2023 · 50m

podcasts.apple.com

 

[Greyman]

I watched an interesting podcast interviewing a biologist who specializes in whitetail deer. He speculated that the reason deer are able to "jump the string" is not the sound of the bow, but them seeing the movement of the bow and the arrow moving to them. He said a deer's eyes and brain are able to process and react to movement many times faster than a person. I'll see if I can find it and post the link.

Disclaimer. I'm just some dude that works in a chemical plant, however I did graduate from a prestigious community college and have done extensive YouTube and Wikipedia research.

 

[seeth07]

As mentioned, it is a pretty normal to be taught that when hunting whitetails with the bow, you aim for the bottom of the chest cavity. This is where the heart sits anyways and if they duck even 8-10" you still are good. I aim for just behind their front knuckle.

 

[Gut Shot]

There is no rhyme nor reason to when of how far a whitetail will duck at the shot. I've had several deer stand there, take the shot, flinch as the arrow goes right through them and then walk away calmly to die shortly thereafter. I've also had them turn themselves inside out as soon as the string drops. I had a buck duck the string this year and ended up hitting the scapula. Never found a drop of blood or my arrow. It sucks but, sadly, the deer gets a say in where the arrow lands.

 

[Mussgrass]

I watched an interesting podcast interviewing a biologist who specializes in whitetail deer. He speculated that the reason deer are able to "jump the string" is not the sound of the bow, but them seeing the movement of the bow and the arrow moving to them. He said a deer's eyes and brain are able to process and react to movement many times faster than a person. I'll see if I can find it and post the link.

Disclaimer. I'm just some dude that works in a chemical plant, however I did graduate from a prestigious community college and have done extensive YouTube and Wikipedia research.

The podcast I listened to explained it that it is almost like they can see the arrow in slow motion. Note quite, but that was the idea.

Might have been a Deer IQ podcast.