Buck Jumped String Last Week (video clip)

53Izzy744

53Izzy744

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Knee-deep in the hoopla
Lessons learned

-Do not grunt to get a buck back from walking away. Sure it might stop him but it puts him on alert.

-Doe bleat brought him in after the grunting but the grunts all ready had him wired for sound. Stick with doe bleats lol

-Buck on alert will move like Neo from the Matrix at any noise

-Aim lower than you think you need to an alert buck can drop nearly his entire body width in a fraction of a second (i was all ready aiming low at the heart thinking if he dropped it would be lungs but he bested me)

-Practicing and being accurate at 40yrds still won't help if the buck is ready to bolt at the sound of the shot, i would have had to shoot under him and much further back with the amount of drop/twist he did

-These animals are incredible.

I feel like crap but I am very thankful this only resulted in a deflection shoulder shot, the arrow pierced his hide and fell out about 5yds away, no blood except a few inches on the arrow and the small brush that dislodged the arrow.

I will be back out this week hoping he feels safe enough to return, also muzzleloader starts dec 1 and will be back out then as well.

 
I know how you feel. That's why I prefer hunting with a firearm when it's allowed. There is so much that can go wrong with an arrow. Great video btw.
 
Deer biologist dr Karl Miller has a theory that deer aren’t jumping the sound of the string, they’re seeing the arrow/bolt in flight and reacting to it.
 
Good Vid, thanks for sharing.
Happened to me (10 years ago). Aimed for Heart & double lung shot. As I let fly the buck "JohnWicked" down. He still got the arrow but a few inches below the spine. The opposite shoulder stopped the arrow from exiting. Still got a lung shot but took me about a km to find it.
I do not wish to start a debate but for me, it is why I much favor hunting with a rifle over crossbow.
 
I'd be bummed too but that deer has a good chance of surviving that hit. I know you mentioned practicing at 40yds but did you get an accurate range on that deer in the video? The reason I ask that is because when I look at the video frames, it appears your point of aim and point of impact differ. This would suggest either your scope isn't sighted in at that distance or your actual point of aim was lower than what is shown in the video; if you added that point of aim to the video from memory and are certain your scope is sighted in at that distance then I would suspect the latter. Regardless, looking at the frame where the arrowmade impact, a couple of inches back and that dear would have been dead.

Notice the trees in both pics are identical to show the difference between poa and poi
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Runningfool said:
I'd be bummed too but that deer has a good chance of surviving that hit. I know you mentioned practicing at 40yds but did you get an accurate range on that deer in the video? The reason I ask that is because when I look at the video frames, it appears your point of aim and point of impact differ. This would suggest either your scope isn't sighted in at that distance or your actual point of aim was lower than what is shown in the video; if you added that point of aim to the video from memory and are certain your scope is sighted in at that distance then I would suspect the latter. Regardless, looking at the frame where the arrowmade impact, a couple of inches back and that dear would have been dead.

Notice the trees in both pics are identical to show the difference between poa and poi
View attachment 1045484
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Thank you for the still comparrison! The x in the video is what i was aiming at and added it to the video from memory, i definitely could have either had my 40y circle slightly off from there or pulled the shot slightly, combined with the deer moving back away from the arrow as well when dropping (down and away) the actual impact if he was standing still could have been closer to poa (like when a pitch that is called a ball because of where the catcher catches it but actually was a strike when it crossed the plate, if that example works?) I included some pics that shows his front planted leg being angled showing the difference in distance from where he was standing when i shot and then when the arrow passes the plane of where he was. Unfortunately the camera couldnt pick up the nock the entire way to see for sure, but i do get what you are saying

I definitely 100% should have given myself more room for error and aimed further back, as well as tried to get him in closer to make sure i have the best chance at getting him while on alert. I will keep all this burned into memory for my next encounter with him!
 

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UR2X3M4ME said:
Good Vid, thanks for sharing.
Happened to me (10 years ago). Aimed for Heart & double lung shot. As I let fly the buck "JohnWicked" down. He still got the arrow but a few inches below the spine. The opposite shoulder stopped the arrow from exiting. Still got a lung shot but took me about a km to find it.
I do not wish to start a debate but for me, it is why I much favor hunting with a rifle over crossbow.
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I agree, had he shown up 3 days prior when i had my rifle then he would be hanging in my shed lol but for my area the rut really only started the final 3 days of gun season this year, meaning my best chances are usually afterwards with archery season. And then with our snow i dont usually get to hunt here for muzzleloader due to where i need to park. Plus when i do get a chance, the deer activity is severely limited since they dont yard here.

I will just have to learn from this and keep all these things in mind to make sure this doesnt happen again
 
Hard to see on my phone, but it definitely looks like the deer didn’t react until it was stuck with the arrow and you simply shot too far forwards. Watching it in slow motion there’s no sign of the deer “jumping the string” at all. The large majority of the time when this happens you can see the deer loading up to run before the arrow gets there. That’s not the case here.

Not judging, but why were you aiming so far forwards (your X) when there’s so much lung farther back? Aiming dead center of the boiler room really does a great job of preventing this exact thing from happening.


Hate me if you wish, but calling and a deer jumping the string aren’t to blame here. You made a bad shot. It happens.
 
canadian hunter312 said:
Hard to see on my phone, but it definitely looks like the deer didn’t react until it was stuck with the arrow and you simply shot too far forwards. Watching it in slow motion there’s no sign of the deer “jumping the string” at all. The large majority of the time when this happens you can see the deer loading up to run before the arrow gets there. That’s not the case here.

Not judging, but why were you aiming so far forwards (your X) when there’s so much lung farther back? Aiming dead center of the boiler room really does a great job of preventing this exact thing from happening.


Hate me if you wish, but calling and a deer jumping the string aren’t to blame here. You made a bad shot. It happens.
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I should have aimed further back for sure i just was worried of a gut shot if he dropped forward loading up so i aimed closer to the heart thinking if he did then id get him lung. But go watch it again, he is turned and dropped before impact. I have watched it multiple times both in normal speed and slowed down, there are frames where you still see the arrow in flight and he is dropping and turning just before the arrow gets to him. You can also hear the impact and it is after he has all ready started his move.

Either way yes it could have been avoided with a better placed arrow
 

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hawk-i said:
Curious as to what your arrow speed was?
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Between 312-314fps from what i remember when i chronyd it a couple summers ago. Im using the overwatch scope and the speed ring is showing just over halfway between 300-325 marks, it is giving bullseyes at 20, 30, and 40 with each drop circle properly. Stock arrow with lumenok and 150gr broadheads.
 
Hope you get him this week or during ML. It would be interesting to see how the wound progresses.
And kudos for posting this, not many people are willing to share their less than perfect outcomes. A lot can be learned from videos and discussions like this.

Honestly I think you may have pulled the shot. Regardless of the trajectory, like in your baseball analogy, if your sights are on for that distance then poa should equal poi. If the deer hadn't moved, you would have missed him completely.
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Runningfool said:
Hope you get him this week or during ML. It would be interesting to see how the wound progresses.
And kudos for posting this, not many people are willing to share their less than perfect outcomes. A lot can be learned from videos and discussions like this.

Honestly I think you may have pulled the shot. Regardless of the trajectory, like in your baseball analogy, if your sights are on for that distance then poa should equal poi. If the deer hadn't moved, you would have missed him completely.
View attachment 1045673
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I will absolutely recheck both distance and sights and post an update! Thanks for your help
 
Runningfool said:
With the help of photoshop I was able to align the backgrounds of the 2 images and then feather the transparency to show the shot.
https://imgur.com/a/RK72066
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Yup like your pics earlier, the shot was even lower than i had thought. When i get out there again i will recheck distance to make sure he wasn't further than I had ranged earlier, as well as re-check my sights at 40y. Thanks again!
 
Tested at 40y in my backyard earlier in the week and it seemed to be shooting just fine with the other arrows with lumenoks on them (using my Bog Field Pod rest). But when i was back at the hunting spot and ranged the tree near where he was standing it was giving between 42y and 43y, the bush near where he was standing was showing 40-41y so he may have been slightly further than i thought of 40y. Also i could easily have aimed low at the white spot itself instead of above it. Either way, i should have picked a better aim point further back and ideally had the patience to see if he would have come in closer. But broadside was too tempting for me. Lessons learned all around and thanks again to runningfool for his photo analytics!
 
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