Yep I blew it. Headed down to Oakmulgee this morning, really did not feel like going but I pushed myself. I arrived at my little honey hole around 9:00. While I was getting ready to leave the truck a man drove through with a Dog box in the back of his truck, I did not think much of it, I waved and headed off. About half way to my stand I heard a dog barking, sounded like a small dog and it was coming from the direction I was headed in, oh well I am still going hunt. I got into the bottom, about a 1/4 mile walk, and found a well used trail. now when I say well used I have not encountered many trail that look like this one, a blind man could follow it. While I am looking for a good tree to climb I hear movement, squirrel, no this isn't a squirrel. I sat down and watched, below me about 75 yards away there was a line of 4 Does that walked by. I suspect the dog pushed them my way, who knows. I decided to follow my first instincts and sit on this trail but still could not find a suitable tree so I decided to use the seat on my climber and back up to some bushes I found, about 15-20 yards from the trail. About a hour later I detected movement and sure enough three deer were walking on that trail and headed straight for me. If the wind does not betray me I may have a shot, then again I am just sitting against a tree with a small bush at my back, they are going to pick me off but no they didn't. The lead doe stopped and started cleaning herself, one more step and I will have a clear shot, she steps forward and I draw my bow too fast, she catches the movement, stomps and I let the arrow fly. Clean over her back it sailed. In hindsight I should have waited until they passed but I get so excited when seeing deer on the ground that I make some pretty stupid mistakes. At least I got to see some deer, a total of 7 in one area. I am somewhat happy that I did not hit her, there was a fawn with a couple of sots that were with them. I suspect it was hers.

One question, how do you stay calm and make the shot? I can hit a postage stamp all day long but a live deer I have a hard time hitting. I get so excited I cannot focus and pick a spot. I am thinking of taking drugs the next time to mellow me out.

Breathe and just focus on a spot in the vitals.

Zanex ought to do it... ...That's why I love BowHunting right there... Glad you missed....

Congrats on the successful hunt. If you got close enough to shoot, it was a success. Staying calm is about impossible, how you deal with it is how you've practiced IMO. In most years I've shot enough that it would be second nature to shoot, no matter the stress involved. If you don't practice a lot, the shot is questionable, regardless of how far it is.

I've seen you on here enough to know you realize everything I just said. You know plenty enough to not be asking questions!! You're just frustrated! Go back, remember why you're there, and have fun!

Don't do drugs. I will quit hunting when I stop getting excited

Abram...The moment you decide to kill that Deer...You got to put your game face on and Kill it....You ain't shootin Dots...Hope this Helps...

One thing I believe helped me was going down to one pin on my sight. I had 3 and they would look like a blob when shooting at a deer. Afterward, I couldn't say for sure which one I really used. I moved the bottom 2 pins all the way to the bottom and out of my line of sight. Now I only have 1 pin set and know exactly which one I used after the shot.

I know what you're saying but kinda disagree. If a guy is overcome by the excitement of shooting at an actual deer it would probably be to his benefit to just take a deep breath and tell himself he's just shooting at that same target in his back yard that he's shot at 1000 times before.

Before you shoot, take a big deep breath and then let it out slowly…..say to yourself in your head as your letting your breath out something like “Aim small”……Once you’ve let the breath all the way out then slowly sqeeeeeeeezzzze the shot off. Practice going through these steps in your head as your sitting in your stand waiting and repeat them on every deer you shoot.

I’ve shot a chit load of deer now and I’ve found that I’ve become a much worse shot as I’ve gotten older because I’ve started to take these steps for granted. When I was younger I shot every deer by taking a breathe, letting it out, and sqeeeezing the trigger….thinking about these steps in my head with each shot. I had to in order to calm myself down just like you’re talking about. As I’ve gotten older though the excitement isn’t the same and I catch myself just kind of seeing deer and shooting instead of walking through breathing steps. The results have been that I’ve choked on several by just not taking my time. I let my experience make me complacent.

Shoot when yoUr ready and the deer is ready. I think most folks rush the shot thinking the deer is going to get away. Wait for the perfect shot opportunity if the deer walks away oh well he looked he's to be shot another day.

^ yep. Just gotta be patient and do like CNC said and breathe.

Edit: I still get jacked up though no matter if it's a buck or doe. That's what I love about bow hunting. Just gotta learn how to control those few seconds right before and during the shot as best as possible.

Shoot a lot of deer. That's literally the only answer to increasing your success on a live animal.

Kinda following what Atoler said, but I read an article by Bill Winke (who is one of the only hunting tv show people that I like personally) about developing a killer instinct. He basically said to develop a killer instinct you needed to kill deer. By doing that you learn what to do when and how.

The same things you remember focusing on practicing, should be the same things your focus on during a shot.

Slow straight pull back... check
Bent at the hips... check
Do not over or under grip the bow... check
Anchor points, nose, kisser button, release hand and fingersinthe right spot check
Making sure my peep is properly lined up with the sight and the bow islevelcheck
Proper distance pin on the vitals and keep her steady. Check
Slowly squeeze the trigger and don't move after the shot for atleast a second or two! Check mate!

I try to remind myself that a bunch.

I messed up the last one, last time! Jerk/pushed the bow away looking for my shot.

^^^ This! I still get shook up shooting does. I've shot a bunch of them over the years. The more you can kill, the better! You can draw from previous experiences at that moment of truth!

That is one of my problems I do not have a lot of kills under my belt. I have spent most of my bowhunting with a Recurve and I shoot quite often. When i cannot shoot outside I have a form trainer that I use to practice indoors. Funny thing though, I can be on the ground and have Hogs or Turkey within 15-20 yards and I do not get as excited. I spent a lot of time as a child around Chickens and Pigs and I wonder if I just look at them differently than I do a Deer? I bought me a 3D deer target today and I am going to try and simulate a shot as best as I can, not sure how I am going to create the same kind of excitement yet.
Thanks for all of the advice. In the end I was thankful to still have the physical ability to actually go hunting, a lot of folks cannot. My cardiologist is going to be surprise when he reads the info from my loop recorder. I may try and get a print for future reference.

Time in a tree. You can be William Tell at a target but when your shooting at hair not much can help but experiance. Getting to full draw on a whitetail ain't easy. I'm quiet sure if you stick with it you'll get there.

Abram you didnt blow it its just a new filling, im in the same boat as you but take the advice of this group of hunters cause there is some valuable intel from some of the best hunters