February
Pro Tip Of
the Month
By Paul Lee
Shot Placement
How many of you out there have
had the unfortunate experience of hitting a deer with a bow or gun outside
of the vitals? You know what I’m talking about……the immediate feeling of
“oh no”, the painful waiting game of letting him lye, the horrific site of a
bounding whitetail as you jump him from his bed, or the worst………never
recovering him at all! We’ve all been there. Painful as it is to
experience, we have all shared that at one time or another.
Poor shots are a reality of deer
hunting (especially while bow hunting) but that doesn’t mean we have to live
with them. With some tips and effort on your part you can minimize, if not
totally eliminate one of the worst things that can happen to you while
hunting.
As the hunting industry grows,
each season yields new products and equipment to help us hunters improve our
chances of harvesting deer, from scent elimination to state-of-the-art
bows. However many hunters spend more money on new gear and less time on
making sure that gear operates as efficiently and accurately as possible.
Follow these simple steps to ensure you are prepared next time you set foot
in the woods.
- Start practicing early…
prior to the season. Many hunters will start to shoot a few weeks
before the season opener. Many will shoot year-round and unfortunately
many will shoot a few days before taking to the field. The more you are
familiar with your bow and its performance the more adjustments and time
you have to “tweek” anything needed.
- Shoot broadheads while
practicing! Too many people still insist on shooting field tips
for practice during summer months right up to when they take to the
woods. The bow should be adjusted to what broadheads you are using
unless you shoot 3D often. Let’s facet it, field tips do not fly the
same as broadheads.
There
are plenty of targets on the market now that will allow you to shoot live
heads without tearing them to shreds!
- Keep it simple.
Set your sights (if using them) to a range you feel comfortable
shooting. For example, I use one pin from 5-30 yards. No guess work.
Today’s bows are shooting flatter and straighter than ever, therefore
they should be accurate at that range with no adjustment.
Face the
fact that outside of 30 yards, your chances of getting a pass-through are
slim. I know there are guys that can thread a needle at 50 but that is a
real small percentage of hunters. If you want to see your deer drop in
sight you need to have an exit wound…….period.
- Shoot as much poundage
as you can comfortably handle. There is the old adage that you can kill
a deer with a 50lb. draw. Turn it up as much as you can comfortably
shoot. You need two lungs with holes in them if you want your deer to
drop in front of you. Kinetic energy is the only thing that is going to
allow the arrow to pass through flesh and bone more readily.
- Aim small…miss small.
Place a small dot the size of a quarter or dime on your target and get
used to shooting at that from your yardage of choice. You will be
surprised how much more accurate you are when aiming at a small target.
Aiming at a paper-plate sized circle allows for too much margin of
error. Don’t settle for a 12” circle at 20 yards. It can actually make
you a lazy shooter.
Take some extra time this season
to sharpen your skills as a marksman. It is your responsibility to your
game and to yourself to make the cleanest, quickest kill as possible.
Concentrate on the accuracy of your shot rather than the size of the animal
or rack. I carry some great memories with me at the amount of clean kills
I have made over the years, rather than the big bucks by far!
Patience, poise, perform.
Good luck in the deer woods!
Paul J. Lee
Xtreme Outdoors
