Are you ready for the shot?

Do you know how many hunting trips I've taken per shot? About 20. Mongo and Tard are beginning hunters who don't yet own prime hunting land. We hunt on property that is either public or has other deer hunters. So that means each chance at a deer is a rare and precious moment that we've got to be spot on ready for.

If you get your bow out a day before your once a year trip and think you're ready, then best of luck. The rest of us have to make ours. So practice all year. Shoot at ranges, in the back yard, at 3-D shoots, kneeling, from your tree stand, sitting, through and over/under branches, and as often as possible. Get your bow tuned up by a professional shop over the summer before the fall rush.

Practice with your field points but also make sure your broadheads fly true. If they don't, retune your setup for broadheads. Try and shoot at unmarked distances so you develop the talent of making good range estimates. More people miss low because they thought their 20 yard pin was good for the shot and the deer was farther away.

Once you've practiced your brains out you're ready for the season. Day one that is. Keep practicing right through the season to keep your skills sharp. It amazes me how fast I accumulate rust. I try to shoot at least 3 or 4 arrows the day of or day before a hunt just to make sure nothing has loosened up. More than once I've found some problem that sent my first arrow into a foam posterior.

Now that you're hunting and you see a deer moving towards your firing lane it's time to keep control of your excitement and get the payoff for all your work. If you've practiced seated shots you may be able to draw without standing. If you need to stand you're taking a chance of spooking your quarry. A trick I picked up from another hunter is to move very slowly when the deer is moving. Since they don't have stereo vision ( they mostly see you with only one eye but with wider field of view) when the deer are walking their whole world is bouncing up and down and they are less likely to see your movement. I prefer to draw not when their heads are behind trees but when they have passed me and have their kill zone fully exposed. This prevents the stopped deer problem. Whether they hear us draw or have a sixth sense the deer always want to stop behind the tree giving you no shot and a drawn bow to hold for usually too long.

Once they've gone by you their attention is usually not focused on your area and the preferred side from behind shot is presented. So let it go and pray. But also consider shooting a few inches low if the deer is within 25 or so yards. On all the deer Mongo and Tard have shot we've taken shots of less than 25 yards and hit high. I believe this is from the prey "jumping the string". I think the animal hears the bow or sees the sudden movement and in the split second before the arrow hits home the deer begins to prepare to bound away. In doing that they tend to hunch down and your shot goes high.

If you're trying a long range bomber (I confess I have too), don't aim low. The deer tend to freeze in that instance, probably because the motion or sound alerts them but is not in their critical defense zone. So, practice, test your equipment before the hunt, and move slowly and you might just be ready enough for the kill.