Post by HighCotton on Oct 15, 2018 10:43:34 GMT -5
Ok, total admission here. I'm at fault--->
Pretty sure the Warrior G3 is dead on. I've practiced a ton with the xbow prior to season. After the shot on a doe Saturday evening, I fired shots into the target from 10, 20 and 30 yards and I'm no more than 1 inch from my Point of Aim.
Here's the deal. I ended up hastily misjudging the distance. Thought she was 30-35 yards and she ended up at 20 yards. Obviously, bad on me! The doe was super skiddish and at the shot she was mostly broadside but a little quartered to me.
I was in a ladder stand on the edge of a recently picked corn field with more cover than I like. Very few small windows.
On at least 3 or 4 occasions, the doe would walk and then freeze, looking straight up in my direction. She was down wind of a slight breeze. She stomped a few times and I was sure she had busted me. I had a solid rest on the rail and slowly followed her to a slightly open window. I was set on aiming with the 30 yard crosshairs. At first I thought I might need to bleat her to a stop. Nope. She stopped on her own and, slowly squeezing the trigger...
THWACK! I let the bolt fly. Immediately, she hit the dirt. spinning like a morphodite top. A bit confused and disgusted with the shot, I grabbed the rangefinder and realized my mistake in misjudging the distance. Though I really didn't want to waste another bolt, I recocked the xbow and put her lights out, knowing this was the humane thing to do.
Here is a depiction of the shot. The black arrow is where I was aiming. The green spot is the actual entry wound:
Here is where the bolt exited the doe, marked by the red spot:
Always one to try and learn from my mistakes, I've played the scenario over in my mind a thousand times. I actually practiced shooting my target at 20 yards with the 30 yard crosshairs and the placement was approximately 2" off. That's a far cry from the 5-6 inch miss on the doe!
As I woke this morning, it hit me. The last image I have in my mind of that doe before the shot: She was muscle tensed and looking straight at me!
I can't say that is the whole reason for being off the mark. But, after decades of bow hunting deer, I made a rookie mistake there. Fortunately she went down for the count.
FWIW, I just thought I'd share the experience. And if anyone sees another area for improvement, feel free to give your feedback as I'm always on the learning path!
Pretty sure the Warrior G3 is dead on. I've practiced a ton with the xbow prior to season. After the shot on a doe Saturday evening, I fired shots into the target from 10, 20 and 30 yards and I'm no more than 1 inch from my Point of Aim.
Here's the deal. I ended up hastily misjudging the distance. Thought she was 30-35 yards and she ended up at 20 yards. Obviously, bad on me! The doe was super skiddish and at the shot she was mostly broadside but a little quartered to me.
I was in a ladder stand on the edge of a recently picked corn field with more cover than I like. Very few small windows.
On at least 3 or 4 occasions, the doe would walk and then freeze, looking straight up in my direction. She was down wind of a slight breeze. She stomped a few times and I was sure she had busted me. I had a solid rest on the rail and slowly followed her to a slightly open window. I was set on aiming with the 30 yard crosshairs. At first I thought I might need to bleat her to a stop. Nope. She stopped on her own and, slowly squeezing the trigger...
THWACK! I let the bolt fly. Immediately, she hit the dirt. spinning like a morphodite top. A bit confused and disgusted with the shot, I grabbed the rangefinder and realized my mistake in misjudging the distance. Though I really didn't want to waste another bolt, I recocked the xbow and put her lights out, knowing this was the humane thing to do.
Here is a depiction of the shot. The black arrow is where I was aiming. The green spot is the actual entry wound:
Here is where the bolt exited the doe, marked by the red spot:
Always one to try and learn from my mistakes, I've played the scenario over in my mind a thousand times. I actually practiced shooting my target at 20 yards with the 30 yard crosshairs and the placement was approximately 2" off. That's a far cry from the 5-6 inch miss on the doe!
As I woke this morning, it hit me. The last image I have in my mind of that doe before the shot: She was muscle tensed and looking straight at me!
I can't say that is the whole reason for being off the mark. But, after decades of bow hunting deer, I made a rookie mistake there. Fortunately she went down for the count.
FWIW, I just thought I'd share the experience. And if anyone sees another area for improvement, feel free to give your feedback as I'm always on the learning path!
