10 yard can't miss shot...

[funderburk]

Could tell from your reaction immediately after the shot, the hit wasn’t what you had hoped for

Hate that happened. No doubt in my mind that true killers dust themselves off and want the next shot even more.

You back in the saddle tonight?

yea. Freezing my but off in a tree right now

Dan Infalt...freezing?! I didn’t think you had any nerve endings...



Hate it happened. Hang in there!

[backstraps]

Could tell from your reaction immediately after the shot, the hit wasn’t what you had hoped for

Hate that happened. No doubt in my mind that true killers dust themselves off and want the next shot even more.

You back in the saddle tonight?

yea. Freezing my but off in a tree right now

[Hambone79]

Dan.. we all know its not if but when something like this happens. After watching videos of some of your other hunts and this one do you think something touched your string? like that rain jacket ? reason for asking between different videos your bow sounded different ?? may have been just the microphone but sure sounded different to me. any way great example to be persistent good luck to continue with more hunts.

[Dewey]

I know you have discussed this in the past just cant remember the reason. Why dont you try and stop the deer? Is it in your experience that they bust out as soon as you make a noise? From my experience they stop dead in their tracks usually for a good period of time. I remember the first time I "stopped" a deer I actually hit it in the shoulder because I anticipated it would take another step but stopped dead in tracks which is why I hit it forward. I've remembered that and every deer since I have made good shots.. Last year on public I had a buck at like 7 yards and similar to what you had and stopped him and he had no clue. I think if he was moving I would not have made a good shot. I think stopping them helps me concentrate a little more and feel more comfortable with the shot even though it still all happens very fast.

I never try to stop a deer and much prefer a good walking shot.

Same here. Every single deer I ever shot has been walking. Why stop them and put them on high alert. Most times when I shot a walking deer they don’t even know what happened until they fall over. Especially cruising bucks.

[Jackson87]

That's a tuff pill to swallow Dan.Hope your season gets better.Every time I've shot a walking deer it's resulted in a gut shot.So I stop them all.That usually results in a double lung shot.Whatever works.

[dan]

Dan.. we all know its not if but when something like this happens. After watching videos of some of your other hunts and this one do you think something touched your string? like that rain jacket ? reason for asking between different videos your bow sounded different ?? may have been just the microphone but sure sounded different to me. any way great example to be persistent good luck to continue with more hunts.

Could be...

[treeroot]

I have no doubt you'll put one on the ground soon enough.

[wolfie729]

Great video dan! You’ll smash one yet! Love the realism. I know your busy but if you could do a video on just winds and thermals in the off season that would be sweet!

[Primetime]

I know you have discussed this in the past just cant remember the reason. Why dont you try and stop the deer? Is it in your experience that they bust out as soon as you make a noise? From my experience they stop dead in their tracks usually for a good period of time. I remember the first time I "stopped" a deer I actually hit it in the shoulder because I anticipated it would take another step but stopped dead in tracks which is why I hit it forward. I've remembered that and every deer since I have made good shots.. Last year on public I had a buck at like 7 yards and similar to what you had and stopped him and he had no clue. I think if he was moving I would not have made a good shot. I think stopping them helps me concentrate a little more and feel more comfortable with the shot even though it still all happens very fast.

I never try to stop a deer and much prefer a good walking shot.

Same here. Every single deer I ever shot has been walking. Why stop them and put them on high alert. Most times when I shot a walking deer they don’t even know what happened until they fall over. Especially cruising bucks.

I don't disagree it alerts the deer and I could see it being an ok option if they are close enough. But a deer moving deer at 30 yards can easily turn into a bad shot at broadside not even counting slight quartering shots. I am probably not near as good of a shot as most and in the moment can make it worse I just do it to help focus and be confident in the shot. And to be clear, I'm not trying to argue with the ethics of shooting a moving vs still animal by any means. I have shot at walking deer and have had bad results which is why I stop them now. Anyway I don't want to derail this convo. It was a good video and I appreciate showing the community the ups and the downs of deer hunting. You'll get another shot.

[stash59]

I know you have discussed this in the past just cant remember the reason. Why dont you try and stop the deer? Is it in your experience that they bust out as soon as you make a noise? From my experience they stop dead in their tracks usually for a good period of time. I remember the first time I "stopped" a deer I actually hit it in the shoulder because I anticipated it would take another step but stopped dead in tracks which is why I hit it forward. I've remembered that and every deer since I have made good shots.. Last year on public I had a buck at like 7 yards and similar to what you had and stopped him and he had no clue. I think if he was moving I would not have made a good shot. I think stopping them helps me concentrate a little more and feel more comfortable with the shot even though it still all happens very fast.

I never try to stop a deer and much prefer a good walking shot.

Same here. Every single deer I ever shot has been walking. Why stop them and put them on high alert. Most times when I shot a walking deer they don’t even know what happened until they fall over. Especially cruising bucks.

I don't disagree it alerts the deer and I could see it being an ok option if they are close enough. But a deer moving deer at 30 yards can easily turn into a bad shot at broadside not even counting slight quartering shots. I am probably not near as good of a shot as most and in the moment can make it worse I just do it to help focus and be confident in the shot. And to be clear, I'm not trying to argue with the ethics of shooting a moving vs still animal by any means. I have shot at walking deer and have had bad results which is why I stop them now. Anyway I don't want to derail this convo. It was a good video and I appreciate showing the community the ups and the downs of deer hunting. You'll get another shot.

Agree 30 yards is too far for a walking shot on a deer for me also. But even standing, stopped on their own, rut keyed up bucks have ducked my arrow. And they had no clue I was there. So beyond 20 if they don't stop on their own. They just win that round.

I think some of the difference is how old a hunter is. Alot of us really old guys started out with trad gear and shooting a walking deer, if it didn't stop, was just how it was done. So even if we changed over to a compound. It was still more natural to just shoot them walking, for us. Personally I never gut shot a walking deer. But have perfectly still ones!!

I never heard of anyone merping to stop deer. Until I saw it on a TV show. Probably early 90's. Heck even in the Bowhunting October Whitetails DVD with Barry Wensel. Mid to late 80's. Quite a few of the kills were on running deer pushed out on drives. Course not everyone could shoot like Barry could back then.

[Hatchetman]

As far as stopping them goes, it's always a gamble.
In Dan's instance when they're close like that volume is so critical and tough to predict.

Too soft and the buck doesn't stop and he blows his shot opportunity.
( I don't know about everyone else but if I plan on a walking shot, i can concentrate on a walking shot and execute, I can't mouth grunt and still get a shot off effectively if the deer doesn't stop.Too much to do in a split second)

Too loud and the buck spooks, so its always a gamble.
I've done both on shots like that and had both senarios happen.

Now as far as Dan's comment on the longer shots, that's no gimme either...
Had it happen yesterday morning on a big 8 at 27yds. I stopped him as he went through my last spot i could shoot. I touched it off and watched the arrow fly right over his back.
It coulda been me but man the shot felt really good so idk what the heck happened. how much he ducked i'll never know cause i don't film, coulda been an inch coulda been a foot?? All i know is he had the last laugh.
For now...

[Twenty Up]

I’ve come to the realization that hunting deer is comparable to dating women..

The moment you think you’ve got it “figured out” is when you’ve slipped up

[Huntrp]

It's good to see all aspects of hunting. Great video. Thanks!

[Trout King]

I think it is personal choice. I stop all of my deer. Never had one bust out due to it, no matter the sound made. A soft whistle or lip squeek works the same as any other sound.

At 10 yds there aren't many deer ducking arrows with even semi modern archery equipment. My recurve I could see it....

To each their own.

[WV Bowhunter]

If I think back on the bad results I’ve had over the years it was almost always on a deer on alert. Stopping a deer almost always puts them on alert. I prefer to have them stop on their own but won’t hesitate a shot on a slow moving deer inside 15 yards.

Sucks Dan, glad to see you are back after them. Good luck