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Two years ago I missed a good buck. My aim was dead-on, but a hanging vine deflected my arrow. The buck stood right at 30 yards from my tree, and the vine hung horizontally above his vitals at about the 20-yard mark. At the shot it was apparent that something had gone wrong and a sick feeling came over me as the buck hightailed it to the next county. The arrow was deflected, and as I adjusted focus with my eyes, I could see the hanging vine as it shuddered from the impact. I make no excuse for the miss and take full responsibility. Up until that fateful day, it had been quite a while since I missed a target completely. The reason for the miss was due to a lapse in judgment. I simply ignored one of my own fundamental rules that apply to shooting at game animals. I did not take steps to ensure the trajectory path of the arrow to the target was clear. My negligent actions cost me a great buck, but the incident made me a better hunter.

When the buck first appeared I watched as he walked along and made his way closer to my stand location. Based on the trail he was following, I guessed he would enter a pre-determined shooting lane and it was game-on. Just prior to running through my mental shooting-form checklist, I stared intensely at the shooting lane where I was sure the buck would enter in mere moments. All looked good. No brush. To be sure, I recited a modified version of Ty Webb’s putting advice from the movie Caddy Shack. In the movie, Webb tells his young caddy to “be the ball.” That famous line has since been modified by me to foster mental imagery relating to the arching flight of an arrow. When I mentally recite the words “be the arrow,” I see the flight path of the arrow in my mind’s eye and in the process, inject a glimmer of humor into the intense life-and-death situation. Anything I can do to ease tension, maintain focus on what needs to be done and block negative thoughts from entering the metal process equates to a means to an end.

Before any shot and if at all possible before drawing the bow, visualize the flight path of the arrow as it will travel to the target. Adjust the focus of your eyes from the background to the foreground and see if sticks and limbs or any other barrier is situated in such a way as to result in a deflected arrow. Let’s say you plan to shoot a deer at 30 yards. If you visually focus on just the 30-yard spot, you may not notice a stray twig or vine (!) situated at 15 yards. Make sure the path is clear at key incremental distances on the way to the target. This may seem intuitive to some but I am still surprised at how many bowhunters fail to do this. It is more difficult to scrutinize the arrow’s flight path while peering through a string peep, so thoroughly evaluate your shooting lane before drawing your bow.

In my case from two years ago, I was confident that the shooting lane was clear. As the buck made his way to the mark, I went through my mental shooting-form checklist and was set to begin the aiming process as the buck finally stepped into view. I verbally grunted once to stop the buck and then louder a second time. He took one last step and as he did, his vitals exited the shooting lane. The buck peered in my direction through the brush and then quickly changed course in an attempt to get downwind. The next shooting lane was only a few more steps away. Still at full draw, I pivoted slightly and settled my pin on the buck’s vitals as he hesitated broadside in that new shooting lane.

The missed shot still haunts me. That stray vine was only about 1 inch in diameter, but it was visible to the naked eye even as I peered through my string peep on a re-run to see what happened. The incident reinforced what I thought I had learned years earlier when a similar tragic miss occurred. In situations where you don’t have the luxury of time to “be the arrow,” check even more closely for obstructions. See if your sight pins line up with any obstacles. More specifically, check the sight pin or pins above the one you plan to use. See if the field of view above your primary sight pin is clutterd with stray sticks or limbs. Remember, the arrow travels in an arching trajectory. It is crucial that your short-range pins and the gaps between them are free of junk in the sight picture. This can be accomplshed on the fly while at full draw and takes merely a second or two. Be sure to slightly raise and lower your bow while at the same time adjusting the focus of your eyes from the background to the foreground. Once you are certain your shooting window is clear, shift your metal focus back to aiming and let the shot sequence continue to completion.

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